nger time intervals. As with ordinary phone calls, subscribers are allocated fixed amounts of bandwidth for the duration of the connection. Each subscriber that succeeds in becoming active (i.e. getting connected to the residential Internet provider instead of getting a busy signal) is guaranteed a particular level of bandwidth until hanging up the call. Bandwidth Although the predictability of this connection-oriented approach is appealing, its major disadvantage is the limited level of bandwidth that can be economically dedicated to each customer. At most, an ISDN line can deliver 144 Kbps to a subscriber, roughly four times the bandwidth available with POTS. This rate is both the average and the peak data rate. A subscriber needing to burst data quickly, for example to transfer a large file or engage in a video conference, may prefer a shared-bandwidth architecture, such as a cable LAN, that allows a higher peak data rate for each individual subscriber. A subscriber who needs a full-time connection requires a dedicated port on a terminal server. This is an expensive waste of resources when the subscriber is connected but not transferring data. ...
