[plug] broadband with linux

[Dem N]

plug question:

Hi, I'm researching broadband, because I'm getting a little tired of dialup,
and I'd like to know what people would recommend.

Basically I want about 1G at any broadband speed (I'd prefer cheaper to
faster) with shaping (I want to ensure there are no excess fees), and I'd
like to keep it to under $30 a month. I could get a Vista laptop, but I'd
rather use Linux, so compatibility with Linux is virtually a must, and
support, if possible, would be good, though it looks like no one offers
this.

So far, the best deal seems to be iinet's package of 2Gb (peak) naked DSL
with bundled VOIP ($50 combined with phone; my usual phone bill is $35 so
that's just $15 for good broadband). I've checked with them, and my line is
compatible with naked DSL, so there's no problem there. The only thing
holding me back is really that (1) Is it definitely Linux compatible? I'm
using Fedora Core 4, but could upgrade to Fed 7 if needed. (2) They have an
irritating way of doing phone messages (it sends a .wav file to your email
address). Has anyone had any experience with iinet's VOIP, using their own
(non-iinet) VOIP phone with an answering machine, and does it work?

Also, can anyone tell me of any decent rival offers?

Also, no one seems to provide an installation CD for Linux. Is it
technically difficult to install broadband, and roughly what does it
involve? Are there any websites that give good general guides to this?

regards,
Dem Nisbet.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plug.org.au/pipermail/plug/attachments/20080516/2b165781/attachment.html>