I need some advice. I'm planning to upgrade my present dialup connection to cable, using my present ISP (Earthlink) over Time-Warner cable. None of this is graven in stone, and I've got other options. My thinking is as follows:
1. I've been with Earthlink since early '97, and it's been a good experience. (#1 reason: Earthlink's Spaminator does a good job of filtering spam -- a few get through, but not so many that I'd bother to set up a mail filter.) 2. ADSL is also available via E/L on BellSouth lines (and plenty of others), but I've read some horror stories about hookup delays and subsequent problems with ADSL. And, while BellSouth says that ADSL is available here, I'm not sure that I believe them. The telephone lines were first installed 40 years ago, and are not of the highest quality (typical connect: 44000). I also know that BellSouth had a helluva time installing a second line in my house. (Two guys, four hours; the premise wiring already existed.) On the other hand, cable seems to work right out of the box. 3. One source of concern is that BellSouth will supply the lines and Earthlink will handle the rest of it. Hmmm... at least twice as many calls to Customer Resistance. Or do I worry too much? 4. I haven't done much thinking about hardware. Once I do get up and running, I'll hook up my wife's N|C (the Larry Ellison web appliance) through this machine. I've also got a spare box available that I could use as a server, but that may be more trouble than it's worth. 5. Bear in mind that we're both retired (family motto: Every day is Saturday), so 24/7/365 is not necessary. This is for fun, diversion, mental exercise and stress avoidance (hence Mandrake Linux). Jump right in, folks --- -- cmg
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