On Monday, December 23 1996, Bill Grimsley wrote to John Piper ...

 BG> In these days of FO between exchanges, the actual distance between
 BG> subscribers is more or less irrelevant.  Almost ALL signal loss occurs
 BG> on the copper between the subs and their exchanges, which is why
 BG> Russell manages 33k6 connects with Dave's Courier when calling from
 BG> FNQ (the TOTAL copper involved is less than a kilometre), yet has
 BG> trouble getting even 26k4 when calling the same modem from his home in
 BG> Brisbane (around 6km of copper pair).

When explained in the above manner, things make more sense. I had no idea
that the cable between exchanges was in fact fibre optic. In essence, it's
really a matter of the total copper along the link; ie, from here to my
local exchange, and from the remote modem to its nearest exchange.

I suppose that in summary (and on the assumption that the copper wire in
said places is clean), the closer both parties are to their local Telstra
exchanges, the better the connect speeds.

Aren't there any OTHER factors which can influence (one way or another) the
connect rates, or is the equation as simple as what I've described above?

John (japp{at}mpx.com.au)

--- FMail/386 1.22+