svlug-balug-more_on_dsl_providers

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From: Joe Buck <Joe.Buck@synopsys.com>
To: svlug@lists.svlug.org
Subject: Re: [svlug] new SBC/Yahoo promo for DSL - decent deal? Linux support?

To: svlug@lists.svlug.org
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 16:13:49 -0700 (PDT)
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL2]
Content-Length: 2319      

Sorry for broken threading, I just subscribed myself to the list.

Like tim@tetro.net, I have SBC/Pac Bell ADSL.  Like his friend, my timing
was such that I had to deal with their completely opaque "BroadJump"
Windows CD-ROM to get the install done.  My timing was also bad enough
that I could only get the KPIG live MP3 stream for a couple of weeks
before they shut it down because of the CARP payments, but that's another
story.

Anyway, this pretty much means that you need a Windows machine or
dual-boot machine around somewhere to get set up; once you do get
registered, it's a simple matter (on a dual boot machine) to switch to
Linux and set up the connection with pppoe.  The box I'm currently using
has Red Hat 7.2, and Red Hat's network configuration wizard/druid/whatever
the crap they call it has no difficulty with doing the setup.  It would
certainly be nice to be able to avoid the Windows CD crap: I was
effectively forced to agree to some nasty shrinkwrap language that I'd
just as soon have avoided.

I have the cheap service, meaning that I have a dynamic IP address.
For $20 more a month, they'll sell you five static IP addresses.
I have a setup with DynDNS so I can ssh into the box from work.

One issue I've been having is that the software doesn't recover well from
outages.  Often if the connection is lost (for whatever mysterious reason,
like perhaps an outage on the other end), I sometimes find that the
connection does not automatically come back, and I wind up going through a
whole series of steps to get the connection re-established, such as
power-cycling the modem, killing the adsl-connect process, and re-running
/etc/rc.d/init.d/network restart to try to bring up the connection.  This
sometimes takes several attempts, and I have to do it a couple times a
week.  I could put up with that (sort of: it's a problem that I can't log
in remotely and fix things), but my wife, who's been a very good sport
about running this Linux stuff and who is productive with Mozilla,
Evolution and OpenOffice (she's coordinating volunteers for a co-op
preschool), can't deal with getting the connection re-established on her
own.

Any folks on the list who understand pppoe, adsl-connect etc well enough
to give me suggestions to figure out what's going wrong, and how to fix
it?

Thanks,
Joe


===

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 16:50:09 -0700
From: Aleksandr Arbitman <arbitman@pacbell.net>
To: Joe.Buck@synopsys.com, svlug@lists.svlug.org
Subject: Re: [svlug] new SBC/Yahoo promo for DSL - decent deal? Linux support?

o the list.
> 
> Like tim@tetro.net, I have SBC/Pac Bell ADSL.  Like his friend, my timing
> was such that I had to deal with their completely opaque "BroadJump"
> Windows CD-ROM to get the install done.  My timing was also bad enough
> that I could only get the KPIG live MP3 stream for a couple of weeks
> before they shut it down because of the CARP payments, but that's another
> story.
> 
> Anyway, this pretty much means that you need a Windows machine or
> dual-boot machine around somewhere to get set up; once you do get
> registered, it's a simple matter (on a dual boot machine) to switch to
> Linux and set up the connection with pppoe.  The box I'm currently using
> has Red Hat 7.2, and Red Hat's network configuration wizard/druid/whatever
> the crap they call it has no difficulty with doing the setup.  It would
> certainly be nice to be able to avoid the Windows CD crap: I was
> effectively forced to agree to some nasty shrinkwrap language that I'd
> just as soon have avoided.
> 
> I have the cheap service, meaning that I have a dynamic IP address.
> For $20 more a month, they'll sell you five static IP addresses.
> I have a setup with DynDNS so I can ssh into the box from work.
> 
> One issue I've been having is that the software doesn't recover well from
> outages.  Often if the connection is lost (for whatever mysterious reason,
> like perhaps an outage on the other end), I sometimes find that the
> connection does not automatically come back, and I wind up going through a
> whole series of steps to get the connection re-established, such as
> power-cycling the modem, killing the adsl-connect process, and re-running
> /etc/rc.d/init.d/network restart to try to bring up the connection.  This
> sometimes takes several attempts, and I have to do it a couple times a
> week.  I could put up with that (sort of: it's a problem that I can't log
> in remotely and fix things), but my wife, who's been a very good sport
> about running this Linux stuff and who is productive with Mozilla,
> Evolution and OpenOffice (she's coordinating volunteers for a co-op
> preschool), can't deal with getting the connection re-established on her
> own.
> 
> Any folks on the list who understand pppoe, adsl-connect etc well enough
> to give me suggestions to figure out what's going wrong, and how to fix
> it?

I have PacBell ADSL for 14 month now and for the last 13 never had any problems.
I am actually running Linux router/firewall on old laptop (single floppy distribution so called "Bering"),
it takes care of ADSL connection and internal LAN configurations.
The only suggestion here:

make sure you have latest updates of "ppp", not just "pppoe".

===

To: balug-talk@balug.org
From: Romel <penguin@techbandit.com>
Subject: Re: [Balug-talk] hi speed internet for home,
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 14:35:24 -0700 (PDT)

> I'm new to the Bay Area. Just moved to Berkeley in August
> and I dont know much about hi-speed internet providers in
> the area. Are there any providers that give you a free
> modem and free activation, that also support linux?

I've been with Speakeasy DSL (www.speakeasy.net) for the past 2 years and 
have been extremely happy with them.
They cost may a little more than other DSL providers, but their service is 
excellent (+99% uptime) and they actually *encourage* servers with their 
SysAdmin packages.

Speakeasy also gives you shell access as part of their package, although 
you have to request activation of the shell account.
As far as I know they do support Linux.

Also, as resource to researching broadband access, you may want to look at 
www.dslreports.com
There's alot of ranting and some raving in the forums, but it's a good 
initial resource.

Good luck!

===

To: Gale Stafford <superlinux@bitwiser.com>
From: Aaron T Porter <atporter@primate.net>
Subject: Re: [Balug-talk] hi speed internet for home,
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 15:09:13 -0700

On Thu, Sep 26, 2002 at 02:25:50PM -0500, Gale Stafford wrote:
> I'm new to the Bay Area. Just moved to Berkeley in August
> and I dont know much about hi-speed internet providers in
> the area. Are there any providers that give you a free
> modem and free activation, that also support linux?

	The DSL provider of choice amongst the local linux-elitists is
RawBandwidth. No fee modem, but no service contract either. I got my DSL
modem used off Craigslist.org ($15).

===

To: Will Lowe <harpo@thebackrow.net>
From: bear@pagansexcult.org
Subject: Re: [Balug-talk] hi speed internet for home,
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 15:46:39 -0700 (PDT)

On Thu, 26 Sep 2002, Will Lowe wrote:

> > the area. Are there any providers that give you a free modem and
> > free activation, that also support linux?
>
> ATTBI (AT&T's cable modem wing) did that when I got my service. They
> don't expressly support Linux, but their DHCP server seems to be happy
> with pump on my linux box.  Been working fine for nearly two years.

I dunno what the current promotions are, but sonic.net is
a good provider.  The accounts have shell access via ssh,
and they run linux on all their boxen.  And not only do they
"officially" support linux, but their tech guys also seem
happy to talk about it and knowledgeable about it.

When I got DSL, they covered the cost of the "modem" and
first month.  But the promotions seem to vary by month, and
I don't know what they are now.

====
To: balug-talk@balug.org
From: Sean Van Couwenberghe <svancouw@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Balug-talk] hi speed internet for home,
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 19:33:00 -0700 (PDT)

I also am a long time user of sonic.net. While they may offer service that
is a little more expensive than some other providers, they have excellent
tech support (as bear mentioned), they offer 4 free static IP adresses,
and I have had zero problems with them (dial-up and dsl) over several
years.


===

To: Bill Moseley <moseley@hank.org>
From: Chris Waters <xtifr@debian.org>
Subject: Re: [Balug-talk] hi speed internet for home,
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 12:46:38 -0700

On Fri, Sep 27, 2002 at 03:52:25AM -0700, Bill Moseley wrote:
> On Thu, 26 Sep 2002, Roger Chrisman wrote:

> > Avoid Pacbell..

> Is it possible to avoid pacbell with DSL service?

Covad is technically a separate org, isn't it?

> That sounds like a problem.  If you are paying for static IP then you
> might as well run your own mail server.  Sure beats the mail delays I had
> with previous ISPs.

I've been with Speakeasy for over a year, and I've never had any sorts
of problems with them, mail delivery has been flawless, and the one
time I called their tech support, I actually got intelligence at the
other end of the line!!

I could run my own mail server, but then I'd have to deal with domains
and MX and a bunch of other crap, and I'd have to open up more than
just my SSL port.  Frankly, I'd rather have someone who's paid to do
so deal with the headaches.

===

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