[CLUE-Tech] DSL question

[Bruce Ediger]

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004, Charles Oriez wrote:

> I am about to switch to Qwest DSL for my home network. A couple of my boxes
> on that network run Suse or Red Hat.  Anyone aware of any problems?  The

I've had Qwest DSL at 3 addresses since 1998.  I only have 1 Windows box
on my home network.  I haven't had much in the way of problems, but I started
paying extra to avoid getting dumped into MSN a few years ago.  I have
"qwest.net" as my "ISP".  I have run SuSE, NetBSD and Slackware boxes
on my end.  I currently have Slackware, a Brother printer, Windows XP
and an XP laptop on my end.

I did have some troubles last year, when my Cisco 675 gave out in a strange
way that caused the central office equipment to lock up.  I had to call
their customer support repeatedly.  I had to lie to them each time to tell
them that I ran Windows XP at home.  They have to know that some segment
of their users does not run XP, though.

A few caveats: I still use the old "CAP" line encoding, with a Cisco 675
router/modem at my end.  If I understand correctly, new subscribers get
a flakier, less capable device, unless you buy your own.  New subscribers
get to use "DMT" line encoding.  Also, I pay extra (something like $4.95
a month) to stay away from MSN.  Everything I've heard about MSN was bad -
crappy hardware, non-existant support, intolerance of everything other than
the latest Windows on fast hardware.

-- 
Bruce Ediger
720-932-1954
eballen1 at qwest.net