[ale] isp questions

[Sean Kilpatrick]

NO! NO! NOI
Do not fall into the trap of Comcast/Xfinity. When you have a problem (and
you WILL have a problem) you will be forced to interact with a call center
in India.  That interaction will be mind-blowingly frustrating.  You will
never get a satisfactory answer to a billing question.  You will never get
a satisfactory answer to any significant technical question.  Take the
U-verse.  AT&T also offers something called AT&T tv. I got suckered into
it.  It is NOT true cable.  It doesn't even provide all the local channels
-- which is required by the FCC for all cable outlets.  (When I asked "Why
not?" I was told the reason was "Proprietary"!?)  On the positive side,
AT&T is much better at providing technical support.  Before I moved we used
AT&T fiber, which had been installed at the front door. Excellent service
with the less expensive 50 mgb service and our speeds always exceeded that
level when tested.

Sean Kilpatrick

On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 10:39 PM Boris Borisov via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:

> What do you call normal internet ?
>
> On Mon, Jun 15, 2020, 10:12 PM SpaXpert, Inc. via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:
>
>> Alex I don't know why this has become a thing as of late. I gave up dsl
>> 20 years ago. Some folks are just too damned cheap.
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 10:08 PM Kamin Horvath via Ale <ale at ale.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hey all (first time replying here),
>>>
>>> I’m going through a similar decision at our new place. We have a choice
>>> of xfinity or AT&T fiber and reading all this - I’m leaning more towards
>>> the former.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Kamin
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 9:22 PM, Raj Wurttemberg via Ale <ale at ale.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> I think that I have the exact configuration you are looking for.
>>>
>>> - AT&T fiber goes into a U-Verse "modem"
>>> - Enabled the DMZ feature on one port of the U-Verse modem
>>> - pfSense firewall plugged into the DMZ port
>>> - pfSense shows my true IPv4 and IPv6 IP addresses
>>> - The DMZ passes _almost_ ALL traffic to the pfSense firewall
>>> - Inbound ssh and other high-ports work fine
>>> - I think inbound http/https, NetBIOS, and SMTP (tcp/25) are blocked by
>>> AT&T
>>>
>>> Hope this helps.
>>>
>>> /Raj
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Ale <ale-bounces at ale.org> On Behalf Of Bob via Ale
>>> Sent: Monday, June 15, 2020 5:18 PM
>>> To: ale at ale.org
>>> Subject: [ale] isp questions
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> I currently have internet (adsl2+) and phone line (POTS) from att. I
>>> like the old POTS line. The latency and bandwidth of dsl seems fine for
>>> our purposes. Behind the modem, I have a pfsense box, which handles
>>> routing, firewall rules, and so forth. I like the pfsense box.
>>>
>>> Since we're working from home more, I thought I would buy another adsl2+
>>> modem as a backup. The last time the modem failed, I bought one at best
>>> buy (netgear DM111PSP v2), and it was inexpensive. However, now it
>>> seems that adsl2+ modems are no longer being sold since att is phasing
>>> out dsl.
>>>
>>> At dslreports, some are saying that att might discontinue dsl in some
>>> areas this year. (I'm in the Northlake/Tucker area of Atlanta.)
>>>
>>> It sounds like it is difficult to run a pfsense router/firewall behind a
>>> u-verse modem. Is that correct?
>>>
>>> If att eliminates dsl in my area, would u-verse or comcast be a better
>>> choice? (I'd like to keep my POTS line and use my pfsense box as a
>>> router/firewall. I have no interest in tv or other services from either
>>> company.)
>>>
>>> Are there other choices than u-verse or comcast that I'm overlooking?
>>>
>>> Any thoughts on getting an inexpensive backup adsl2+ modem?
>>>
>>> If u-verse is better than comcast, could I purchase a u-verse modem that
>>> would be able to handle adsl2+ (until dsl is removed)? (I guess that
>>> assumes that att allows purchasing u-verse modems.)
>>>
>>> Thoughts or suggestions?
>>>
>>> --Bob
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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