[ale] pppoe and telocity DSL

[Paul D. Manno]

Hi John and Kenn,

On 26 Jun 2001, John Mills wrote:

}Hi, Ken -
}
}On Tue, 26 June 2001, Ken Nagorski wrote:
}
}> yeah. I am a blockhead. I found in the manual about setting up LInux. says
}> all I need is a dhcp client running on the Linux box... That's sweet if
}>that is so.
}
}If your Telocity link is the same as mine, you don't need DHCP, either, except perhaps to capture the link settings the first time. I got one static IP, and they sent the IPs for their nameservers and gateway. I pointed a LinkSys router at those, once I had gone through the initial activation procedure (with a box set for DHCP).
}I have only three quibbles with Telocity:

I just did the install a month ago and found it to be trivially easy.  I
still use DHCP (even with the static IP) just because.  My comments on
their service so far are below:

}1) They have occasional trouble keeping their nameservers on the air.

I've not seen both their name servers offline in the last month.

}2) Three times (so far), their "gateway" (modem) has lost its link to their net.
}The only way I've found to reconnect after (2) is to cycle power on their modem. This is a nuisance because the modem and router live on a shelf in the basement, and there is no way to recover access if I'm not home.

I've had this happen too.  They sent me a new gateway that seems to have
helped the problem dramatically.  One "trick" is to use the BSR X-10
firecracker product to power cycle the gateway if you think it has lost
DSLAM sync. This is easy to do with various free tools and a $40 (or 
less) part.

}(3) With a few exceptions, I wouldn't use "technical", "support" and "Telocity" [well, "Directv DSL" now] in the same sentence. They are generally willing, but usually not 'empowered', I find.

As with most organizations, it usually takes a second or third call on the
same problem then it's escalated.  In my one data point (see above gateway
replacement), the next level of support didn't have any trouble talking
technical and understanding the problem.  On a scale of 10=good, I've
give them an 7.  Beats some other companies who won't talk to you if
you're running any *nix varient.

As always, your mileage may vary...

-- Paul Manno

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