[olug] Alltell / Windstream and a new DSL modem...

[DYNATRON tech]

i have alltel (now windstream), and i use the speedstream 5200.

this is the same model that came with the service.
when a lightning strike took it out (along with the UPS it was attached to)
windstream wanted $100 to replace the 5200, so i dug another one out of my
part stash and flashed it with the routing software (some of them only work
in pass-through until flashed).

i use it as my gateway routing device and this model has worked flawlessly,
playing nice with my 3 other routers, for about 5 years.

it's a good piece of hardware with a ton of options, including a dyndns
client.




On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 6:50 PM, Cameron Montgomery <dli.geek at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 8:18 AM, Dan Linder <dan at linder.org> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Dan Staehr <staehrmedia at neb.rr.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Also OT for a Linux list, but do any of you have experience with
> > > satelite broadband or long range wireless access. I have a client in
> > > Raymond, NE that is using DSL and has had all sorts of problems.
> > >
> >
> >
> > I can contribute a bit on this note.  Before they got DSL, my parents had
> > the Satellite broadband through DirectTV for two years.  When it was just
> > the two of them doing their normal e-mail and basic surfing, it worked
> very
> > well.  The only issues they had were the same ones they had with the
> > Satellite TV - outages during extreme weather, wind could move the dish
> out
> > of alignment, etc.  The speeds weren't the greatest, but that wasn't an
> > objective.
> >
> > They ended up leaving because the technical support was pretty bad.  Even
> > if
> > we went down to the basic Windows XP connected directly to the RJ45 port
> on
> > the Satellite "modem", their people were troublshooting it to a problem
> > with
> > their wiring and/or computer.  Couple that with the fact that their TV
> > support was saying that their analog phone lines weren't perfectly
> > compatible with the DirectTV tuners (for periodic dial-in to check
> > subscriptions), my dad finally had enough and dropped back to the basic
> > service as soon as DSL was available.
> >
> > But for a person in a remote location, the speed for DSL will vary
> > depending
> > on distance from the CO where Satellite Internet is always the same speed
> > on
> > an average day.  Plus it can be mobile so you could take it with you when
> > you go for a camping trip (if you so desire).
> >
> > Dan
> >
> > --
> > "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who can watch the watchmen?) -- from
> the
> > Satires of Juvenal
> > "I do not fear computers, I fear the lack of them." -- Isaac Asimov
> > (Author)
> > ** *** ***** ******* *********** *************
>
> I'm new to the list, but have some experience in this area. I used to work
> for a home builder and finding solid connectivity was always an issue for
> us
> because most of the land was in under-developed areas and had no
> infastructure for the first few months of operations. I did try out a
> satelite provider like Dan mentioned. The connection speed was decent, but
> day to day browsing was a bit slow because the latency was so high. On the
> other hand, the bandwidth was pretty good so larger sized files downloaded
> very quickly. Dan already coverd the weather/alignment issues.
>
> Another solutiuon we tried were the Sprint PCS PCMCIA cards. They worked
> well and had good data rates as long as cell coverage was good. The only
> drawback was the price. At that time (2003-2004), these devices were very
> new so they could charge an arm and a leg. I belive it was $99/month for
> unlimited data. I haven't looked into any of these devices since then, but
> I'm sure the technology has come a long way, and with more providers the
> prices should have improved.
> Cameron
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