Adam Maloney said: > If you're seeing 256k downloads you probably can only get 256k DSL, > because US-West isn't rate shaping anymore (unless VISI is). I'm fairly sure that Visi is. My 675 reports that it trains at 640k. > I'm certainly not saying that having more bandwidth is bad, I don't think we have any kooks around here that would try making that claim... > but why pay an > extra $25 / month to US-West for 512k if you can still train at 512 with a > 256k DSL line? Even though I'm 'only' getting 256k out of my 256k connection, I wouldn't do it. For me, the primary benefit of DSL isn't an ultra-fat pipe, but rather the always-on feature. It's fast enough to load web pages and handle ssh sessions without any undue delays. A faster connection would be nice - web pages pop up a little quicker (maybe - I have a slow video card in this box), my once-in-a-blue-moon large downloads speed up - but not even close to being worth the extra cost. Maybe enough to justify a 10% increase in cost. Certainly not worth doubling it. I'm not disagreeing with any of your points - some people don't have any rate shaping being done to them and a WAN is only as fast as its slowest link - but there are other reasons for not wanting to buy a faster line. (Well, OK, I am disagreeing with one of them: Your statement that you aren't likely to saturate a 256k line.) -- "Two words: Windows survives." - Craig Mundie, Microsoft senior strategist "So does syphillis. Good thing we have penicillin." - Matthew Alton Geek Code 3.1: GCS d- s+: a- C++ UL++$ P+>+++ L+++>++++ E- W--(++) N+ o+ !K w---$ O M- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t 5++ X+ R++ tv b+ DI++++ D G e* h+ r++ y+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org