> > It is encouraging that Alcatel have plans to support their USB modem on Linux
> > and Macintosh in the future,
>
> The future is nearer than you think...
>
> > but of course that still leaves out many others
> > (*BSD, OS/2, BeOS, etc).
I was at an ADSL seminar yesterday and was fortunate enough to get to speak
to managers from BT, Freeserve and K-Net. On the plus side they agreed that
although BT are currently supplying and installing the ADSL Modem hardware
very quickly there will be a big market for such devices in same way that
there are 1001 different analogue modems on the market.
On the negative side BT aren't sure whether their contract with the end user
will prohibit the use of multiple users and/or machines.
Everyone except the chap from BT felt that BT was being rather silly for not
offering IP/NIC/LAN methods of connection across the board. Currently if you
want a router then you have to pay 99 quid per month plus vat plus 260 quid
connection - for the same bandwidth. 40 quid more if you want 2Mb instead of
1/2Mb.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to push the OS issue but the general
feeling I got was that BT wasn't in ADSL for the thrill of making its users
happy, merely to appease Offtel.
BTs concession to people with networks was to point out that USB could
be 'daisychained'.
Mike
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Copyright 2000 Mike Richardson, Rm G100D, Manchester Computing
University of Manchester, M13 9PL. [EMAIL PROTECTED], 0161 275-6009
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"If I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you!" - Chuck Norris
"If anything happens to my daughter I have a 45 and shovel" Clueless
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