[plug] looking for a linux-friendly isp

[William Kenworthy]

I use iinet (since ~1998) and am quite happy

If you ask for support and need it escalated from the service desk
drones, you (or at least I did) specifically get referred to a tech with
linux experience.

This may add to the response time which lately is generally a miserable
2-3 days via email - though my most recent queries (only a couple a
year) are non-urgent.  Phones are ok at non-busy hours, but during a
widespread problem you basically cant get through.

I wouldnt go naked DSL/VoIP only unless you have a reliable mobile phone
AND a boxed VoIP solution (i.e., one of the integrated belkin
VoIP/wireless/adsl units.  Reason is VoIP reliability is suspect.  I
have only one instance (that I noticed!) where iinet VoIP was
unavailable (a fire in Sydney apparently), but it was a few hours.  

A far greater problem is running an asterisk pabx with a pap2T and
spa3002 interfaces, 2 grandstream IP phones and softphones.  Reliabilty
is ... less than perfect! It would improve if I did a standalone box and
managed it appropriately, but its a home system so thats a bit
extravagant.

A factor adversely affecting the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor - common on
the mythTV lists!) is that incoming calls can knock off the adsl
connection- very frustrating when you are on an outgoing VoIP call -
with asterisk I effectively have two lines (Voip and PSTN) so the call
gets answered ok, but we have lost VoIP calls at the same time. Improved
it by going back to an old DSL300 ADSL 1 modem - solid and reliable.

The most major failure was 000 though.  Had one of the local wackos
threaten to knife the dog and was waving a hockey stick around
threateningly outside in the street.  Unfortunately Vic Park has a ready
supply of such courtesy of Gallop and the Labour party!  Anyhow,
dialling 000 didnt work (faulty dial plan on the spa3002) - had to use
the mobile.  Lesson - test it!

Another minor annoyance is that iinet (and I presume others) VoIP doesnt
do location services well - be wary on ordering Pizza etc.  Currently I
believe all iinet VoIP numbers locate as central Perth, no matter where
they are in the metro area.  When we first got the service (2006), my
son ordered Pizza and got connected to Dominoes in Sydney! - a week ago
it was somewhere in the Perth CBD.  I have one extension via a vpn from
work several suburbs away - think what that does to a location service!

Oh, and you can make some serious savings - and do some funky things
when using asterisk!

One thing I do note, Westnet, Arachnet, iinet etc all have their bad
days - they are all about equal so any network problems are usually
transient.  The main tier ISP's, Telstra and Optus seem to have them
24/7, plus charge an arm and a leg for the privilege.  Also be aware of
some dubious practices e.g., optus supplied speedstream adsl modems with
VoIP invisibly blocked so it was unusable without a firmware change,
telstra have apparently removed openoffice from their free download area
as they are starting a competing product, ...

At least the ISP's like iinet and westnet dont seem to be so into
gouging.

hmmm - this has turned into quite a rant!

ymmv
BillK


On Wed, 2008-01-02 at 22:20 +0900, Paul Antoine wrote:
> We're using iiNet with Linux which has in-house Linux expertise if you 
> get really stuck.  Their modem bundles (and most you can now buy) all 
> support ethernet and use web pages for setup, so whether it's Linux or 
> Windows etc. is really a non issue.
> 
> iiNet also include a VOIP phone line and "Naked DSL" allows you to avoid 
> paying for a real phone line (the VOIP-enabled modem is a little more 
> expensive but still less than 6-12 months of $30/month to Telstra.)
> 
> Paul
> 
> Mathieu Petit-Clair wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > Sorry if this list is not the place for this kind of request..
> >
> > I arrived in Perth (in Australia, actually) just over two months ago and
> > I (finally) found a house.  So I'm looking to get broadband (around
> > 1Mbps and 4-5Go per month) installed, along with home phone, for a 6 to
> > 12 months period.
> >
> > And I'd like to get a modem that can easily be used on Linux - one with
> > an ethernet connection (not usb!).
> >
> > Any recommandations?  I had a look at
> > http://perth.broadbandguide.com.au/ but there's just way too many
> > packages and I have no idea of which ISPs are actually good (or not).
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Mat
> > _______________________________________________
> > PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
> > http://www.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
> > Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au
> >   
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
> http://www.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
> Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au
-- 
William Kenworthy <billk at iinet.net.au>
Home in Perth!