[lug] IDSL Service in the Boulder Area...

[Michael Deck]

I currently have Covad IDSL via the company formerly known as Micron.net, 
then Hostpro, and now (I think) InterLand. I am not extremely unhappy but I 
wish I could do better. The TCI trucks have been in the neighborhood 
recently and they say that ATT Broadband will be available end of year. 
Fingers crossed, I suppose.

I switched to this IDSL last December after 3 years of Qwest ISDN. Cost is 
much less, and the service is somewhat better. In both cases there are 
nasty outages up to 2 days. In the IDSL case, there have also been several 
periods of poor service (30% packet loss) that eventually gets cleared up 
as they tinker with the lines. Our neighborhood has particularly bad 
copper, as I understand it. Right now, for example, I am using my backup 
dialup connection for email because I'm in one of those periods. I am told 
that Covad pushes the envelope a little more. So, where Qwest refused to 
serve me, Covad will but I live with these interruptions. Latency of my 
IDSL is much worse than my ISDN but throughput is better. I had 1/2 ISDN 
(64K) only.

I run a Linux firewall/router and a heterogenous network behind its NAT. So 
I haven't asked for multiple IPs, I just ipforward into the appropriate box 
based on port. I do run an Apache server. I had the ISP put my hostnames 
(www., mail., etc) on their DNS rather than having to maintain my own DNS 
because I wasn't having fun doing that. The terminal adapter came with my 
deal and it is set up as a bridge.

I'd be happy to answer more specific questions offline.

-Mike

At 07:23 AM 10/29/2001 -0700, Ryan Kirkpatrick wrote:

>         I am going to be moving soon to an area where IDSL is the only
>broadband service available, and wanted to get peoples experience with
>this service. The location is 16800ft from the CO, so normal DSL is out of
>the question, and while it does have Cable TV, cable Internet access is
>not yet available. That pretty much leaves IDSL as my only choice (short
>of dialup of course) [0].
>         My needs for an Internet connection do not require a large amount
>of bandwidth (144kbs is ample for email servers and low traffic websites),
>but do require the following: Static IPs (at least 6 usable) and the
>ability to run servers. It would be even better if the ISP did not require
>me to buy their IDSL router [1]. Also, I don't have a problem with paying
>for a business class connection in order to attain these requirements.
>         Therefore, has anyone had any experience with IDSL and if you
>have, would you please share what your experience has been. Are there any
>ISPs (or carriers) that I should stay away from? Is there an ISP that you
>would recommend that can meet my above requirements? Thanks in advance!
>TTYL.
>
>
>[0] Even Sprint Broadband is not possible as they have stopped taking
>customers for now. They have maxed out their equipment apparently.
>
>[1] Where their cost is ~$350 and I can get one off of eBay (Flowpoints or
>3Coms) for $30. I have had experience with Flowpoint routers, so I don't
>mind configuring it myself either. As for warranty on the new router, for
>only $60 I could buy two off of eBay and have one in reserve.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>|   "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."                    |
>|                                            --- Philippians 1:21 (KJV)   |
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>|   Ryan Kirkpatrick  |  Boulder, Colorado  |  http://www.rkirkpat.net/   |
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
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Michael Deck
Cleanroom Software Engineering, Inc.