Anyone have/had an ISDN line?

[StrangeRanger]

How did/do you like it? Did you have to have it installed and if so do you remember what your phone company charged to bring in the lines?
Thanks,
j

 

[So]

they still do ISDN? I thought that was like 128k down?

 

[HannibalX]

Companies still use dedicated ISDN for video conferencing.

 

[spidey07]

I think the going rate should be around 70-100 bucks/month for an ISDN BRI (128k/128k). A T-1 would be 2-300.

 

[dman]

I looked into it a long time ago. At the time I couldn't get any other kind of broadband. The ISDN Plans were very pricey though, as you had to get it through the telco and also get an ISP subscription which generally had metered access. Satellite internet was also available and had similar metered pricing (FAP) and higher latency.

Anyway, sorry, can't offer any recent reviews but interested enough to mark a spot in the thread.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: dman
I looked into it a long time ago. At the time I couldn't get any other kind of broadband. The ISDN Plans were very pricey though, as you had to get it through the telco and also get an ISP subscription which generally had metered access. Satellite internet was also available and had similar metered pricing (FAP) and higher latency.

Anyway, sorry, can't offer any recent reviews but interested enough to mark a spot in the thread.

ISDN is baseband, not broadband.

 

[phoenix79]

My parents have it and they like it quite a bit. Not certain about the pricing but I don't think it's all that expensive, just a pain in the ass to get them to do it.

 

[PepePeru]

can you leave the lights alone please?
stop flashing your fucking lights.

 

[allisolm]

Originally posted by: spidey07
I think the going rate should be around 70-100 bucks/month for an ISDN BRI (128k/128k). A T-1 would be 2-300.

In Tallahassee it's around $110 and in Panama City, FL around $117 and they do charge to install, but I don't know how much. Larger population centers are usually cheaper than that.

 

[Fritzo]

ISDN has a range of about 5 miles from the central office (more with repeaters installed, but they generally won't do those anymore). The ISDN line runs $40-$70/month depending on your telco. They have 3 channels- 2 64K channels, and one 16K channel. The 16K channel (known as the D channel) is used to maintain the ISDN signal. The other two channels can be used to transmit data. They're very low latency connections, and with compression you can hit up to 512K (your ISDN modem has to support the type of compression that is enabled on the POP you're dialing into though).

You're going to need an ISDN modem and a router (or a combo). One of the best ones I've used is the Netgear RT338. You can get them on EBay for $30 or less. Whatever modem you decide on, make sure it has POTS ports on the back of it. These ports will allow you to use either of your ISDN channels as a regular telephone line.

The information you'll need to set up an ISDN circuit:

Circuit type: In the US it's usually an NI-1 or National ISDN 1 type, but 5ESS is used in some areas.

SPIDS- these are the 2 phone numbers assigned to your ISDN circuit with the digits 0101, 011, or something similar tagged to the end.

ISP info- Username, password, and POP to dial into with your ISDN circuit for Internet access.

Generally you have to pay separately for internet access. Prices can range from $30 for limited access (maybe 300 channel hours per month) to over $100 for unlimited. It's an expensive connection, which is why it's mostly used by busiensses in areas where there's no broadband.

Fritzo - ISDN specialist

 

[James Bond]

Why do you want ISDN out of curiosity?

 

[Squisher]

I had dual ISDN

256K down, I was a player. That was 1999, I think.

I came across the ISDN modem a couple of years ago when I was cleaning out a closet and threw it in the trash.

 

[PingSpike]

I'm about to look into getting it again. I sick of waiting for broadband promises that never come. But it was like pulling teeth to even get some one at the phone company to talk about it. They DON'T want to sell you this, but they don't want to provide anything else either...WTF assholes.

All other options border on uselessness for online games.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I'm about to look into getting it again. I sick of waiting for broadband promises that never come. But it was like pulling teeth to even get some one at the phone company to talk about it. They DON'T want to sell you this, but they don't want to provide anything else either...WTF assholes.

All other options border on uselessness for online games.

ISDN is awesome for gaming to this day. It's low latency makes gaming ideal. However, do you really want to spend $100/month for a 128K connection?

 

[StrangeRanger]

Originally posted by: James Bond
Why do you want ISDN out of curiosity?

Because the only other option where I live is satellite. My neighbor had Hughes net for a while and it was expensive and sucked donkey balls. Just trying to explore all possibilities.

 

[Drako]

Originally posted by: StrangeRanger

Originally posted by: James Bond
Why do you want ISDN out of curiosity?

Because the only other option where I live is satellite. My neighbor had Hughes net for a while and it was expensive and sucked donkey balls. Just trying to explore all possibilities.

Wow, I thought most phone companies had phased out ISDN and replaced with DSL.

I had ISDN back in the 90's. When Pacbell finally offered DSL my rate went down by about 50%.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Drako

Originally posted by: StrangeRanger

Originally posted by: James Bond
Why do you want ISDN out of curiosity?

Because the only other option where I live is satellite. My neighbor had Hughes net for a while and it was expensive and sucked donkey balls. Just trying to explore all possibilities.

Wow, I thought most phone companies had phased out ISDN and replaced with DSL.

I had ISDN back in the 90's. When Pacbell finally offered DSL my rate went down by about 50%.

ISDN is still very much in use, especially for PRIs/SDN

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I'm about to look into getting it again. I sick of waiting for broadband promises that never come. But it was like pulling teeth to even get some one at the phone company to talk about it. They DON'T want to sell you this, but they don't want to provide anything else either...WTF assholes.

All other options border on uselessness for online games.

ISDN is awesome for gaming to this day. It's low latency makes gaming ideal. However, do you really want to spend $100/month for a 128K connection?

I don't exactly have any other options. I refuse to sign a 2 year contract for satellite internet that sucks ass for gaming and has a FAP that prevents you from doing any large amounts of downloading anyway. Its more or less a useless option...my dialup account is likely more reliable. Cell service has a crappy 5GB cap and I hear reports of its latency not being much better then dialup. Plus, cell service is pretty spotty at my house as is. Again, another hassle that will be suboptimal even if I got it to work.

 

[FoBoT]

see if there are any carrier pigeon ISP's in the area

http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1149.txt

Network Working Group D. Waitzman
Request for Comments: 1149 BBN STC
1 April 1990


A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers

Status of this Memo

This memo describes an experimental method for the encapsulation of
IP datagrams in avian carriers. This specification is primarily
useful in Metropolitan Area Networks. This is an experimental, not
recommended standard. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Overview and Rational

Avian carriers can provide high delay, low throughput, and low
altitude service. The connection topology is limited to a single
point-to-point path for each carrier, used with standard carriers,
but many carriers can be used without significant interference with
each other, outside of early spring. This is because of the 3D ether
space available to the carriers, in contrast to the 1D ether used by
IEEE802.3. The carriers have an intrinsic collision avoidance
system, which increases availability. Unlike some network
technologies, such as packet radio, communication is not limited to
line-of-sight distance. Connection oriented service is available in
some cities, usually based upon a central hub topology.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I'm about to look into getting it again. I sick of waiting for broadband promises that never come. But it was like pulling teeth to even get some one at the phone company to talk about it. They DON'T want to sell you this, but they don't want to provide anything else either...WTF assholes.

All other options border on uselessness for online games.

ISDN is awesome for gaming to this day. It's low latency makes gaming ideal. However, do you really want to spend $100/month for a 128K connection?

I don't exactly have any other options. I refuse to sign a 2 year contract for satellite internet that sucks ass for gaming and has a FAP that prevents you from doing any large amounts of downloading anyway. Its more or less a useless option...my dialup account is likely more reliable. Cell service has a crappy 5GB cap and I hear reports of its latency not being much better then dialup. Plus, cell service is pretty spotty at my house as is. Again, another hassle that will be suboptimal even if I got it to work.

Yeah, I deal with people like that every day. there's a lot of dead areas in the US (Texas seems to be the biggest Interent hole in the US). You sure about cell phone/wireless? They have antenna kits that can really clear up the signal in weak areas. They even have routers for cell service now.

 

[Zolty]

ISDN isn't about speed but reliability.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

ZOMG it was the uberness. I got like 14 KB/sec downloads. That compared to my AOL getting 3.9 KB/sec (if I'm lucky) was heaven. Seriously.

And then year 1999 rolled around and Comcast (TCI @Home back then) rolled out 3mbps cable.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I'm about to look into getting it again. I sick of waiting for broadband promises that never come. But it was like pulling teeth to even get some one at the phone company to talk about it. They DON'T want to sell you this, but they don't want to provide anything else either...WTF assholes.

All other options border on uselessness for online games.

ISDN is awesome for gaming to this day. It's low latency makes gaming ideal. However, do you really want to spend $100/month for a 128K connection?

I don't exactly have any other options. I refuse to sign a 2 year contract for satellite internet that sucks ass for gaming and has a FAP that prevents you from doing any large amounts of downloading anyway. Its more or less a useless option...my dialup account is likely more reliable. Cell service has a crappy 5GB cap and I hear reports of its latency not being much better then dialup. Plus, cell service is pretty spotty at my house as is. Again, another hassle that will be suboptimal even if I got it to work.

Yeah, I deal with people like that every day. there's a lot of dead areas in the US (Texas seems to be the biggest Interent hole in the US). You sure about cell phone/wireless? They have antenna kits that can really clear up the signal in weak areas. They even have routers for cell service now.

Yeah, I'm thinking of taking a more serious look at cell setups. I suppose they have 30 trials so it can't hurt. I'd go for ISDN, but its a hassle to get setup. Failpoint claims they will have DSL by 2010, although they've got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel so holding my breath on them seems like a fools errand. But I'd be pissed if I jumped through all the hoops and then they rolled out cheap DSL 6 months later.

 

[Rubycon]

I lost my SPID again. Can someone tell me if ISDN is still ISDN?

It Still Does Nothing. :laugh: