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<TITLE>RE: [NTLUG:Discuss] SWBell DSL</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Al Wyatt [amw@rocketmail.com] wrote:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> I'm considering signing up for SW Bell DSL service and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> wondered if anyone in NTLUG had experience with it. </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> Of course their on-line information says you have to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> have Winblows or Mac to use it, but has anyone hooked</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> up with SWBell DSL with Linux? I couldn't find out</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> exactly what kind of equipment they use. They're</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> offering a deal that sounds too good to pass up -</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> $39.95/month with only a one year commitment and they</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> give you (or loan you I guess) all the equipment.</FONT>
</P>
<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>I have been subscribed to the SWBELL service for two months </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>now. Here is my experience.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Installation: After I submitted the on-line application, they</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>left a voice mail informing me of the installation data (over </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>a month later) and informing me that I would need to be there.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>They did NOT give a hint as to WHEN during the day they would</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>be there and the did NOT give a return phone number that I </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>could call to reschedule the day if it was inconvenient. I </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>called the 800 number and they committed to call me </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>at work an hour before coming so that I could be there to meet </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>them. </FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>They mailed the equipment to me and it arrived one week before</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>the scheduled installation. The equipment consisted of an </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>ethernet card and an external DSL modem and some filters for</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>the phone jacks.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>They called me a half hour before arriving and installed the </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>equipment and tested the hookup. They required the original</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Win98 install disk (to prove that I had a valid windows installation).</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>They do NOT have any knowledge of UNIX or LINUX. You will have to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>handle this yourself.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Experience: In the early days I had two problems: The SWBELL database</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>was delayed in being updated with my information, so that it was almost</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>two weeks before I could do email or add my web page to the service.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Their support line was busy during the day (> 1hour delay!), so that</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>the only time that I could get through was in the early morning (6am)</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>when I arrived at work.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>The other problem persists. Occasionally I cannot log onto the service.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>This happens most frequently during the peak evening hours. One of the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>phone support people told me that this seemed to be caused by some</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>customers using more IP addresses than they were paying for so that the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>IP pool was exhausted. Once I am logged on, there is no problem. If I </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>wanted to leave my computer on all the time and never log off, there </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>would not be a problem.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>I have gotten it working under both Mandrake 7.0 and Storm Linux without</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>any problems.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>If you have problems, you CANNOT access their web site with its help files</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>from another site (in my case from work). Their support site is only</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>accessible through their connection.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Short summary: Their customer service is terrible and there seems to be</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>a problem getting logged on during peak hours; but the price is pretty </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>good and (on balance) I am happy with it.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Regards,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Steven Gorwood </FONT>
</P>
<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Al Wyatt [amw@rocketmail.com] wrote:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> I'm considering signing up for SW Bell DSL service and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> wondered if anyone in NTLUG had experience with it. </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> Of course their on-line information says you have to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> have Winblows or Mac to use it, but has anyone hooked</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> up with SWBell DSL with Linux? I couldn't find out</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> exactly what kind of equipment they use. They're</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> offering a deal that sounds too good to pass up -</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> $39.95/month with only a one year commitment and they</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>> give you (or loan you I guess) all the equipment.</FONT>
</P>
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