Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7) id AA15685; Mon, 30 Jan 89 02:37:26 EST Message-Id: <8901300737.AA15685@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: Mon, 30 Jan 89 1:07:01 EST From: The Moderator Reply-To: TELECOM@bu-cs.BU.EDU Subject: TELECOM Digest V9 #37 To: TELECOM@bu-cs.bu.edu TELECOM Digest Mon, 30 Jan 89 1:07:01 EST Volume 9 : Issue 37 Today's Topics: A Comparison of Starlink and PC Pursuit Equal Access? My Foot! Re: Victims of Wrong Numbers Re: Victims of Wrong Numbers ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu From: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: A Comparison of Starlink and PC Pursuit Date: 28 Jan 89 22:17:04 GMT [Moderator's Note: The information which follows, up to the next note from myself, was provided by Starlink, and Denia Bennett-Howard (Portal handle: 'pooka'). My thanks for this detailed chart. PT] A COMPARISON OF STARLINK AND PC PURSUIT The following list compares STARLINK's outdial access points with those of Telenet. These are the actual cities you can reach by accessing your local dial-in node and issuing the outdial command. As you can see, there are many more STARLINK outdials than there are Telenet outdials. In addition, with STARLINK, you are not restricted to the actual outdial city. You can precede the number to be dialed with a "1" and call any BBS in that area code. You will be billed for the long distance call from the outdial port to the host computer at the local phone company's rates. Outdial Host Numbers Sorted by Time Zone, State, Eastern Time Zone ----------- State/ Tymnet Outdial Telenet Node City Host # Area Code Access Point --------------- ------ --------- ------------ Connecticut Bloomfield 9128 203 Hartford 9128 203 D/CTHAR/12 Stamford 9129 203 D.C Washington 2262 703 D/DCWAS/3/12/24 Florida Fort Lauderdale 7123 305 m Jacksonville 5797 904 m Longwood 7096 305 m Miami 6582 305 D/FLMIA/3/12/24 Orlando 7096 305 m Tampa 5518 813 m D/FLTAM/3/12/24 Georgia Atlanta 8795 404 D/GAATL/3/12/24 Doraville 8795 404 Marietta 8795 404 Norcross 8795 404 Indiana Indianapolis 9349 317 Maryland Baltimore 4600 301 Massachusetts Boston 8796 617 D/MABOS/3/12/24 Cambridge 8796 617 New Jersey Camden 8693 609 m Englewood Cliffs 6319 201 m Newark 7618 201 D/NJNEW/3/12/24 Pennsauken 8693 609 m Princeton 8920 609 South Brunswick 8920 609 New York Albany 9192 518 m Buffalo 9194 716 m Melville 8811 516 m New York 1059 212 D/NYNYO/3/12/24 (for 718, must use 1718 + phone number) Pittsford 6019 716 Rochester 6019 716 White Plains 8571 914 North Carolina Charlotte 6793 704 Research Triangle Park, NC 919 D/NCRTP/3/12 Ohio Akron 8740 216 m Cincinnati 1785 513 Cleveland 4222 216 D/OHCLE/3/12/24 Columbus 9347 614 Dayton 9511 513 m Pennsylvania Philadelphia 9581 215 D/PAPHI/3/12/24 Pittsburgh 7408 412 Rhode Island Providence 9130 401 Virginia Alexandria 2262 703 D/DCWAS/3/12/24 Arlington 2262 703 D/DCWAS/3/12/24 Fairfax 2262 703 Midlothian 7339 804 m Norfolk 6986 804 m Portsmouth 6986 804 m Central Time Zone ----------- Alabama Birmingham 4101 205 Illinois Chicago 8257 312 D/ILCHI/3/12/24 Glen Ellyn 8944 312 m (for 815, must use 1815 + phone number) Kansas Wichita 8013 316 m Michigan Detroit 8794 313 D/MIDET/3/12/24 Minnesota Minneapolis 3494 612 D/MNMIN/3/12 St. Paul 3494 612 Missouri Bridgeton 8978 314 Independence 8615 913 Kansas City 8615 913 D/MOKCI/3/12/24 St. Louis 8978 314 D/MOSLO/3 (for 618, must use 1618 + phone number) Nebraska Omaha 2521 402 m Oklahoma Oklahoma City 9165 405 Tulsa 6605 918 Tennessee Memphis 1551 901 m Nashville 9141 615 Texas Arlington 9337 817 Dallas 2948 214 D/TXDAL/3/12/24 (for 817, must use 817 + phone number) Fort Worth 9337 817 Houston 4562 713 San Antonio 9169 512 Wisconsin Brookfield 9167 414 Milwaukee 9167 414 D/WIMIL/3/12/24 Mountain Time Zone ---------- Arizona Mesa 9532 602 Phoenix 9532 602 D/AZPHO/3/12 Tucson 4751 602 m & SpStnaJct calls must use 1 + phone number [see coverage.txt]) Colorado Aurora 2584 303 Boulder 2584 303 Denver 2584 303 D/CODEN/3/12/24 Utah Salt Lake City ---- 801 D/UTSLC/3/12/24 Pacific Time Zone ----------- California Alhambra 9204 818 m Anaheim 9184 714 Colton, CA ---- 714 D/CACOL/3/12/24 El Segundo 9203 203 m Glendale, CA ---- 818 D/CAGLE/12 Long Beach 9205 213 m Los Angeles, CA ---- 213 D/CALAN/3/12/24 Newport Beach 9184 714 Oakland 8963 415 D/CAOAK/3/12/24 Palo Alto, CA ---- 415 D/CAPAL/12 Pasadena 9204 818 m Pleasanton 9202 415 m Sacramento 9179 916 D/CASAC/3/12/24 San Diego, CA ---- 619 D/CASDI/3/12/24 San Francisco 9533 415 D/CASFA/3/12/24 San Jose 6450 408 D/CASJO/12 Santa Ana, CA ---- 714 D/CASAN/12 Sherman Oaks 9206 818 m Vernon 3173 213 Walnut Creek 9202 415 m Oregon Portland, OR ---- 503 D/ORPOR/3/12 Washington Bellevue 9170 206 Seattle 9170 206 D/WASEA/3 FOREIGN ACCESS: The following countries have direct dial-in access to STARLINK: CANADA ALBERTA:Calgary BRITISH COLUMBIA:Burnaby,Vancouver ONTARIO:Kitchner,Ottawa,Toronto,Windsor QUEBEC:Montreal,Quebec City, Ville St. Laurent (Off peak rates from these cities is billed at $4.00 per hour.) (Other Canadian cities can reach STARLINK via DataPac.) UNITED KINGDOM: (Via Mercury) London (Off peak access from London is billed at $10.00 per hour.) For more information about STARLINK, call 804-495-INFO by modem or 804-495-4693 by voice. [Moderator's Note: As you can see, there are several places reachable via Starlink/Tymnet not reachable by PCP and vice versa. PCP seems to be especially heavy in California, where Starlink has somewhat less coverage in that state. However, Starlink allows calls to Canada and the UK, something Telenet absolutely forbids. The folks at Starlink operate their own Information Service/BBS/Chat at the 804-495-INFO number. One nice thing about it is they give UPI at no extra surcharge. They also offer hookups to Reuter News Service, the Official Airline Guide and a travel/hotel/car rental reservations system. My understanding is that the $10 per month or $25 per month fee, which allows purchase of Starlink at $1.50 per hour or $1.00 per hour respectively, also gives you a certain amount of free time on their own system. Of course, you have to use Starlink to call them, and pay for the Starlink time. Another point which troubles me a little is their use of somewhat misleading or out of context statements describing the cost of their service versus the new rates at PCP. In messages which discuss 'how much you will save' by using their service at $25 plus $1 per hour versus PCP, they are saying that PCP will charge $4.50 per hour after 30 hours, which is only correct if you do not purchase *multiple accounts from Telenet at 30X30*. Quite obviously, two or three accounts from PCP at 30X30 is only $60 or $90 per month. The same 60 hours at Starlink would be either $10+(1.50x60=90)+$100 per month or $25+(1x60=60)=$85 per month, depending on how you pay for it. 90 hours per month would be $10+(1.50x90=135)=$145 per month or $25+(1x90=90)=$115 per month. For heavy users then, multiple accounts with Telenet would still be cheaper than Starlink at $60 on PCP versus $85/$100 on Starlink. The latter is only a bargain for the very casual user of less than around 20 hours per month or the user who wishes to call Canada or the UK. I will get a Starlink account as a supplement to my PCP account and use it for places not served by PCP. And of course, Tymnet/Starlink addressing is much easier; just a four digit number gets your connection versus the longer Telenet scheme. Finally, Starlink allows the placement of calls via an outdial modem to a point outside the local calling zone. Telenet does not. With some clever planning, you can use a nearby outdial to call anywhere. Starlink told me the surcharge for this would be 110% of telco. Starlink versus PCP? You will have to decide, based on your own use and applications. P. Townson] ------------------------------ To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu