[PLUG-TALK] Suggested DSL modems

Russell Senior russell at personaltelco.net
Sat Oct 1 20:49:37 UTC 2011


>>>>> "Keith" == Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com> writes:

Keith> What DSL standard does Qwest/CenturyLink use (Northwest
Keith> portland, 274 numbers, if that matters)?

I am crying a little bit for you.  My experience near there has been
"not great" for DSL.  Somewhere over there, Qwest had started
deploying "fiber-to-the-node", which means two things: a) you can get
higher speeds; b) you no longer have options for ISP.  This is the
thing that they occasionally run full-page ads about, but is
geographically quite limited, afaik.  They don't seem to disclose the
boundaries of availability to the public, but instead rely on an
address lookup thing.

We have two nodes in NW that have *crappy* DSL.  NodeDragonfly can't
get more than 512k DSL.

Integra has a bonded DSL service, but they are completely dependant on
CenturyLink providing clean copper pairs.  CenturyLink won't provide
that clean copper unless it is there already.  The bonded DSL is
bundled with voice though, and at least for me, they refused to take
my $100/month for 25Mbps/2Mbps bonded DSL without me buying $70/month
voice service as well.

Your other option is business class Comcast.  If you say it's going to
have a wifi hot spot hanging off of it and get it in writing, you'll
comply with their Terms of Service.

One other option for tubes would be fixed-wireless, from someone like
Stephouse.  Or, pay a couple grand a month for metro-ethernet from one
of the business-class fiber dudes.  

If you think these options suck, join the club.  Welcome to Portland.
If you want progressive broadband infrastructure, move to Sandy.

Keith> Suggested DSL modems?

I have CenturyLink/SpiritOne at home.  I used a Cisco 678 for years,
which still works.  I am currently using a Zhone/Paradyne modem in
bridging mode (the Cisco is my spare, now).  These are the devices
that Integra uses for its non-bonded DSL.  In bridge-mode they are
fine and reliable, but they have some quirks if you are going to
route/nat with them.  For example, the DHCP server by default hands
out addresses starting with .2 and continues through .254, meaning
that if you have a static IP addr anywhere on your network, unless you
change the default, it will eventually get blindly stomped on.

The Zhone was about $40 online a few years ago.  Having a spare tested
and ready to go means that when something goes wrong, you can quickly
determine whether the modem is the failure, which accelerates the
debugging considerably.


-- 
Russell Senior, President
russell at personaltelco.net



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