Linux friendly local ISP?

[David]

Bradley:

After some experience with a phone company and wiring, I think the term 
"split pair" means that the two conductors you're using aren't from the 
same twisted pair.  When wiring gets messy, it can sometimes end up that 
way, where your "tip" wire ends up coming from one "pair" and your "ring" 
wire ends up coming from a different pair.  Shouldn't be that way, but it 
happens.  You might not notice a problem with voice, but it can definitely 
take a bite out of your bandwidth.

In fact, when I moved into my 50's house in Merriam, I had a second line 
put in, and they discovered that the first line's run from the pedestal to 
the house was a "split pair".  It was using the tip from one pair and the 
tip from the other pair, apparently due to a failed "ring" wire on the 
first pair.  They had to bury a new two-pair cable to the house.

Anyhoo, your in-house wiring *could* be limiting your bandwidth, but so 
could the wiring beyond the house.  Find the "NID" on the side of your 
house (usually a grey plastic box, and sometimes inside the house).  You 
should be able to unplug a short jumper which will disconnect all the 
in-house wiring.  Drag a *known good* telephone cable from your modem to 
the jack at the NID, and see what kind of connection you get.  If it's an 
improvement, then it sounds like you could benefit from updating your house 
wiring.  And that's a whole 'nuther topic!

David

At 5/7/2002 08:16 AM -0500, Bradley Miller wrote:
>At 05:27 AM 5/7/02 -0700, you wrote:
> >ANother question.  This is a little off topic, but
> >what the heck.  Since I moved into the house I just
> >bought in Prairie Village, my modem will only connect
> >at 28.8k.  I have the old style telephone jacks that
> >are little boxes that stick out.  Is the slow modem
> >connection a result of having old telephone wires or
> >what?  The house was built in 1953 and I'm fairly sure
> >they are original.  ANy ideas?
>
>I can tell you, it's probably not the age of the house.  Do you have 2
>phone lines?  That might be the problem.  In older neighborhoods (well,
>almost any neighborhood for that matter) they will "split your pair" for a
>2nd phone line.    In other words, where you might be able to connect at
>48K over a single dial-up line, they split your voice line and it reduces
>the amount of bandwidth the line is capable of.  When I moved to the city I
>was in a house in Oak Grove, MO that was at least as old as yours or maybe
>older (late 40's?).  The telephone connection was made with insulator knobs
>from the telephone poll outside.  I could get on at 48K+ with a local ISP,
>but we only had one phone line.  I moved to new house in Blue Springs and
>lost 1/2 my speed . . . I had two phone lines installed.  DOH!!
>
>
>Bradley Miller, Programmer/webmaster
>AccessZone Design - www.accesszonedesign.com
>Blue Springs, Missouri office
>Phone: 816-228-3814             Fax: 775-254-6162 <-- NEW!!
>Toll-free: 888-872-4420 ICQ: 48555780
>
>