[geeks] Roll your own DSL

[Mike Dombrowski]

>> There have been "hacks" where you take two DSL "modems" and run you 
rown
>> high-speed network over a private twisted pair...
>
>How does that play out in line lengths?  For instance, say friend 
lives 8
>mi away.  Do we need to be within 3 miles of each other, or just both 
of
>us within 3 miles of our phone switch?

If you run 1 pair wire through the street then you need 8 miles of 
cable, if you do it the normal way it goes from point A to CO to point 
B. This is an unloaded cable - it doesn't go through any switching. You 
can do whatever the heck you want (to a point) with the line. They 
don't run new wire from point A to B.

>
>Hmm. Looking around, it seems that I'm likely to be charged some
>phenominal one time fees, but I'm not actually reading the docs for
>verizon in my area, so I could be lucky.  Now, if only I had some 
place to
>run the other end...

I talked to our local phone co about this a year or so ago and they 
basically said it couldn't be done. Usually what you want is an "Alarm 
Loop" which is used for, duh, alarm systems. It should be as simple as 
connecting the two pairs in the CO then connection thoes to your 
houses. Many companies no longer offer unloaded lines because of people 
using them to escape T1 fees or they plain don't see any need for them 
any more. But if you do get one two DSL modems are all you need.

My friend and I are about 1 block away but across a major road. We've 
been toying with the idea of simple running the wire down the street 
and doing something like stapling it to the road. Or maybe walking up 
to the sewer guys with a case or two of beer and a roll of wire. These 
difficulties are why I was asking about wireless a while ago. That 
brings up another question, say we have three houses in a line like so:

A----B-----C

Now A and C are too far away to talk to each other but both can reach 
B, will B automagically regenerate/route the signal so A and C can talk 
or does B need to do routing?

Mike