[conspire] (forw) Legacy DSL ending at Raw Bandwidth on 12/19/19 - please read carefully!

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Texx (texxgadget at gmail.com):

> I have a different take on Sonic (A good one, shockingly enough)

First of all, you ought to admit that 'A great deal more honest and
competent than an AT&T Uverse sales representative' is setting such an
_extremely_ low bar, one can scarce limbo under it.



> When the power returned, the modem didnt come back to life.  I spent
> an hr on the phone for support.  The greeting wanrned us that most of
> the support dept was in evacuation centres due to the fire and unable
> to make it in to work.

Considering Sonic.net's office location (in Santa Rosa), kudos to them
for working through that fearsome and dangerous situation.  (I assume
you are speaking of the time of the Tubbs Fire of October 2017, though
you didn't really say.)

By the way, it makes me really sad when people say on Conspire that they
would have avoided this-or-that voltage-variation hardware loss if
they'd had a UPS -- because it suggests that, even after many
discussions of the subject here, people still are stuck on the basics.
For some stupid reason, everyone thinks 'UPS' instead of 'voltage
regulator box', and therefore feel they need to go out and get not just
voltage regulation circuitry (what they _actually_ need) but also a big
honkin' lead-acid battery comprising most of the unit's value, that will
fail and need to be replaced about twice every decade, and that adds 
no functionality the user actually needs.


> During the cut over, I asked if I could use one of several DSL boxes I
> already had.  They said it was possible, but incredibly messy and
> would require multiple tech support calls to make it work.

Which, by the way, is primarily because those DSL boxes tend to be
ridiculously overfeatured in their default operating configurations, so
there has to be a lot of sodding around inside there.  The Pace devices 
Sonice provides are _likewise_ absurdly overfeatured in their default 
configurations, the difference being that Sonic's technical people know
all of their crannies and quirks, and have preconfigured backdoor access 
in case they need to enter from across the Internet for whatever reason.

As I mentioned upthread, the obvious response from a competent technical
person would be to put _whatever_ DSL device you use (Pace or other)
into 'bridge mode', which whacks out (disables) all the featuritis and
simultaneously eliminates the ISP backdoor.  And I quoted Sonic's
documentation discouraging doing so on grounds that (translating from
PR-speak) they would no longer have backdoor, and would be unable to
easily rescue you if you messed up your device config.  In other words,
you are a technopeasant whom they expect to manage via backdoor access
-- a point I'll return to, later on.



> In Sonics defense, they have a home business and a business business.

It's really weird that you consider that a 'defence', of all things -- a
point I'll return to, below.



> Home service does not usually require mail & web servers running or static
> addresses.

Yes, and?  I hope you didn't think you were posting some apocalyptic
revelation.



> In the defense of Sonic, people needing static addresses, running web &
> mail servers, really should just go for business class of service.

1.  I _really_ cannot understand why you think this in any way defends
Sonic.  Frankly, I consider it just a bit damning.

2.  Fsck that noise, pilgrim.  Let me explain the _right_ way to do
this:  Tsoft Internet d/b/a/ Raw Bandwidth Communications has, since
2001, sold me commodity DSL service, on top of which I also pay a 
modest explicit surcharge for having a /29 CIDR fixed, routable IP
address block allocated to my use, as well.  And, since the starting
assumption isn't that I'm incompetent by default, I was never
port-blocked on outbound 25/tcp or anything else.

_That_, sir, is the competent and reasonable way to deliver static IP
addresses atop commodity DSL.  I respect it highly.

If, upon signup, the commence-service form had indicated a _default_ of
blocking outbound 25/tcp, but that I could initial that I wished that 
block removed and understood that I would responsible for what traffic
my netblock sent over any socket to remote 25/tcp, I would also have
been perfectly fine with that.  But blocking and then making me beg for
removal, if offered at all, just pisses me off even thinking about it.
It means the company classes its clients as technopeasants to be 
'managed'.  And, frankly, everything about the offering says that.
I'm disappointed you cannot see that.




> I do not believe the restrictions on home service are anything evil.

For technopeasants who expect nothing better.  

> Please dont call them evil because you cant get everything you want.

Perhaps you failed to notice that I didn't.

I called them ridiculously overtouted by members of the Linux
community who certainly ought to know better.  The one thing I _did_
call a bit evil, or at least an insultingly obvious lie, was CEO Dane
Jasper's absurd public statement about why Sonic declines to offer
static IP and blocks 25/tcp.  That statement doesn't hold up to more
than about a millisecond of pondering, and frankly I don't do business
with firms that tell me clumsy lies, as long as I have other reasonable
alternatives.





> We (Conspire) are better than the "Deadbeat in Chief"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Nov 15, 2019 at 12:04 PM Howard Susman <hsusman at scsurplus.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > On 11/15/19 9:15 AM, Rick Moen wrote:
> >
> > Quoting Michael Paoli (Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu):
> >
> >
> > You might also check www.wavebroadband.com to see if they can reach
> > you with their cable modem service.  I think static IPs would be
> > available on their business service if service is generally
> > available. It's same technology as Comcast but their own network if
> > they can reach you.
> >
> > Wave Broadband called to say that my street address in West Menlo _is_
> > within their service area for fibre but not for copper cable, so I
> > expressed interest and they're doing a site survey over the next couple
> > of days.  So, I gather that if I were to sign up, they'd do a short run
> > of fibre optic from somewhere on Altschul Drive to my house.
> >
> > I gather that with a lot of these services, a lot depends on what
> > cabling they have near a target address.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > conspire mailing listconspire at linuxmafia.comhttp://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/conspire
> >
> > I called Wave Broadband. They cannot service my address.
> >
> > I received this from Mike Durkin:
> >
> > Howard,
> >
> >
> > On 11/12/19 12:19 AM, Mike Durkin wrote:
> >
> > Howard,
> >
> > You'll be able to keep the hosting as you suggested on your voicemail,
> > it's the basic Internet access that needs to change. I will see
> > what I can find for options for your area and email you in a couple
> > days.  If you have something you're considering, let me know and
> > I'll look at it and advise.
> >
> > thanks, Mike
> >
> >
> > Thank you for your help.  I hope you find something. I did call AT&T and
> > the best they could offer me was speed up to 3Mbs. The price quoted for
> > that was $60 a month. I would really want a higher data rate than that.
> > I will see what  you find and keep looking myself.  Thank you very much
> > for your assistance.
> >
> > Note your service from us is 1.5Mbps/384Kbps, so 3Mbps would be faster,
> > but if I put your address in on AT&T's website it says 1.5Mbps for
> > $50/mo plus $10/mo equipment and applicable taxes (there shouldn't
> > be any taxes on pure Internet, but could be monthly sales tax
> > on the equipment rental (which is dumb because that could be avoided
> > if AT&T just pays sales tax on the device at time they purchase it)).
> > If they can get you 3Mbps for the same price then it'd be a bit faster.
> >
> > I checked http://business.comcast.com for your address and they're showing
> > service as being available, and faster speeds (generally if cable
> > modem service is available, all the speeds available in the area
> > will be available at all addresses).  They also show some equipment
> > rental fees in addition to the headline monthly price, and they have
> > some deals with a bundled phone line.  At somewhat higher speeds
> > they also have a 4G LTE backup option which sounds interesting...
> > basically I think if your cable modem link goes down, the router
> > automatically maintains your connection over cellular without
> > any changes to your computer.  You might want to talk to them on the
> > phone and see if they can put together a package for you with a lower
> > end connection, like the 25Mbps they show at the low end, but with
> > the 4G LTE backup.  And even better, if they can sell you just the
> > cable modem connection but give you an enforcable promise to let
> > you add the LTE backup later at some known cost if you decide
> > it's needed, so that you can evaluate the cable modem reliability
> > and not incur the cost if it's sufficient.
> >
> > I'd also suggest double checking with a live person at Comcast
> > to ensure you can actually get it to your building and how long
> > it'll take to install.  They don't have ubiquitious service to
> > business locations, so I wouldn't want to rely on the website
> > being right, and they may also have listed your address as
> > available but some construction with a long leadtime might be
> > needed.	Maybe see if any of the other businesses in your building
> > (or adjacent buildings that are physically connected) have
> > Comcast since that'd be a very good sign for you being able to get
> > it, and you can also check with them on what their experience
> > is with reliability.
> >
> > I'd be careful about changes to your voice service, whether moving
> > it to Comcast or moving it to some other product with AT&T.  You'd
> > need to make sure that it has whatever features you need.  I think
> > you just had 4 line telephones or something, so if you have 4
> > lines in a hunt group but never receive more than 3 incoming calls
> > at once, you could for example move the 4th line to Comcast outside
> > of the hunt group and be mindful to place outgoing calls on that
> > line (maybe with blocked caller ID so people don't call you back on
> > it).  But in any case, it can get dicey to manage special cases like
> > that so maybe you want to get just Internet and leave phone service
> > alone.  On the other hand, if you're paying regular AT&T landline
> > rates, you're probably paying a lot these days, and maybe switching
> > it to something more modern could save you money. Over the top voip
> > separate from whoever you get the Internet connection from could also
> > work, as long as the Internet connection is reliable (and some
> > voip providers may be able to setup failover where they forward
> > calls to a cellphone if the voip link is down, and cheap cell service
> > for voice if you don't care much about cellular data can be gotten
> > for < $20/mo these days.
> >
> > I don't know of other wireline services you might be able to get
> > at commodity rates (ie. decent speed for under $200/mo) but you
> > might be able to find a fixed wireless provider that could do it.www.wiline.com and www.ethericnetworks.com are two in the area
> > I'm aware of, but I'm not certain about their coverage areas or
> > typical pricing.
> >
> > thanks, Mike
> >
> >
> >
> > I called Comcast and they offered me this;
> >
> > Recommended Solution
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > *Monthly Charge: *$81.85/month
> > *COMCAST BUSINESS * See how we can give your business more.
> > SOLUTION(S):
> > *Business Internet *
> > Business Internet Starter, Business Wi-Fi Standard, Equipment Fee
> > *Business Voice *
> > 1 Mobility Voice Line
> >
> >    - Access to fast, reliable network with speed up to 1G
> >    - 24/7 dedicated business customer support
> >    - Access to over 17M XFINITY hotspots
> >
> > *Term Agreement: * 36 Months
> > *Installation Charge: * $29.95
> > Continue
> > <https://business.comcast.com/gateway/esign?ID=ff82b684-1521-4326-8813-7c1b7661a0ee&timestamp=1573842370502&securityHash=eyUx7KMb5brRE/5KBEwkaxIx5Jw=&accessType=edit>
> > _______________________________________________
> > conspire mailing list
> > conspire at linuxmafia.com
> > http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/conspire
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> R "Texx" Woodworth
> Sysadmin, E-Postmaster, IT Molewhacker
> "Face down, 9 edge 1st, roadkill on the information superdata highway..."

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