CATV ISP (was Re: tlug: Firewall machine - how fast for ethernet speeds)

[Alberto Tomita <atomita@example.com>]

andy>     >> http://www.catv.ne.jp/internet/internet.htm
andy> 
andy> They were they only ones I could find in my area. I asked here last
andy> week if anyone knew of any others, but I didn't get any replies.

I'm not sure, but it seems that one cable TV station has only small
community-wide coverage (I'm yet to see two stations serving the same
area). CATV is run by Tokyu and covers only those areas along their
railroads.

Someone had posted a pointer to the latest issue of Internet Magazine
(in Japanese), that has a list of several cable Internet providers.  

I went to their web page and they have a link to the manufacturer 
of the cable-modem they're using http://www.terayon.com. Looking at
the specs: "High-speed, two-way, 14 Mbps full-duplex transmission".
Better than those satellite ISPs that require a phone connection for
the upstream. 

Going on: "Multiple PCs can be supported from one TeraPro modem, allowing 
connection of workgroups and small offices. The TeraPro modem's compact
footprint allows horizontal or vertical placement near a PC, Macintosh or
UNIX workstation." So, you don't need a router, just plug an Ethernet hub
to the cable-modem and connect how many machines you want.

Back to CATV: they have some Cisco machinery connecting their network
to IIJ. CATV's network is already inside a firewall and they run their
own IP address space. It means you won't be able to use some services,
on-line games in particular :-( 
PCs connected to the cable modem get their IP addresses by DHCP.

----------------------------------------------------------
Alberto Tomita/Japan/IBM   Tokyo Research Laboratory (TRL)   
atomita@example.com      LAB-S76      tie-line 1808-4636
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