[ale] DSL -> Cable

[James Sumners]

It could be the area you live in. After I sent that email I realized
that a couple co-workers probably have cable internet service. It
turns out that they actually have Charter. One has problems that he
has pretty much narrowed down to his Linksys modem (not surprising)
and the other says the outtages are about on par with what I currently
have with Speed Factory (due to Bellsouth). Thanks for the input,
though. I am not going into this thing expecting the same level of
service from Charter as from Speed Factory. I already deal with them
for my television service. But I can't go with anyone else either
because of the apartment complex or the city of Stockbridge. I don't
know which (or if it is both).

I look for affordable naked DSL before considering cable. I don't
particularly want to go with cable, but it is my only option if I want
to drop Bellsouth. Speakeasy is the only ISP I could find that
services my area with naked DSL and their prices are way too steep.
Their 1.5Mbs service is as much as my current 3Mbs service.

If you are looking to switch to DSL I don't know if I would recommend
Speed Factory any more. Their customer service is still top notch, but
according to http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16101400~mode=flat
they were recently acquired by some larger company. Typically that
means the service will suffer. In that thread, someone mentioned
Atlantic Nexus (http://www.atlanticnexus.com/) as an alternative. They
are regional ISP (Atlanta area only it seems) and are cheaper than
Speed Factory. They seem to have the same service rep that SF did and
when I called to ask about naked DSL the guy I talked to was very
friendly and helpful. So you might want to consider them.

I have two main goals. One is to save money and two is to ditch
Bellsouth. They are the main cause of my DSL problems (since SF leases
their lines and Atlantic Nexus does too) when they happen. And their
phone service is way too expensive; particularly for a college
student.

Also, one of my coworkers has the same setup as I do. He said there
isn't any authentication at all and the modem does work in pass
through mode. And he can VNC/SSH to his systems at home.

On 8/25/06, Jeffrey B. Layton <laytonjb at charter.net> wrote:
> James,
>
>    I was getting ready to post, but I can't say enough BAD things
> about charter without resorting to lots of foul language. I just
> went through a 2 week outage with them. Once the connection
> came back up it promptly went down again with a hollow
> promise of "it will take 24 hours." Any time you have a problem
> it takes at least 11-14 days to get a repair tech to come out (this
> has happened to me three times this year). Their tech support is
> the worst. They read from a script and they don't have any
> information about outages, what's wrong, what's being worked,
> or anything else. I would rather talk to someone in India because
> they have nice accents and I can ask them about life over there.
>    I know you want to find cheaper net access, but Charter is not
> one I would recommend. Is there anything else you could try?
>
> Good Luck!
>
> Jeff
>
> P.S. While I'm on the subject, I'm looking to kick the shit out
> of charter. I know people recommend SpeedFactory, but what
> about Covad or Cyberonic?
>
> P.P.S. I've also had problems with my cable (our for a week)
> so I'm looking to replace it. Anyone care to comment on Dish
> or any other satellite service?


-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59