Keep in mind that the $30k+ they quoted you is their "list" price. You can usually work them and get it cheaper. I know of several companies (I can't say who) that have offered DS3's for around $9k a month. But this is usually because there is the promise of additional business in the future. Also, you may want to look into Cogent. They have 100Mbps fiber links for $3k a month. But, they don't have service in Minneapolis. What some people here have done is get a long haul OC-3 link to Chicago for $13k a month to hook up with them. $16k a month is CHEAP for 100Mbps link. They also have Gig links available for around $18k a month, but I don't know what the long haul fiber would cost you for that speed. But, you do get what you pay for... Cogent doesn't have a very redundant network right now, and the number of hops to get anywhere else on the internet from their network seems high. > -----Original Message----- > From: Marc A. Ohmann [mailto:marc at ds6.net] > Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 12:02 AM > To: tclug-list at mn-linux.org > Subject: [TCLUG] ISPs, last mile > > > When how do non-telco ISPs connect to the last mile. Do they > lease equipment at the telco or does all the last-mile > traffic get sent on a fat pipe to the ISP from the CO. I > guess I'm just wondering how its possible for anyone who > isn't a telco to be competative in the ISP market (or isn't it :-) ). > > I was recently pricing out DS1 and DS3 links from Onvoy, > Sprint, and Qwest and I was shocked at the prices. DS3s may > be 30x faster than DS1s but they are also 30x the price! > $30k - 35k/mo! I always thought that links got cheaper per > bandwidth as they went up. So if its $35k / mo for 45Mbps > how can kernel.org, slackware.com, ... afford to have > dedicated 100 and 155Mbps links when they're non-profit. If > prices remain linear someones paying $100-150k / mo! Who's > footin' the bill? > > -- > Marc A. Ohmann > Digital Solutions, Inc > http://ds6.net > marc at ds6.net > _______________________________________________ > Twin Cities Linux Users Group Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. > Paul, Minnesota > http://www.mn-linux.org > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > https://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >