Martin DiViaio on Thu, 21 Nov 2002 00:34:06 -0500 |
Forgot to ask... Has anyone used the DirectWAY satelite service they offer? I'm moving to an area where DSL is not available and I'm looking for a solution other than cable. On the 20th day of November in the year 2002 you wrote: > Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 09:52:53 -0500 > From: Kevin Brosius <kbrosius@kns.com> > To: plug@lists.phillylinux.org > X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.0 required=5.0 tests= version=2.20 > Subject: Re: [PLUG] DirecTV DSL & Linux > > "Edward M. Corrado" wrote: > > > > Has anyone used DIRECTV's DSL service, and if so how would you rate > > it? Did you have any problems using Linux with it? Also, have you had any > > problems with them blocking specific ports? I really want to use > > speakeasy.net based on personal recommendations and reviews that I have > > read, but they aren't available in my area yet and they apparently have no > > time table for DSL in my area. Basically, my choices are currently limited > > to Verizon and DirecTV dsl services. One thing that I saw on the DirecTV > > DSL website (and appeared to be confirmed by the script-reading > > telemarketer that called me the other day while I was watching TV was that > > they assign you a static IP allow you to run a web server (both plusses in > > my book), but I can't find anything in the actually agreement that says > > that they allow the web server part (or what other services they allow you > > to run) . Any experiences (good or bad) would be greatly appreciated. > > > I've been quite happy with DirectTV DSL. Had it for maybe a year now > with little trouble. There have been a couple outages, primarily router > lockups in the box they supply on my end, followed by a couple weeks of > off and on DNS service on their end. Other than that it just works. > I'd rate them very well. Tech support is usually helpful, and > mentioning you are using it with Linux seems to be a positive thing. > One it got me bumped to Level 2 tech support automatically. On the > negative side, I find calling them is best in the early business hours > of the morning, otherwise the on-hold time is rather long. I once > called them at 2:00am on a Sun, because that was when the router locked > up, and waited for 10-15 minutes to talk to someone. I have to admit I > was surprised they had anyone available at all... > > They do supply hardware on your end. It's a medium sized blue box in my > case, stands on it's side, and provides phone line input, USB/Ethernet > output, and power brick input. No fans, so it's quiet. That box is the > DSL router, and has an internal web server to view the status and info > about the connection. They send you the box for ~$29 shipping, with the > agreement you return it on cancellation of service. I think the charge > if you don't return is $250. > > You'll need to run through their setup routine the first time, as the > box is unconfigured and doesn't have an IP assigned yet. The setup > procedure looks easiest if you have a windows box available, but I think > you could do it strictly with a Linux box. It needs to run DHCP once > during setup, and I hadn't done that on Linux yet, so I used a Windows > box to manually set it up. After the first time it learns and saves > your static IP address. After that it's fixed (static IP), even through > power cycles, and you won't need to do anything but point your Linux > machine at it for the gateway and you're connected. > > The service agreement seems very reasonable to me, and I felt it was > more reasonable even than DCA when I subscribed. I don't recall why I > avoided Speakeasy at the time, I suspect it was setup costs. > > Let's see, what did I leave out... > > Cost: > $29.95 to ship router on order. > $29.95 for first 3 months of service > $49.95/mo thereafter. Free month for recommending a friend to sign up. > Anybody want to sign up? I'll split the difference with you :) > > I've setup a web server. You can hit my DirectTV connection at > http://www.kevb.net. Please don't abuse it, I don't publish it as my > primary homepage address ;) There are stats up also, but not linked > onto the pages yet: http://kevb.net/webalizer/ > > You're reverse DNS will look like the top entry in my stats page, > something like 'dsl-64-129-206-57.telocity.com', with your static IP > matching that IP address. > > _________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug
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