[ale] Better ISP?

[Ryan Neily]

I'll add my $0.02 here as well.  I have had ATT DSL and have never had a problem with them.   As long as you get it setup, and dont have issues, it is rock solid.   I have had ATT DSL for ~11 years at my house, and have never had an outage.   However, if something changes (you need to add static IP's, change your password etc etc) their tech support sucks. 

I just recently upgraded to Uverse.   I got the installed bundle of home phone, internet and TV and kept it for a year, and then dropped the TV and the phone.   This enabled me to get the installation for free.  As soon as they dropped the teaser rate, I dropped everything but internet. 

The Uverse internet uses ADSL2 technology, and I have had it for the past year with no issues.  I get a  35megabit connection down, and 5 megabit up.    (They throttle upload speeds to 3 megabit, but I have seen bursts to 5 megabit)

The interesting thing is that with TV service, they carve out part of this bandwidth for TV streams. With all the TV's running in my house pulling HD streams, I would only get about 10 megabit down with a limited max of 24 megabit.   Now that I canceled TV service, I can use the full pipe. 

I understand that ADSL2 is extremely sensitive to distance form the CO.   The installer told me that ATT will not install at any location that is further than 2000 feet from your CO. 

On Jan 5, 2011, at 10:28 AM, John wrote:

> Thanks for the correction.
> 
> Here's a link that may be helpful.
> 
> http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=7305
> 
> It does say that "Linux operating systems are compatible, but not 
> supported."
> 
> 
> 
> On 01/05/2011 09:08 AM, Richard Faulkner wrote:
>> Window$ installation disk is not required to complete the DSL set-up for
>> AT&T.  It provides an interface to talk with the modem and really isn't
>> needed.  All you have to do is to http to the modem (which offers a web
>> interface - obviously) and do the set-up there.  Most any tech will walk
>> you through it and AT&T does have a special number to call for support
>> for those connecting for the first time and driving non-supported OSes.
>> 
>> You DO have to be VERY specific on AT&T NOT sending out a connection kit
>> when signing-up.  I told them I was running Linux and NO M$...they sent
>> one anyway.  Several more phone calls I finally "kinda" got a credit for
>> the kit -- waste of time but I don't have any other choices at the
>> moment.  (I won't go to Comcast and have no need for a T).
>> 
>> RinL
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: John<jdp at algoloma.com>
>> Reply-to: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts<ale at ale.org>
>> To: ale at ale.org
>> Subject: Re: [ale] Better ISP?
>> Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2011 03:59:57 -0500
>> 
>> 
>> If you are still on dial up and price is a concern, take a look at the
>> extremely basic DSL from AT&T at $14.95/month. You probably can't use
>> VoIP over that connection, but my mother has been on it for the last 4
>> yrs after holding out on dialup for 15 yrs over price. She runs Linux
>> ... now and will never go back to dialup. She likes the simplicity of
>> always-on ISP service.
>> 
>> You may need a Windows VM to use the AT&T DSL installer these days, but
>> after that you don't need Windows again. Seems they want to make the DSL
>> router setup, email setup, etc .... "easy" for their customers.  You can
>> fight with support, but you will probably just get told they only
>> support Windows and not get anywhere. It is unlikely that any support
>> people will be allowed to help you with Linux even if they could. The
>> support folks must stay on-script.  OTOH, if you know what you are
>> doing, I've heard that manually configuring the router and email setup
>> can be accomplished if you can get the necessary information without the
>> Windows installer.  I haven't heard whether the installer works under
>> WINE or not.
>> 
>> Good luck.
>> 
>> 
>> On 01/04/2011 08:14 PM, Cornelis van Dijk wrote:
>>> Hello alers,
>>> I recently realized that I am stuck in the Dark Ages with my dial up
>>> at Earthlink. Sometimes it takes five minutes to just get access to my
>>> email, sometimes it does not work at all. Is this a common problem
>>> nowadays? (I was busy for a few years with an autobiography "Panta
>>> Rei", www.virtualbookworm.com;  watch out, this book  slows down your
>>> watch if you get too close to it.)
>>> 
>>> Apart from upgrading my PC's I would like to get a better, at least
>>> faster connection. Do I need something like DSL? I have no idea what
>>> else is out there.  I pay about $22.- for the dial up (about a year's
>>> worth of royalties!). I have experimented with other ISP's before but
>>> they have a tendency to go broke in a hurry. Is the "speedfactory"
>>> still around? If so, are they any good?  Every now and then AT&T sends
>>> me some salesmen, but when I ask them whether AT&T supports Linux, I
>>> get this stare. (Is it actually necessary for an ISP to support Linux
>>> in order to use them?)  Some pointers will be appreciated.
>>> 
>>> I apologize to the high flyers and system administrators for my
>>> trivial questions. I also apologize for the sneak commercial above, a
>>> justification being that the book was assembled with Linux and Latex,
>>> another one that I have seen worse OT's before. Cor
> 
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