Subject: REVIEW: Cable modem Internet service
From: [email-masked] (James Vigiotti)
Date: 14 Jan 2000 11:08:15 -0500
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	Cable modem Internet service 

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	Several companies offer internet service using cable modem
technology.  Most of them do not list the Amiga as a supported
computer. Set up and use of an Amiga computer is not difficult. The
purpose of this review is to provide a description of
hardware/software requirements for cable modem internet access and a
few advantages of cable modem access over traditional dial-up service.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Time Warner Cable Road Runner Service
			and COX@HOME service
	
	World Wide Web: http://www.rr.com
			http://www.cox.com

LIST PRICE
      
Price of installation varies depending on if you install the cable
modem yourself or if you need a Warner Cable technician to do the work
for you. I had the technician install it for me. Price was about
$150. That included installation of a second cable wall outlet on the
opposite side of the house, the cable modem & RJ45 ethernet cable, and
the first month of cable internet service. With the @HOME service the
options are almost identical.  Installation with @HOME also has an
installation fee.  In this case I had already had a working ethernet
setup among several Amigas and PC clone machines.  The technician
merely made sure all was working well together once the cable modem
was installed.

DEMO VERSION

	Time Warner Cable has a public demo of Road Runner setup at a
local computer store. A computer connected to the internet with a
cable modem allows the customers to test Road Runner Internet Service.  
COX periodically sets up local test machines. Check their web
site for more information if a test site will be near you in the
future.

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE
	Amiga ethernet card with RJ45 connector

	SOFTWARE
	
		TCP/IP, web browser, email, irc, ftp and newsreader software

COPY PROTECTION

	None

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	Clark Alexander's setup
	Amiga 2000, GVP combo 68040/33, 64MB Fast ram, 1MB Chip ram 
	1 internal 880k floppy
	Quantum 1 GIG internal hard drive
	15" Multisync monitor
	Amiga OS 3.1
	Commodore 2320 deinterlacer connected to the bypass of Picasso II/
	Picasso96
	Hydra Systems Amiga Net ethernet board, AUI cable, RJ45 transceiver.
	Villagetronics Ariadne II
	Sound enhancer
	
	Miami 3.2b, Ibrowse 2.1, Megellan II, Stargate, PageMonster and AmIrc.

	James Vigliotti's setup
	Amiga 3000-T, A3640 040/25, 12Mb Fast Ram, 2Mb Chip
	1 internal HD floppy drive
	Micropolis 1.2Gb HD
	Original Ariadne ethernet board with 2 parallel ports, RJ45(10BASE-T)
	and 10Base-2 (thin-net) ports.
	AmiTCP/IP 4.3
	GVP EGS Spectrum 28/24 graphics card driven by CybergraphX

INSTALLATION

	I converted my Amiga from a dialup connection to a cable modem
connection.  Miami 3.2b, Ibrowse 2.1, Megellan II, Stargate
Email/Newsreader Client, Pagemonster and AmIrc had worked fine for
years before and after I made the change to a cable modem.

I had to purchase an ethernet card with a RJ45 connection to match the
cable modem's RJ45 connector. I purchased a Villiagetronic ethernet
card. It came with a built in RJ45 connector. I installed it in one of
the Zorro II slots.

After putting the Amiga back together, the only thing left to do is
connect the cable copper wire connection from the wall outlet to the
back of the cable modem. Then connect the RJ45 cable from the back of
the cable modem to the RJ45 cable in the Ariadne II. Finally, connect the
power to cable modem.

Next, I installed the TCP/IP software provided with the Ariadne II
using the install script. This program also installed the AriadneII
device driver in the devs:network drawer.

Then I ran the Miami3.2 Init program. Miami 3.2b asks for the name of
the ethernet card device driver and a few other questions. This 
program basically configures its self. After you have answered all the program's
questions correctly you must save your settings. Then you can use Miami to go
online. After you are successfully online you are ready to use the
browser, email, etc. These programs must be configured to use the
stmp, pop, and news servers for the new ISP. This was easy. The
information was included in the well written manual that was left by
the cable service technician.

	For James's setup there is a little more to do.  Almost all
cable providers use DHCP for setup and the technician should have left
you with an information sheet detailing your IP, and the IPs of your
default news, mail and proxy servers.  Under AmiTCP/IP it was simply a
matter of running the AmiTCP config program and either punching in the
appropriate IP numbers or setting up the software to use DHCP. After
that it is simply a matter of adjusting your various networking
software to use the appropriate links.  Since this was a direct
connect, I set all software to not use a proxy at all.

REVIEW

	Time Warner's advertisements say the cable modem will upload
at 400 kilobits per second. It will download at 1500 to 2000 megabits
per second. All of my Amiga software measures transfer rates in characters
per second. With my cable modem it is not uncommon to see a 
download rate of 76,000 or more characters per second with my 
brower or ftp software. For @HOME, the max transfer rate I have
seen for download was between 600-800 kilobytes a second (10Base-T ranges. 
Uploads faired in the 40-60 Kilobytes a second.

	In a word cable modems are fast. There is no waiting for a
connection. Your internet connection is available in just one click of
the mouse. Cable modems will not drop your connection if you get up to
answer your door. The biggest advantage of cable modem service is that
it is fast!!!!!!!!

	The only caveat for cable modem access is that it follows the
same topology as standard ethernet.  Several hubs within a community
with so many machines off each hub.  In practice it is possible for
net congestion if there are too many people on your local hub.  In
@HOME's case they have been very forthright in investigating and
adjusting hub usage as to not deter your online experience.

DOCUMENTATION

	Time Warner gave me documentation on the cable modem and the
names of the various servers needed to setup my email accounts, news
reader and personal home page.  COX provides similar documentation as
well as a wealth on online help via their customizable local page for
users as well as your own web page space, currently limited to 5Mb for
personal web pages. @HOME also provides for 3 separate e-mail accounts
included in the basic package install.

The other documentation is for your Amiga TCP/IP, news reader, email,
irc, telnet and ftp software. I had been using this software for
several years with my dial up connection so I didn't have a problem
changing the servers to those used by Time Warner Road Runner service.

LIKES

1. Uploads and downloads files very fast.
2. Never have to wait for dial up connection. Internet is connection is always 
   one click away.
3. Cable modem will not drop your connection if you are away from the computer.
4. Uploads and downloads files very fast
5. Second phone line I was using for dialup service is now free. I can
now use the internet and talk on the phone at the same time.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

	Both @HOME and Road Runner offer a very rich local content service 
that can provide you with an enormous amount of almost instantaneous
user configurable content delivery. Unfortunately quite a bit of this 
content is geared towards top level web browsers. The Amiga still 
needs proper Java and a slew of other language protocols to really 
appreciate the local service.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	DSL service is similar in speed to cable modem. Pricing is
different.  Cable modem monthly fee includes internet access and
ISP. DSL fee is for phone line only. Customer will have to pay for ISP
separately.

BUGS

	None

VENDOR SUPPORT

	Miami 3.2b did a great job of configuring itself. I just
confirmed the settings it retrieved from the ISP and saved the new
configuration.  My ftp software, email program, web browser and 
newsreader perform like there are different programs. They display 
the information very quickly.

Time Warner Road Runner tech support is 24 hours each day 7 days a
week.  COX also provides 24/7 tech support with REAL people at the
other end!  A novelty in this day and age of tech support!

WARRANTY

	Standard Warranty on Ariadne II and the cable modem.

I don't know if Miami 3.2b, Ibrowse 2.1, Pagemonster, AmIrc, Megellan II or
Stargate have warranties. They continue to get the job done for me. 

CONCLUSIONS

	If you own an Amiga and are fed up with the traditional 56k
dialup internet connection consider buying an ethernet card with a 
RJ45 connector and joining us as cable modem customers.

High graphic content pages and large files download in seconds instead
of hours. Even though Time Warner Road Runner cable service does not support the
Amiga, all Amiga users who can install an ethernet card can enjoy the
speed of cable modem internet service.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 2000 James Vigiotti ([email-masked]) and Clark
Alexander([email-masked]).

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