Alaska and Internet Access

(updated 4/12/1999)

ATU also offers Internet Access with Long Distance!

• This (Free Modem) promotion is going on until April 15th, tax day.
• 3COM Impact IQ has an average cost of $199.00
• Lowest plan cost is 49.95 per month for 128k with a CIR of 16k
• The long distance plan is $0.14 per minute in/out of state 24x7 with an additional charge of 3.95 per month.
• You will be connected to Internet Alaska full-time and will not have the ability to do voice calls at the same time.
• There may be a cost to change long distance carriers but ATU may be able to credit you on the next bill.
• There is the ability to go with another IDSL modem solution and not get the long distance through ATU but the modem will cost you and the 3.95 per month won't apply.
• Cisco 766 and FlowPoint 144 are two products that offer router capabilities through this IDSL line. Internet Alaska can provide these items at a cost.

Internet Alaska requires that you pay the first two months, $99.90, up front and that will be credited back toward your account.

I did some calculating on my own and you'll find this interesting.

• 115.2kbps (kilo-bits per second) is actually 14.4kps (kilo-bytes per second)
• 128kbps is actually 16kps
• 230.4kbps is actually 28.8kps

You won't actually be able to pull more that 115.2kbps at a time due to the standard serial port having a limitation set by the 16550 UART chip. What you can do is get another serial port with high speed capability which can support speeds up to 230.4kbps. This will allow you to pull the full 128kbps. Boca makes a good card called the Turbo IO-650.

One thing mentioned was that two other IDSL lines could be shared with yours. Another words, three IDSL lines would share the same switch effectively limiting your bandwidth. This hinges on people in your area close to you having the same service as well as the chance that they be pushing or pulling at the same time. I find this acceptable for now given the service is new and only true geeks or game players will want the service and accept the costs.

3COM's modem did support voice and data at the same time but only with ISDN. Since the box is flashed to work as IDSL it can only work in data mode, no voice even though the analog ports are there for you to jack in to. Another tidbit about the flash upgrade is that it melds the two ISDN 64k lines together to get you that 128k IDSL pipe.

One bone of contention that bothers me is that you are forced to go through one provider for Internet access since there are no others offering this service. Internet Alaska currently has a 9:1 ratio of users to modems. They only have 14 T1's to handing approximately 5000 modems. If all modem users are connected and pulling or pushing at the same time you will get all of 542 bytes throughput. Now given this will not be the case most of the time you might be able to get as high as 3.5k in off peak times keeping in mind this is for an analog 56k line. One thing not mentioned in the bandwidth calcs is any ISDN, IDSL, and direct connects they may have already that help to eat that bandwidth. All of this will play a factor in how fast you will be able to travel through your 128k pipe. I have pulled steadily at about 11.5k per second with my pipe set at 115.2kbps, a limitation because of my UART chip.

Currently I have two phone lines, as you can guess one for talking the other for modeming. Going with this service will have these costs; $3.95 per month surcharge for ATU's long distance plan, and $49.95 for the Internet Alaska account (payable to IA). This is just $16's shy of GCI's cable modem service without any special offers. After the first year is through you can switch to a different long distance plan or another provider. Also, there is no hidden cost, the $49.95 pays for the Internet Alaska and the IDSL service.

The service can take up to 30 days to finish getting connected. The phone line change from analog to IDSL is fairly easy and takes about four days. Unfortunately the setting up of the connection with Internet Alaska takes the longest with a laundry list of details to follow. No explanation why but I conclude it most likely is because they are swamped with regular service calls as well.

All in all I find this a good deal so far and this may be my best bet for connectivity. A better solution is needed anyway since most service providers cannot get their act together but I will leave that for another email if anyone is interested.

If I've missed anything, there are two people at ATU Long Distance who were very helpful in getting the answers to my questions; Kathy 276-5458 and Shawn 276-5317.

(updated 4/12/1999)

GCI offers Free Internet Access with Long Distance!

Here are a few items to know:

• $0.14 per minute charge for "in state" calls and $0.10 per minute charge for "out of state" calls. (International rates are NOT INCLUDED in the program).
• There's a $50.00 setup charge!
• Access account good in primary service location only.
• Only one e-mail (additional e-mails have a per month charge).
• Free e-mail and web-based support, and access to pre-recorded system status information via telephone. Actual "technical support" is $14.95 per call!
• 5MB webspace.

Also, GCI is now offering cable modem access with the plan.  Cost is 39.99 (versus $54.99 without).  These prices DO NOT include cable TV fees.

Here are a few items to know:

• You recieve a Com21 ComPORT cable modem. This will require the purchase of a network card to use with you computer system.
• The cable modem fee is included.
• The on site setup is $199.00!  If you feel you are technically savvy, you can get the equipment and instruction book for $99.00 and do it yourself.
• Still only one e-mail (additional e-mails have a per month charge).
• Any additional data over the normal useage (5BG for the regular plan) is surcharged to $20.00 per GB.  At the time of this writing, we did not recieve a definitave answer if internal network traffic counted.
• Dynamic IP (static IPs are extra).
• Network browsing is turned on by default. You must lock out your system manually from other cable modem users.
• 5MB Webspace

GCI proports speeds of 256 Kbps incoming and 64Kbps outgoing (256/64Kbps) for the regular accounts, with businesses being able to recieve faster access speeds.  However, the total amount of bandwidth on the cable modem system is currently 30Mbps. This bandwidth is shared by all cable modem users. With the limited amount of users on their system, you'll recieve excellent access speeds, however, as more users come online - this will change.

They also mention that cable modems are "24x7" access.  This is a misnomer.  You must still "connect" to the network to access the internet.  Your connection time is quicker because you are always connected to your local network, but if there is no useage on your end - the network will "time you off."