On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 00:34:56 GMT, Robb
<Robb@use2ips2communacte12333.com> wrote:

>(1)I want to know know where I can get the excellent Cable and DSL ISP List
>in my area( San Jose, California)?

Try here: http://www.dslreports.com/ There seems to be a million ISP
locators via Google and most of them seem to be a pain to use to find
JUST the ones in your area. Nice thing about the search function at
DSL Reports is you can find the Central Office for your phone number.
Handy for figuring out if you're close enough for DSL.

>(2)I know SBC DSL and COMCAST Cable are available here(for area code 408).
>Besides these two, what are the other ISPs?

Covad at least. www.covad.com

>(3)COMCAST Cable Modem uses TV Cable, what do other Cable modems( other
>Cable ISPs provide ) use?

Cable Modems, the same as ComCast, I would assume. There are
apparently differences between DOCSIS and non-DOCIS certified modems,
but apparently they're all basically the same concept. Go here for a
tutorial: www.howstuffworks.com/cable-modem.htm DOCSIS is explained
here: http://www.cablemodem.com/

>Can I use 2 different Cable modems from 2 different Cable ISPs at home at the same time?

I think so, if they're using two different cable systems, i.e., two
different cables into your house. I don't think two different cable
systems can share the same cable - I doubt it, anyway.

As far as data over cable goes, it's similar to any network system -
data gets broadcast down the cable to everybody, your modem retrieves
what is intended for it based on its MAC address. So if you have one
PC hooked up to one system, and another hooked up to another, they'll
each get the data they asked for.

>(4)I have 2 machines. One uses COMCAST Cable modem to connect to the Internet,
>I want to use other Cable modem or DSl to get a different IP.

You mean you JUST want a different IP address for the second machine,
or you actually want the second machine to have a second broadband
access account with a separate provider? For the former, a second
cable or DSL is unncessary. For the latter, why? Just to insure if
there is an outage with the first provider, you'll have access?


--
Richard Steven Hack
"Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger" -
and YOU have not killed me!