ISP's

[Ian Sidle]

> I'm using earthlink now, but am fed up with their poor service.
Indeed. Its a shame earthlink has gone down in quality so much. They 
once were the best.

> I'm probably going to go with a cheap dial-up, but I'm also
> considering SBC/Yahoo DSL.  Does the latter work with Linux?
Well, there are quite a few DSL providers that are available here. You 
can go to www.dslreports.com, type in your phone #/address and they 
will bring up an (estimation) of all of the providers available to you. 
They also have user review's of all of the providers and forums to 
discuss problems you may have if something goes wrong.  They probably 
also have user reviews of some dial-up providers.

Yes, SBC DSL does certainly work with linux, but it takes a bit more of 
work. It requires you to run PPPOE (PPP over ethernet) which provides 
direct authentication. Don't ask me why..   There are stories where for 
some on linux where pppoe works great on linux and others is 
troublematic. Most people end up getting a consumer router that can do 
the authentication part for you (and provide NAT, sharing,etc).

In general, they have the cheapest prices ~$26.95 and most people are 
alright with the service.  Although, they have started to outsource a 
lot of things and so some. There is also a few "ups and downs" to be 
expected, but its not ridiculous (like comcast at times).

Most other providers its just a direct IP tunnel/bridge and you use 
normal static/DHCP to get it.  To get static ip, you have to pay

If available, I would recommend sonic.net.   They don't have PPPOE on 
anything, have competitive prices and are a local (only) company. I 
have heard *very* good things about them.  They have some unique 
features, like the availability of ipv6.
Static Ip's are pretty much standard.

I am currently using speakeasy. They are more or less the most 
expensive (~2X) residential service. They are national, and have been 
rock solid since installation.  I signed up when their prices were 
competitive, but things have changed.   They also have unique features, 
like being guaranteed to be allowed to host a server (vs providers 
shutting you down whenever they feel like it). They have a pretty 
impressive network and provide low latency to pretty much anywhere. So 
if your a online gamer, its a big deal.

Dial-up
SBC provides very good dial up service across the US. I think its like 
~$18 by itself, and is free as part of a DSL package.  You even can do 
ISDN (1 channel?).
Sonic.net/speakeasy.net also provides dial-up only service (and you get 
free backup with each as well).

Surprisingly, fry's electronics has their own ISP. http://www.frys.com/ 
. Its a shame they don't advertise it anywhere (even in their own 
store!). Its $9.95/mo with 3 free months. I've never tried it, or heard 
of anyone using it. They seem to have competent people, by reading the 
FAQ and will officially support linux! Probably not that great national 
coverage (only where the stores are??) but if can be a bargain
  I'm guessing they added modem racks to the back of their retail stores 
or something like that, which is why the coverage isn't consistent.
  Its been around for a few years.  They must be really getting big 
bucks from earthlink to have their booths at the store

I've also seen out there other providers that are like $5/mo but I'm 
not sure about their quality.  There are a few "pay as you go" type 
services, which can be useful as a backup-only (instead of paying a 
monthly fee) type of service.

Well, hope that gets you started!

thanks,
Ian

[Okay, third time is the charm right ;)]