Martin DiViaio on Thu, 21 Nov 2002 00:34:06 -0500


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Re: [PLUG] DirecTV DSL & Linux


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.
> 
> 

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