Re: [PLUG] BA DSL revisted

[Mike Leone <turgon@mike-leone.com>]

> 
> 
> I'm sure everyone is completely sick of this subject by now so please
> forgive me. :)
> 
> Mostly through PLUG I've heard how bad BA DSL sucks. Is it their Infospeed
> dsl that sucks or just any dsl that uses BA lines? I'm so ready to switch
> to DSL after the second looooong @home outage in as many weeks. I
> wanted to go with speakeasy but I've found out that Covad has no plans to
> offer service in my area, so that about leaves BA. However, I dont want to
> switch to a (slightly) more expensive service only to have the same crap
> service. 

It's like this - with DSL, you have a line provider, and you ALSO have an ISP. Bell will do both, if you want. 

To which I say "God Forbid!". :-) Most of Bell's DSL problems come because they have no clue 
how to provide ISP services. They can give you a line just fine, and ensure that you get 
connectivity as far as your ISP's routers (that's what a line provider does). An ISP gives you 
connectivity (and email addresses, etc) from there on out to the rest of the world.

You can use Bell as a line provider, and someone else as an ISP.

I use Bell as a line provider - they give me the DSL line (640 down, 90 up) for $40
a month. HOWEVER, my *ISP* is DCA.NET - for another $10 a month.

And I've been very happy since switching over. No more disconnects; no more weekly outages;
no more using that crappy pppoe protocol; I get static IPs; etc. And DCA supports Linux, and Bell hangs up 
on you if you say the word "Linux" to them. Plus, DCA knows that you don't spell "computer" with a "k" - Bell
Tech Support does NOT. Buncha idiots, in my experience.

Here's the catch - if you use Bell as both, you get the DSL "modem" for $100. If you INITIALLY use Bell as a line provider,
and someone else as an ISP, they charge you $300 for the "modem". So many people get Bell to do both for a month or 2, and then
CANCEL the service (because it's so shitty). However, you can legally keep the modem - if you stay with bell over a month.
under a month, they want the $200 difference in price.

-- 
*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*-^-*
Michael J. Leone <mailto:userdude@yahoo.com>
PGP Fingerprint: 0AA8 DC47 CB63 AE3F C739 6BF9 9AB4 1EF6 5AA5 BCDF



______________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group       -      http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements-http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  -  http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug