Re: nothing to do with: Re: [PLUG] Verizon FIOS & open wireless

On 10/5/07, gabriel rosenkoetter < gr@eclipsed.net> wrote:

At 2007-10-05 19:39 -0400, Brent Saner < brent.saner@gmail.com> wrote:

SNIP

> 3. does speakeasy provide hardware? is there any proprietary necessary
> stuff? (i.e. verizon fi-os "HIGHLY DISCOURAGES" you to use your own router.
> this is because the ones they provide have patched firmware that lets them
> jack into your router. my GUESS is to upgrade the firmware when it needs it,
> but who the hell KNOWS what they're really doing)

Speakeasy doesn't do any of that stupid crap. Yes, they provide
hardware, but they also provide good hardware, and, so far as I
know, they don't require you to buy or use their hardware (btw:
neither does Verizon, at least not with a business line... if you've
got a DSL modem that does bridged DSL and it manages to connect on
their network, that's fine by them... I didn't read any of that
"HIGHLY DISCOURAGE" language around the business ADSL line I've got
now, which is working much better now that they replaced what was
actually a dud modem).

I haven't ever seen the need to use my own gear for a DSL modem (I
don't want anything smart attached to the phone line; I do that in
the first hop via Ethernet after it), so I haven't gone through the
motions of asking them for the various DSL configuration data (and
conspiracy theorists may suggest that they're less open than they
used to be given their new corporate owner, but I don't think that's
true), but my overall experience with their tech support suggests
that they will do their damn jobs and help you with that.

(Five years ago, I'd have tacked on a caveat that I'm pretty sure
DCANet is just as good an ISP, and that I'd be with them instead,
as a regional provider who don't suck, if I didn't want to theoretically
maintain my account relationships while moving nationally... but
DCANet doesn't deal with individuals because Comcast and Verizon
managed to shoulder them out of the market with greater advertising
capital--they were the first place I went when Speakeasy told me
they just couldn't service my new address. It's too damn bad: too
few businesses that are too large are demonstrably a bad thing for
the consumer, especially in this space.)

--
gabriel rosenkoetter
gr@eclipsed.net

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