[lug] Big Brother taking over!

[Ryan Kirkpatrick]

On Mon, 30 Apr 2001, Holshouser, David wrote:

> checkout www.sprintbroadband.com
> It is a RadioFrequency (2.4ghz range, is that still considered RF?) wireless
> technology that is available throughout the denver metro++ area that costs
> (after pricey setup fees) $45/mo.

	I have had this service since late Jan, so I will throw my two
cents in on my experience with it.

> I believe the garaunteed bandwidth is something like 256kbs up and 512kbs
> down (with download ranging up to 5mbs). I've heard the variation comes from
> their overall bandwidth usage. 

	My experience has been about 15-20kByte/sec upstream on
average while downstream varies between 15kByte/sec to 80kByte/sec on
average, though on downloading large files from fast sites I have seen
transfer rates as high as 300kByte/sec+ !!!
	Overall, it is quite good with the worst time being in the
evenings, and even then it sure beats an analog modem. :) As for the
concern about latency, it is not that bad. True, it would probably not be
very compatible with gaming, but for SSH logins to remote machines
(hosted on a DSL link) it is very usable. Often times the lag is only
barely noticeable. For some hard numbers, ping times to a local server (in
Broomfield) is on average about 210 ms, with minimum at 160ms and max at
320ms.
	Now, if you want to see bad latency, try using ssh over a cellular
data connection! Ping times average around 1sec! :(

> They offer commercial services as well but the website doesn't offer much
> explanation about what that gives you.

	I looked at their commercial services, but opted for the
residential since that is all I really need. My web/mail server is offsite
at work, and all I have running locally is SSH on my firewall/masq
box. Yea, their TOS is a slight bit draconian but basically it boils down
to if you don't abuse the your connection (i.e. use lots of bandwidth),
then they could care less what you do. Fine for a home connection, though
I wouldn't recommend it for any type of business venture (SDSL is much
better for that).

	One other point I have heard brought up in regard to the service
is that if it rains or snows, your connection goes down. That is not true,
at least from my experience. During some of the heaviest snow storms since
Jan, when one could not see a half mile, if even that, the connection
worked fine and at full speed. They say trees (w/leaves) will cause a
problem, and of course hills as well.
	Overall, I am quite happy with it, and would recommend it as a
viable alternative for residential DSL, provided you have line of sight 
of course. My two cents.

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|   "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."                    |
|                                            --- Philippians 1:21 (KJV)   |
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|   Ryan Kirkpatrick  |  Boulder, Colorado  |  http://www.rkirkpat.net/   |
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