[Tfug] Providers

[Bexley Hall]

Hi,

Please check attributions -- several responses
combined
here...  THANKS to all who replied.

--- Harry McGregor <micros at osef.org> wrote:

[snip]

> > I would have prefered to keep my business "local"
> > (though, admittedly, I have been refering my
> clients
> > to other providers -- mainly due to my lack of
> faith
> > in my current ISP  :< ) but that, as well, is not
> > non-negotiable.
> 
> Who is your local ISP.  If you were using them when
> sending this, they don't run their own dial up pool.

Correct.  They are essentially just acting as a
reseller.  What they "do" provide for their cut
of my monthly payment is just not acceptable, IMHO.
(tech support -- ha!)

> host 4.240.114.133
> 133.114.240.4.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer
> dialup-4.240.114.133.Dial1.Phoenix1.Level3.net.
> 
> It's a Level3 Dialup, used by AOL, Earthlink, and
> others.
> 
> I would suggest looking at Dakotacom.net, but I have
> not used Dialup in
> so long I can't really give a good recommendation.
> 
> I know that when I was on dialup, I ran into modem
> abuse issues rather often.

I've never had that problem -- with folks who
treated it as their *business* (and not just
a hobby).

=================

"Angus Scott-Fleming" <angussf at geoapps.com> wrote:

> If you dedicate a phone line to dialup ($20?) + pay
> for a dialup account ($15-$20) you're paying
> $35-$40/month.  That approaches the cost of DSL
> or cable-internet.

We don't dedicate a line to dialup.  So trim $20
from your figure  :>

> What are major intersections near your home?  Do
> you qualify for DSL at home?

Yes.

> I think Qwest is running a $30/month for the first
> 12 months special on DSL.  You can check your phone
> number or address online here:
> http://www.qwest.com/dsl/ ... 

It's $27 for 256K and $32 otherwise.  Quite a lot
to pay for speed that I don't need.  I also am
not fond of MSN *or* Qwest (as companies) -- YMMV.

[snip]

>> Ideally, I'd like to NOT have to sit behind someone
>> else's firewall restricting my outgoing connections
>> (e.g., when the ISP's mail server is down, I would
>> like to be able to access SMTP on other hosts to
>> which I have access).
>
> Good luck finding a host that will do that.

At the very least, I can ssh(1) to one of the 
remote systems that I have access to and work
from/thru (secure tunnel) there. I just dont
like "surprises" ("Oh, we block port XXX" or
"Sure it's unlimited usage but we disconnect
you every 4 hours...")

=======

"Paul Scott" <waterhorse at ultrasw.com> wrote:

> If dialup is good enough then 256K DSL is available
> from Quest for $15 per month.  That's what I have 
> and am quite satisfied.

Are you sure that's a "current offer"?  A look
through their web site showed this to be $27-$32
(we don't buy extra services -- "bundles" -- just
to save on another service... :<  )


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