[plug] broadband with linux

[Coral and Ben]

Hi,

where I live the only options for broadband are sattelite or wireless, 
and the only wireless provider out here is telstra. So, my experience 
has been this - sattelite works great as it usually involves some sort 
of modem that produces an ethernet based connection, however it is slow 
by comparison to regular broadband, and needlessly expensive if you can 
get regular broadband. Telstra's wireless next G is what i have now, and 
with minimal, easy configuration their usb modem is reliable and usable 
with linux (but be aware they refuse to acknowledge or support this), as 
well as nextG being comparable in speed to regular broadband, and handy 
if you have a laptop too - you can take your internet with you, although 
telstra are a nightmare when it comes to support and billing and any 
customer interaction, and if you ask me the cost of nextG wireless is 
also a bit on the ridiculous side, and there are no shaped plans.

as for voip - I use skype to communicate with my husband (whos working 
in africa) by voice and webcam - both of which now work with the latest 
version of skype for linux. however both sattelite and wireless internet 
suffer a time lag, wireless is only a small lag though.

that all said I have temporarily gone back to windows, as my newish dell 
came with winXP and I find internet connection sharing with the telstra 
modem is not entirely reliable with linux (and again don't listen to 
telstra you can share your wireless connection quite easily in win/lin)

this probably doesnt really help - but maybe its worth it for 
comparison's sake

Dem N wrote:
> 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.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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