The following Internet Service products are immediately available: ADL Homenet - for homes/residence ADL Cybernet - for offices / establishments ADL Prinet - Virtual Private Networks for multi-location corporates and Government departments Future Services Internet access on TV through set-top boxes On-Demand Services (Video / Audio Streaming) Data Centre Voice over IP (when legalised) Cable Modem Cable modems have taken the industry by storm with promises of 30 Mbps streams to home PCs for $30 per month. The Internet is well stocked with information about what they'll be able to do and what kinds of things are possible with astronomical speeds promised by cable modem manufacturers and Cable Services Operators. FAQs on Cable Modems Have Cable modems been overhyped? Yes. Almost any discussion of cable modems begins with, "Imagine being able to access the Internet at 10 megabits (or faster) per second, nearly 700 times faster than your 14.4 baud modem..." This has lead to a degree of hype that parallels the hype for interactive television two years ago. Is the hype necessary? No. The hype is almost entirely counter-productive because it raises false expectations unnecessary to sell the service. The speeds that will actually be achievable are still immensely more attractive than what is available today, but lower than those being widely proclaimed. Cable modem manufacturers are touting their products as being capable of handling downstream speeds up to 30 Mbps, which is undoubtedly true under perfect conditions. But, when they're deployed on a shared cable system connected to a standard PC or Mac, the speeds will be lower but still very fast. Do they really work? Yes, the technology works. There are several manufacturers who have working cable modems, and there are over twenty trials underway or about to commence (after initial delays) by cable companies across the U.S. How fast they can go? The speed of the cable modem is only one part of the equation. "There are a combination of factors," according to David Gingold from MIT's Research Program on Communications Policy, "starting with how fast your PC can handle IP traffic, then how fast your PC to cable modem interface is, then how fast the cable modem system runs and how much congestion there is on the cable network, then how big a pipe there is at the head end to the rest of the Internet. Different models of PCs and Macs are able to handle IP traffic at varying speeds. Very few can handle it at 30 Mbps. Ethernet (10baseT) is the most popular cable modem interface standard for the PC. This automatically limits the speed of the connection to under 10 Mbps even if the cable modem can receive at 30 Mbps. Local Area Networks use 10baseT ethernet, and although they are 10 Mbps networks, it takes a lot longer than one second to transmit 10 megabits (or 1.25 megabytes) of data from one terminal to another. VPN Virtual private network is defined as customer connectivity deployed on a shared infrastructure with the same policies as a private network. The shared infrastructure can leverage a service provider IP, Frame Relay, or ATM backbone, or the Internet. There are three types of VPNs, which align with how businesses and organizations use VPNs Access VPN - Provides remote access to a corporate intranet or extranet over a shared infrastructure with the same policies as a private network. Access VPNs enable users to access corporate resources whenever, wherever, and however they require. Access VPNs encompass analog, dial, ISDN, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), mobile IP, and cable technologies to securely connect mobile users, telecommuters, or branch offices. Intranet VPN - Links corporate headquarters, remote offices, and branch offices over a shared infrastructure using dedicated connections. Businesses enjoy the same policies as a private network, including security, quality of service (QoS), manageability, and reliability. Extranet VPN - Links customers, suppliers, partners, or communities of interest to a corporate intranet over a shared infrastructure using dedicated connections. Businesses enjoy the same policies as a private network, including security, QoS, manageability, and reliability. VPNs can: Enable private communication over a public network Reduce costs by off-loading network management and costs to service providers Cut long-distance charges for remote access Provide fast, easy, secure remote access to your intranet by remote offices, mobile workers, suppliers, partners, and customers Improve time management through faster implementation of new services and employee and customer self-service applications How Does it Work ? The main element of the VPN concept lays at the gateways between the private networks and the public network. Be it software oriented, hardware oriented or a combination of the two -this intermediate device acts on behalf of the private network that it protects. When one of the local hosts sends data to another host in a remote network, the data must first pass from the private network through the protecting gateway device, travel through the public network, and then pass through the gateway device that is protecting the host in the remote network at the receiving end. A VPN safeguards the data by automatically encrypting it (thus, making it incomprehensible to a third party) before it is sent from one private network to another, encapsulating it into an IP packet, and then automatically decrypting the data at the receiving end. The gateway device can also double as a Firewall for the local network, denying harmful or malicious data access to the network, and managing the outgoing data to the public network (whether it is encrypted or not). How the VPN keeps data secure? Certification - every gateway device that wishes to join the VPN must be certified by a Certification Authority. The certification is usually twofold and includes an electronic token and a PIN (Personal Identification Number). In this manner, the user must have something in his possession and something he memorizes. This drastically reduces the probability of someone impersonating a user because he needs both elements to access the system. Encryption - Once in the VPN, each gateway device sends its public key to all of his peers in the VPN. With the use of the public and private keys the data is encrypted in such a way that it's mathematically impossible to decode without knowledge of the keys. Once the encryption key is selected and implemented, it is necessary to ensure that the keys are protected through a key management system. Key management is the process of distributing the keys, refreshing them at specific intervals and revoking them when necessary. A balance has to be made between the key exchange intervals and the amount of data that is exchanged. An interval that is too short overburdens the VPN servers with key generation . On the other hand, a key exchange interval that is too long compromises the key and the data it encrypts.