Cosmos Internet Services presents an exciting new way to connect to the internet cheaply and efficiently.

What is DOV? - Data Over Voice. 
Most people are far more familiar with the more general analogue 56K modem which is a DOV device. The line this modem uses is the standard analogue telephone line that you also use for making your normal daily calls. There are other variants of DOV used when the 'line' is different. With the solution mentioned here, we swap the existing analogue line for a digital ISDN connection. Although superficially being similar to the PC/analogue Modem model, the technology in ISDN connections is a little different but essentially, you can use the similar principle to understand the Digital DOV architecture. 

The Solution
Using DOV (Data over Voice) across Telstra's new Home Highway product. 

Why DOV? - Typically small to medium Internet users sit on a 56K analogue dialup modem to service their needs. This 56K is fine in the short term but as the number of requirements increases, the sharing of the 56K bandwidth gets tighter and tighter, add email and the speed of internet is impossibly slow. Add your own web site hosting and then people find hitting your web page impossibly slow.

The trouble is that between 56K analogue dialup and the next level up (ISDN) the cost differential is approximately 30 times. For a permanent ISDN connection at 64K, you're looking at paying around $600 per month to Telstra just for the line, add the ISP charges and the costs become very high indeed.

Conversely, a 56K connection starts at $20 per month for the line rental + ISP charges of typically $50 per month (see below). This is around $70 per month compared to the ISDN of $600 per month just for the line rental!.

It was difficult to offer a solution to cover the middle gap between the low end 56K analogue and higher end ISDN.

Fortunately, Telstra have released a residential version of ISDN that offers the advantages of ISDN - instant connections and very stable which can offer a cheaper alternative to fill the gap in the 'middle'.

Whats the SPEED?

When we talk about analogue connections, we say 56K is the speed but this speed varied greatly depending on phone lines, modem, computer, the ISP and sunspot activity. Although stated as 56K, the highest speed we have ever gotten out of our terminal servers and is connected at 52.5K (4.2K b/s). This is testing with a mixture of different terminal servers (Nortel, Livingston, Cisco and Ascend Max) and a typical variety of phone lines, Optus and Telstra.  

What do I need?

Firstly:
Get Home Highway Installed. This can be a lengthy procedure, Telstra say it can be done within 20 Days, but delivery times vary.

Secondly:
Purchase a DOV capable modem 

• Ascend Pipeline 50 (www.lidcam.com.au) - 56K DOV Capable
• DOV NetJet (www.traverse.com.au) - 64K DOV Capable

Thirdly:
Select an account with Cosmos

ISP COSTS 

NOTE:

• This is ISP pricing only. Prices do not include Telstra Installation charges or ongoing Telstra Costs. 
• All Cosmos customers will be invoiced monthly.
• Meg downloaded after limit will be charged at 0.19c per meg (or part thereof) after limit is reached.
• All prices include GST.

Quick reference:
Telstra Home Highway
Transverse Technologies DOV page
Onramp Availability in your area

please click on the links above to find out more about DOV.