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Even high-speed Internet access has its limits Aug. 20, 2000
Faster Internet access is at the top of everyone's Christmas wish list. Most of us still access the Internet via a 56k (or slower) analog modem, so the lure of high-speed access is attractive indeed. Unfortunately, some users who are fortunate enough to get high-speed Internet through cable modem or digital line (DSL) are running into some digital speed limits. One of the nation's largest cable TV operators recently began to enforce limits on its high-speed cable modem service. Cable operator Comcast recently warned subscribers to its @Home service about using too much bandwidth on its cable modem network. Specifically, this means limiting big file downloads and using high-bandwidth applications. In a message to the company's 8.2 million subscribers, the company announced a limit on both upload and download speeds. Comcast and its users are facing the fact that even on high-speed Internet services, bandwidth -- the size of the pipe that the Internet flows through -- is a limited resource. If too many users take up too much of the service's bandwidth, it means other users will have less bandwidth, which translates into slower access speeds. And access speed is the main reason users sign up for cable access. Comcast is ready to back up their policy; if users don't conserve bandwidth and adhere to usage guidelines, they can be removed from the system. Comcast and other cable operators would like to make sure their customers stay within their bandwidth limits. Fortunately, the municipally owned cable company whose cable Internet access I subscribe anticipated this, and designed its service with bandwidth use in mind. The Bardstown Cable Internet service sells subscribers access priced by the bandwidth they believe they need. The basic cable Internet access begins with 128k, and faster access speeds and greater bandwidth packages are available and priced accordingly. DSL SLOWDOWN? Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology surpasses cable Internet access speeds, and is touted as one of the answers to future of high-speed access by telephone companies. The beauty of DSL is it does not require special cables or lines. DSL service can use your everyday telephone service wiring for bring those blazingly fast Internet speeds to your computer. But a group of Texas DSL users believe their service providers, SBC Communications and its subsidiaries, are putting the brakes on their service. In a lawsuit filed recently in Texas, the users claim SBC reduced users' access speed to newsgroups and e-mail. The company denied any speed limit on e-mail, but a spokesman said the company doesn't have a guarantee of service for newsgroup access. Newsgroups are popular sites for exchanging and downloading materials like software and large graphic files. SBC has denied limiting users access. AOL LEAKS. America Online's Internet access software has never been difficult to find. You find it in magazines. You find it on airplanes. You find it in your mailbox. You find it packed with your new computer. But the nation's largest Internet provider wasn't trying to distribute copies of its new software that has found its way to the Web. The unfinished software, named Gamera after a monster in the Godzilla movies, is being designed to allow people to connect to AOL from some of the new "Web appliances." AOL is designing a "Web pad" with computer maker Gateway that will run the new software. The "Web pad" should be on the market in time for Christmas, according to AOL. The new AOL software is the first designed to run on Linux, a free operating system that is popular among computer professionals. The premature release of the software gives hackers and others a chance to dissect the software. AOL officials told Reuters the leak doesn't create a security problem. "This is a nonevent," a spokesman said. NAME GAME. A Kansas couple recently won $5,000 for naming their newborn baby after a Web site. The Internet Underground Music Archive -- known as IUMA -- offered $5,000 or free music to families who named their baby after the Web site as part of its latest publicity stunt. Four couples entered the contest, including one family in Germany, according to IUMA. The company will offer prizes to 10 babies. But the Hutchinson, Kansas couple who named their newborn Iuma is the first to collect on the $5,000 prize. IUMA hopes the contest will bring it greater name recognition. Parents of the newborn Iuma were pleased with being named a winner. "My wife liked the idea because the child's grandma said this baby would bring prosperity, and this contest could be what she was talking about," said the child's father told Reuters recently. "Plus, the kid will have a cool story when he grows up." JUNO DEAL. You'll be seeing a little more of Juno Online Services on computer desktops this year, thanks to a deal the company signed with computer maker IBM. IBM has agreed to a multi-year deal to bundle the Juno service with a number of its desktop computers. Juno, the nation's No. 3 Internet provider, offers both free, ad-supported Internet access, as well as fee-based premium services to more than 11 million subscribers. Comments and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com, or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com on the World Wide Web. | HOME | |