hi wombathugger,
As far as I am aware, no-one supports connection directly to Macs.
Telstra's 2 way is not something I would recommend anyway as most
people who've tried it are now going back to one way satellite. After
5 minutes of idle time it is necessary to refresh your pages a few
times to get it transmitting again I am told. Telstra do not
encourage or support networking at all. This is because their
installers only get 1 day's computer training, which is typically the
total sum of computer knowledge they possess. A better alternative is
to use one way with multi-link as a back channel to double your return
bandwidth to 64KB, or ISDN as a back channel up to 128KB for one
copper pair, with DOV if available to use ISDN at only the cost of a
local call. These alternatives cost heaps less than 2 way and work
much better. The latency of 2 way is horrendous and is usually the
reason for dissatisfaction. The only way to support Macs is to route
through a network. You just need 1 IBM PC to route through and that
can be just a Pentium 133 with 64MB RAM. Value of about $100 or pick
up from any tip or nature strip collection. Recommended to use Linux
as the operating system to minimise latency (typically 40ms), no
monitor, keyboard or mouse needed. (And no Microsoft to get in the
way or pay for.) There is no intention by anyone at the moment to
support Macs in the future other than by the methods I've described.
It is highly unlikely that this position will change.
regards,
jackburton-ga |
