Re: [PLUG] DSL: Questions to ask?

[gabriel rosenkoetter <gr@eclipsed.net>]

On Tue, Aug 07, 2001 at 06:00:52PM -0700, multiple seriousity wrote:
>   Welp I'm finally probably going the DSL route... that is, if the company
> doesn't shut down first.

Yeah, well, Chapter 11 isn't exactly the death sentence it's some
times made out to be. Don't know much about Rhythms' situation
(beyond the fact that they've showed up on fuckedcompany.com more
than just a couple of times), but Covad's Chapter 11 just looks
like a clever ploy to break themselves up into separate corporations
still controlled by the same organization without looking a like
a trust cruising for a busting.

(I say this knocking on wood, as I kind of rely on Covad not
floating belly up and leaving me on the bottom...)

> I'm wondering if any of y'all could point me to
> a good list-of-questions-to-ask... you know, all those nice technical
> questions that I _should_ know the answer to. 

Well, giving you the information you need to set up a machine rather
than an "install disk" for Windows gets high marks. But the vast
majority of DSL providers do this: we're the audience they're
catering to, really. (As much as "broadband multimedia" is talked
up, the average window user is on a cable modem. It's primarily Unix
admins and hardcore gamers--who also know what they're doing
networking-wise, typically--using DSL. At least, in my experience.)

Beyond that, do a search on the above-mentioned, expletive-named web
site. Don't sign up with a company that's over 150 in the deadpool.
;^>

> Right now the companies I'm thinking of are Rhythms (?DLEC: facilities
> people) [currently in backruptcy -- what fun!!!] and DSLi (ISP) 

Hrm. Well, as I said, I don't know about Rhythms situation, but it
looks less peachy than Covad's from the outside. I've never heard of
DSLi (though their name reminds me of BSDi, which must be good,
right? ;^>).

> But, the price they are offering me is pretty damned good (it's a little
> bit better than their standard price)... unless anybody here wants a
> chance to compete with them and capture my business? :P 

Well. I am very content with Speakeasy (ISP) and Covad (DSL
provider). Less content with Verizon (line provider) but they're
impossible to avoid (Bell heritage...). I guarantee my set up is
more expensive than what you're being offered ($65 a month), but the
service I get is worth it, I feel. Right now, my connection goes
from the CO through NYC (which sounds much worse than it really is),
but Speakeasy will be putting in a Philadelphia POP in October, and
I'm sure I'll get switched to it (which will change my three static
IPs... aww, darn, I'm crushed--I'll have to change the ifconfig
aliases on my FW box!), which will really speed things up.  Things
are already vastly improved: everything south of here to Virginia
or so was also going through the NYC CO until the middle of July,
when a Washington, DC CO came alive. I seldom have cause to even
try to max out my downstream connection (theoretically 608 Kbps),
but I see barely more latency between my machine here and machines
on Swarthmore College's campus (a connection going through NYC,
touching with AlterNet to come back to Philly, touching with Yipes!
in Philly to get to Swarthmore... to get to somewhere a five minute
walk from my apartment, mind you) than I do on one of the 100BaseT
lines on campus. (I'd argue that the worst overhead of all of this
is the ssh DSA stuff.)

I've also heard very good things about DCANet. I would switch (it'd
be cheaper, and I understand they offer 6 static IPs by default),
but I plan to move out of the Philadelphia area not too many years
after I graduate from Swarthmore, and Speakeasy already covers all
the areas I'd consider moving to. Also (and this is not to say that
DCANet isn't, I just don't know), Speakeasy is a very forward-
thinking company. They're really serious about getting more POPs up,
building a really slick interface for interaction with users (come
to the next PLUG meeting, I'll show you my TAC... it rocks), and
generally moving the adoption of DSL and broadband in general
adoption along. If there's any DSL provider I'd bet on routing IPv6
in the next three years, it's Speakeasy. When I get fiber at home
(which had better happen before I'm too old to enjoy it), I'd be
surprised if I couldn't keep Speakeasy as my ISP.

> P.S. Oh, BTW, might any of you have any extra line filters or splitters?

Huh? What's a line filter?

Just plug a hub or switch into the ethernet line coming out of your
DSL modem (or add an ethernet card to the machine you set up with an
internal modem/to do PPPoE--but avoid having to do PPPoE at all
costs--and use IP {Filter|Tables}).

DSL uses a phone line, but not the same one as your voice line,
usually. Each of the DSL and the phone line need two pairs, there
are already four running to your house if your line was installed in
the last ten years or so.

Or is this for a completely separate purpose? :^>

-- 
       ~ g r @ eclipsed.net


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