56kbps modems
are winning friends
—yes, even here

Some isle 'Net providers say
the new technology can boost speed
even over noisy phone lines

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Get ready to nearly double the speed at which you receive pictures and other data from the Internet.

Depending where on Oahu you live, your telephone lines may not be good enough to take you all the way to maximum speed.

But it is probably worthwhile investing in the new superfast modems anyway, say several local Internet service providers -- who aren't charging any extra for the higher speed.

What created this opportunity was the launching on the public market this spring of modems capable of handling 56 kilobytes of data per second, twice as fast as the 28.8 kpbs modems that are the fastest most people have now.

However, just buying one of the new modems and hooking it to your computer won't necessarily get you there.

For starters, the Federal Communications Commission limits output to 53 kpbs so nobody can get a higher speed than that through a regular telephone line, said Kristin Paulo, president and owner of Hula Net.

If your own phone jacks and lines aren't clean and in top shape you won't get the best speed either, she said. Also, if your area doesn't have the best lines and exchanges the telephone company can offer, your modem will slow down until it finds a rate that works, she said.

A further caution: The two manufacturers of the fast modems, U.S. Robotics Inc., with its x2, and the Lucent Technologies/Rockwell International partnership with the K56 Flex, use different systems. They are not compatible.

Eventually, possibly by early next year, there will be a new international standard and the manufacturers will have to change what they put into their modems to match it.

Even so, several Internet service providers say it's a good idea to go ahead and buy a 56 kpbs modem for the following reasons:

Manufacturers say they will upgrade their customers to whatever the standard is, probably with free or cheap software downloads.

Several Hawaii service providers already have the X2 system in place and are moving to add Flex equipment so than can offer both.

The modems themselves aren't particularly expensive, ranging from about $170 to about $230.

The service providers have not raised their rates, opting to offer 56 kbps service at the same price as the lower speeds.

And users are almost certain to get faster service than they have now.

Hula Net has had customers using the Robotics x2 system for about a month and will have the Lucent/Rockwell Flex equipment by the beginning of September, Paulo said.

"We've had a great response," she said. "There are certain areas of the island that are going to get better connect speeds. My dad in Kahala couldn't get it (top speed) and Hickam Air Force Base has some problems," she said.

So far there is no hard data on just how fast the modems will operate in different neighborhoods.

Pacific Information Exchange Inc., which operates as PixiNet, has been testing both x2 and Flex for several weeks and is now inviting customers with the appropriate modems to switch up in a broader testing program.

"Right now, so far as I know, we are the only ISP (internet service provider) supporting both standards today," said John Strom, chief technology officer and managing director at PixiNet. They are working well, he said.

"Even out at Waianae, where the maximum we were getting (with a 28.8 modem) was 19.2 kbps, our techs are consistently getting 46," Strom said.

Clifton Royston, president of LavaNet, said the company is in beta testing with customers, getting a wider range of customers to try it out as part of a formal testing program after using the system internally and with a small group of customers.

LavaNet has Robotics x2 equipment in place and is expecting the K56 Flex equipment any day, so it will soon have the two systems running side by side.

"The highest connect speed we've had reported yet is 50.3 (kbps) from Makakilo," Royston said. "The highest I've gotten in Makiki and downtown is 48; 46-48 seems to be normal."

Hula Net has also experienced varying speed rates around the island, but there haven't been any complaints, owner Paulo said.

Not all isle ISPs are quite so enthusiastic, at least not yet.

GST Hawaii OnLine, for example, says it is getting ready to offer x2 service for competitive reasons, but is moving cautiously because of the lack of a standard and questions over the quality of existing phone lines.

GTE Hawaiian Tel says that its system was designed for voice conversations and was never intended to handle high-speed data.

"It will work (56 kbps) in ideal conditions, like in a laboratory or within a building," such as in an internal network, said a Hawaiian Tel spokesman, Calvin Tadaki.

How well it works in a household situation will depend on a number of factors, such as how far the modem is from the nearest exchange. The longer the distance, the greater the resistance and the slower the speed, Tadaki said.

"If a person wants to have full capability, we do offer digital lines," Tadaki said.

That will cost extra. For a data line, a customer can expect to pay about $44 a month, he said.