[wplug] Pittsburgh DSL questions

[Drew from Zhrodague]

> > According to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coax_cable#Timeline, 
> > coax
> > cable was patented in 1884 :)
> 
> I would also point out that old technology needn't be replaced just 
> because it is old.  The bicycle is 1800's technology as well, and is 
> still more practical than something super-modern like the segway.   To 
> paraphrase Neil Postman, the question to ask with any new and 
> revolutionary technology is "what is the problem to which this is the 
> solution".  Cable internet is great for downloading mail and web 
> access.  That's what I've got right now, download speeds are terrific.  
> Upload speeds are rather poor but usually irrelevant.  For a while I 
> was having constant problems with outages but the third time they reran 
> the cable from the street seems to have finally fixed it (I hope).

	I'll not disagres with you guys there. I'd totally prefer fiber 
to the home (or office) but this is beyond the reach of normal people. 
Coax has a much higher ability to carry data than our unshielded untwisted 
pair.

	After working for Pittsburgh OnLine and Stargate durring the 
28.8Kbps+ days, I've learned that something *other* than telephone 
networking is needed for throughput here in this City. This is why I 
started Pittsburgh's Wireless Community, http://www.pghwireless.com, in 
the hopes that other people in the area would be so fed-up with such high 
charges for low bandwidth, and be interested in an alternative.


> I'm not sure who the predominant/only cable internet provider is for 
> Pittsburgh as I have not checked into cable much, but if it is Comcast 
> then you also have to deal with the fact that just about every useful 
> port is blocked.

	Hm, I dunno. I just did a port-scan to my box at home (via comcast
residential), and found 30 (!!!) ports opened. Prolly time to tweak my
iptables script!


-- 

Drew from Zhrodague		http://www.WiFiMaps.com
drew at zhrodague.net		Location Based WiFi