[clue-tech] Qwest DSL

[Benj Fredrick]

In July I moved from Seattle (and my beloved Speakeasy service) to Durango
and Qwest DSL. I initially had MSN for an ISP and a dynamic IP, but now have
upgraded to using Qwest as ISP and having a static IP. That last bit I only
changed because I wanted my server up all the time - rather than relying on
a Dynamic DNS update script (the point being, there were no "problems" which
caused me to upgrade).

Being cheap, I opted not to purchase a new modem from Qwest, and am using my
SpeedStream 5260 from Speakeasy. I had to telnet into it, to change the
VPI/VCI info, but it was fairly painless and has worked flawlessly ever
since.

Behind the SpeedStream (which I'm pretty sure does zero filtering), I have a
USR router/wireless AP. The USR router has my IP info from Qwest, and can do
pretty much any filtering/routing you may need. I don't think this is
specific to this model/brand - I have heard great things about the Lynksys
wrt54g's. So I have some NAT routes on the USR, forwarding certain ports to
my server, and maybe one or two to my Ubuntu desktop. My server is a pretty
basic home project, running a handful of web sites + my personal email. I
have not experienced any port blocking from Qwest - and I have used SSH from
Denver a number of times.

hope that helps!
-Benj

On Dec 1, 2007 8:36 PM, Peter Kuykendall <peterkuykendall at hotmail.com>
wrote:

>
> I had the Qwest / MSN DSL deal a couple of years ago.  I had the Actiontec
> (I think) DSL router.  It was $99 for the router, followed by a $99 rebate a
> couple of months later.  The monthly cost was about $29.
>
> > 1. Will they let me (occasionally) ssh into my home server?  Any
> restrictions there?
>
> No, they blocked inbound connections, but there was a workaround.  The
> Actiontec router is set up as a NAT box, and all of the port forwarding is
> turned off, and you can't turn it back on (it's only configurable under an
> admin password which you don't have).  So there are NO inbound connections
> allowed.
>
> The workaround is to buy a hardware hack kit.  It adds the UART chip and
> connector to enable an RS-232 console port.  From there you can dump the
> flash, extract the administration password, then open up port forwarding via
> the web admin GUI.  You can probably buy one pre-hacked on EBay.  I'd give
> you mine but I already gave it to somebody else.
>
> Once I hacked the router I was able to SSH into my machine just fine.  At
> the time they weren't blocking port 22 or killing the protocol.  But then,
> Comcast wasn't forging TCP RST packets at the time, either, so things may be
> different now.  I have not read anything about Qwest mucking with their
> customers' traffic.  Cox, Comcast, and many others are, so the arms race has
> started.
>
>
> > 2. Should I use their modem or purchase another (suggestions on other
> models --- compatibility with Linux is a *major deal*).
>
> If it is possible to get a model that does not require the hack to open it
> up, then get it.  Otherwise buy a pre-hacked Actiontec if you can find one.
>  Last resort is to buy the hack kit and modify your own unit.
>
> > 3. How is the performance?
>
> My deal was 256K up and 256K down, if I recall correctly.  It was very
> solid.  I don't remember ever having a problem with it in several years of
> use.
>
> - Pete
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