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Frequently Asked Questions
DSL stands for Digital Subscriber
Line which is the best way to get high speed, broadband connections to the
Internet. It works with your standard phone line, but not on it, so
you can still use your phone while on the Internet. It is an always on
connection meaning you don't have to dial up to get to the internet.
DSL is a flat rate service like
cable, and costs about the same. It uses a private phone line rather
than a shared cable, providing guaranteed speed, and better security
than cable. Unlike cable, you have a choice of Internet Service
Providers to use for DSL Internet access. With cable, your only choice
is the local cable company.
As with all technologies, DSL has its
limitations. The biggest limitation today is that it requires a phone
line with a certain quality connection. If you have a poor quality
connection, or are too far from the phone company’s central office
to receive a good quality signal, you are not a candidate for DSL.
Additionally, the phone company must equip the central office that
services your area with DSL equipment for you to receive DSL. Verizon
has equipped the vast majority of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino
and Orange County for DSL services within the past two years.
There are many reasons to consider
switching to SurfCity Networks DSL from your old dial-up Internet
account:
- High-speed. Up to 100 times faster.
- Reasonably priced. With prices
starting at $48.95 per month, high-speed access is finally affordable. Consider
your current Internet access account. Most likely you are paying $24
to your service provider and another $25 for an additional telephone
line used only for the Internet. That means for the same price
per month, you could be traveling the Internet up to 100 times faster!
Without additional phone lines!
- No more busy signals. In most cases
use the same line for data and voice.
- No more dialing! SurfCity Networks
DSL is a live connection, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
- No hidden usage fees. No per minute
or access charges.
Since SurfCity Networks provides you
with your DSL Modem, you only need to make sure that your computer has
a 10base-T or 100base-T Network Interface Card, or PCMCIA Card installed.
Most new computers already have this type of connection built in. This is
where your DSL Modem Plugs into. The only software requirement is that
your operating system needs to be "network able" . All versions of Microsoft Windows, Apple
Computers and all Linux systems will support DSL. DSL isn't like
dial up, but more like a Local Area Network, or LAN connection.
They are both still emerging
technologies and have their advantages and disadvantages. The DSL
speeds you can expect to get are listed with each package (your line
must be qualified for those speeds). With Cable speed, you get what
you get, so to speak. With DSL you are not concerned with the number
of users in your neighborhood, since your DSL line is yours and yours
alone. With Cable, the more local users there are, the slower your
connection gets at peak usage. (See also How
does SurfCity Networks DSL service compare to cable modem?) With
DSL you are sharing only bandwidth within your ISP network. If your
ISP is performing upgrades as needed, you should not have to worry
about congestion. With both Cable and DSL there can occasionally be
out-of-network issues that can interfere with connections to sites
that neither your Cable company, your ISP, nor your phone company have
any control over. (See also How
does DSL kbps translate to download speed?) Cost comparisons
depend on factors such as, are you already paying for Cable TV
service? If not, you would have to subscribe and pay the regular
monthly cost for Cable TV in addition to their Internet access fee.
DSL uses an already existing phone line in your home or business,
without any interference to the normal usage of that line, and all you
are paying is the monthly DSL cost for that access.
Yes, you can. AOL offers an
"access only" package that will allow you to access your
email and other AOL content through your DSL line. Since DSL is
already and Internet service, you don't need Internet access through
AOL.
ADSL refers to Asynchronous DSL. This
means your download and upload speeds are different. Synchronous DSL or
SDSL means the download and upload speeds are the same. RADSL refers
to Rate Adaptive DSL.
DSL speeds run up to 7.1 Mbps at this
time. The maximum speed will
depend on the distance between your DSL modem and the Verizon serving
office. As can be seen in the chart below, even the slowest
version of DSL is still nine times faster than a 28.8k modem.
|
File Size
|
28.8k
Modem |
128k
ISDN |
256k
ADSL |
384k
ADSL |
7100K ADSL |
| 30
KB |
8.3
sec |
1.9
sec |
0.95
sec |
0.65
sec |
really fast |
| 250
KB |
69.4
sec |
15.6
sec |
7.8
sec |
6.1
sec |
.37 sec |
| 5
MB |
23.1
min |
5.2
min |
2.6
min |
2.1
min |
6.81 sec |
| 25
Mb |
120
min |
26.0
min |
10.0
min |
8.5
min |
27.58 sec |
Browsers and other file transfer
agents tend to show speed in terms of kilobytes per second, usually
with one or two decimal places.. Thus, you may see your browser report
a "Transfer rate:" being "XX.X KB/Sec", (along
with the flying paper graphic).. The browser uses this estimated
transfer rate to predict the total time a download is going to take.
Real audio and video streams, tend to report the data rates needed or
used, in terms of kilobits.
But arriving at a transfer rate is
not as easy as dividing the kilobits per second by 8. Communications
equipment vendors like to think in terms of low level ATM or Frame
Relay data rates without regard to the structure or content of the
data.. ATM and Frame Relay are protocols for transferring data between
two points. Your computer uses TCP/IP as the protocol for
communicating with other computers over the Internet. So in reality,
your data is going over your DSL line via TCP/IP over ATM or Frame
Relay. TCP/IP has an overhead in transmission that can be as low as
3%, but ATM overhead is more like 10%. So you can expect to lose at
least 13% of your purchased speed when counting application data
transfer rate. Using your DSL line speed, dividing by 8 and taking off
13% is a reasonable estimate of the ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM data download
speeds you will be likely to get.
|
DSL Speed
|
Maximum
Transfer Rate |
| 256
kBps |
aprox.
28kBytes / sec |
| 384
kBps |
aprox.
42kBytes / sec |
| 768
kBps |
aprox.
83kBytes / sec |
| 1544
kBps |
aprox.
166kBytes / sec |
| 7100 kBps |
aprox.
6177kBytes / sec |
Of course, there are many reasons why
you will not see your maximum download speed to a particular site.
Many sites do not allow full DSL speeds to one user (particularly with
the higher speed packages). Further, your data is
usually transported through many routers, any one of which may be
overloaded at that time, causing your download speed to slow down.
There are two issues to consider. The
first is the technology itself. At the present state of the
technology, DSL can be over 3 times faster than Cable Modem technology.
Also, there's a catch with cable modem
technology. Cable is delivered in a loop topology. This means
that the same piece of cable is used to provide service to many
subscribers in a neighborhood. As a result, the actual bandwidth
available to each individual subscriber deteriorates as additional
subscribers use the service. Actual cable modem download speeds are
usually
far, far less than the stated speeds.
In contrast, DSL service is provided
on a dedicated line in a star topology. Your download and upload
speeds are constant, unaffected by the traffic imposed by other users
in your neighborhood. In addition, cable modems provide upload speeds
comparable to the slowest DSL service. DSL service is available in
both asymmetrical and symmetrical configurations with upload and
download speeds comparable to commercial T1 service.
The second issue is service. At
SurfCity Networks, our primary business is providing the very highest
level of service. We're a local company whose success is a result of
our family of happy customers. We doubt you've had similar experiences
with your cable company.
Yes, DSL end-users can still use
their existing phone line for voice communications while using DSL
service for Internet access simultaneously. Traditional analog voice
band modems use the same frequency band, 0-4 kilohertz (kHz), as
telephone service, preventing concurrent voice and data use. Because
the newer DSL modems operate at frequencies above the voice channel
from 100 Khz to 1.1 Megahertz (MHz), POTS (plain old telephone
service) and DSL data service concurrently. By using the same
telephone line, there's no need for a new telephone number to use DSL
service. Moreover, DSL modems are designed so that normal telephone
service will operate even if the DSL modem is unplugged or otherwise
disabled. Many subscribers find they can recover most of the cost of
their DSL service by canceling their existing modem line.
Once DSL is determined to be
available on your existing phone line, all features currently offered
on the line will remain available.
DSL services will not work with ISDN.
DSL is designed to work with voice grade circuits over copper cable
facilities. Services that are compatible with DSL operation include:
Direct Data Services (56/64 Kbps) and standard analog telephone
services.
DSL end-users must be located within
approximately three cable miles of a DSL-equipped serving office in order for DSL to
operate effectively. This distance will vary depending on such factors
as the specific type and condition of the telephone lines.
Verizon can provide service within 5 to 7 business days after line qualification. Actual service delivery times
will vary depending upon Verizon customer demand. SurfCity Networks
will be ready to provide Internet access as soon as Verizon provisions
your phone line for DSL.
Any Verizon customer with voice grade
telephone service is eligible for DSL service. DSL works over a
standard plain old telephone service (POTS) line.
Most of the time, the end-user will
be able to use existing inside wiring. In rare circumstances, new
inside wiring will be required to install DSL on the end-user’s
premises. Verizon will provide needed additional wiring on residential
installations for $120. You may also choose to have an independent
company install new wiring, usually for far less.
At this time, the modem must be
compatible with the DSL equipment located at Verizon's serving office.
End-user DSL modems can be purchased through SurfCity
Networks. From time to time, SurfCity Networks runs promotions in
which DSL modems are made available at little or no cost.
Yes. However, Verizon uses two types of DSL modems, Fujitsu and the
so-called "ATM" or "G-Lite" modems. The Fujitsu Modem is not
compatible with any other DSL providers equipment as Verizon is the
only company that uses type of modem. The "ATM" modem is compatible with other DSL service providers. This would be a good
choice if you wish to purchase your own modem and want to insure the
greatest level of compatibility. Further, if you think you may want
the 7.1 megabit / second DSL speeds, you must use the "ATM" type
modem.
A Static IP
Address provides a routed IP address that will remain the same every
time you start your computer. This allows you to run your own Internet
services such as HTTP (web server), POP (e-mail server), Game Servers
(e.g. Quake), PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol), PC-Anywhere,
etc. over your DSL connection.
This also is
ideal for a firewall scenario where you can connect one computer or
firewall device to the internet, and use that to connect as many
devices internally as your bandwidth will comfortably allow (you
determine how many). This provides both internal security for your LAN
and connectivity to the outside world.
Unless you need
to run one of these services, you probably do not need a static IP
address.
Every computer must have a unique IP address.
This requirement can be satisfied in one of two ways. SurfCity
Networks can assign multiple IP addresses, or you can use "Modem
Sharing" hardware or software to provide additional IP addresses for
additional computers.
DNS provides
the mapping of your own personal (or business) domain name to the IP
address (or addresses) of your DSL connection. This adds to the power
of our Static IP service by enabling domain name access (e.g.
www.yourname.com, mail@yourname.com
, etc.) to your network from anywhere in the world
SurfCity Networks does not provide
any type of packet filtering for DSL customers. As long as you have
file and print sharing turned off (Windows), your exposure is
minimal. Your biggest exposure would be a 'Trojan Horse" virus.
Should you happen to be infected by one, a current anti-virus program
should detect this. Having said that, unless you are in the habit of
running unknown executable files, or opening mail with attachments
from someone you do not know, the chance of you becoming infected is
extremely low.
Having said this, SurfCity Networks recommends that customers that
are connected via DSL or other broadband connections avail themselves
of products that will reduce the risk of their computers are
compromised. There are many commercial firewall products that will
prove more that adequate in protecting your computer.
There is no provision from Windows
(or any other OS for that matter) to determine actual DSL speed. There
are some 3rd party sites purporting to measure DSL speed, however the
accuracy of these sites leaves much to be desired, especially as most
of the testing is outside of the network. We do not provide any type
of "speed check" because of the difficulty of calculating
accurate transfer rates. Keeping that in mind, two sites that seem to
provide a reasonable check of your DSL speed are
DSL Reports and
Bandwidth.com.
Remember, these speed tests are generally not reliable above 5
megabits / second. Therefore if you are fortunate enough to have a 7.1
megabit / second DSL connections, you will never see test results
approaching your maximum speed.
Windows98 SE, Windows 2000 and Windows XP have some reasonably good
documentation on how to set this up but generally, the primary network
card would be connected to the DSL modem and the secondary card would
be connected to the hub. The other two computers would get IP
addresses supplied by the modem sharing software. If you already have
the main computer set up and working, it should be relatively easy to
add the second card. The biggest problem most people run into here is
that it is often difficult to identify which network card should be
connected to the DSL modem and which should be connected to the
internal network.
There is no reason that you cannot use DSL as your Broadband
connection with Windows 95. However the level of difficulty to get
networking working is significantly higher than later versions of
Windows. As Windows 95 is no longer a supported operating system by
Microsoft, we do not offer technical support to troubleshoot
connection problems with Windows 95. In general, you will be
MUCH better off upgrading to Windows 98 SE at a minimum before
attempting to configure networking to support DSL. Besides the fact
that most of the networking bugs present in Windows 95 have been
fixed, the network drivers for Windows 98 SE and later are much more
robust, finally approaching the promise of "plug and play". Do
yourself a favor and upgrade.
If you have contacted us with notice that you are changing location
and/or phone number, or changing billing information on the phone line
that is associated with your DSL connection, please be aware that your
service will go down for a period of time and that you need to contact
us, your ISP, prior to making those changes. The telephone company
will not automatically move your DSL service with your change in
location, even if you are keeping the same phone number.
Here is basic information of which you need to be aware:
- There is no such thing as transfer of DSL service. If you are
moving to a new location, whether or not your phone number remains
the same, your current order must be canceled via the ordering
system for billing purposes, and service itself will be
disconnected once your line has gone down for the move. (We must
have your cancel request in writing either via e-mail or USPS. Term
commitment cancel fees may apply)
- A new order must be placed at the new location/phone number.
This can only be done once the new phone line has been activated
and the billing profile recognized by the Verizon system as clear
for a new DSL order. The time-frame for this will vary, anywhere
from a week to several weeks, depending on circumstances. Please
contact us for the most likely scenario in your case.
- If you wish to keep downtime to a minimum, overlap service if
at all possible. This can only be done by keeping service on the
current phone number at the current location, and simultaneously
ordering and activating a new phone number at the new location on
which new DSL service can ultimately be assigned a service
activation date. Again, you will need to contact us for the most
likely time-frame scenario in your situation.
- The most innocuous of changes on your
phone line may disconnect your DSL service! This includes
something as simple as changing the billing name, type of service,
billing cycle, etc on your local phone bill account for the number
that your DSL is on.
We can help you find the most expedient way through any change
process. Just give us a call!
Undoubtedly you will have more
questions. Please contact a SurfCity Networks DSL specialist for the
answers to all of your questions. We want to be your Internet access
solution. Let us help you get there!
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