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Tampa Bay Community News 09/06/2000: DSL, ISDN,
Cable.... So many options, yet, not a lot of meaningful
information for the New Age consumer. What is high-speed
access? How do you throttle my bandwidth? Is faster,
better? Can I get a ticket for going too fast? These
questions and others we hope to answer in the next few
minutes.
Community News
10/02/2000:
It’s that time of year when our thoughts turn to football
(oops…) the holidays which are approaching quickly. I would
like to take a moment of your time to discuss the pros and
cons of shopping online.
Press Releases
Saint Petersburg, Fl., Sept. 11, 2000 – As a
start-up company, The Ronin Group was faced with tough
competition from larger established Bay Area integrators.
Building a large sales-staff would require a considerable
capital investment early in the game.
Tampa Bay Community News
September, 6 2000
DSL, ISDN, Cable.... So many
options, yet, not a lot of meaningful information for the
New Age consumer. What is high-speed access? How do you
throttle my bandwidth? Is faster, better? Can I get a ticket
for going too fast? These questions and others we hope to
answer in the next few minutes.
Let us start with your computer,
since most of the aforementioned options affect your
computer this should allow us to all begin at the same
square.
Most people still access the
Internet and/or e-mail with a standard dial up modem. You
can get speeds approaching 50,000 bits per second (if the
wind is blowing just right and you are facing downhill).
Most people are lucky if they get 33,000 bits per second or
connected at all. Besides being relatively slow for one
person, it would be downright miserable for 2 or more
simultaneous people to use the same connection. Not to
mention the call from Aunt Mable or the cute gal/guy you've
been trying to get a date with for the past 3 months,
ringing busy or bumping you from the Internet connection.
So being the patient people that we are we demand, and jump
at any type solution to allow quicker access to the
Internet. Fortunately we have a multitude of answers and
choices, which we can exercise at our convenience. The
choices are DSL, ISDN, and Cable.
DSL stands for Digital
Subscriber Line which is a service providing a higher speed
access than a typical modem user can receive. It comes in a
variety of choices; the most common for home use and most
small businesses is ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber
Line). It provides the connection from your house or
business to the Local Phone provider. From the local phone
provider, you can get connected to the Internet through an
ISP (Internet Service Provider). There are several ISPs to
choose from, Internet Junction and GTE are two of many.
Once this connection is established you have the ability to
have uninterrupted access.
PROS: You can talk, fax, or
whatever else you may wish to do on that exact same phone
line while you are also on the Internet. You can access the
Internet at extremely quick rates vs. a regular dial-up
connection. (Once you’ve had it, you’ll never want to go
back). You do not share the same line with other users as
you do with other modes of connectivity.
CONS: It is more expensive than
a regular modem connection. Average starting price is
$50.00 per month and is available within certain distance
from Phone Company. You can also have multiple vendors for
the connection. EX: GTE can provide the service while
Internet Junction provides the ISP connection. Some people
consider this a PRO, but we chose CON because you now have
two bills a month.
Cable is the original fast speed
connection. Cable offers a higher Bandwidth conduit (think
of a larger hose) and is a little faster than DSL (ADSL).
You might be thinking, “Faster is better, right”? Maybe,
but the difference between the two is one of dedication
verses sharing. With cable access you are sharing a line
with many users (picture a Vine…The Main branch is the cable
and the branches are going to individual homes). Is this
bad? Without the proper preventative measures in place, you
have opened up your computer to the outside world. With a
dedicated DSL line, you are connected from your home into
the phone company. Both offer exceptional speeds, and both
would accomplish the speed factor of today’s home user.
PROS: Approximately 10X the
bandwidth, can be added to your existing cable bill for
around $40.00/ Month, non-cable subscribers can expect to
pay around $50.00 / Month.
CONS: A shared line can cause
congestion as more people are added to the route. People
are on the same path opening your computer to easy access
from them.
What about the people who cannot
get DSL, or Cable? A third option is available at a higher
cost per month. It’s called ISDN. ISDN (Integrated
Services Digital Network) has been around for years. You
normally pay for time units on an ISDN line (Think Cell
Phone), but you do not remain connected to the Internet
constantly. Your hardware is set to automatically connect
when you want to access the Internet or check email, then
disconnect after 2 minutes of inactivity. It seems
difficult, but it really provides a good service when you
cannot receive the other two.
PROS: Can be installed where
other access is not available and is faster than
conventional dial up.
CONS: Cost starts at $70 /
Month for approximately 100 minutes + extra charges per
minute. It does require additional equipment and possibly a
professional installer.
There are many options
available, so do your homework to find which one is right
for you. If you are a small or medium sized business
looking to explore the possibilities of using this in your
office, please contact a few system integrators who can help
in guiding your decisions. If you contact a DSL provider,
please understand that their position is to sell you their
version of DSL. Use a neutral source for determining your
company’s needs.
If you have a question you would
like answered in a future column, please contact me at
cnews@roninit.com.
Dennis Rapp
was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. He has been in
the computer industry for 18 years, and is owner of a
systems integration/consulting company called The RONIN
Group; Inc., which specializes in small/medium, sized
business needs. He consults with large corporations on ERP
issues. You can reach him at
drapp@roninit.com
BACK UP
Community News
October 1,
2000
It’s
that time of year when our thoughts turn to football (oops…)
the holidays which are approaching quickly. I would like to
take a moment of your time to discuss the pros and cons of
shopping online. (Now sport’s fans be patient, I’ll get
back to football)…
Online
shopping can appear in various forms: Credit card
purchases, COD, and direct check withdraw, are all
transactions completed over the Internet. I would first
like to address the global concerns of all these forms of
purchase. The biggest question I hear when I talk about
online shopping is (IN UNISON) “is it safe?” And for the
most part YES, it is safe. The problems usually lie within
ourselves, mainly we tend to fall under the assumption that
we are shopping from the friendly confines of our own home,
maybe curled up with a warm glass of milk, just dreaming of
getting into that holiday spirit. Don’t let the
surroundings change the way you would treat any other
mercantile exchange. If you are thinking about shopping
online, or have already done so, you may want to keep these
thoughts in mind. DO NOT USE YOUR BANK CARD! Why? We have
been around enough to know that if anyone can design a
secure system, there is someone else who can crack it. Is
this a common occurrence? No. Maybe 1 in 100,000 and it
may not be from someone breaking the sophisticated codes to
keep transactions safe, it could, like any other place of
business, be associated with the people who handle these
transactions. You can have the same risk from dealing with a
local retail establishment, so let’s examine some
alternatives for safety when shopping online.
COUNTERMEASURE: I have a specific Card for online
transactions. Companies are dying to give me their latest
and greatest card, so I get a set limit, ~$500.00 (Keeps the
gift giving within reach also), and utilize that as my
online card. If someone were to obtain the information for
this card, I would know, and still not worry about my
banking account being drained.
Now if
you visit a website that asks for a lot of information,
please use caution they are trying to define your buying
habits and traits to make your online shopping tailored to
your needs, they then set the banner ads (those ads that
blink and flash when you are on a website). Once again, do
they need everything they are requiring? You may also be
asked to input your email address…. (MAILING LISTS…JUNK
Email) COUNTERMEASURE: For the email, I use a free email
service from HOTMAIL.COM. It is not my normal email address
but it works to still get the information to me, and the
thousands of emails which eventually arrive in my INBOX are
easier to delete from that resource, than my personal email
which I only give out to strangers reading this column.
Now I
do not want you to get the wrong idea. I love the concept
of online shopping. Once again, I can sit around the house,
sipping my morning coffee, ordering everything I need for
the holidays, and never enter the mall. Sound fun? Well, I
enjoy the Holidays in the mall if I DON’T HAVE to shop. But
what advantage besides shopping in my friendly confines does
online offer? Believe it or not, online is cheap!!! Why?
Because in order to entice you through the virtual doorway,
and into my web spot (That I paid thousands of dollars for),
I sell products at under cost. THAT’S Right! I said at a
loss!!! See the idea is to bring you in through the web,
let you learn how to shop and become accustomed to shopping
online, and then slowly move prices back to their “normal”
levels. One of the biggest retailers “Amazon.com” which is
a bookstore, has succeeded in attracting millions of buyers
yet, has failed to produce a profit. That’s why the “Dot
Coms” took the big stock hit in March… Is the principle
sound? Knowing the way we love convenience, this probably
will succeed. I fully expect the pricing to slowly start
creeping up to normal rates by the end of 2001, so keep
looking for the bargains online…. Just remember it’s like
any other purchase, if you don’t feel comfortable putting in
your Credit Card numbers, then call them on their telephone
number and speak to someone who will be glad to take your
order the old fashioned way, and make sure you are buying
through a trusted resource. Most online websites inform you
that you are entering a secure area and will be transmitting
secure information into their site. If you are unsure, but
still want to experiment then start small. Buy a couple of
inexpensive items with your online card that we discussed
above, and begin to become online friendly… And back to the
football crowd, you can purchase hard to find items online
for your favorite football team…. (See I didn’t leave you
out.)
Next
Month I hope to discuss the hot Items for the Techie in your
life, or those who wish to become techies. Just in time for
the Holidays.
If you
have a question you would like answered in a future column,
please contact me at
cnews@roninit.com.
Dennis Rapp was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. He
has been in the computer industry for 18 years, and is owner
of a systems integration/consulting company called The RONIN
Group; Inc., which specializes in small/medium, sized
business needs. He consults with large corporations on ERP
issues. You can reach him at drapp@roninit.com
BACK
UP
STARTUP NETWORK INTEGRATION COMPANY BUILDING NEW CLIENT
RELATIONSHIPS BY GIVING AWAY THOUSANDS IN SERVICES.
Dennis
Rapp, Owner of Startup “The RONIN Group, Inc.” has already
landed clients like AuctionBroker.com and TelNetworks by
performing a series of network security services free of
charge.
Saint Petersburg, Fl., Sept. 11, 2000 –
As a
start-up company, The Ronin Group was faced with tough
competition from larger established Bay Area integrators.
Building a large sales-staff would require a considerable
capital investment early in the game. Giving away services
would prove no less costly; but did allow them to choose
which companies they wanted to work with.
The
Ronin Group began giving away network security analysis and
risk mitigation services completely free of charge to
companies that matched their target client profile. These
services were comprised of Level 1 Security Assesments and
counter measures, Network Documentation, and Performance
Tuning. The entire analysis included 4-5 hours of work even
before visiting the potential client’s site and up to a full
day at their office. In a market that regularly commands
$150 and $225 per hour for like services, the analysis is
easily valued at more than $2,000.
“My
years at Texas Instruments taught me one thing if nothing
else. All the sales people, direct mail, and fancy
brochures in the world can’t tell me what I can learn about
a company from having work on my network for a single day.
If giving away a couple days service can give them the same
level of comfort with me, then I see it as a great
investment.” said Dennis Rapp, founder of the Ronin Group.
And a
great investment it has been. This creative method of
attracting customers has resulted in an impressive client
list only thirty days after opening. Auction Brokers,
an industry leader in both
software development and support, is using the Ronin Group
regularly.
“The
Ronin Group lets me sleep at night. From the first day,
they showed a genuine interest in my business and learning
what I needed to be successful. They performed a complete
security analysis, and "tweaked" our servers for maximum
performance. They even took the time to explain to our own
engineers any changes they were making. Now we have them in
twice a week to help keep our systems tuned to optimal
performance."
With
less than 2 dozen customers, the Ronin Group is focusing on
small and medium sized companies who are dissatisified with
their present Networking Staff or Company.
“We
think your network should do more than file storage and
email. Our motto is ‘Are you getting what you want from
your network?’ If you’re not, WHY NOT? Your paying for it
one way or another. We will analyze your network, show you
what you can do to make it work for you, and within your
budget. Hey, there are many ways to cook potatoes, why
always settle for fries?”
BACK
UP
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