From: Clint Moyer <cdmoyer@charter.net>
Why is it relevant which OSes they do or do not support? It's all the same internet. The only reason any ISP gives you a CD is to install some half-assed "wizard" app or free crapware.
Ditto that. "We don't support Linux" really means "We are cheap phone answering droids. We do not understand the technology we sell." I have had Speakeasy DSL for several years and am quite satisfied, although it is a bit expensive. There are two different kinds of problems that you might have, roughly hardware and software. The hardware is all the same wires, but a good ISP can tell you how your modem looks from the other end of the wire. A bad ISP just tries to blame the problem on you, without any attempt to diagnose it. A short description of my hardware problems and how I solved most of them by cutting out some sketchy wiring in my basement and installing a DSL splitter is here: http://www.free-comp-shop.com/DSL.html Don't use the cheapo filters that plug into the wire between the phone jack and the telephones. Get a proper splitter. The other kind of problem is software, by which I do not mean the OS. That is irrelevant. I run a primary name server from my basement, and Speakeasy provides a secondary. To do that, Speakeasy must set up reverse DNS, and pull zone files from my server. This required them to actually do some work to "support" me. I found them to be knowledgeable and responsive. They answer email withing a few hours, even if it is sent at 3:00 am Sunday. There were a few problems coordinating what needed to be done on my end and theirs, but the problems were solved by a few email exchanges in the dead of night. I put some notes I wrote here: http://www.free-comp-shop.com/spk.html If all you want is a web browser, this is probably overkill, but it feels good to actually communicate with a person who knows something. I was a bit worried when they were bought by Best Buy, but it doesn't seem to caused a disaster yet. -- Keith