[Cialug] Question about going broadband in Des Moines...

Sun, 12 Dec 2004 14:30:50 -0600

On Sun, 2004-12-12 at 11:22, reinstall hell wrote:
> don't know what sites you download from but i get 3mbit all the time 
> when i download from a server that isn't overloaded. and your mistaken 
> the upstream is 256kbps (which isn't all that great either), but who 

When I had mediacom here, in Marshalltown, upstream was capped at 128k.

> needs that much upstream? its fine for uploading txt, pictures, and 
> short movie files. if you really have the need for lots of upstream go 
> with DSL (hope you live close to your carrier) and you can get that 

Generally speaking, Linux users tend to be "power users" and use a lot
of upstream bandwidth.

> 1.5mbit down/ 1.5mbit up (still for a very hefty price usually 
> ~$60-70/month right?). only people i've heard of using stuff like that 

I pay Qwest $40 a month, and a small fee to my ISP.

> are pirates, programmers, and those needing remote access(none of which, 
> being related).
> going back to sites that support the 3mbit, i thought that most webhosts 
> give their sites ~>5mbps to work with usually. granted online gaming 

> never uses more than proably 768kbps(if that), making it crucial to have 
> DSL should you run a game server. most ISPs however are not server 

My experience is that many of smaller dsl providers are server friendly.
You have some choice with DSL providers. Pick one that works for you.

> friendly(some will let you pay an extra monthly fee to get away with 
> it), so check with your ISP about whether you can have a server or not.
> all that other stuff aside, can you tell me what you mean by "doesn't 
> police their network well" means? because they don't manage their 
> network. AT&T does, or so i've been told by customer support. so blame 
> AT&T (yes the same one thats the phone carrier). any AT&T fans in here?
> 

First of all Mediacom is providing you a service, who actually manages
their network is irrelevant.  You're buying a service from Mediacom.
Blaming AT&T is *nuts*. 

I was port scanned almost 10x more by Mediacom customers when I was on
Mediacom as I was anywhere else (I didn't count the scans that Mediacom
did on my machines) 90% of those scans originated from Mediacom
customers.  Email's to support regarding those and other "hostile"
activities went unanswered. Nothing every changed.. I could go on and on
and on... 

The Mediacom network was what I would consider "a hostile" envirnoment.
Hence, the "Ghetto comment". As far my opinion goes, I'll note that you
think it is uncool and disrespectful, however, it won't change. 

You can choose what Internet "neighborhood" you live in. I choose not to
live in Mediacom 'hood.

> and i don't respect that comment of "ghetto". don't use it again. very 
> uncool.
> 
> Dave J. Hala Jr. wrote:
> 
> >I don't agree that cable (mediacom) Internet is better than DSL.  I had
> >Mediacom.  Mediacom Internet is like the "ghetto of the internet".
> >Mediacom doesn't police their network well.
> >
> >Just remember,  you may get a fast download connection, but your
> >upstream connection is usually limited to 128k...
> >
> >So what if they say you can get 3mb downstream.  How many servers can
> >you download from that will actually support that rate? Almost none. 
> >You say you go peer-to-peer?  Try and do that at 6pm in the evening on
> >Mediacom's network. 
> >
> >1.5/1.0mb DSL would be my first choice, from a small to mid-size
> >provider. 640/256kb DSL my second choice.  Mediacom would be my last
> >choice.
> >
> >:) Dave
> >
> >
> >
> >On Sat, 2004-12-11 at 21:17, Chris Hilton wrote:
> >  
> >
> >>Because mediacom is one of the worst companies in our neighbourhood.
> >>1.)  Obnoxious ads constantly calling us thieves.
> >>2.)  Ads calling us stupid, saying we will eat monkey droppings.
> >>3.)  More outage time than a properly setup dish.
> >>4.)  Ever increasing cost for the same service. (from $30 to  almost $50
> >>in under a decade)
> >>5.)  Annoying "people who have dishes are stupid" commercials in
> >>response to "dishes kick butt and cable stinks" commercials.
> >>6.)  They take their price hike money and give it to local "charities."
> >>I find this offensive as I would prefer to invest my money to charity as
> >>I please, not as they please.
> >>
> >>That's why I don't like Mediacom; but at this point Cable internet is
> >>better than DSL (at the same cost).
> >>On Sat, 2004-12-11 at 21:09 -0600, reinstall hell wrote:
> >>    
> >>
> >>>Hey,
> >>>
> >>>I've had mediacom for about 2 years as well. Pretty much with the same 
> >>>story as far as level of service. As long as you "Keep It Simple 
> >>>Stupid", if you ever have to call the tech people, your problems will be 
> >>>solved in a timely manner. their phone techs don't know squat, but the 
> >>>people doing the service calls have always known their stuff (most of 
> >>>which that i've talked to being linux users themselves). I wish i knew 
> >>>what some people have against cable ISPs, but i just don't see why i 
> >>>should pay 2 seperate fees for the signal and then the isp service and 
> >>>get raped on my $1/bps. (please note that this is not an invite to start 
> >>>any kind of flaming war on this list)
> >>>
> >>>as patrick said the biggest skill to fixing a cable connection that 
> >>>doesn't want to stay connected, is to learn the appropriate way to 
> >>>powercycle equipment.
> >>>
> >>>Neal
> >>>Patrick L. McGillan wrote:
> >>>
> >>>      
> >>>
> >>>>Hey,
> >>>>I have had mchsi cable for a couple of years now. They dropped off the modem 
> >>>>with the wife, one day while I was at work. I hooked it up that night and 
> >>>>have been happy since then. Once long ago, I called them with a problem they 
> >>>>were having, which they denied of course. Next day everything was back to 
> >>>>normal. Sometimes the cable goes out, maybe once every 6 months. Longest was 
> >>>>a day and a half, best I can remember. Have had a public web server up for 
> >>>>most of the time, couple hunderd hits a day. Power flickers are the biggest 
> >>>>culprit, just requires unplugging and repluggin'. Been using the same ip 
> >>>>address for at least two years. Bout all I can say, hope it helps.
> >>>>
> >>>>Patrick
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>On Saturday 11 December 2004 10:34, you wrote:
> >>>> 
> >>>>
> >>>>        
> >>>>
> >>>>>Hey there, first time poster, just joined the list. I use Linux, have for
> >>>>>some years now and I'm the only one I know who does, so this could be neat.
> >>>>>My main purpose right now is finding a DSL or cable provider in Des Moines
> >>>>>THAT DOESN'T FREAK OUT WHEN I DON'T HAVE WINDOWS, haha. Right now I'm at
> >>>>>56K with good ol' Qwest but can't go to Qwest (or Verizon, apparently) DSL.
> >>>>>Any ideas? Thanks a lot!
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>Jason
> >>>>>
> >>>>>_______________________________________________
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> >>>>>   
> >>>>>
> >>>>>          
> >>>>>
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> >>>>
> >>>>.
> >>>>
> >>>> 
> >>>>
> >>>>        
> >>>>
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> >>>      
> >>>
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> >>    
> >>
> 
> 
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Open Source Information Systems (OSIS)
Dave J. Hala Jr. <dave@osis.us>
641.485.1606