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Ian,
Forgive the lack of the whole thread history in this post. I pulled your
question from the Digest format, and am answering it publicly.
Before trading, and still today part time, I run a technology
consulting/reselling firm named Integrated Solutions Unlimited, Inc.,
setting clients up with networks, high end Internet access, support and etc.
As we were aware of DSL since near its inception, and felt it would be a
winning technology, we looked for providers to refer clients to. And many
were referred to Flashcom as they were the first provider in the LA area.
Over time, we discovered that Flashcom along with being the low price leader
in DSL service were also the low end of the quality spectrum as well. Lousy
customer service, lots of downtime, no support follow-up etc etc.
And to a company, every client of ours that took on Flashcom early on, when
there were few if any alternatives but dialup 56k or very expensive Frame
Relay, have come to dislike Flashcom for the above reasons.
Over time the prices kept coming down, but the service quality and
reliability was poor and got worse. As well, ADSL, the "flavor" of DSL they
sell, (coming through GTE in our area) has only 10% of the bit rate
guaranteed. That means that even if you are paying for 768k
A(synchronous)DSL (128k or 256k uploads), all they will guarantee is 10% of
that data rate.
As in another thread on cable modems where it was mentioned that speeds
fluctuate greatly due to number of concurrent users on the "same wire", ADSL
seems to be geared to become the DSL for the masses, just like cable modems
and your average 56k dialup ISP a few years ago. Most of the providers are
packing the lines with users to make up for the "low cost". This means ADSL
speeds are more variable and susceptible to overloading at key times. This
is not an issue with SDSL though. Lines are strictly dedicated, and along
with bit rate guarantees, the services are more stable and reliable. They
have to be with 80+% rate guarantees.
If you are interested in DSL, get SDSL if possible. It will cost roughly
double what ADSL costs (still NOT prohibitive), but most providers I know
here in LA will guarantee 80+% of the bit rate, and if it is therefore more
reliable, the difference is worth it to me (and my clients too it seems).
You might even get away with a slower speed SDSL service e.g. 384k/384k
(costing less), that will perform better, and faster than a higher speed
ADSL connection. Get it?
So what I meant, was, Flashcom has always been part of the general
technology problem. If you trade over the net, then you go over their lines,
and whether the perennially wacko TradeStation, the lately lost Quote.com,
or even the elegant little DynaStore are involved, with a flaky ISP like
Flashcom, they are an INTEGRAL part of the problem, which must be figured
into the disaster equation!
Sorry to be so long winded! Hope this helps!
Eliot
> Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2000 23:50:02 -0500
> From: Ian Cunningham <CunCom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "INTERNET:omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx" <omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: re:Time Lag in Qfeed to TS2K Data Delivery
> Message-ID: <200001062350_MC2-93A5-7752@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset=ISO-8859-1
> Content-Disposition: inline
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
> I have noticed the same thing over the last 3 days using BMI sat.
> On the SP's, they are WAY behind Squawkbox. More than usual
> that is. Plus Stock data has been very sketchy.
>
> Why do you say Flashcom has always been part of the problem?
>
> Ian.
Eliot Kaplan
email: eliot@xxxxxxx
web: www.isu.com
Voice: 310.455.3950
Fax: 310.455.3085
Integrated Solutions Unlimited, Inc.
20211 Croydon Lane
Topanga, CA 90290
Apple, HP, IBM, & Compaq Consulting Reseller
Specializing in Architecture & Graphics Systems
Apple Authorized Service Provider
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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