For a quick introduction to networking, take a look at Networking 101.

We specialize in dedicated, 24-hour connections to the Internet, but we now offer regular analog dialup as an add-on service, or for those customers who do not have access to high speed connectivity. There are a variety of ways we can get you connected.

• Leased Line Service - Using dedicated wires installed by the phone company.

  • DSL - allows you to have high speed access with continuous connectivity to your home or business at a fraction of the costs of traditional dedicated connections.

  • T1/Frame Relay - a leased-line technology offered by many phone companies in which some of the circuits are shared. In some situations this can be substantially less expensive than an unshared line, with only a modest loss of performance. Setup costs are usually lower for frame relay, and there are no mileage charges.

  • Point-to-Point - an unshared line directly from you to us. This offers predictable bandwidth and lower latency than frame relay or DSL, but the setup charges are higher and there is a monthly mileage charge. For customers who are physically near one of our POPs (points-of-presence) the line charges may be comparable to frame relay.

  • Ethernet - Customers within the Westin Building may choose a direct Ethernet connection. We can generally reach floors 16 and up using 10BaseT - lower floors must connect via coax or fiber.

• Dialup - Using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

  • ISDN - digital telephony. Each line gives you 2 channels which can be used for voice or data. You can combine multiple data channels to achieve higher speeds.

  • Analog - Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) using a Plain Old Modem. 2alpha now offers analog dialup as an add-on service, or for those customers who do not have access or the need for high speed connectvity. We support V.90 compatable modems up to 56k.

IP address space is available on an as-needed basis, consistent with ARIN guidelines. Primary and/or secondary DNS service for one domain is included with any service except analog dialup. Additional domains are $25 per year. You may read netnews directly from our server using NNTP.

DSL   Frame Relay   ISDN