[CLUE-Tech] DSL Recommendations

[Matt Gushee]

Jeffery Cann writes:

 > I am have a few questions for those who have the service from Qwest:
 > 
 > 0. Do you recommend DSL?  What is your connection package?  I am looking at the
 > standard 256 upload / download with 'choose my own isp' option.

Do I recommend it? Well, compared to what? I've never tried cable, but
it beats the hell out of dial-up service. I have Qwest's 256k up/down
service ... maybe if I were downloading a lot of MP3s or trying to
play games over the 'net I'd want something more, but it's plenty for
what I mostly do, which is email, web browsing, and downloading
software. 

 > 1. Who is your ISP?  Do you like their service?  What is monthly cost?  Do you
 > recommend the company?

My ISP is Forethought.net, and I highly recommend them ... especially
compared with my previous ISP: when I first ordered DSL in June, I
chose Peak to Peak Internet because they got very good reviews on
dslreports.com. I don't know why, because my experience with them was
a nightmare from start to finish.

First of all, I called and put in an order and was told I'd be up &
running in 5-8 days ... called back to check a few days later and they
had no record of my order ... then the same thing happened *again* a
few days later. Between their screwups and Qwest's, it was 6 weeks
before I had DSL working ... they gave me incomplete configuration
instructions for the modem/router (then later denied that the
instructions were incomplete!) then I found the dynamic IP I had wasn't
working too well for telecommuting, so I decided to switch to static
... and the trouble started all over again. When I started bugging
them about my non-working connection, they sent me an e-mail saying,
in effect, that I was wrong. One or two e-mails later, I'd had enough
and told them I was dropping them for another ISP ... then they sent
me one of the most arrogant messages I've ever seen. "We are gods of
this stuff," said their so-called network engineer, and: "noone else
can help you like we can." Yeah, right.

There's not so much to say about Forethought.net, because I have had
no trouble at all with them. They acted like they were glad to have my
business, returned phone calls, gave me the info I needed when I
needed it; and most importantly (apart from a slight initial delay
that was probably mostly Qwest's fault), the service has worked
without a hitch from day one. 

Oh, yeah. They charge $20/month. That's in addition to Qwest's
charges, of course.

 > 2. How is DSL setup under Linux?  Do they assign static IPs or DHCP?  Anything
 > special here?

I think most ISPs will give you a dynamic IP, but often offer static
as an option, sometimes for a few extra $ ... except it isn't always
really a static IP. I think sometimes what they call a static IP is
really a DHCP reservation or something similar, which can have
consequences for, e.g. accessing your office through a firewall.

 > 3. The Qwest page talks about 'modems'.  I can only assume they are talking
 > about a router, right?  Much like my cable 'modem' is actually a bridge, the

I guess they're a kind of router, although they don't have all the
capabilities of a normal router -- I guess; I'm not very familiar with
routers. I suppose they think the term modem is non-threatening to the
average Joe. Then again, Cisco uses some other jargon for them.

 > company uses the term 'modem' as a catch-all network connection.  Anyway, based
 > on my experiences, the external option seems less problematic.  Are you using
 > internal or external 'modem'?

I have a Cisco 678 external device. And yes, I'd say it's less
problematic, or really not problematic at all. If you plug your
external "modem" to an ethernet hub, you can then connect one or more
'puters to the hub just like any other LAN. The "modem" does NAT, and
you can set it to act as a DHCP server if you like. Cisco provides a
reasonably well-documented command line interface for configuring
everything. Although you'll get instructions telling you to use the
Windows app they provide, you really don't need to use that. You can
connect to the Cisco 678 through a serial connection, telnet, or http
(the latter two are on by default but can be disabled for better
security).

 > 4. Finally, how is the reliability?  Unlike some @home users, my cable modem is
 > (was) rock-solid reliable.

So's my DSL.

Matt Gushee