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Re: [TCLUG:868] DSL in the Pioneer Press



He MIGHT be OK, I mean, the computers are networked so it is really just
one connection: after all, if you have an ordinary old dialup connection
your ISP doens't care how many people there are in your house using it,
2, 5, 20, whatever -- and you pay a penalty in that you lose performance
for every person using it if they're using it at the same time (thinking
of a house full of networked computers here). 

The same would hold true for a DSL connection, but it probably wouldn't
be enough to notice with just 2 households using it (except when one of
them is doing a major download).

Though I could certainly see USWest or whoever writing a clause
addressing (and prohibiting) such use in subscription agreements in the
future, since these connections are fast enough (and expensive enough)
that you could see all sorts of little neighborhood mini-networks
hooking their houses together like this.  Think about it: if you pay,
say, $20/mo now for 56K and DSL is 6-10x as fast, you could hook 4-5
houses together and still get superior performance at a fraction of your
former internet cost ($40/mo split 4 or 5 ways = 
< $10/mo!).  Would the DSL ISP's be willing to stomach that for long?

Paul

Tim Wilson wrote:
> 
> The Tech section of the Pioneer Press compares cable modems and DSL 
> In the article about DSL, the reporter talks about this guy who has 
> a network in his house and expanded it to two of his neighbors 
> for gaming, I suppose). Here's the part I found humorous.
> 
> "Vervair (the guy with the network) and his neighbor no longer need
> separate $35-a-month phone lines for analog-modem access now that 
> share on $40-a-month MegaBit connection via a DSL modem that plugs 
> into their LAN hub."
> 
> Did this guy just get "outed" by the Pioneer Press? Would U.S. West
> approve of sharing one DSL line between households? If not, I'd be 
> POed at the reporter. (Of course, describing it to the reporter in 
> first place wasn't exactly a stroke of genius.)
>