[ale] BellSouth/ATT DSL

[Sid Lane]

>
> It seems that IAPs say that Windows is "required" because they won't
> support anything else.
>

they can't even support that...


> Strangely, if I call up Comcast and tell them that I have Ubuntu when they
> ask me what version of Windows I am running they are very quick to blame my
> software (even if 40 minutes of pre-call testing---or the cable modem *
> itself*---shows that the fault lies with Comcast's network).  They've even
> blamed my Internet access woes on Ubuntu when their network was in an utter
> state of outage, which is a bit outrageous to me.
>

yea, I've gotten that routine too

Of course, since Ubuntu validates as Genuine
Windows<http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/18/0037223&from=rss>,
> I suppose it isn't *technically* lying to say that I am using Windows
> XP... in any event, if I call them up and tell them that I am running
> Windows, they'll actually talk to me.
>

I've rebooted into windoze B4 on calls w/them - just cause I didn't remember
the dialogs/responses well enough to lie/fake my way through

Sometimes I get lucky and get someone who actually knows a thing or two
> about computers and operating systems, and possibly even networking, and I
> can tell them exactly what I have done, what hasn't changed, and then have
> them do tests to try to figure things out.
>

glad you had an occasional positive experience - in the eight years we had
cable modem (Media One -> AT&T ->  Comcast) I never ONCE spoke with anyone
who was anything but a blithering, clueless idiot.  I once had someone tell
me to "ping yahoo.com" AFTER I told her I had >50% packet loss AT THE
GATEWAY & NO DNS RESOLUTION.  another time I was calling about a minor issue
w/a "digital voice line" we had at time - they said it was down/inactive
even though I was calling them FROM THAT LINE...

Thankfully, I don't have trouble with my Comcast service often.
>

I don't anymore since I dropped them like 3rd period French for Speedfactory
- as soon as Direct launches their new HD birds I'll be dropping their
pixelating HD and coma-prone DVRs as well...

not that I have a strong opinion on the subject though... :D
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