Vincent wrote: <<I heard that USR, Hayes, and Rockwell are coming out with a new protocol that allows 57.6k transmission speeds on regular analog phone lines.>>
Hmmm...sounds tasty! The question is this: is that 57.6 connection the same as the 33.6 connection? What I mean is: with 33.6kbd modems you usually get connections of 26.4 or 24.0, so will we be downloading at 33.6 instead of really downloading at 57.6? I think this is the most likely deal. It may not be that way, but there is only so far that you can take analogue technology over old decrepit infrastructure like your average telephone line.
I'm thinking ISDN is looking better and better almost daily. ADSL was looking nice, but it turns out not to be as good as it's supposed to be (it's rated at 9Mbit/sec download, but typically only gets about 1.2 or maybe 2.0 Mbit download and is a lot more expensive and difficult to set up for personal systems). Also, ADSL really really strains the ISP's out there....most ISP's are working off of 2-4 T1's which are rated at 1.3Mbit/sec...so basically you almost need a T1 per ADSL connection. They charge a ton for that kinda service!
ISDN is really maturing well, too. 128kbit/sec is getting more realistic, the prices for the TA's are coming down, as are the service plans in some major metro areas. in about 2-3 years, it's probably going to be the main means of connection for ISP's, if it continues to mature at this rate.
