Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!aero-c!news From: pthomas@arecibo.aero.org Newsgroups: comp.society.development Subject: Re: Summary: Who is on the net? Message-ID: <1991May29.180016.5964@aero.org> Date: 29 May 91 15:57:12 GMT Sender: news@aero.org Organization: The Aerospace Corporation Lines: 23 In article , mas@arcsun.arc.ab.ca (Marc Schroeder) writes... (edited) >On the subject of possibly accessing the net with packet radio: >particularly fascinated by packet radio. However, at the time it seemed to >me that speeds were too slow to serve any practical purpose - especially >to access the internet. >This all would have been back in the 80's, when most of the hams I knew >were operating at ~1200 baud.. and then there was some propagation delay >to be dealt with, as I recall. >My question is this: Has packet radio progressed enough in the last few >years to serve as a _practical_ communications medium? Could it realistically >compete with more standard methods? Marc, et al., Yes--packet is now up to 56K. Of course, like high speed modems of many kinds these are very expensive. The other issue is connectivity--you'd need to find a phone patch repeater capable of the same speed, and might have to worry about getting a good connection (as mentioned earlier not all AMSATS are geosynch, in fact most aren't) for any length of time. The challenges are great, but the potential rewards also seem excellent. --Pete