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From: rs5o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Randall Knowles Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Best Way to Long-Distance Connect
Message-ID: <11848@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 5 Sep 90 10:29:45 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 626, Message 1 of 10


My uncle runs a railroad-booking firm out of Atlanta.  You call him,
tell him what you want sent (cars, grain, large stuff), where to pick
it up, and he'll arrange to get it there via train. Of course, the
train companies have gone to computers (in the last 5 years, only!),
and so the main branch of the booking firm in Chicago is directly
connected to all the major train company computers.  What he'd like to
do is get connected to the main branch in Chicago.  Ideally, he'd like
a leased-line arrangement to Chicago from Atlanta.  However, the cost
is prohibitive.  IBM has offered to hook him into something called
IINET (or something close to that spelling), but at a cost of $1000 a
month.  At that cost, he'll continue to use a modem and just dial them
up once a day.

However, he'd really like to be able to cheaply get access to Chicago
whenever he wants.  So what are his options?  Whatever he can arrange,
Chicago will support the other end if possible.  Is it possible to
hook into the net easily?  Whom do you ask?  What are the normal
charges?  Is there a telecom company to sells leased lines cheaply, or
a way he could get lower changes from somebody?  He only wants to
transfer a fairly small amount of data daily (maybe 25-50 K) but would
like to be able to do it intermittently.  This sounded to me like a
TELNET capability would be useful, but perhaps hooking Chicago into
TELENET, and allowing dial-ups through them would work.

Any ideas out there?

Randy Smith
rs5o+@andrew.cmu.edu
RSMITH@STARS.GSFC.NASA.GOV
 ...!harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!rs5o


[Moderator's Note: Telenet does have service to Chicago using PC
Pursuit, and there is a business version of that service he could use
involving a local call in Atlanta.  Maybe Dave Purks or someone at
Telenet will write to explain it. I think the name is "Business 
Call". ?? It would be far less expensive than the service quoted to
him by Bell.  PAT]