[TriLUG] broadband in the Triangle area

Joseph Tate jtate at dragonstrider.com
Sat Aug 23 20:13:59 EDT 2003



Faheem Mitha wrote:
> I've already done some searching on the net, and it left me feeling more
> confused than enlightened.
> 
> The reason I wanted to hear about people's firsthand experience using
> Linux with broadband in this area was to guide me in a specific choice,
> along the lines of "if it works well for you, it will work well for me".
> I've found such info surprisingly hard to come by on the net.  Before
> dealing with possibly Linux hostile corporations, it is nice to be able to
> arm oneself beforehand.

Ok, I use Linux on my RR connection.  So do many people on this list. 
They also use earthlink and a lot of different DSL providers.  You may 
search the archives for various discussions.  As for customer support, 
just don't tell them it's linux and you'll be fine.  For ease of setup, 
get one of the 30 dollar DSL/Cable sharing router/switches.  Shoot, go 
ahead and get one of those WAP/Router/Switches.  Unless you want to do 
routing on your debian box.

> Is this generally true across all providers?

I've never heard of a DSL company that didn't make you sign a year 
contract.  If you have your own modem that may be negotiated, however 
with cable's >3Mbps down and 512Kbps up max and DSL's dismal 1.5Mbps max 
and 128Kbps up you get a lot more bandwitdth for a similar if not 
smaller cost.  You'll have to call the various providers to see.

> A few questions about Time Warner.
> 
> 1) Is it true about limiting email attachment sizes?
Don't know.  I don't use TW e-mail.  I run my own mail server.  If this 
is a concern, run your own server.

> 2) Does the setup require a login demon? Debian has a package called
> rrlogind for use with roadrunner. My impression is this is somewhat
> area-specific.

Not here in RTP.  I can't speak for earthlink or similar resellers of 
RoadRunner.

> 3) Has anyone got experience of the differences between Time Warner and
> Earthlink? What are the other main options as far as cable go in this
> area?

I don't have first hand experience here, though I believe that the user 
experience is very similar.

http://www.twcnc.com/isp/default.htm lists all the available options for 
cable.




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