----- Original Message -----
From: "Austin L. Denyer (SysAdmin.) as root" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Hi All.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with BellSouth's FastAccess DSL Internet
> connectivity and Linux? Specifically, I am looking for the following
> information:
>
> 1. Is it any good?
>
> 2. What DSL modem to they supply? I am running a laptop, so the PCI
> card option is out. I hear they can supply a USB one - is this Linux
> compatible? (I will be upgrading my kernel to 2.4.test-4 shortly).
>
> 3. Would ANY 10 Base-T network adapter suffice (as long as it is Linux
> compatible)?
>
> 4. They are very specific about their download speeds, but what is their
> upload speed (not everyone is a leech).
>
> 5. Has anyone managed to get this going with Linux?
>
> 6. I want to network my laptop to my Wife's PC so that we can both use
> the Internet at the same time - I take it that I will need two network
> cards in the laptop to do this. Any recommendations? (I don't want to
> do the Internet link directly from my Wife's PC if I can avoid it as the
> laptop is FAR more stable - her PC runs Win95, and my two kids [10 and
> 12] use it; 'nuff said...)
>
> 7. Would it be possible to set up additional e-mail accounts on the
> Linux box, so that e-mails could be sent direct to the box? I need this
> to get around the paltry 5Mb mailbox limit that BellSouth offer (an
> e-mailed document with a few embedded screenshots soon grows bigger than
> that!).
>
> 8. Does it offer a static IP address? This would make telneting to the
> machines a lot easier. (Maybe I'm just being hopeful - I used to use
> Demon Internet as my ISP when I lived in the UK, and even their dial-up
> accounts had static IP, unlimited e-mail addresses, etc. Heaven!)
>
> I think that's enough for now ;-D
>
> Although, if anyone knows of (and can point me to) a decent FAQ for this
> (other than the half-hearted attempt on their website), I would be very
> grateful...
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
I have had BellSouth FastAccess for several months.
Some of your question I can answer some I can not
The first thing that should be said is that it is a PPPoE connection. You
can find info here www.ecf.toronto.edu/~stras/pppoe.html
1) I like the service. It sure beats the hell out of dial-up
2} The modems they offer are FieldStream made by Efficient Networks Inc, a
USB external and an internal. The USB is not Linux compatable. 7.1 with the
16 kernel does not even see it and I doubt that the 2.4 kernel will help.
You can get more info at their web site www.fastaccess.com
3) www.fastaccess.com
4) They promise an upload speed of at least 256k. Both download and upload
speed are dependent upon how far you are from the switching station.
5) I have the USB modem so I was not able to use it directly in Linux.. I
have 2 multiboot systems so I was able to find a solution to this. I bought
the Linksys 10/100 Network in a box to connect the 2 systems. Running Win98
with the modem on one machine and Linux on the other and setting up both
OSes to use DHCP I can share internet access on my Linux machine with no
drop in speed.
6) There are any # of network options from wired ( which is what I have),
through home wiring, throuh the phone wiring and wireless. A lot depends on
how much you want to spend, where each computer is located and what you want
to be able to do with the network. Like I said mine is wired it included 2
NICs, a 5 port hub and 2 15ft cables all for just under $100.
7) I think you can get up to 6 mailboxes total for free. They all have the
5Mb limit which I think is more or less the standard here. If you are
sending or receiving large file you might want to consider using a site such
as www.freedrive.com which is an internet hd where you can post up to 50MB.
8) I don't know about the static IP address. Best thing would be to call and
ask.
Hope this gives you some of the info you wanted. If you have any other
question feel free to contact me off list.
Charles :-)
