Need information on how a dial-up ISP operates

[Leros]

I'm doing a comparison between methods to provide dial-up access to a certain device.
I need some information about a how a dial-up ISP works as well as the equipment and costs associated with it. My googling didn't get me very far.

 

[ScottMac]

If you're just looking for remote control, a PC and modem would work just fine.

Otherwise, get whatever chunk of fractional T1 you need, and nearly any Cisco {or anyone elses} router that has an async serial port and whatever interface you need to the Internet.

More details would really be a Good Thing. As presented, you're looking at somewhere between $100 and $5-10,000.00.

Thanks

 

[Leros]

This is just for a hypothetical device for a design class. The product is very similar to the Presto device.

The device occasionally dials in to our servers, downloads new mail and sends outgoing mail. I want to use dial up connectivity.

I've looked at services from wholesale ISPs, where they handle the dialup part then pipe the traffic over to us. This is the way to go for sure, but I would like to understand what it would take for us to handle the connectivity ourselves just so I can have a complete comparison.

So, I'm going to have thousands of distributed devices, that will occasionally need to dial in to our servers. Am I going to need thousands of modems and lines, or is there some kind of single line that I can send over to an exchange? I have no idea how this works.

 

[spidey07]

A single dial sever is all you need - a physical server or network device. You would then get a T1 or fractional T1 where each of the 24 channels is a modem call. The dial server then typically has digital modems internally. There was a time when you could get this functionality on a PC card but they are still pricey. Cisco's 5300 line is an example a dial server. The digital modem and digital phone line (T1) are required for 56k.

How many modems you need simultaneously accepting calls is all you need to specify the correct size of dial server.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: spidey07
A single dial sever is all you need - a physical server or network device. You would then get a T1 or fractional T1 where each of the 24 channels is a modem call. The dial server then typically has digital modems internally. There was a time when you could get this functionality on a PC card but they are still pricey. Cisco's 5300 line is an example a dial server. The digital modem and digital phone line (T1) are required for 56k.

How many modems you need simultaneously accepting calls is all you need to specify the correct size of dial server.

Excellent. The term "dial server" and the example of Cisco's 5300 should set me on the right course. Thanks.

 

[drebo]

Depending on the scale you need, a Windows server box with RRAS would work, too. Scalability might be an issue, however.

On the other hand, if your geographic market area and total sales demand it, you could contract out with something like Globalpops. We use them for nationwide dialup access and they provide all the access numbers and bill us per port. If you need that much coverage, it would be far cheaper to contract out with them than to maintain your own infrastructure. Although, with things like "out of rate" DIDs and such, it's becoming easier and cheaper.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: drebo
Depending on the scale you need, a Windows server box with RRAS would work, too. Scalability might be an issue, however.

On the other hand, if your geographic market area and total sales demand it, you could contract out with something like Globalpops. We use them for nationwide dialup access and they provide all the access numbers and bill us per port. If you need that much coverage, it would be far cheaper to contract out with them than to maintain your own infrastructure. Although, with things like "out of rate" DIDs and such, it's becoming easier and cheaper.

I figured it would be cheaper just to contract out the access. I've seen a few wholesale ISPs who offer some pretty good rates. I'm only looking at the cost for our own infrastructure just so I can have a full comparison.

 

[spidey07]

If this is for homework you must take into consideration economies of scale.

Again - it all comes down to how many calls you need and the per minute rate of those calls. 800 dial is freaking cheap.

For the most part it is never cheaper to do it yourself.

 

[Leros]

I'm assuming we have thousands of users. Although they only need to dial in occasionally. I can made better assumptions later, but making stupid assumptions: 10,000 users dialing in once a day for 5 minutes each. That is 288 calls per line per day, with 35 lines needed.

So a T1 can handle 24 modem calls? So in this case, I would need two dial servers and two T1s?

 

[Leros]

Bump. Can somebody answer my last question? Basically I need some kind of figure for cost per X number of connections.

 

[drebo]

A DS-1 (24 channel PRI) can support 23 B-channels. The 24th channel is used for call information and timing.

Also, consider that you're not going to be able to coordinate 10,000 users with that level of accuracy. A single dial server can have more than one T1, also.