Re: The Remailer Crisis

[root <root@einstein.ssz.com>]

> 
> I am currently using ISDN from my home in San Jose.  You're right in 
> that the startup costs are the barrier--even a cheap single B channel 
> (56K) terminal adapter for use with a serial port will run $300-$400
> dollars.  The telco charges are minimal in my area; $25 monthly for
> the line itself (115 Kbps async bandwidth).  Connect charges are free 
> for non peak usage, and $0.60/hour for peak usage time (0800 to 1700) 
> Mon-Fri.
>
I am also using ISDN to get my network on through Southwestern Bell.
The charges I had to deal with were:

$135 deposit (refunded in 2 years)
$73 per month line rate (2B+D)
$350 per month for ISDN connection to another system on Internet and in
     Austin there is only one system that can do this for .com sites.
     This is a commen problem all over the country I understand.
$1150 for Combinet 160 w/ NT-1 for ISDN-Ethernet bridge.
$750 for account setup and for the folks at the other end to configure.

This is a little expensive for home use but well within the means of even
small businesses. 
 
> This is the Pacific Bell "Residential" ISDN plan.  For business lines,
> it goes up to $50 monthly with $0.60/hour 24 hours a day.
>

I am lucky in that I am flat rate.
  
> In addition to this would apply any standard long distance charges that
> would apply to a particular call.
> 
 
We get charged only for the D channel traffic which is usually used for call
progress control. In general we don't use the D channel at all.
 
> This is an excellent setup for fast, cheap, INTERMITTENT connection to 
> the Internet.  My particular ISP is in Santa Cruz, with POPS in SC, SJ,
> and soon Monterey.  An unlimited connect time PPP account runs $75 monthly.
> This actually gets me a three bit subnet so that I can put five IP boxes 
> and an ISDN router on my ethernet at home.
> 

It is a clean, fast (300kbs w/ compression), and economical for a full time
feed as well.