[sf-lug] ISPs that are good for Linux

[Eric Walstad]

On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 9:47 PM, Thomas DiZoglio <tomdiz at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I use speakeasy.net for my ubuntu server box and macosx laptop. They work fine. Got 2 static IPs for ubuntu server and main wireless router.


I used to be a satisfied speakeasy customer for a few years.  They
were recently bought out by Best Buy after which the quality of my DSL
and VoIP service got pretty bad, unusable at times.  I don't know if
the buyout had anything to do with the degradation of service.  When I
left Speakeasy I signed on with Comcast cable which has a good price
for a business class cable connection.  Like Asheesh mentioned, my
network is behind a router that is behind the Comcast modem so I have
no trouble with my linux boxes.  Interesting to note that when Comcast
installed their hardware they had me test the bandwidth using a
Speakeasy tool[1].  The day they installed it, Comcast's inbound speed
was 20x faster than Speakeasy's and the outbound was 7.5x faster[2].
Shortly after, though, Comcast seems to have throttled back my inbound
speed but it's still quite a bit faster than Speakeasy and for less
money.  I don't have much experience with Comcast's tech support yet.
That *was* what I really liked about speakeasy: I would get a clueful
human on the phone when I called.  That seems to have changed.  While
debugging my crappy DSL/VoIP service, the Speakeasy tech was stumped
and at one point theorized that the problem was caused by the cash
register in a nearby coffee shop.

Eric.
[1] http://speakeasy.net/speedtest/
[2] values in kilobit/s
speakeasy:
874 inbound  311 outbound
comcast:
17,852 inbound  2321 outbound
[3] date	inbound	outbound	days	% change
01/06/09	17852	2321			
01/13/09	6539	2282	7	-63.37%	-1.68%
01/14/09	6269	1845	1	-4.13%	-19.15%
01/16/09	6550	2338	2	4.48%	26.72%
01/22/09	5843	2193	6	-10.79%	-6.20%