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Wow, I'm still surprised about this. In Canada we only have 3 real nation-wide wireless companies with a 4th coming soon. There is 1 GSM (the new one is supposed to be GSM) and the other 2 are CDMA. The two CDMA providers (Bell and Telus) just announced they are switching their entire network to GSM/HSPA by 2012:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2...telus-gsm.html
I wonder if this is a sign that Sprint and the other CDMA shops in the US will jump ship as well?
From what I am told by folks in the industry/infrastructure directly is the push to 3G (3rd Gen), which is GSM. North America is very lacking (got lazy) on the digital side of things. There is more fibre in the ground than needed, but none of it is in use. FINALLY, after 16 years, that appears to be about to change. About time we get VDSL, VDSL2, 3G Cellular, etc..... and catch up with the rest of the world!!!
(So much for being #1 at one time... i grew up with the now older/obsolete telco systems (dms, ess, hook, etc)). Perhaps our cell and home phones will FINALLY become ONE if we opt for that service.
C.
Possibly silly question, but if our cell and home phones start using the same number, how do we call someone at our house? Would there be some sort of dedicated button?:umm:Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck
Not a silly question, maybe it will be like an extension, maybe not..Quote:
Originally Posted by jasong
I can't actually see how this would work to be honest or maybe it would be an extra digit
like 555 5555-555 then 0 for the phone, 1 for your cell, 2 for VoIP phone / fax / other service.
I wish we had all the fibre the US has we'd have a decent internet service and we'd all be running ADSL2+ (up to 24mbit) instead of plain ADSL+ (up to 8mbit) and that would be speed both ways not just that download and 384/768 kbit up.
I know the scandianvians are all fibre to the home, mate is in Norway he annoys me constantly with his 10mbit connection + phone + TV package...
Yeah US and the UK are behind the rest and we bloody invented half of it...
TYPICAL!
Gang,
First, I have ADSL2+ (or VDSL2)+ (25 Mbit), clocking as 28.3 +/- (sync) here. I recently learned that when i had to get the new modem upgrade as I live less than 1KM from the DSLAM (I am on a non-spliced fibre from DSLAM -> Demux). They give us a bit extra to compensate for PPPoA (Point-To-Point Over ATM). The plan is to clock us a bit higher, but some switching equipment is not up to speed yet. When it comes, the 'upgrade' will occur automatic. The 'PROVISIONING' (service you see) is the difference.
I have to learn more about VDSL2 (Sweden) system as it is even faster.
EDIT: (FOUND IT! : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDSL2 )
The 10 Mbit rates can be clocked (sync) up @ 12.233 Mbit/sec depending on distance from the switch and the provider. Anyone with that service in the US will see about 1.2 MBytes/sec on a download from a good server like a giganews server if they have a clean 12.223 sync rate. (WHICH IS A SYNCHRONOUS performance rate.) Ignore the 'A'DSL label. You are sync PERIOD. The 'A', in my experience, simply means you do NOT have to wait for a full packet of data before it's transmitted. Your DSL modems will tell you a LOT about ALL that. Look for the attenuation/sync/other tech data about the connection ) on the internal menus/status pages (IPV4 = 10.0.0.138 for many) and modem model #. Example: a Thomson 5x6 means that a 516 is a single port and a 546 is a 4 port. Hope that helps.
Some providers provide you a 10Mbit sync rate and let you suffer the overhead and then provision you at strange speeds like 768/256. 768/80 is a common (even cable) speed around here. (10 Mbit sync will give you around 800 KB/sec.... look at the old theoretical vs practical 10Mb ethernet specs)
There will be a lot of changes when the new cables being put in for the ATSC (digitial TV OTA) change over and the US will see, effective Feb 2009 when NTSC OTA (Over the air) is discontinued. That is why the fuss about a 'converter box' US residents see. Cable Internet runs as (IIRC...) 15-25 Mhz on the wire so as not to interfere with standard signals. 10 Mbit cable runs around 12-15.
As to the question of house vs cell vs fax...... there are two types of thinking. 1) auto roll over to your cell # or 2) simply auto roll to your cell KEEPING your home number forwarded to the cell. I DO NOT KNOW yet which is the default. I am trying to learn from the guys who run the local switch here. Some know and aren't permitted to say, others simply don't know.
My Cell has been GSM since 1999 (Voicestream, now T-mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekomm)
Regarding the 'auto rollover', the classic example we all do is to be on the house wireless and get in the car, losing signal a few KM down the road. That will stop. That is the transition point to cellular-mode. In the reverse situation... a Cell call can be routed to your home wireless when you are within range or stay on the handset.
As for me personally, on home or cell #, I have auto fax detection (digital vs voice) call and keep home & cell (car & handset) separate. Digital (or data) calls get routed based on what is in the home. Since my DSL is always on, any digital call to my cellular stays with the phone and if plugged into the laptop, rings in to it. Fax is stored in the phone and provided as a 'msg' (much like picture msg) . Obviously these can be transfered via IR, Bluetooth or USB (most common) to your PC on demand. My selection has been to keep house and cell seperate and programming the CELL to forward fax calls back home to the fax line if busy.
Please do keep in mind the 3rd generation (aka '3G') phones will have more features as well as the 2100 Mhz band assigned to them. Most of us now have 3G phones, but have "2.5G" service.... we have faster data calls outbound, cleaner voice, but only have access to the existing 4 frequency bands (based on carrier). As equipment upgrades complete, more of us will simply 'switch over' from 2.5 -> 3G natively. The phone is already awaiting an OTA (Over The Air) signal from the tower to start using that 5th band. Many locations in the US have full 3G service already. It is local 'core' and tower based limitation only. Your cellular or telco ISP can tell you when the schedule is and what your options are.
As for Canada, I will learn all I can and forward it here ASAP.
C
PS: I do have "Fiber to the curb" (home) as it is called. There is only copper inside the home (4 wire) and from the fiber -> copper Mux/Demux unit. That unit is 20 ft from the house. The distance from the DSLAM to the CO (at the company office) is about 5 miles (8? km).
Here's a link.... and in spite of it showing ADSL2+ @ 15, we as a private LEC have more. (correction: Called the telco and I'm part of the 25Mbit pilot/pre-rollout program)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adsl2
It shows the compatibility requirements and specs so you can inquire as an educated consumer and not accept some BS from a sales pitch.
I like my POTS line. I don't need anything fancy at home or away and if I didn't have a cell phone for work, I wouldn't even have one.
Only reason the wifey has one is because... well... she's the wifey and even that is just a simple TracFone. ;)
-Jeff
Yeah Jeff what is it with "girls" and the need to be in constant communication with someone....
Yeah the UK is a mix of areas with POTS only and POTS + fibre but I don't think the fibre carries the phone lines unless the conversion takes place in the cable box outside..
and DSL just doesn't really exist apart from on cable and even then I doubt it's truly SDSL i.e symmetrical DSL more like a bit more upload b/width than ADSL which is typically 512/1M/2M/Up to 8Mb down/ 256k/384K max up although some of the faster ones have a bit more than 384K but not much and all BT can go on about is Century 21 (CN21) where they go IP Telephony etc and well pretty much BREAK lots of stuff that works although they CLAIM they have a list of stuff that should be "OK" running over it... I just wanna see the 1st exchange go over to IP with a Redcare line (24/7 dedicated monitored alarm line) and the ARC get "chirp fail" i.e the monitor ping failing or failure to handshake / hang up etc...
glad most of the stuff we run is Dual Path, so it can go out on a secondary path..