What is it?

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is a high speed data line now available in parts of the Tri-Cities. DSL is an "always on" technology that eliminates the need to "dial-in" as most do now. Virtual instantaneous connectivity to the Internet can be yours now economically. Your DSL service is somewhat connected to your existing voice line and is implemented through a special splitter installed at your location. Speeds start at 256kbps download speed and 64kbps upload speed. Initially OWT will only be offering Bronze, Bronze Plus and Silver service (see below).

Benefits:

• High-speed connection
• Always on technology
• No dialing hassles
• No disconnects
• Use your existing phone line and still use it for regular voice calling
• No more Dial-up Networking!

Where is it available?

This is entirely determined by Verizon. Areas where DSL is currently potentially available:

• Most of Kennewick
• Most of Richland including Meadow Springs
• Parts of West Richland

It is important to understand that not everyone in these areas will be able to get DSL service. Many factors are involved, not the least of which is your distance to the nearest Verizon switch. Also, if you do qualify you may not qualify for all speeds. In some areas Verizon has reach capacity and there may be signicant delays before your line may qualify. Keep reading and will tell you how to find out.

What equipment do I need?

You will need a DSL modem or DSL router to access the Internet via a DSL line. Ultimately OWT hopes to offer hardware solutions but Verizon is not using industry standard equipment so for now at least you will have to acquire your DSL modem from Verizon. You will be able to plug this DSL modem in to your regular phone line through an in-line filter. A splitter is no longer installed.

For the product included in the above promotion your computer must also have Ethernet capability with a 10BaseT jack available (note: this Ethernet connection must be able to support 10BaseT - 100BaseT connections will not work with the Verizon provided modem). OWT can provide you with an Ethernet card for your computer for as little as $33.99. We also have Ethernet solutions for laptops and Macintosh computers available as well as affordable hubs for your network.

If you plan to have more than one computer connected to the DSL connection or have a local area network (LAN) we strongly recommend that you implement a firewall at your location. A firewall will add two key features to your network:

• Security - DSL connections are dedicated (always-on) connections making your computer a much more likely target for mischief. You should protect your LAN from outside attack.
• Proxy Services - this allows you to have many computers connected to the DSL connection but only use a single "real" IP address. Your LAN computers simply request an IP address from the firewall and it deals with everything else.

Firewalls often have other nice features as well such as logging, site filtering etc. that many will find quite valuable. OWT suggests that you implement a hardware firewall but several software firewalls are available and are typically less expensive. However, this typically will require you to dedicate a computer to the firewall software and requires more than average Internet and computing skills to maintain. However, Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) using Windows 98 (SE) and newer seems to work quite well for some applications.

Hardware firewalls/DSL routers come in a variety of styles and are sometimes priced based upon the number of simultaneous users to be supported behind the firewall. OWT offers an easy to configure and use hardware firewall with pricing starting at $99.95. This economical firewall is generally in stock at OWT and offers all the features most users will ever need. To see our affordable DSL routers click here.

How do I find out if I qualify?

Unfortunately, not everyone in Verizon territory can get DSL services. Essentially the distance to the closest Verizon DSL switch is the main issue.

Call us at 735-0408 or Email us at orders@owt.com with your desire to investigate DSL services. Please provide the phone number you wish to add this service to at that time. OWT will check to see if DSL is available at your location.

How much does it cost?

DSL has two pricing components: DSL line access charges from the phone company, and Internet access charges from OWT.

What about faster speeds?

To ensure that this is a quality program for all, OWT will not be offering higher speed DSL service at this time. Higher speeds may be offered in the future however. If you need higher speeds are a business located in Kennewick or Richland we urge you to consider our fiber based Internet services!

Which Speed Do I Need?

While DSL is a dedicated, always-on, technology it is also, by design, not appropriate for all Internet services. Gamers and those who do quite a bit of web browsing or online trading will love the performance and the convenience of an always-on technology.

DSL is not appropriate for most server based applications that will get a substantial amount of traffic. DSL connections inherently have more latency than other dedicated IP technologies so public web servers should not generally be hosted in this manner. However, you may have only a small audience you wish to support or just may wish to use the service for technology demonstrations and DSL does work adequately for this purpose. If you wish to support any kind of server (Email, Game or Web) we suggest that you subscribe to the Silver level (384K/384K) as the upstream speed is symmetrical and fast enough to support your incoming traffic. Here are some suggestions:

Need more? Consider our fiber based Internet services!

So What Makes OWT Different?

OWT has been offering Internet services in the Tri-Cities since 1994 - longer than anyone. We are not always the lowest priced, and we won't pay you to change providers or give you a free balloon for signing up. However, we will give you something you might not be used to: service. Yes the S in ISP does stand for service. So if you are tired of waiting on hold for hours while your ISP helps others or just want good old fashioned quality and service, come to OWT. The Tri-Cities first and still the best Internet Service Provider.

We also offer something Verizon does not: we connect to the DSL network via a very fast ATM network eliminating the most common bottleneck in DSL performance!

Other reasons to make OWT your Internet Service Provider:

• Unlike most national providers we allow you to send Email from your domain or another domain even if we don't host that domain. Sending your work Email from home etc. is no problem with OWT!
• We aren't the phone company.
• Local technical support. If you just can't make it work you can even bring it in to a real human for free installation! Tech support available 8AM-7PM M-F and 10AM-2PM Saturdays.
• Optional Spam and virus filter - free
• Powerful Usenet service!
• We aren't the cable company.
• Unlike most ISPs we don't force you to be cached (transparent caching). While we offer the fastest cache server around, we don't force you to use it (some applications really don't like to run behind a cache server). However for most of you, we do offer an optional cache acceleration service - free.
• Optional banner ad and pop-up blocking - free!
• Upgrade to fiber or wireless services as your needs change

Be sure to do a side-by-side comparison of features and pricing. Are there any hidden setup fees? Do you have bandwidth usage limitations?

How do I sign up for DSL and OWT?