[NCLUG] AT&T slow to sucky, DNS showers

[Mike Loseke]

Thus spake Michael Dwyer:
> 
> I got something from FRII not too long ago saying that you should check
> if DSL is now available in my area.  They said that Qwest did some
> expanding -- and since both switches already had DSLAMs, I assumed that
> to mean that they have put DSLAMs in some area SLC cabinets.  So if you
> are on a SLC, you may have DSL access now when you didn't before.

 Nope, I'm on copper but it's on an amplifier which is an instant
"no" for DSL. I have to wait for the DSLAMs to get stretched out to me
here in the no-mans-land we call "right smack in the middle of town". Or
so they tell me.

> CWX.net is, of course, an option.  I'm amused that John mentioned
> getting your own hardware and installing it yourself.  When I was
> looking into CWX, professional installation was a requirement.  Anyway,
> with the exception of some gamers who were asked to leave for abusing
> the system, the CWX users seem to be a pretty happy bunch.

 Got it. The funny part is that my wireless connection was pretty much
wiped out last week during the same outage as AT&T because of Fox31
installing some hardware a wee close to the omni I point at. Damn that Ron
Zappallo!

 CWX is, indeed, a good solution, but I'm beginning to pine for the "good
ol' days" of having an honest to goodness circuit. It's no fun when your
link is adversely affected by the weather. Like the large chunk of ice
that melted just enough for it to break free of the mast and KO the omni.
I've had similar issues with lasers at work - it's no fun defogging the
window on a laser and shooing large moths away so you can get data to the
other building. :-P

> Startband and DirectWay nee DirectPC are small-dish satellite systems. 
> You'll have trouble hooking up Linux to them, and they are best at bulk
> downstream delivery.  The latency makes interactivity prohibitive. 

 Which is a killer for me. Plus, I'm not really thinking that I need to
learn an entirely new (to me) transmission medium, terminology, and set of
troubleshooting requirements. I just want a circuit.

 Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions - I was hoping someone had some good
Qwest inside scoop type of info. Until I can get a DSL type of circuit I'm
having to keep the two networks - wireless and cable. The wireless is for
servicing my domains and the cable is for doing all that fancy "broadband"
activity which is best kept off CWX, like downloading more crap than my
drive can hold and playing games.

-- 
                  | We all enter this world in the same way: naked;
   Mike Loseke    | screaming; soaked in blood. But if you live
 mike at verinet.com | your life right, that kind of thing doesn't
                  | have to stop there.               -- Dana Gould