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ISDN TRAINER

MODEL ISDN100

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SIGMA TRAINERS

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INTRODUCTION
This trainer provides training of hardware and software theory of ISDN technology with 25 experiments.

SPECIFICATION
(A) Computer Systems (2 Nos.) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. (B) CPU with fan Mother Board Memory (RAM) Display Adaptor card Hard Disk Floppy Disk Drive Monitor Key board Mouse : : : : : : : : : : : : : Intel Pentium IV 1.5 GHz 200 MHZ FSB 128 MB SDRAM On Board AGP 8 MB 40 GB ATA 1.44 MB 15" Colour SVGA 104 Keys Keyboard Logitech 1st Mouse with pad 200 Watts AT 2 No. 2 No. 1 No.

10. SMPS ISDN Hardware 1. 2. 3. (C) (D) 1. Analog Telephones Web Cam Camera ISDN Emulator ISDN Training software

Training Packages Two no. of ISDN lines are required for experiments.

Integrated services digital network (ISDN) A generic term referring to the integration of communications services transported over digital facilities such as wire pairs, coaxial cables, optical fibers, microwave radio, and satellites. ISDN provides end-to-end digital connectivity between any two (or more) communications devices. Information enters, passes through, and exits the network in a completely digital fashion. Since the introduction of pulse-code-modulation (PCM) transmission in 1962, the worldwide communications system has been evolving toward use of the most advanced digital technology for both voice and non-voice applications. Pulse code modulation is a sampling technique which transforms a voice signal with a bandwidth of 4 kHz into a digital bit stream, usually of 64 kilobits per second (kbps).. Many aspects of telecommunications are improved with digital technology. For example, digital technology lends itself to very large-scale integration (VLSI) technology and its associated benefits of miniaturization and cost reduction. In addition, computers operate digitally. Digital transport provides for human-to-human, computer-to-computer, and humanto-computer interactions. The ISDN is capable of transporting voice, data, graphics, text, and even video information over the same equipment. The customer has access to a wide spectrum of communications services by way of a single access link. This is in contrast to existing methods of service access, which segregate services into specialized lines. Associated with integrated access and ISDN is the concept of a standard interface. The objective of a standard interface is to allow any ISDN terminal to be plugged into any ISDN interface, resulting in terminal portability, flexibility, and ease in operation. ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) An international standard for switched, digital dial-up telephone service for voice and data. Analog telephones and fax machines are used over ISDN lines, but their signals are converted into digital by the ISDN terminal adapter (see below). Although announced in the early 1980s, it took more than a decade before ISDN became widely available. It enjoyed a surge of growth in the early days of the Internet, because it provided the only higher-speed alternative to analog modems in many areas. Still working in many behind-the-scenes applications, ISDN is rarely used for Internet access. Channels ISDN uses 64 Kbps "B" (bearer) channels to carry voice and data. A separate "D" (delta) channel is used for control. The D channel signals the carrier's voice switch to make calls, put them on hold and activate features such as conference calling and call forwarding. It also receives caller ID data. Because the D channel connects directly to the telephone system's SS7 signaling network, ISDN calls are dialed much faster than regular telephone calls. Basic Service ISDN BRI (Basic Rate Interface) uses one wire pair to carry two 64 Kbps B channels and one 16 Kbps D channel (2B+D). Both B channels are often "bonded" into one, providing a total data rate of 128 Kbps.

High-Speed Service ISDN PRI (Primary Rate Interface) uses four wire pairs to provide 23 B channels and one 64 Kbps D channel (23B+D). A PRI line is equivalent to a 24-channel T1 line. Bonding channels is common; for example, six channels provide 384 Kbps for high-quality videoconferencing. In Europe, PRI includes 30 B channels and one D channel, equivalent to an E1 line. Connecting to ISDN ISDN requires a network terminator (NT1) and terminal adapter (TA). The NT1 plugs into the two-wire line from the telephone company and provides four-wire output to the terminal adapter. In the U.S., the NT1 and TA are typically combined in one unit, but are separate in Europe and Japan. The terminal adapter is called an "ISDN modem" if it has a built-in analog modem to hook up regular telephones and fax machines. If the ISP supports the Multi link PPP (MPPP) protocol, the TA can bond channels for faster Internet access.

The Terminal Adapter TAs in the U.S. generally have a built-in NT1 and attach via a two-wire "U" interface. In Europe and Japan, the NT1 is installed by the telephone company and attaches to the TA via a four-wire "T" interface. The NT2 component, which is built into most devices, is a logical interface for multiple access and attaches via the "S" interface.

Typical SOHO Installation An ISDN terminal adapter with phone support (ISDN modem) allows a telephone, fax machine and PC to communicate via the ISDN service.

Typical LAN Installation LANs typically connect to ISDN via a router, which enables multiple users to share the available channels. For Internet access, the router supplies temporary IP addresses to each of the nodes. Routers may also provide analog phone support.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) International network for transmitting voice, video, or data over digital phone lines, without a modem. ISDN systems can be used to transmit radio advertisements to multiple stations. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) A telecommunications technology offered by telephone companies that allows for the rapid (128Kbps) transfer of voice and data. Communication is digital, in contrast to the analog telephone system, and requires use of a network terminator and an ISDN adapter, sometimes referred to as a digital modem. ISDN Digital telecommunications network that operates over standard copper telephone wires or other media. ISDN connections are used to provide a variety of digital services to customers, including digital voice telephone, fax, e-mail, digital video, and access to the Internet. A wide range of data transfer rates are available, with speeds up to about 128 kilobits per second (kbps). ISDN is faster than an ordinary dial-up connection (at about 56 kbps), but much slower than cable modem or DSL connections (which typically exceed one megabit per second).

ISDN is short for: Meaning I See Dollars Now I Still Don't No Inas Schule der Doppelten Negation Category Miscellaneous->Funnies Miscellaneous->Funnies International->German Governmental->Military Computing->Networking Academic & Science->Electronics Computing->General Computing->Drivers Miscellaneous->Funnies

Integrated Services Digital Network

It Still Does Nothing

Integrated Services Digital Network Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. Remove this template after wikifying. This article has been tagged since August 2006. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a type of circuit switched telephone network system, designed to allow digital transmission of voice and data over ordinary telephone copper wires, resulting in better quality and higher speeds than available with analog systems. More broadly, ISDN is a set of protocols for establishing and breaking circuit switched connections, and for advanced call features for the user. The English term is a "backronym", thought better for English-language advertisements than the original, "Integriertes Sprach- und Datennetz" (German for "Integrated Speech and Data Net"). In a videoconference, ISDN provides simultaneous voice, video, and text transmission between individual desktop videoconferencing systems and group (room) videoconferencing systems. In the phrase "Integrated Services Digital Network",

Integrated Services refers to ISDN's ability to deliver at minimum two simultaneous connections, in any combination of data, voice, video, and fax, over a single line. Multiple devices can be attached to the line, and used as needed. That means an ISDN line can take care of most people's complete communications needs, without forcing the purchase of multiple analog phone lines at a much higher transmission rate. Digital refers to its purely digital transmission, as opposed to the analog transmission of plain old telephone service. If you're using an analog telephone modem for Internet access at this moment, your Internet service provider's modem has converted this site's digital content to analog signals before sending it to you, and your modem converts those signals back to digital when receiving (the same thing happens with every keystroke and mouse click you transmit). When you connect with ISDN, there is no analog conversion. ISDN transmits data digitally, resulting in a very clear transmission quality. There is none of the static and noise of analog transmissions that can slow transmission speed. Network refers to the fact that ISDN is not simply a point-to-point solution like a leased line. ISDN networks extend from the local telephone exchange to the remote user and include all of the telecommunications and switching equipment in between.

Configurations In ISDN, there are two types of channels, B (for "Bearer") and D (for "Delta"). B channels are used for data (which may include voice), and D channels are intended for signalling and control (but can also be used for data). There are three ISDN implementations. Basic rate interface (BRI) also Basic rate access (BRA) consists of two B channels, each with bandwidth of 64 kbit/s, and one D channel with a bandwidth of 16 kbit/s. Together these three channels can be designated as 2B+D. Primary rate interface (PRI) also Primary rate access (PRA) contains a greater number of B channels and a D channel with a bandwidth of 64 kbit/s. The number of B channels for PRI varies according to the nation: in North America and Japan it is 23B+1D, with an aggregate bit rate of 1.544 Mbit/s (T1); in Europe and Australia it is 30B+1D, with an aggregate bit rate of 2.048 Mbit/s (E1). Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (BISDN) is another ISDN implementation and it is able to manage different types of services at the same time. It is primarily used within network backbones and employs ATM. Another alternative ISDN configuration can be used in which the B channels of an ISDN basic rate interface are bonded to provide a total duplex bandwidth of 128 kbit/s. This precludes use of the line for voice calls while the internet connection is in use. Using bipolar with eight-zero substitution encoding technique, call data is transmitted over the data (B) channels, with the signaling (D) channels used for call setup and management. Once a call is set up, there is a simple 64 kbit/s synchronous bi-directional data channel between the end parties, lasting until the call is terminated. There can be as many calls as there are data channels, to the same or different end-points. Bearer channels may also be multiplexed into what may be considered single, higher-bandwidth channels via a process called B channel bonding. The D channel can also be used for sending and receiving X.25 data packets, and connection to X.25 packet network, this is specified in X.31. In practice, X.31 was only commercially implemented in France and Japan. Reference points A set of reference points are defined in the ISDN standard to refer to certain points between the telco and the end user ISDN equipment.

1

R - defines the point between a non-ISDN device and a terminal adapter (TA) which provides translation to and from such a device S - defines the point between the ISDN equipment (or TA) and a Network Termination Type 2 (NT-2) device T - defines the point between the NT-2 and NT-1 devices 1 U - defines the point between the NT-1 and the telco switch 2

Most NT-1 devices can perform the functions of the NT-2 as well, and so the S and T reference points are generally collapsed into the S/T reference point.

Inside North America, the NT-1 device is considered customer premises equipment and must be maintained by the customer, thus, the U interface is provided to the customer. In other locations, the NT-1 device is maintained by the telco, and the S/T interface is provided to the customer.

Types of communications handled Among the kinds of data that can be moved over the 64 kbit/s channels are pulse-code modulated voice calls, providing access to the traditional voice PSTN. This information can be passed between the network and the user end-point at call set-up time. In North America, ISDN is now used mostly as an alternative to analog connections, most commonly for Internet access. Some of the services envisioned as being delivered over ISDN are now delivered over the Internet instead. In Europe, and in Germany in particular, ISDN has been successfully marketed as a phone with features, as opposed to a POTS phone (Plain Old Telephone Service) with few or no features. Meanwhile, features that were first available with ISDN (such as Three-Way Call, Call Forwarding, Caller ID, etc.) are now commonly available for ordinary analog phones as well, eliminating this advantage of ISDN. Another advantage of ISDN was the possibility of multiple simultaneous calls (one call per B channel), e.g. for big families, but with the increased popularity and reduced prices of mobile telephony this has become less interesting as well, making ISDN unappealing to the private customer. However, ISDN is typically more reliable than POTS, and has a significantly faster call setup time compared with POTS, and IP connections over ISDN typically have some 30-35ms round trip time, as opposed to 120-180ms (both measured with otherwise unused lines) over 56k or V.34 modems, making ISDN more pleasant for telecommuters. Where an analog connection requires a modem, an ISDN connection requires a terminal adapter (TA). The function of an ISDN terminal adapter is often delivered in the form of a PC card with an S/T interface, and single-chip solutions seem to exist, considering the plethora of combined ISDN- and ADSL-routers. A sample ISDN call The following is an example of a Primary Rate (PRI) ISDN call showing the Q.921/LAPD and the Q.931/Network message intermixed (i.e. exactly what was exchanged on the D-channel). The call is originating from the switch where the trace was taken and goes out to some other switch, possibly an end-office LEC, who terminates the call. The first line format is <time> <D-channel> <Transmitted/Received> <LAPD/ISDN message ID>. If the message is an ISDN level message, then a decoding of the message is attempted showing the various Information Elements that make up the message. All ISDN messages are tagged with an ID number relative to the switch that started the call (local/remote). Following this optional decoding is a dump of the bytes of the message in <offset> <hex> ... <hex> <ascii> ... <ascii> format.

The RR messages at the beginning prior to the call are the keep alive messages. Then you will see a SETUP message that starts the call. Each message is acknowledged by the other side with a RR. 10:49:47.33 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 a5 10:49:47.34 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 b9 10:50:17.57 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 a5 10:50:17.58 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 b9 R T R T RR RR RR RR

.... .... .... ....

10:50:24.37 21/1/24 T Call Reference Bearer Capability Channel ID Calling Party Number Presentation allowed Called Party Number 0000 00 01 a4 b8 08 02 0010 a9 83 85 6c 0c 21 0020 30 70 08 c1 33 37 10:50:24.37 21/1/24 0000 00 01 01 a6 R

SETUP : 000062-local : CCITT, Speech, Circuit mode, 64 kbit/s : Implicit Interface ID implies current span, 21/1/5, Exclusive : 8018023000 National number User-provided, not screened : 3739120 00 3e 05 80 38 30 33 39 31 RR Type: SUBSCRB 04 03 80 90 a2 18 03 31 38 30 32 33 30 30 32 30 .......>........ ...l.!.801802300 0p..3739120 ....

10:50:24.77 21/1/24 R Call Reference Channel ID 0000 02 01 b8 a6 08 02 10:50:24.77 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 ba T

CALL PROCEEDING : 000062-local : Implicit Interface ID implies current span, 21/1/5, Exclusive 80 3e 02 18 03 a9 83 85 .......>...... RR ....

10:50:25.02 21/1/24 R ALERTING Call Reference : 000062-local Progress Indicator : CCITT, Public network serving local user, In-band information or an appropriate pattern is now available 0000 02 01 ba a6 08 02 80 3e 01 1e 02 82 88 .......>..... 10:50:25.02 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 bc T RR ....

10:50:28.43 21/1/24 R CONNECT Call Reference : 000062-local 0000 02 01 bc a6 08 02 80 3e 07 10:50:28.43 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 be T RR

.......>. ....

10:50:28.43 21/1/24 T CONNECT_ACK Call Reference : 000062-local 0000 00 01 a6 be 08 02 00 3e 0f 10:50:28.44 21/1/24 0000 00 01 01 a8 R RR 9

.......>. ....

10:50:35.69 21/1/24 T Call Reference Cause 0000 00 01 a8 be 08 02 10:50:35.70 21/1/24 0000 00 01 01 aa R

DISCONNECT : 000062-local : 16, Normal call clearing. 00 3e 45 08 02 8a 90 RR

.......>E.... ....

10:50:36.98 21/1/24 R RELEASE Call Reference : 000062-local 0000 02 01 be aa 08 02 80 3e 4d 10:50:36.98 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 c0 T RR

.......>M ....

10:50:36.99 21/1/24 T RELEASE COMPLETE Call Reference : 000062-local 0000 00 01 aa c0 08 02 00 3e 5a 10:50:36.00 21/1/24 0000 00 01 01 ac 10:51:06.10 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 ad 10:51:06.10 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 c1 10:51:36.37 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 ad 10:51:36.37 21/1/24 0000 02 01 01 c1 R R T R T RR RR RR RR RR

.......>Z .... .... .... .... ....

10

Protocols

DSS1 (ETSI "Euro-ISDN", also used in many non-European countries) DSS2 (Digital Subscriber Signaling System No. 2) NI-1 (US National ISDN Phase 1) NI-2 (US National ISDN Phase 2) INS-NET 64/1500 (Japanese national/NTT carrier-specific protocol) DACS used in the UK by British Telecom it uses non standard D channel signaling for Pair gain FTZ 1 TR 6 (obsolete German national protocol) TS.013/TS.014 (obsolete Australian national protocol) VN2/VN3/VN4 (obsolete French national protocols)

Specifications defining the physical layer and part of the data link layers of ISDN:

ISDN BRI: ITU-T I.430. ISDN PRI: ITU-T I.431.

From the point of view of the OSI architecture, an ISDN line has a stack of three protocols

physical layer data link layer network layer (the ISDN protocol, properly)

Other

ADSL ATM B-ISDN Internet H.320

11

Internet access methods Dial-up ISDN DSL Cable Wi-Fi Satellite Optical fiber Power-line Internet

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors Translations for: Isdn Dansk (Danish) abbr. - Integrated Services Digital Network, tjenesteintegreret digitalnet Nederlands (Dutch) ISDN (gentegreerde digitale netwerkdienst) Franais (French) abbr. - RNIS, International Services Digital Network Deutsch (German) abbr. - Integriertes Service- und Datennetz (Greek) abbr. - (/) Italiano (Italian) rete integrata digitale di servizi Portugus (Portuguese) abbr. - International Services Digital Network (Russian) Espaol (Spanish) abbr. - RDSI red digital de servicios integrados Svenska (Swedish) abbr. - Integrated Services Digital Network ( Arabic) )( ( Hebrew) abbr. -

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QUESTIONS / ANSWERS
Question: How do I use ISDN? Answer: There's a lot of information published about ISDN, but much of it is misunderstood, out of date or applies to offerings in other parts of the country. HiWAAY Internet Services is a very heavy user of ISDN and we have established relationships with ISDN specialists at telcos and equipment manufacturers. This is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to help pass along the information we have learned about ISDN as it relates to personal Internet connectivity in Alabama. For information regarding use of ISDN in dedicated network peering applications please contact HiWAAY's sales department. Q What is ISDN? A The telephone company offers a type of telephone line connection to something called the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). It's called integrated because it works with the familiar analog voice telephone network. An ISDN line uses the same single pair of twisted copper wires as an ordinary voice telephone line, and is compatible with existing telephone wiring. However, ISDN is not compatible with standard telephones because it transmits a high speed stream of digital data bits rather than analog voice. The entire stream of data on the ISDN line is logically divided into two separate streams of data called B channels and one stream of signaling and control information called the D channel. This type of telephone service is termed a 2B+D Basic Rate Interface (BRI) line. In addition to digital data calls, ISDN lines can also carry voice calls as well. Q What data rates are possible over ISDN? A The data rate for a single B channel is 64kbps (about 64,000 bits per second) as compared to about 33.6kbps available with ordinary analog voice grade lines. The 64kbps data rate for ISDN is typical, while 33.6kbps for analog voice is rarely ever sustained in practice. In some parts of the country ISDN is not fully supported by the local telephone company or by particular long distance carriers. In this case an ISDN call might be routed through older telephone equipment that can slow down the communications rate to 56kbps. Newer telephone equipment offers what is known as "clear channel" service, passing a full 64kbps. Most exchanges in Alabama can provide clear channel ISDN service, thus callers can expect a full sustained 64kbps data rate on each B channel. Two B channels can be bonded together to offer 128kbps data rates over a single BRI. Note also that all these are raw data rates without compression, if the terminal adapter or computer supports data compression the effective throughput can be much higher. Q Why use ISDN? A ISDN lines are much faster and higher quality than analog voice grade lines. For example, to transfer a 1Mb file (about the contents of a single computer diskette) with an ordinary 14.4kbps analog modem takes at least 12 minutes and to transfer the same file over a digital ISDN line takes less than 3 minutes at 64kbps or about 1 minute at 128kbps. The digital ISDN line is virtually error free, but the analog modem will usually experience significant data errors during the transfer. While the data errors will be detected and corrected by the equipment and software, the errors will slow the transfer of data over analog modems even further. The most noticeable benefit of ISDN speeds is observed when using interactive Internet applications like world wide web browsers. ISDN speeds also make acceptable quality real-time video and audio over the Internet a reality. Q What kind of modem is needed with ISDN lines? A An ordinary analog modem will not work when connected directly to an ISDN line. Because there is no analog to digital modulation/demodulation required to transmit data, the communications equipment is not usually called a modem. The proper terminology is "ISDN Terminal Adapter". The terminal adapter we recommend for 13

individual use looks very much like an external modem, with a connector for power, 25 pin connector for serial data, and a jack for the ISDN line. Terminal adapters suitable for network use also have an Ethernet port. Many terminal adapters provide standard analog telephone interface jacks, often called POTS ports (Plain Old Telephone Service), to support ordinary voice calls over ISDN B channels. It is possible to connect an ordinary analog modem to one of the POTS ports on the an ISDN terminal adapter and then use the analog modem over an ISDN line. Q Does ISDN allow the computer to be on-line AND receive a voice call at the same time? A Absolutely. Each of the two B Channels in a BRI can originate and receive completely separate calls at the same time. A data call on one B channel can be dialed up to HiWAAY, while the other B channel receives a voice call that is answered by a fax machine. Using one BRI line we had two file transfers running at the same time on the same computer with two different hosts, one download from HiWAAY over a data call and the other download from CompuServe using an analog modem connected to the terminal adapter POTS port. CompuServe was costing a lot of money, so we logged off and used the voice line to order a pizza while we were surfing the net on HiWAAY. Q Can I replace an existing analog voice line with an ISDN line? A A second existing voice grade line for a fax machine, modem, or children's line is an excellent choice to convert to an ISDN line. The existing phone number can even be transferred to one of the ISDN line B channels. However, the primary phone line should still remain an ordinary analog voice line. This is because the standard telephone service provided by POTS ports on terminal adapters are dependent upon the terminal adapter itself. If the power goes out or is turned off, any phones connected to the terminal adapter will stop working. Also, we have found many terminal adapter POTS ports do not have enough output power to drive lines with several extensions. For example, the POTS port works fine with a fax/telephone and analog modem, but won't have enough power to ring several phones on several distant extensions as commonly found in ordinary premise telephone wiring. On the plus side, the POTS provided by terminal adapters are high quality with very little noise and is an excellent choice for use with fax machines and high speed analog modems. Q How fast a data communications rate do I really need? A Compared to analog modems, we found noticeable major improvements in almost every Internet application when using a 64kbps ISDN data call to HiWAAY. With some exceptions, increasing the speed of the data call to HiWAAY to 128kbps resulted in further improvements but did not double the performance over 64K. The improvements were less apparent when visiting very popular sites on the Internet that were congested or had slow links to the Internet backbone. Q How do 56Kbps analog modems compare with ISDN? A 56K technology more typically delivers around 45 Kbps downstream and 30Kbps upstream, and suffers from various reliability problems related to analog line quality. While ISDN recurring costs are somewhat greater than analog, it also supports 64Kbps full duplex virtually error free data transmission and up to 128K when two calls are bonded together. Thus we feel ISDN's digital technology is a vastly superior technology to analog 56K technology. Q Is ISDN available at my address? A Your local telephone exchange must support ISDN in order for it to be available. Today, most telcos now offer ISDN service. Even if the exchange supports ISDN, there are some distance limitations and equipment barriers that can prevent the phone company from providing ISDN service to some addresses within an exchange. The telephone company order processing center can determine if ISDN is available at a specific address. If it is not available, ask to speak to a supervisor and find out the exact reason. The most common reason ISDN is not available is the address is more than 18,000 cable feet from the exchange office or they are served by subscriber 14

line concentrator (SLC's or 'slicks' as they are sometimes called) equipment which is not capable of supporting ISDN. The 18,000 feet is a rule of thumb and by actually measuring the amount of signal loss on the line at the address, service may be available a greater distance from the exchange -OR- the phone company may be willing to install a "Total Reach" device (made by Huntsville's own Adtran) to extend ISDN to the address. Q What does the phone company charge for ISDN? A BellSouth currently charges a rate of about $70 per month (it varies a dollar or two, depending upon the actual service address) for residence BRI service which included 200 hours of usage and is metered thereafter. Other telcos may offer significantly better pricing, for example New Hope currently charges about $45 per month for residence BRI service with 250 hours of usage and metered thereafter. Brindley Mountain Telephone Company charges about $43 for flat rate unmetered service. Also, most calling feature packages available at additional charge for ordinary analog lines are also available at similar prices for ISDN lines. Q What is (was) the free ISDN installation offer? A Periodically, the telcos offer to waive installation charges on ISDN BRI lines customers subject to some special conditions. Those special offers from tend to change, so you may wish to contact your telephone company and inquire about their current incentive programs. Q How do those prices compare with other areas? A Nationwide, ISDN rates vary from state to state and telco to telco with a lot of different rate structures. Outside of states served by BellSouth, residential BRI rates are generally similar to the price of a standard residence analog voice line. When comparing Alabama's residential BRI line cost (about $66) to the cost of an ordinary residential phone line (about $22), residential BRI service seems very overpriced. Even when the cost of a single BRI is compared to the service provided by two analog lines the cost still seems high. By comparison, the Tennessee PSC has set the residential BRI rate similar to the price of a single voice phone line and installation charges are often waived. HiWAAY hopes that the elected officials of the Alabama PSC can be persuaded to reconsider ISDN pricing. To contact the Alabama Public Service Commission and express your opinion, call 1+800+392-8050 toll free. Q How long does it take to get an ISDN line? A In our experience installation time is similar to that of a new ordinary voice grade telephone line. The phone company will not accept an order for ISDN service until they check to see ISDN is available at the desired address. Often, they are able to query a database and determine ISDN availability immediately. Sometimes it will take the phone company about three to seven days to confirm that ISDN is available because they must actually check their facilities capacity. We have observed a few cases where their databases indicated ISDN is available at an address but when the actual installation begins they discover the database was incorrect. Once the order is placed, it will take about two or three weeks for the phone company to process the order and send an installer. HiWAAY subscribers may begin connecting to us with ISDN as soon as their ISDN line is installed. Q How well does HiWAAY support ISDN? A HiWAAY believes ISDN is the future of data communications for the near term and most of our several hundred incoming telephone lines are digital ISDN service. HiWAAY has the equivalent of both a modem and a terminal adapter on every line, so subscribers dial the same number regardless of call type. HiWAAY also promotes digital ISDN service because we are one of the few providers in the nation that offers individual subscribers the same subscription rates regardless of connection speed. HiWAAY's equipment is already ISDN capable and we have no special setup fees for ISDN communications.

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Q Does HiWAAY offer 128K ISDN service to individual subscribers? A Individual Regular and Premium subscriber accounts may connect to HiWAAY with speeds up to 64kbps at no extra charge as part of the individual account services. Additional channels may be bonded to create a multichannel session using either the MP+ or BACP bandwidth control protocol for $0.95 per hour per channel. HiWAAY offers the Premium PLUS account which includes the multichannel usage option at no additional charge. All individual accounts support multichannel usage (they differ only in how the usage is charged) and no special configuration is required on HiWAAY's end, however the user's terminal adapter may require special configurations in order to bond a multichannel call to our equipment. In order to take full advantage of 128K, your serial port should support a sustained data throughput of 230K which may require special high performance serial port hardware and drivers. Q How does the ISDN terminal adapter connect to my computer? A There are several different types of terminal adapter connectivity for individual computers. 1) A terminal adapter can offer RS-232 serial connectivity, identical to ordinary analog modems. It's familiar, easy to configure and can communicate via your computers existing serial communications port. 2) A terminal adapter can offer an Ethernet port, which is faster but requires a more difficult to configure Ethernet communications port and software be installed on your computer. Just like modems, there are internal and external models of both these types terminal adapters. The external models require your computer to provide the appropriate type communications port, while the internal models have the communications port integrated with the adapter. 3) A new class of internal ISDN adapters for PC's are emerging that use a ISDN interface standard which has been defined by Microsoft together with a few key ISDN product manufacturers. These combine ease of configuration and better theoretical performance, but availability is limited to a few products and specialized software is required from both Microsoft and the hardware vendor. Q Which type of connectivity does HiWAAY recommend? A For use with an individual computer, our practical experience suggests all the connectivity options actually perform about as well. Choice is more dictated by the hardware, experience and preferences of the user rather than any technical superiority of one type over another. Our observations have been that installing internal versions which require substantial configuration and special software can be challenging for those who are not intimately familiar with their computer. Thus, for individual use HiWAAY currently suggests selecting an external model with a serial port, because they are easy to install, allow viewing of diagnostic lights and the computer can be turned off while the terminal adapter can remain powered on to allow voice calls. Q What terminal adapter does HiWAAY recommend for individual use? A With the introduction of many ISDN terminal adapters from different manufacturers, we have begun to notice variances in inter-operability and reliability among products for ISDN connectivity, thus much like modems...all terminal adapters are NOT equal. We currently recommend using an ISDN terminal adapter that connects to your computer via a serial com port and which supports multichannel sessions with the MP+ protocol. Look for models that state explicitly that they will connect to Ascend equipment. Many of our users have reported good results with the external Adtran XRT, the internal Diamond NetCommander and external versions of the 3Com (USR) Sportster ISDN and Courier I-modem terminal adapters. Q What do I need to do to connect to HiWAAY with ISDN? A Individual subscribers should follow the steps outlined in our information sheet titled "Ordering ISDN services in Alabama for use with HiWAAY". The steps are simple: purchase a terminal adapter, order a BRI line, install and configure the terminal adapter and software on a personal computer and logon to HiWAAY. Nothing special has to be done at HiWAAY for individual subscriber accounts to connect using ISDN, ISDN connectivity is included at no extra charge as part of the individual account. 16

Ordering ISDN Services in Alabama for Use With HiWAAY

Step 1) Determine if ISDN service is available at your address. Contact the local telephone company (see the phone book for ordering phone number) and request ISDN service at the address where service is desired. They should call back in three to seven days confirming that it is available. Step 2) When the phone company confirms ISDN is available, select and purchase your ISDN terminal adapter. There are many good consumer terminal adapters available. HiWAAY has tested ISDN terminal adapters from Adtran, Diamond, and 3Com (USR) and found them to work well. Step 3) Place the order for your ISDN line with the telephone company. Consult the adapter documentation regarding ISDN line configuration requirements. The following information will order a BRI 2B+D data and voice NI-1 ISDN line, sometimes described by the telco as EZ1 ISDN service.

Basic Rate Interface (BRI) ISDN circuit with two 'B' and one 'D' channels. C.O. service type required is National ISDN-1 (NI-1). Circuit switched data and voice (CSD/CSV) on both 'B' channels. Two Service Profile Identifiers (SPID's) are requested. Terminal Type is A, Terminal Equipment Identifier is dynamic. Long distance carrier may be any LD carrier the subscriber prefers. Preferred wall jack is the 8-pin RJ45, but standard RJ11 is acceptable.

As with an ordinary telephone line, standard installation provides the service to the "network interface" which usually is a small box outside or just inside the building. You are responsible for inside or premise wiring to get the line from the network interface to near your computer. The telephone company can do the inside wiring of the line, which includes a wall outlet jack, for an additional installation charge. We recommend the RJ45 type wall jack to prevent confusing the ISDN line with an ordinary line and inadvertently plugging equipment into the wrong jack, but the common RJ11 will work as well. Step 4) It takes about two or three weeks for your ISDN line to be installed. When the installer arrives, confirm the order specification for the line and ask the installer to test that a 64K clear channel ISDN data call can be made to the HiWAAY exchange once installation is complete. The most common installation problems with ISDN lines are failure to configure as NI-1 (often it will be mistakenly configured as 'Custom' instead), failure to provide the correct SPID numbers, inability of the central office exchange to pass a clear channel 64K call, inability of the central office to route an ISDN data call to the HiWAAY telephone number. Step 5) Very carefully confirm each SPID number with the installer. Each SPID will generally look something like aaannnnnnn0100 -or- 01nnnnnnn00. The aaa prefix may be our three digit area code or the two digits 01. The nnnnnnn is the 7-digit phone number and there should be a unique phone number with each SPID. The SPID may (or may not) include the two digit double 00 terminal identifier suffix at the end as shown in the examples, and in some cases the terminal identifier may instead be a 01. If your SPID begins with 01 and not your area code, question the installer carefully regarding the configuration type; in our experience a 01 prefix usually indicates the line has been incorrectly configured as Custom and not National.
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Step 6) Follow the adapters installation guide to enter the SPID's and ISDN line type (NI-1). Many models of terminal adapters require you only to enter the area code and phone numbers for the BRI line; the adapter will 'autodetect' the actual SPID. Some terminal adapters will supply the terminal equipment identifier automatically and you should not enter it when entering the SPID. Some adapters must have the terminal equipment identifier explicitly entered, documentation for the adapter will indicate the proper configuration. When the adapter is properly communicating with the ISDN line an indicator should light. If the adapter supports voice calls, a voice phone call should be possible from the telephone interface (POTS port) with an ordinary telephone. If the adapter fails to synchronize with the BRI line, the trouble is very often that the switch type (NI-1) and/or SPID's are incorrectly configured in the adapter. Step 7) Once the adapter is communicating with the ISDN line, install and configure the software to connect with HiWAAY. Configure the adapter/software to do PPP async to sync data conversion (or optionally V.120 rate adaptation) and only PAP authentication. Note that many adapters default to connecting at 56K rather than 64K, but HiWAAY fully supports 64K so you may wish to consult your documentation to insure your adapter is configured for 64K. For single channel calls, generally there is no need to make any special changes to the software configuration that you use to connect to HiWAAY. However, for multichannel bonded 128K calls substantial changes to your your software or terminal adapter configuration may be required, consult the vendor of your terminal adapter for instructions.

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