Next step' in Internet's evolution

Houston Chronicle ^ | Sept. 18, 2003, 6:31AM | By ERIC BERGER

[knews_hound]

Wiring for networks comes in many "flavors".

All are rated by their speed.

Category 3 is unshielded twisted pairs (phone wire), with a rating of 10 MB max. In practice, this is suitable for most home applications.

Next is Category 5, also unshielded twisted pair (phone wire on steriods) and allows for a max data rate of 100 MB.

After that you get to Category 6, also unshielded twisted pairs but the specs for the cable and connectors are very harsh and the installation methods are likely beyond most home users. That rated data rate is 1000 MB (1 Gigabit)

I decided that when I was networking my home this time, I will not do it again so I overkilled it.

I have 2 outlets in every room minimum, each outlet carries three Category 5 rated cables, two One Gigabit Coax cables (RG6) and a pair of Multimode Fiber Optic Cables on ST connectors.

I sincerely doubt I will be using the fiber anytime soon, but as I said, I do not want to run cable again so I felt it was best to be prepared.

Did this (over) answer your question?

Cheers,

knews hound

[q_an_a]

I am within 8 miles of downtown Dallas and can not get DSL because Verizon is playing games, while they suck up costs from every possible small business system. What is more stupid is I had an ISDN line (two digital) cancelled that service and verizon said, "We can't get digital into your office." The whole utility industry is in the toliet.

[adam_az]

why go to the expense and effort of compressing video if it may not be necessary soon?

Server computers can serve more customers if they stream compressed files, because each individual transmission uses less i/o.

[stainlessbanner]

Forecast: Faster FReep times ahead!

[stainlessbanner]

filing

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Yes, but would-be investors reading such articles shy off if they think something better is around the corner. Explanations sound like manipulation to the wary and non-technical.

[adam_az]

People who don't understand technology are stupid for intvesting in tech companies.

It's pretty dumb to invest in any industry you don't understand unless you have a full-time professional investment advisor.

[rdb3]

I am within 8 miles of downtown Dallas and can not get DSL because Verizon is playing games

Have you considered SBC? I'm only 5 miles away from downtown Dallas and have had SBC DSL for four years.

[Paul C. Jesup]

My entire home is wired for 100MB connections (category 5 wiring).

That is mb (Mbits), not MB (Mbytes, 8 bits makes 1 byte).

Yea, Ethernet 10/100 wiring, standard network protocals for most home and business in-house computer networks.

If you can get 100mb to the home and businesses, the in-house protocals should be able to handle.

Lets just hope that the RIAA and MPAA don't kill it first.

[spodefly]

To jump-start the process the National Science Foundation awarded $7.5 million Wednesday to several academic institutions, including Rice, to develop technologies 2,000 times faster than dial-up and up to 250 times faster than DSL or cable modems. And they want to bring this ultra high speed to 100 million homes.

Porn and spam vendors rejoiced at the news. And 15 year old script kiddies will now be able to infect more computers faster than ever before.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

I agree, professional objective advice is always a wise idea. But, there are a lot of small-time investors who think they cannot afford or think they don't need advisors. The stock market is not appealing to them right now and for whatever reasons they like investing in high-tech startups. They generally have just enough information to be annoying and reach stupid conclusions (sometimes that works for a CEO and sometimes it doesn't).

[Billthedrill]

Critics say there is no proof more broadband will make people more productive.

I'm living proof. Think of how much more time I'll be able to waste working between FR posts...

[Bogey78O]

When you pas current through a wire a EM field is created. To minimize the field wires are twisted. This mutes the fields effect on wires near it. Cat.3 uses minimal twists as well as shielding. As a result it's good enough for talking over but not optimal for data.

[xp38]

I've heard that term mentioned lately. I think it means a "hurricane" of data is headed your way.