[ale] alternative to dial-up

[Kenneth W Cochran]

>Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 08:43:03 -0500 (EST)
>From: Bjorn Dittmer-Roche <dittmeb at mail.rockefeller.edu>
>To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
>Subject: Re: [ale] alternative to dial-up
>
>On Wed, 10 Dec 2003, Ronald Chmara wrote:
>
>> On Dec 9, 2003, at 10:57 AM, Preston Boyington wrote:
>>>i have recently moved to a rural area and am having trouble with my internet
>>>connection.  actually it is my telephone service as a whole, someone's
>>>electric fence is "bleeding" into my line.  the consistant "hummmm pop,
>>>hummmm pop, hummmm pop" is allowing me to connect at a blistering 21600 on a
>>>good night.  needless to say, i am looking at a different way to connect for
>>>my internet connection.  cable and dsl are (according to official sources) 5
>>>years away, at best.
>>>the telephone company (CenturyTel) says they are uninterested in running a
>>>new line or tracing the problem, so i am stuck as they are the only service
>>>in the area.
>>>has anyone used DirecWav or some other similar service?  i plan on looking
>>>at "dslreports" later today, but was curious if anyone had a suggestion.
>>>
>>
>> Well, it might be costly, but if you can get a digital cellular signal
>> (PCS or whatnot), you could ride on top of that (useless if you're so
>> rural that even cellular doesn't work). You could order a whole ton of
>> pairs to your house (say, 24 or so...), and then cancel the service
>> (for 24 pairs, they might be more willing to get a decent line out to
>> you, or maybe at least they'd run *some* clean copper). You could also
>
>if the interfearance is induced by electro-magnetic waves from the fence I
>would think it would be all or nothing.
>
>> figure out your physical cable run, and either fix it yourself, or
>> eliminate the interference. I guess if you were feeling *really*
>
>But DON'T tell the phone company that's what you're doing, since most of
>what you'd be mucking with is technically their line.
>
>> ambitious, you could turn into a rural ISP, and buy decent trunks...
>>
>Definately check out DSL reports -- there may be other options.
>
>	bjorn

Well, I'm probably very off-base, but it sounds to me like
your 1st issue is with your local loop provider.  It is my
understanding that in the US, a voice telco provider is
required (by law? FCC regs? PUC regs?) to provide a signal
of a certain quantifiable quality (frequency response, s/n
ratio, signal level, etc.) to the end user for *voice*
service.  *Data* service(s) are (supposedly) exempt from
these regs.  *But*, under the laws/regs, *fax* service
counts as voice.  If the phone company won't fix your
signal, you could, if really necessary, pursue this with
whatever regulatory bodies they answer to.

That being said, if your phone lines are being interfered
with externally (i.e. from an external signal source such
as a fence charger), then that is illegal & can be shut down.

As usual, I might be quite wrong; maybe someone with (much) more
telco experience than I can answer more properly/correctly.

-kc