On Sun, 11 Sep 2005, Ines Winz wrote:

> Thanks Mark.
> This is the first official letter we have ever received from Xtra about the
> withdrawal and we usually don't keep track of what product range companies
> have and how the change.
> If we were to change to a cheaper dial-up plan, can we keep our technical
> set-up with router and filters? Does the dial-up still enable us to listen
> to internet radio or would the connection be too slow?
> Cheers again!

Think about your set up a little.

If you're using a router etc then you have a stand-alone device that
connects to ADSL, and your computers address this over a computer network
(ethernet.. through a hub or something).

When you were on dialup you likely had a modem plugged straight into the
back of one of your computers, or more likely actually physically inside
your computer, right?

So first thing you notice is that when on dialup, only one of your
computers goes online. The others can't talk to the internet at all,
right?

Next thing... did you need filters for your dialup connection?
Theyre _ADSL_ Filters, right?

So they have no involvement in a Dialup Connection.

Next thing... bandwidth. Your Modem connects and you get a report that
says youre connected at "48kbps" or some number similar (typically from 44
to 52k).

Your Jetstream line is probably a 256kbps line. Thats what, 5 or 6 times
faster?

Therefore if your Internet Radio stuff will work at approximately 1/6th of
the speed you currently use.. then less it will work...

(Its possible to get audio streams that will work at below 56k, but theyre
not particularly good quality.)

In terms of the Jetstream Starter withdrawl, heres the press release as of
26 July 2004:

http://www.telecom-media.co.nz/releases_detail.asp?id=3068&page=1&pagesize=10&filtertext=Jetstream+Starter&m1=1&y1=1996&m2=9&y2=2005&filter=filter

My suggestion to you would be to look at your average monthly bandwidth
usage (Check the Xtra Jetstream usage meter found at
http://xtra.co.nz/myaccount) and pick the plan with the top-limit that
best suits you.

Unfortunately to have DSL and actually make reasonable use of it you need
to be budgeting for at least $70/month + phone rental. IMHO.

Mark.

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