[ale] [OT] AT&T DSL vs RoadRunner cable broadband

[krwatson at cc.gatech.edu]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Jason
> Fritcher
> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 10:45
> To: ale at ale.org
> Subject: Re: [ale] [OT] AT&T DSL vs RoadRunner cable broadband
>
> On Feb 9, 2009, at 7:46 AM, Geoffrey wrote:
> > I'm trying to understand this statement.  Whenever I've had dsl
> > service
> > with other providers, BS has always been involved because they own the
> > 'last mile.'  Back when I had Speedfactory dsl and before that when I
> > had ISDN.
> >
> > To what hardware are you referring?
>
>  From my experience, that would be the Remote Terminals that they
> won't give anyone access to. In my case, my AT&T DSL line on a Remote
> Terminal is only 2500 ft from the RT at the entrance of my
> subdivision. I get 8128/508 syncs there. If I had gone with a provider
> who provisioned through Covad, then they would have had to provision
> the line from the CO, which is 16000 ft from my house. The part I'm
> not so clear on is, can AT&T resellers resell lines terminated to a RT?
>
> --
> Jason Fritcher
> jkf at wolfnet.org
>

I think you're referring to a DSLAM (Digital subscriber line access multiplexer). Under current law the LEC (Local exchange carrier) only has to share the infrastructure at the CO (Central Office) with the CLEC (Competitive local exchange carrier). The DSLAM is not covered under this law.

It is also possible for a CLEC (like Covad) to install their own DSLAM. This is why you get such varied service offerings from DSL providers. Lets say the LEC (BellSouth, sorry AT&T now) puts in a DSLAM. Covad doesn't get access to it so they are stuck connecting to you from the CO that is 16000 feet away which limits you to IDSL whereas AT&T can get you 6Mb/s from the DSLAM. Then there are ISPs like Earthlink who sign deals with the LEC so they can can use the LEC's DSLAM and offer 6Mb/s too.

To add insult to misery when you call an ISP they will use the LEC's database to determine your distance to the CO when quoting service even though there may be a DSLAM that is close by. I had this happen to me when I checked on converting to Earthlink DSL. When I called they told me I was to far from the CO. When I got home that day I found I had received a post card from Earthlink offering 1.5Mb/s DSL. It seems the web page and the people answering the phone were using the LEC's database and while the marketing department were sending out post cards to all the people in the service area of the DSLAM.


DSLAM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dslam

LEC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_exchange_carrier

CO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_office

CLEC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clec


Welcome to the wild west of DSL,
keith


--

Keith R. Watson                        Georgia Institute of Technology
Systems Support Specialist IV          College of Computing
keith.watson at cc.gatech.edu             801 Atlantic Drive NW
(404) 385-7401                         Atlanta, GA  30332-0280