[4617] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
Phoenix OS/2 Society meeting: Wireless Internet access
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (esther@bitranch.com)
Sat Mar 27 15:07:37 1999
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.mit.edu
Date: 27 Mar 1999 20:00:18 GMT
From: esther@bitranch.com
Close to 100% of Phoenix OS/2 Society members are online. In addition to
being technically sophisticated, we're also very connected. But, to extend
the old saying, you can't be too thin, too rich, or have too fast an
Internet connection.
Unfortunately, for a lot of businesses and home users, incredibly fast
Internet speeds have been far out of the budget. That might change for
you, really soon - especially if you attend the next Phoenix OS/2 Society
general meeting, on Tuesday, April 13, when SpeedChoice will demonstrate
its affordable, high-speed wireless Internet service. And yes, it works
with OS/2.
Did you say wireless?!
SpeedChoice is a wireless, data communications service company and an ISP
that specializes in high-speed connections to the Internet. It offers
businesses - of any size -- a full range of products and services that can
help you operate faster and more efficiently. SpeedChoice lets home users
experience the Internet how it was meant to be. . . fast! Enjoy download
speeds up to 100 times faster than your old modem could ever handle. That
is real speed. Speed for everything you do online -- email, chat, FTP, and
surfing the web. Speed for everything you could never do online before,
like video and audio, large document transfer, and no waiting!
SpeedChoice accomplishes these incredible speeds through a wireless
connection. Your Mac, PC, or LAN receives information through a fixed
wireless 10 Megabit per second downstream data channel. The return
upstream path can range from a dial-up telephone circuit or ISDN line, all
the way up to a dedicated or frame relay circuit. (Realistically, you
still do need a phone line. Dual-direction wireless access is coming, but
it's not imminent.)
This means realistic download speeds of 1 to 2 Mbps at home and 5 to 6
Mbps for your busy corporate LAN and its stressed T1 line. The technology
is called MMDS, Multichannel Multi-point Distribution Service, and it
transmits 2.5GHz signals through the air, enabling superior signal
transmission at higher speeds than other wireless technologies. Since no
satellite transmission is involved, typical problems of latency and speed
restrictions do not apply. The SpeedChoice fixed, wireless network is a
highly reliable, secure medium for data transmission.
All this starts at $39.95 for a home user. It's available in Phoenix and
Detroit right now, though the company is expanding. (Sensibly, they're
testing in comparatively smaller markets. If it's not available near you,
perhaps you should consider moving to Arizona, which we think is a good
idea anyway. Until then, you can check out the company at
http://www.speedchoice.com.)
And you said OS/2?!
SpeedChoice doesn't formally support OS/2, because they don't have any
techies who swear to know it as well as, well, the average member of the
Society. But, just like any other ISP, they use TCP/IP and dialup
settings. (And, after all, I was able to talk them into showing up. That's
a good sign. A better sign would be for you to show up, to make it clear
that the OS/2 community is interested in technology like this.)
You'll probably have an easier time at installation if you have a Windows
or Macintosh machine handy for the setup guys, but one Society board
member has been regaling the rest of us with his download speeds. At the
meeting, we'll describe some OS/2 specific tips and tricks to make the
system work across your LAN.
When and where
The general meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 13, at 7:00pm, at the
Mountain Preserve Reception Center, 1431 E Dunlap. The "random access" Q&A
session starts promptly, on the dot, at 6:30pm, give or take a half hour.
Visitors are always welcome, especially if they bring chocolate. This
meeting is very non-OS-specific, so it might be a good time to bring along
a friend that uses another operating system.
You can find a map to the meeting site at http://www.possi.org. While
you're at the site, sign up for a free sample copy of extended attributes,
the user group's print magazine devoted to OS/2.
The Phoenix OS/2 Society is the world's largest user group devoted to
IBM's OS/2 operating system, with members in 16 countries and 48 U.S.
States. (Know any OS/2 users in South Dakota or Alabama? We're trying to
complete the set.)
--Esther Schindler
program chair, Phoenix OS/2 Society
http://www.possi.org
