I want to get ISDN but i dont know what i need

[Nick-Fury]

I know i need a new phone line (modyfied in anyway ?)
An ISDN card ?
Adapter ?
Please tell me what i need and who is the best retailer

[[FUNK]Doc_Toxic]

due to get ISDN on Tuesday
got it through BT - check out their webby which has a lot of info http://www.bt.com/homehighway/


you need a phone line within 3.5 km of exchange
an ISDN card or external terminal adapter
£40 a month :(
an ISP that supports ISDN

there are lots of posts on this message board about ISDN

[Desmo]

Originally posted by Nick-Fury
I know i need a new phone line

No you don't. If you've got a normal phone line already, they will convert it to ISDN.
You can then use 64k access and still receive phone calls at the same time.

All you need then is an ISDN TA (Terminal Adapter)
This plugs into a PCI slot in your machine and the cable goes straight into the socket on the wall.

Asus cards are good and cost approx £30
Eicon Diva 2 is another good card (some say slightly better than the asus) at approx £50

I have one of each in different machines and there really isnt much in it. The Eicon Diva being ever so slightly more stable ping wise.

HTH.

[Confused?!?]

do u need a second line purely for internet use? if so, then why don't u look into cable modem or ADSL, same price (or cheaper) than ISDN, and faster, 'always-on' connection

[theV0iCe]

My isdn was installed 2 days ago :) On the BT HH standard plan it's £27 per mo. I use BT free call as my ISP and it pings 40-80 :) I once saw it at 21 :)) Try tweaking it a bit: http://www.xmm.freewire.co.uk , and get the ASUS card [its £25 from http://www.scan.co.uk ].

[[PunK]]

Yeah Nick, make sure you can't get ADSL or cable before you get ISDN cos it is overpriced rubbish.

I wouldn't recommend ISDN to anyone at this point because once you get it you're stuck with it for a year. Even if you have to wait for 6 months it may be worth your while to wait for ADSL. And also some people have found they were unable to upgrade from ISDN to ADSL due to technical difficulties however I don't know a lot about this.

ISDN costs a lot and on top of that you have to pay per minute so you really want to get an unmetered ISP which are on average £10 a month for just off peak calls. You may find better deals that support ISDN but they aren't always that reliable.

Another alternative is wireless DSL (it's DSL so it's always on 24hrs and all that), which is what I have. It's very cheap (£10 a month and £50 installation). The coverage area is very small at the moment though so chances are you won't be able to get it. It's only 150kbps and (cable and ADSL are 512kbps) so I download at 17-18K/s and get pings of 50. Check your postcode for availabilty at http://www.tele2.co.uk.

I know I didn't answer your quetsion but I hope this helps you in the long run.

[Nick-Fury]

I've checked if i can get ADSL or cable and it's not available from anyone at the moment, I also checked the tele2 thing and thats not available at the mo either.
(Wales is so **** for things like this !!)

Thanks for all your advice, I'm not gonna get ISDN now i'll wait for cable.
The thing is at the moment I have 1 phone line used for telephone calls, 1 for the internet in my brothers room and i want another 1 in my room, is this possible or will BT tell me to **** off

[Desmo]

Depends on other lines going to other houses as well m8y.

You could probably check by phoning. Just make sure they don't DACS any of you lines.

We've got about 7 different lines (home/business) coming into our house without any problems at all.

[puz]

With the newer HH box you can live up to 7km from the exchange and it will still work, cos I live in the backend
of nowhere at least 7km from the exchange and I got it :E