Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!netsys!vector!nobody From: ames!claris!portal!cup.portal.com!David_W_Tamkin@harvard.harvard.edu Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: A Comparison of Starlink and PC Pursuit Message-ID: Date: 3 Feb 89 03:05:29 GMT Sender: chip@vector.UUCP Lines: 84 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 46, message 1 Patrick Townson commented on Nia Bennett's comparison of Starlink and PCP: B> You can precede the number to be dialed with a "1" and call any BBS in that B> area code. You will be billed for the long distance call from the outdial B> port to the host computer at the local phone company's rates. Is the 1 needed for Starlink or is Ms. Bennett thinking of how things work in area code 804, where telcos require it for non-local intra-NPA calls? B> Outdial Host Numbers Sorted by Time Zone, State, They still copy Tymnet Information's error in placing Detroit in the Central Zone. I've pointed that out to Nia. B> California B> Alhambra 9204 818 m B> Anaheim 9184 714 B> Colton, CA ---- 714 D/CACOL/3/12/24 B> El Segundo 9203 203 m B> Glendale, CA ---- 818 D/CAGLE/12 B> Long Beach 9205 213 m B> Los Angeles, CA ---- 213 D/CALAN/3/12/24 B> Newport Beach 9184 714 B> Oakland 8963 415 D/CAOAK/3/12/24 B> Palo Alto, CA ---- 415 D/CAPAL/12 B> Pasadena 9204 818 m B> Pleasanton 9202 415 m B> Sacramento 9179 916 D/CASAC/3/12/24 B> San Diego, CA ---- 619 D/CASDI/3/12/24 B> San Francisco 9533 415 D/CASFA/3/12/24 B> San Jose 6450 408 D/CASJO/12 B> Santa Ana, CA ---- 714 D/CASAN/12 B> Sherman Oaks 9206 818 m B> Vernon 3173 213 B> Walnut Creek 9202 415 m The California list seems to show a lot of gaps for Starlink, but notice that the Vernon and El Segundo outdialers cover the territory of CALAN; that Alhambra/Pasadena and Sherman Oaks cover that of CAGLE; that Anaheim and Newport Beach cover that of CACOL and CASAN; that CAPAL's territory is reachable from the Walnut Creek Tymnet outdialer. There are, to my knowledge, only four PCP cities not covered by Tymnet's outdialers: NCRTP, UTSLC, ORPOR, and CASDI. T> However, Starlink allows calls to Canada and the UK, something Telenet T> absolutely forbids. Starlink allows calls *from* Canada via Tymnet Canada's indials and *from* the UK via Mercury's indials. They also take calls from ConnNet indials to Tymnet, so they are a local call everywhere in Connecticut. Nia has told me that a Starlink account can access any domestic DAF connected to Tymnet (though you may get a separate billing from the DAF provider). I don't know whether international addresses are surcharged or locked out. T> My understanding is that the $10 per month or $25 per month fee, which T> allows purchase of Starlink at $1.50 per hour or $1.00 per hour respectively T> also gives you a certain amount of free time on their own system. Of T> course, you have to use Starlink to call them, and pay for the Starlink T> time. Galaxy BBS charges $2 per hour, but the first two hours each month are free for Starlink customers. Their explanation is that two hours is an allowance for Starlink customers to check their current billing and keep up with news and announcements. PCP gives no way to check on running usage. Another point Starlink advertises is that they can get you a new password in fifteen minutes. (It would be better yet if Starlink account holders could log into Galaxy BBS and change their own passwords, but it's still an improvement over PCP, except that PCP staffers frequently bend the rules and give you a new password, for better or worse, over the phone.) T> Finally, Starlink allows the placement of calls via an outdial modem to T> a point outside the local calling zone. Telenet does not. With some clever T> planning, you can use a nearby outdial to call anywhere. Starlink told me T> the surcharge for this would be 110% of telco. 100% or 110%? There is a discrepancy here. At any rate, *Tymnet*, not Starlink, appears to restrict these to calls within the area code, since Tymnet Information's description of the outdial service states that you must use an outidaler in the same area code as the number you want to reach. David_W_Tamkin@cup.portal.com ... sun!portal!cup.portal.com!David_W_Tamkin