Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!topaz.rutgers.edu!ron
From: ron@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ron Natalie)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: N.B.S. Time Service
Message-ID: 
Date: 13 Jun 88 17:08:36 GMT
References: <455@trane.UUCP> <4691@watcgl.waterloo.edu> <585@otto.COM> <3335@phri.UUCP> <20041@beta.UUCP> <2799@calmasd.GE.COM>
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 17

Nope, 3000-4000 miles is probably about right.  The telephone company isn't
a whole lot better aid out than the roads.  You first have to make it from your
house to the central office (probably 3-5 miles in most places).  Then from
there you have to go to the toll office where your long distance carrier has
its point of presence.  This may be halfway across the LATA in the wrong way.
For example, our data circuits from north of Princeton run to Hamilton Square
(which is precisely in the wrong direction) on their way north.

Once you get into the long distance carrier system, you still get routed all
over creation.  A bit over a year ago a trunk cable was dug up in Oakland.
This took out a large portion of the ARPANet.  An interesting picture was the
map of the ARPANet with the trunks shown as straight lines between the nodes
they were connecting.  Links that were interrupted as a result of the hole in
Oakland were highlighted in blue.  It was amazing how many points that aren't
anywhere near California were affected.

-Ron