Fast Internet Access. What a subject. When our esteemed newsletter editor William LaMartin asked me to write an article about cable modem access and asynchronous data subscriber line (ADSL) access to the Internet, I figured it would be a simple either-or proposition. After all, several years ago I was a beta tester for the Roadrunner cable modem service when it was rolled out in South Tampa. And I've now been using Roadrunner's service for several years on a daily basis.

Then came DSL. Recently I became one of the first customers to sign up for GTE's new lower-priced "DSL access service," also in South Tampa, at my office.

So now I use Roadrunner when I'm at home on a Pentium running at 233 MHz with 64 megs of RAM; and at the office I use GTE's DSL access service on a Pentium II running at 433 MHz with 128 megs of RAM. Does the faster and newer machine at work speed up my daily Internet activities? Not really. The speed with which you access the Internet is primarily a function of your "bandwidth" (that is, the speed or "broadness" of the "pipe" you have connecting you to the Internet, which in turn is a function mainly of what kind of access service you use).

Look at it this way. If you have an Internet connection giving you high bandwidth (that is, a big, "wide" pipe), you'll be zipping along on the Internet whether you're on a Pentium 133 or a hotrod running at 700 MHz. Conversely, if you have a low bandwidth connection, then your Internet experience is going to crawl regardless of whether you're running a slow machine or a speedster. However, your ultimate Internet experience is also affected by the machine you're using, particularly with respect to your PC bus and video display.

Got all that? So cable modem Internet access and DSL Internet access are known as "broadband connections." And the traditional dialup modem connections---which started at 1200 baud some years ago and successively moved up through fairly predictable increments to 2400, then 9600, then 14,400, then 28,800, and finally, today's standard, 56,600 BPS (bits per second)---might be called "narrowband," although you never hear at 56.6 connection referred to quite that way.

Incidentally, the original measure of throughput was "baud," meaning roughly (very roughly) "characters per second" (one character in the "old days" generally consisting of one 8-bit instruction; today we're all using 32-bit chips and operating systems, with 64-bit chips and the 64-bit operating system, Windows NT, soon to appear). Somewhere along the line the measure of modem throughput got changed from "baud" to the current standard, "bits per second" or "BPS." Thus, today's standard 56.6 KBPS modem stands for a throughput of 56.6 kilobits per second, or 56,600 bits per second. (As with every other subject in the world, you can find an excellent primer on modems and modem technology on the Internet, in this case provided by the University of Chicago Campus Computer Stores, at http://www-desktop.uchicago.edu/store/technotes/misc/Modems.html.)

Which brings us back to today's Internet reality. First reality: When it comes to Internet access, dialup modems are dead, or soon will be. They are being replaced by various sorts of broadband access, starting with cable modems and DSL service. Second reality: The ultimate struggle over Internet access won't be fought out between DSL service and cable access, but rather will be fought out among four contenders...but more about that later.

What about today's choice between Roadrunner's cable modem and GTE's DSL service?

First cable modem access, because it's been available longer. In Hillsborough County cable Internet access is a service of Time Warner Cable, and is available virtually everywhere in the county. It is an adjunct to cable TV service and runs over the same cable network. Cost is $39.95 for current Time Warner cable TV subscribers for non-business service, and $49.95 for non-cable subscribers. Then there's a one-time installation fee of $99.95 for desktop PC's and $149.95 for laptops. (Roadrunner sends a tech out to your location to install a cable modem and get you up and running.) For business use, Roadrunner charges $79.95 per month, with a one-time installation charge of $149.95.

Speed? Using cable modem access to the Internet is a whole new experience, as anyone can tell you who's tried it. Access speeds are measured by "downstream" and "upstream" data speeds. Downstream is the important measure, as that tells you how fast Internet text and pictures are downloaded or "painted" onto your computer screen. Actually, "painted" isn't a good term for broadband access, because the images don't slowly scan onto the screen, they just "pop up."

"Upstream" measures of speed have to do with how fast your own instructions, from your browser to the Internet, are transmitted. Thus, upstream bandwidth is concerned mainly with mouse clicks and file requests you do.

Roadrunner advertises its downstream speed of "up to 27 MBPS over the network, but the device with the slowest throughput along this path determines the effective speed. Typically, this is the PC bus and/or video display." Upstream speeds are advertised as ranging from one to three megabits per second.

Now. How does all this comport with reality? On the one hand, I can't really say, as I don't have the capabilities of measuring upstream and downstream throughput independently of my own machine. But I can give you anecdotal evidence. And that is that Roadrunner is terrifically faster in downloads than any modem connection I've ever experienced, yet much slower than the advertised "maximum speeds." In downloading files (after all, that's the kind of activity that ties up our machines the most, for the longest periods of time, right?), I have on rare occasions had my computer tell me that I was downloading data at the rate of up to 150 kilobits per second. When compared with the theoretical 27 megabits per second, that doesn't seem all that fast. But trust me, it is.

I have also been told by my computer geek friends that what my Netscape software says is my download speed may not be, and that the only way to get a really accurate measure of downstream throughput is by downloading a file of a known size, and measuring the download time with a stopwatch. That I haven't done. And the 150 kilobits per second mentioned above is a relative surprise. More often Roadrunner gives me reported download speeds in the range of 20 Kbps to 50 Kbps...still blazingly fast compared to what is possible on a dialup modem (usually in the range of 3 to 7 Kbps was what I experienced on my 33.6 Kbps dialup modem when I was using it).

All of the above means that really large files can be downloaded off the Internet in just a few minutes. The largest Netscape Communicator install, for instance, takes less than five minutes to download.

A few technical caveats need to be mentioned here also. Much has been made of the fact that the design and structure of cable networks is "shared," and as more users log on at the same time, network performance is degraded. Here's what Roadrunner says about it: "Data bandwidth is shared from the neighborhood node to users in individual homes, so performance may vary depending on how many customers are actively using the system at any given time. The system has been designed to offer worst-case bandwidth exceeding that of ISDN service (which stands for Integrated Services Digital Network), and that worst case assumes continuous, maximal usage by every Roadrunner user in a neighborhood, simultaneously."

Translation: You get better performance from the cable modem network at 5:00 a.m. than at 5:00 p.m. Nevertheless, when you have a worst-case designed speed in excess of ISDN (offered by GTE at a designed speed of 128 Kbps which is itself being supplanted by the much faster ADSL service), you're still flying, even in the worst-case situation.

Let's talk about ADSL service now. Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line service is the fastest Internet access service offered by GTE, the telephone service-provider for our area. They also offer dialup access, at 56.6 Kbps, and ISDN service at 128 KBPS. With the recent rollout of more reasonable pricing of DSL service---which I would hope will inevitably fall over time-- -traditional dialup access and ISDN service seem to be fading.

And there's the bandwidth. DSL Internet access, according to GTE, offers downstream speeds of from 256 KBPS to 1.544 MBPS. Compare that with 56.6 KBPS and we find that the slowest DSL connection is almost five times faster than your normal dialup modem...and potentially nearly 30 times faster.

How does DSL work? Basically, it takes the "twisted-pair" technology---the two small copper wires that are twisted together and which serve us all as telephone lines---and applies "a three-way channel data delivery system." Pretty snazzy technology, when you think that just recently everyone was talking about how the phone companies were "trapped in a copper cage" and would have to massively re-deploy fiber optic cable (yes in the long-term, no in the here and now).

According to GTE, the three-way channel data delivery system mentioned above operates like this: "One channel transmits voice services, so normal phone usage can continue regardless of whether a user is connected to the Internet. A second channel can transmit a massive downstream of up to 1.544 MBPS, and a third bi-directional channel allows upstream of up to 768 KBPS." Furthermore, per GTE, "DSL Internet access also gives the consumer a constant connection at a click of an icon, eliminating the time spent waiting for call set-up and busy signals."

The first question I had when I read the above information was "How do they do that?" It has to do with frequency bands. Again, GTE: "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 new DSL modems operate at frequencies above the voice channel from 100 kHz to 1.1 Megahertz, POTS (plain old telephone service) and DSL data service can operate concurrently. By using the same telephone line, there's no need to get a new telephone number to use your DSL service."

That means you save on having to have a second telephone line for your computer. However, unlike cable modem access, you still have to have an ISP (Internet Access Provider; in the case of cable modem service, the cable company itself is the access provider).

Up until recently GTE insisted on pricing its DSL service like a monopoly. The result was that cable access beat their pants off for the past several years. However, someone at GTE finally got through to the old monopoly-pricing-heads, and DSL service has now fallen to a roughly comparable range with cable access. GTE has rolled out various "service packages" referred to by the names of metals: Bronze Plus, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Platinum Plus, in ascending order in terms of speed. Prices for those services range from $32.50 per month up to $230 per month

But remember, you also have to pay for an ISP when you use DSL service. GTE is offering a pretty attractive ISP package with unlimited access for as low as $14.95 per month. When combined with the cheapest DSL access (the one I chose, of course), then the monthly charge comes out to $49.95, which is the same as cable access for those who don't have existing television cable subscriptions.

DSL setup charges? Yes, they're there: a one-time charge of $150 if you provide your own network interface card (that is, a usable network card), and $200 if GTE provides the network card. And the tech who sets you up will wire your telephone system up with a "frequency splitter"; from that little box, one plug goes to your telephone, and the other heads for your computer.

There's a further hitch on DSL service also: Your computer has to be within a certain distance from a telephone company switching station, or the technology won't work. The distance is about 16,000 feet, I'm told.

So what's the bottom line in terms of prices? You can compare the prices listed above. Further information on both DSL service and cable modem access can be obtained on the Internet by going to: http://www.gte.net/pands/residential/dsl.html (as to DSL service), or http://www.tampabay.rr.com (as to cable modem access service).

What's the bottom line in terms of speeds? Well, the "designed" speeds are all outlined above, with the Hillsborough County Roadrunner access advertising up to 10 MBPS on a typical Pentium machine (there's a designed maximum speed of 27 MBPS and a worst-case scenario, shared-network speed of 128 KBPS). GTE's DSL service, on the other hand, advertises anywhere from 256 KBPS up to 1.5 MBPS upstream.

So you'd think that cable modem access is clearly a faster mode of accessing the Internet, right? I'd have to say wrong, given my experience with both services. In fact, I'd have to say the quality of the Internet experience, in terms of speed, is roughly the same, as far as I can tell. Part of the reason for that is doubtless that once you get into the higher speeds of accessing the Internet, incremental increases or decreases in speed aren't noticeable. I mean, you hit a key, a picture pops up. Who can tell if it pops up in 2.4 seconds or 2.3 seconds, you know?

My personal favorite? You had to ask. Well...I'd have to say...ummmm...hmmmmm...well, uh...ahhhh...the final answer is...neither. I must say that I like them both. Anyone who is considering broadband access---and once you experience it, you'll be through with dial-up modem access in the long run---has to look at the options available. You may not be close enough to a telephone switching station for broadband DSL service. Time-Warner's Roadrunner cable modem access service may not be available in your area. Check them both out. And then if you find you have the terrible situation where both services are available, check out the information at the above web pages, and talk to other users of the broadband services. In the end, you really can't go wrong.

Afterword: You may have noticed that I mentioned in the above article that "The ultimate struggle over Internet access won't be fought out between DSL service and cable access, but rather will be fought out among four contenders...but more about that later." Well, this article spun out of control in terms of length, and I never did have a chance to get to that issue, which is kind of futuristic. However, the future seems to be rushing upon us with great speed. If there's any demand, and you want to hear about it, I'll write another article about that area. Otherwise, I'm a curmudgeon, leave me alone. u