Last
Update to this page:
Friday, February 20, 2004 3:16 PM
CHOICES, CHOICES...
Glen Ellyn has two competing cable companies:
- Comcast (formally
AT&T, Jones & TCI) 1-866-594-1234
- Wide
Open West (aka "WOW") (formally Ameritech americast)
1-866-4-WOW-NOW (1-866-496-9669)
Online Program Guides for each company's offerings are available from TV
Guide for Comcast and WOW (Both companies offer several tiers of services ranging from Basic through Digital
with premiums and pay-per view.)
1) Cable + High-Speed Broadband Internet Access
Both companies offer Internet broadband (i.e., cable modems). Comcast's coverage area is
larger than WideOpenWest's. Comcast serves virtually all of DuPage County,
including most of incorporated and unincorporated Glen Ellyn. WideOpenWest
serves only a few incorporated DuPage municipalities, including most of
the "legal limits" of the Village of Glen Ellyn, but not unincorporated
Glen Ellyn.
Online sources of information and opinion include...
2) DSL
A) "Digital Subscriber
Line" (DSL) is an alternative high-speed broadband service offered by SBC/Ameritech
(the phone company) and third party partners. No matter who the vendor, SBC
(formerly) Ameritech) is always responsible for the so-called "last mile" --
the run from the downtown Central Office (CO) to your home or office. All
third party vendors must subcontract this "last mile" to SBC.
In order for DSL to work,
the run from your location to SBC CO (over standard copper telephone wires)
can be no more than about 18,000 feet... as measured by less-than-straight
wire miles, not line-of-sight. The SBC Central Office in Glen Ellyn
is on Pennsylvania Avenue at Prospect in the downtown business district,
next to the Glen Ellyn Clinic.
Many residents
South of Roosevelt Road have reported that they can now get DSL,
indicating that SBC has added new "nodes."
Thus, DSL may
now be available to most (but perhaps not yet all) of Glen Ellyn...
Try...
- SBC
Yahoo! --
directly from Ameritech.
- Covad also offers DSL service through many independent ISPs.
- The most viable third-party Covad-based DSL vendor seems to be Earthlink.com.
In any case, we'll work to keep this page up-to-date, but an alternative source of DSL information is DSL
Reports.
3) Satellite and Wireless Broadband
Update
2/20: Wi-Fi
Hotspots are popping up all over... here
are local Wi-Fi availability databases from JiWire and Google.
For those with a view of the southern sky, Starband.com is an option... it's the 'Net via satellite.
DIRECTWAY (formerly DirectPC) is a competitor available from Earthlink Satellite
4) Small Business Alternatives
Today's cable modems and
DSL lines are essentially "consumer" offerings; fine for casual home use,
but usually inappropriate for home office and other business use where frequent
outages, prime-time slowdowns and limited service options are unacceptable.
Glen Ellyn-based MSS Internet offers
T1, ISDN and business DSL to Glen Ellyn (and greater Chicago). Some MSS solutions
may also help Village businesses located beyond "normal" DSL range.
5) Behind The Scenes
Broadband Access for all
of Glen Ellyn is important to not only Village government, but also to the
Glen Ellyn Economic Development Corporation, Region III of the Illinois Century
Network, the West Suburban Regional Webmasters Association and several other
area organizations whose members volunteer their time to "push on our end of this piece of string" to
make alternative broadband options available throughout the area.
Already have broadband? Check its specs with Bandwidth Place's broadband speed test.
The above information has been posted in the belief that it is correct, but we can not be held responsible for inaccuracies. Updates and other comments should be sent to ted@eselgroth.com.
Ted Eselgroth
630-469-7200
ted@eselgroth.com
Chairman, Glen Ellyn Technology Advisory Commission
Trustee, Glen Ellyn Public Library
Board Member, Glen Ellyn Economic Development Commission
Steering Committee, Region III, Illinois Century Network
Adjunct Instructor, Computer/Internet Training, Continuing Education, College of DuPage
Webmaster, Glen Ellyn Web Site
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