The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Ash Nallawalla ash@melbpc.org.au |
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Last month we featured the Melb PC ADSL offering through WestNet. Melb PC is a reseller, although we might operate our own service one day. Over 100 members have signed up in less than a month.
A few members asked why can't they go directly to WestNet. There is no reason why they can't give their business and commission to a random reseller, but they won't save any money. They will miss out on the $10 credit towards their next Melb PC membership renewal, miss out on our iHelp support, and other benefits that are planned.
Others asked if they need to remain subscribed to our dialup Internet Service. No, most will want to ask the office for a partial refund if there is much money left after an administration fee is deducted. Only those who need the full time allocation of the dialup account, say, to use it from a different location, will want to keep it going. The ADSL access is tied to a physical telephone line, so you cannot use it from two locations.
Some asked if they needed to remain members of Melb PC. Well, if they joined us entirely for the Internet Service, they need not stay with us and we'd be disappointed to see them go.
The most valuable benefit in my mind is keeping the Melb PC e-mail address that you get for free as an Associate subscriber and the one you get with a paid Internet subscription. These addresses are filtered for spam and viruses at no extra cost, whereas you pay $30/year extra if you want your six WestNet addresses to be filtered. If you don't really need another e-mail address, then you should keep the Melb PC address as the primary one.
Some members were not aware that their e-mail program (such as Outlook or Outlook Express) can keep track of several ISP accounts at the same time. They don't need to tell WestNet anything about their Melb PC address - just fill out their form as if it were the first ISP you ever used. After getting the new ADSL service, just add the new e-mail address in your e-mail program. iHelp can help with such "cross-border" issues.
Many more asked complex questions, usually involving a home network or a monitored alarm. All these questions were ably answered by James Cox, so if you have any doubts or questions about our ADSL offering, write to adsl@melbpc.org.au.
Internet Telephony
In this issue you will read about a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone I reviewed. It is the TalkPro U-100 and it plugs into a USB port. While it is cheap, it is not as versatile as another solution I have just received. One reason is that my PC needs to be turned on for the U-100 to be logged into the TalkPro system. I mentioned dearer models that plug directly into the LAN, as the latter is presumed to have an always-on Internet connection. In my case, this is a router connected to an ADSL modem.
Vonage
I mentioned to my Californian client that it was getting ridiculous to use a calling card to make phone calls, particularly short ones within the company. They proposed a solution that is made by Vonage (http://www.vonage.com) and shipped me the terminal, which is made by Motorola. Superficially, it looks like a dialup modem. I plug this into the router, or it could drive the ADSL modem directly if desired. It has two telephone line ports, of which one could be your fax line, one WAN port and one LAN port.
I plugged a telephone into the device and it emitted a US dialtone. It shipped with a US number in an area code of my choice. It is eerie to hear my locally sourced telephone ring with the long US rings but it helps to tell me which handset to lift.
I didn't write a proper review of this phone terminal because Vonage will probably not ship the unit outside North America, but it is representative of technology we will see locally. It has many features, which you can see at the Vonage Web site.
Virbiage
I saw this Melbourne company on TV (http://www.virbiage.com). It offers a free soft phone (software) called Firefly for download. Optionally, you can use their USB handset or an about-to-be launched LAN version. For making calls to landlines, you need to subscribe to a service offered by Freshtel (http://www.freshtel.net). I haven't tried any of these products but I'd expect them to perform very similarly to other offerings.
Cheap Computing
No, I am not planning to buy anything, but I like to watch the dropping prices of our toys. Almost every glossy leaflet in my letterbox has some offering from outlets such as Harvey Norman, OfficeWorks, Dick Smith, or Retravision. The magic lower boundary of laptops is around $1299, but most are $1399. At the lower end you don't get built-in wireless or a DVD burner, but you might get a CD-R burner and a 30 GB hard disk. The best wireless deal I saw recently was a Belkin bundle of a PC card and a gateway router for $99! They are obviously clearing out their 802.11b stock, but 10 Mbit/s is more than adequate for sharing an ADSL or cable connection.
Reprinted from the July 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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