June 2000 Meeting Report
by Howard L. Bonar
Secretary, Alaska Computer Society

The June 8, 2000 meeting of the Alaska Computer Society was held at the BP Exploration building at Benson Boulevard and New Seward Highway starting at 7:08 pm.

Questions & Answers

Dawn Scott, standing in for president Gene White, started the evening off with the question and answer session.

Howard reported on a problem removing ICQ from several computers. The ICQ uninstall program went through the motions and displayed a long list of files it was supposedly removing. After completion of the uninstall it was found that all of the files were still in place and, apparently, all of the entries were still in the registry. The directories were deleted and the registry was edited to remove all references to ICQ. The final clean-up was to go into Windows Explorer and do a "Find ICQ" search. About ten more files were found scattered in different Windows directories. After manually deleting all of this, there still remained an ICQ icon, which had been placed on the Netscape personal tool bar. The question is how to get rid of this icon? Several suggestions were made on locating the file that contains this feature.

Main Meeting

Dawn called the regular meeting to order at 8:20 pm. She introduced the board members present and called for any announcements.

Howard reported on the election of Officers held at our annual meeting on the 18th of May. Gene White was re-elected President for one more term. Mike Jacquot was elected Vice President in addition to his duties as our WebMaster. Howard Bonar was re-elected Secretary and Fred Erickson was re-elected Treasurer.

As you have all heard so many times, this is an all volunteer organization. Over the many years we have been in existence, we have been very fortunate in having a core group of people who have worked hard to keep this organization going. It requires a dedication to the goals of the group and a willingness to dedicate several hours a month to the effort. For most of us it is not a great amount of time but they are crucial hours to make sure things happen in a timely fashion.

We have a number of functions that must be carried out each month if we are to have these presentations, a web page, a newsletter, an organization. None of these things happen without the efforts of volunteers. Each one of these functions entails several different tasks that require some time and effort to be successful. For some time now, too much has been asked of too few people.

We have been calling for more help for some time and have had some success. Greg Smith came forward to take over the promotional activities. Brenda Oakley has made her debut as our new Newsletter Managing Editor and is already doing a great job.

We need some more people to join the board of directors to help us with some of these projects. We need people who have the potential of becoming our new officers and program managers. Our bylaws call for a new president every year but we have had the same two people for ten years. They have done a marvelous job but they are burning out.

If you think you might be interested and would like to become involved in a program that offers a lot of personal satisfaction for doing a worthwhile job; if you have some organizational skills that you think we might be able to use; if you have some spare time that you would like to spend in a worthwhile cause, contact any of the board members or come to our board meeting which is held the third Thursday night of each month starting at 7:00 pm at the AARPIC information center.

Winner of the copy of Streets was Keith Russell. Al Schuerger and Ed Stondall won Microsoft t-shirts. Dawn also had gift screen cleaning brushes provided by Microsoft.

The Presentation

Mr. James R. Henry, advanced services/sales engineer for Alaska Communications Services (ACS) presented information on the various Digital Service Line (DSL) connections now available in Anchorage and some other communities.

THE COMPANY

Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. is headquartered in Anchorage. ACS currently serves over 300,000 access lines and 73,000 cellular customers in 74 communities throughout the state. Its family of companies includes: ACS Local Phone Service (formerly ATU Telecommunications), ACS Wireless (formerly MACtel), ACS Internet, PTI and PTI-NET, and Alaska Choice TV. ATU Long Distance provides Long Distance Service. They now have about 1700 employees in the state.

ACS also owns 30 percent of Internet Alaska. Because they are also competitors, they have been very careful to avoid any conflict of interest problems.

ACS is now working on purchasing Matanuska Telephone Association assets. An agreement was signed in May and approved by both boards. It will be submitted to the MTA membership for approval later this summer.

WHY HIGH SPEED CONNECTIONS

As more and more business, both personal and commercial, is conducted on the Internet, the need for adequate speed and dependable connection has increased also. A number of technologies have been developed and offered to meet those needs. Blazing speed is the current catch phrase to describe these services. All of these require a network card installed in the computer and an ethernet cable to make the connection from PC to the modem.

CABLE: This requires basic cable TV service for the connection. Few businesses are wired for cable TV so might require an expensive installation. Cable connections also have some serious security problems (a firewall installation can resolve most of them). The speeds offered are in the range of 256/64kbpr to 512/256kbps but these speeds are not guaranteed and may be seriously degraded as the amount of use in a neighborhood increases. At this time standard telephone service is not included.

DSL: Digital Service Line service is carried over standard copper wire. It is more secure than cable because no one else is connected to the same circuit (a fallacy, it seems, that continues to be perpetuated by those promoting DSL services - Ed.). There are a number of variations to the basic offering.

ISDN: Integrated Service Digital Network offers concurrent digital and voice connections. It is a Point-to-Point connection giving both voice and data service on the same circuit. Speeds are 64/64k shared and 128k data only. An additional 16k of bandwidth is used for connection setup signaling. It requires its own dedicated pair of wires. It has been available in Anchorage since August of 1998. Cost of the service is based on the amount of usage.

ADSL: Asymmetrical Data Service Line. The upload and download speeds are not the same. It is good for the last mile between the user and the wire center and is available in several different configurations. (see the "Pipe" below)

CSDL: 1.28 Mbs download/370kbs upload. This is a Rockwell & Nortel (Northern Telephone) proprietary standard which doesn't require a splitter. It is part of the Nortel DMS switch architecture (ATU telephone central office switches)

SDSL: Symmetrical Data Service Line. Up and down load speeds are the same. It includes a 64 kb channel for dial-up voice service on the same line but dial tone support may not be available at all wire centers. It supports repeaters to extend the range beyond the normal DSL limitations. Speeds up to 3 mbps are presently available.

VDSL: Very high speed DSL. Provides bandwidths of between 15 to 55 mbps. It works over ranges from 1k to 4.5k feet. It is excellent to provide the last mile connection to a fiber optic cable network.

HDSL and XDSL are two other technologies soon to be available.

THE PIPE

The latest ACS offerings of DSL are called the "PIPE". It uses a one meg modem and a 10-base-T network interface card (NIC) to connect the PC to the modem. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is used for communication services. This is the standard used by almost all Internet communications. It also uses another standard called PPPoe (Point to Point Protocol over ethernet). It is much more secure than the straight ethernet system. The modem has a phone jack for connecting to your home telephone wiring for standard dial-up telephone service.

TCP/IP is a suite of protocols and programs that handles the transfer of data between two computers. The TCP monitors the transfers and ensures it is carried without error. The IP receives the data from TCP, breaks it up into packets, and ships it off to the network.

The pipe is available in several different configurations. Selection would be based on your individual requirements for speed, email addresses, server storage space for your own web page, and whether or not you have multiple users. Check the ACS web page for pricing.

Another advantage of this service is that it is plug and play so you can install it yourself. All configuration connections are made at the central office. Installation of the NIC card and software may be a problem for some. They do hand deliver the product to you to make certain of the delivery date to start the billing.

Another service, called SmartNet, is required if you have a static (permanent) IP address. This is the commercial version of the "Pipe" and is priced accordingly. It requires a site visit by an installation technician.

REQUIREMENTS

The PIPE and SmartNet are available on a limited basis in Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks, and the Kenai/Soldotna area. Availability is based on distance from your local wire center and the results of a line qualification test. An extensive database of tests already exists and a map of the city shows the areas already confirmed for access.

ACS must be the supplier of local telephone service. It requires sold copper wire to the wire center. In Anchorage there are five main wire centers and several sub - hub centers. If you are within one mile of these facilities there is a good chance you could get service.

One of the problems encountered with voice and data on the same connection is a hissing sound (white noise). Expensive multi-feature phones may have more noise problems than the cheap ones. If it is a problem, filters are available to remove the hiss.

If the 56kbs connection speed over the dial-up network is no longer adequate for you, it may be time to investigate DSL. For more information please call 907 565-2200 or 888 690-1930 or check the ACS web page for more information. You may call between 7 am to 11 pm to request services for technical support & sales or check their web page at www.ACSAlaska.com or www.ACSAlaska.net/pipe.htm for details.

Mr. Henry is also deeply involved with AITP, the Association of Information Technology Professionals. The AITP meetings are on the first Wednesday of the month at the Regal Alaskan hotel. Their annual picnic will be July 12. Check their web page at www.AITP-AK.org for membership and meeting information.