DSL Comes to the Hill

By Marv Dealy

Yes, you read that headline right -- DSL is on the Hill.

Vanessa Smith, spokesperson for SBC, confirmed that DSL -- a very desirable and affordable way to get fast Internet -- is now available along much of the Highway 120 corridor.

I spoke with Vanessa several times about the actual availability and service areas, as I know there a lot of you out there dying on the vine at 20-30 Kbps dialup speeds and I wanted to make sure that I passed on correct information.

In my last telephone call with Vanessa, I was told that the service areas are to include everything in an approximately 3-mile radius from the SBC Central Office (behind the Iron Door Saloon). This means the service area will cover Big Oak Flat, downtown Groveland, east on Highway 120 about 2.5 miles, and parts of Pine Mountain Lake. PML areas west and southwest of the lake will be included. Marginal service (based on the individual's address) will be available northwest and south of the lake. No service east, north or northeast of the lake will be available.

Yes, your wait is over. If you're one that is or wants to telecommute, this is incredible news. For others, maybe you're just tired of it taking so long for files to download -- this is good news for you as well. By the time you read this, SBC assures me that you'll be able to go to a page on their website (http://www02.sbc.com/DSL), type in your phone number, and see if you are eligible for the service.

Just what is DSL (digital subscriber line)? How fast is it? Read on for more.

The DSL signal uses your existing telephone line and allows both DSL and voice signals to go over the line at the same time, meaning you don't have to add a new phone line. You'll see a new monthly charge on your phone bill, but you can get rid of your old ISP and save that money each month.

Monthly charges advertised by SBC on their web site start at $29.95 a month and include free installation and a free modem. You can do the very easy installation yourself, and of course SBC provides telephone support. If you get desperate and can't get the installation to work, call my office and we'll help out.

Speeds you can expect with basic DSL are 384 Kbps down and 128 Kbps up. That a lot faster than the part of 56 Kbps that most of you have been living with.

Like other kinds of Internet access using phone lines, DSL is limited by your distance from the telephone company's central office. For example, Asymmetric DSL, which can share an existing phone line with your regular phone, comes in 4 flavors (ADSL, RADSL, G Lite and VDSL), depending on your distance from the CO. Most commonly, ADSL should be available to about 15,000 feet from the CO with maximum upload speeds of 1 Mbps and maximum download speeds of 8 Mbps. If you're within 1,000 feet of the CO, and are willing to pay the money, you can get up to 6.4 Mbps upload and 52 Mbps download -- equipment willing and the creeks don't rise.

You can read lots more about DSL at the ComputerLanguage.com website (http://lookup.computerlanguage.com/host_app/search). They also provide excellent graphics that show how the signal travels, and provide more definitions than most of us want to know.

Thanks to sharp-eyed reader Bob Oakley, we learn that The Washington Post writers and editors were without any e-mail recently, because someone forgot to renew their registration of the domain washpost.com.

Apparently, someone ignored repeated warnings that the domain (and associated e-mails) was set to expire. I'd imagine that there were some pretty embarrassed folks running around getting the problem resolved. Thanks, Bob, for passing along this tidbit from the Modesto Bee.

Thinking about buying a new computer? Whether it's a Mac or a Windows computer that has caught your eye, you might want to stop by and talk to us about it first. We don't sell computers -- but we see the insides of hundreds of them in the course of their service life. It just might be that we can give you some advice that will save you trouble or money down the road. Since we don't sell computers or parts, we don't have a bias toward one brand or the other, except what we've learned from experience.

That's it for this month from the Computer Guy -- e-mail me any rants at marv.dealy@throck.com

Marv Dealy founded Throckmorten Enterprises in 1988 in San Francisco. The company provides graphic design, web design, e-learning support for a division of Hewlett Packard, computer repairs (Mac or PC), network mending and lessons from their Big Oak Flat office. Open Monday thru Friday 9ish to 5ish, Saturday 10ish to 2ish. Phone 209-962-7308