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WHAT IS DSL?
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a technology which provides a dedicated (always available), high bandwidth (very fast), network connection (Internet access) between the home or small business and the telephone company’s central office. The connection is made using existing copper telephone lines and utilizes the unused high frequency portion of the line (You can talk on the phone and be on the Internet at the same time). This is accomplished by "splitting" the voice signal and data signal and send each on their own separate way.


SO, I DON’T NEED A SEPARATE LINE FOR INTERNET ACCESS?
That’s correct. Since you can Talk and Surf at the same time, customers who might have required a second phone line won’t need it with SpeedLink.


CAN I STILL UTILIZE EXISTING FEATURES SUCH AS FAX, CALL FORWARDING, CALLER ID AND VOICE MAIL ON THE SAME LINE?
Yes, the addition of SpeedLink doesn’t impact any telephone feature.


IS THIS THE SAME THING AS ADSL?
ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. It is asymmetric in that the speed your data is going out to the Internet (upstream) can be at a different speed than what is coming back to your computer from the Internet (downstream). The whole idea is that you send a short request to the Internet for information and a bunch of stuff comes back so you need more downstream speed. There is the added advantage of having voice and data on the same line at the same time.


SO, IS SpeedLink ADSL?
Yes


WILL THERE BE OTHER DSL OFFERINGS IN THE FUTURE?
Oh yeah. The technology is evolving as we speak (type).


WHAT SPEED WILL WEST CAROLINA BE OFFERING INITIALLY?
The speed will be up to 256K upstream and up to 768K downstream. Current dial-up modems are 28.8K, 33.6K or 56K so the difference in speed is obvious. What used to take many minutes to download can now take seconds.


WILL I ALWAYS GET THE PUBLISHED SPEEDS?
Connection speed or "synch-rate" is between the customer location and West Carolina Tel’s central office. Actual data transfers or "throughput" may be lower than synch-rate due to Internet congestion, server or router speeds, protocol overheads and other factors which cannot be controlled by West Carolina Tel.


THIS DOESN’T INCLUDE THE COST OF MY PHONE SERVICE DOES IT?
No. Your regular monthly phone service charges are billed separately.


What are the minimum PC Requirements?

     166mhz Pentium-based processor or equivalent
     Windows 95-98 or Windows NT version 4 with service pack 4 or higher
     32 MB of RAM for Windows 95/98 or 64 MB of RAM for Windows NT
     50 MB available hard drive disk space
     Installed 10 Base-T Network Interface Card
     CD-ROM drive

     Power MAC 68030 or better
     OS 7.6 or higher
     32 MB of RAM
     50 MB of Disk space
     Installed Network Interface Card
     CD-ROM Drive


WILL I NEED A NEW MODEM?
Unless you own a functioning ADSL modem, yes you will. We have tested modems and can recommend ones we know will work with our network. We expect to stock and sell these DSL modems and will be offering special discounted pricing to those who commit to a one year agreement. Pricing will be available shortly. We also plan to stock the required Network Interface Cards.

Modems and Network Interface Cards can be self-installed or by an outside contractor. West Carolina Tel will have a list of people who can do the installation.

Activation charge and modem purchase may be paid for in six equal payments and will be billed separately on your regular monthly telephone bill.


AS A RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER, I GET ONE DYNAMIC IP ADDRESS, WHAT’S THAT?
IP stands for "Internet Protocol." An IP address enables a computer to be identified on the Internet while the user is online.
A dynamic IP address is only temporarily assigned to a user from a pool of IP addresses. The user receives a different IP address each time s/he logs onto the Internet.
With a static IP address, you have the same IP address every time a user logs onto the Internet. This is generally used by businesses that have an application that requires some type of authentication process whenever they are signing onto a web server or hosting computer.


WHAT ABOUT SECURITY?
Anytime you connect to the Internet, you have an IP address and the longer you stay online, the more time a hacker has to learn the address and bring you misery. With SpeedLink, we use dynamic IP addressing which makes it a lot harder for them because, like dialup connections, you get a different IP address each time you logon. The easiest way to make sure no one can hack your system is when your computer isn’t in use - turn it off. That will greatly minimize the risk. For maximum piece of mind and business access, install a firewall. There are a number available and some are even free like ZoneAlarm and I believe BlackICE. You can learn more about security from the hundreds of web articles you can find and from your computer professional.


ARE ALL WEST CAROLINA TEL CUSTOMERS ABLE TO GET SpeedLink?
By the end of 2000 we expect SpeedLink to be available to approximately 80% of West Carolina Tel customers. DSL is a distance sensitive service. To be qualified, you must be within approximately 3 miles from a telephone central office switch or remote switch. We are installing new remotes as quickly as possible. In additions to distance restrictions, there are certain line conditions which can limit availability even within the 3 mile distance.