broadband recommendations, Arlington

[rlk at alum.mit.edu (Robert L Krawitz)]

   From: srl <slandrum at turing.csc.smith.edu>
   Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 22:30:19 -0400 (EDT)

   Thoughts? Anyone have suggestions on DSL providers? I'm looking for
   a> uptime b> clueful customer support c> friendliness to running
   small services from my machine d> fair pricing. I hear good things
   about Speakeasy, but I've also heard that they've gotten worse as
   they get larger.  I'd also like to get some idea of how long I can
   expect to wait on a DSL or cable install.

I've had no problems with Speakeasy.  My DSL was installed about 3
months ago, and the person who took my order (I called it in, because
I misunderstood the fact that ADSL piggybacks on an existing phone
line) was very helpful and friendly.  The service has essentially been
transparent.  I get about 63 KB/sec download speed, and they seem to
be very well connected.  My only glitch is that my upload speed is
very poor, around 4 KB/sec.  I haven't gotten around to calling them
about that.  That may be my local line condition, for all I know.

As for servers, their attitude is "don't do anything stupid".  That
means don't act as an open relay (they do probe periodically, and
according to their web site if they find an open relay they'll tell
you about it and work with you to some degree to shut it off) and
don't otherwise be a network pest.  But they specifically don't object
to servers per se.

Installation -- they estimated about 3 weeks; it was closer to 2.  You
get a true static IP (or 2 IP's with the sysadmin package).  Set your
IP address (they don't use DHCP) and the DNS servers, and you're good
to go.
-- 
Robert Krawitz <rlk at alum.mit.edu>      http://www.tiac.net/users/rlk/

Tall Clubs International  --  http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2
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