[TriLUG] broadband option in the Triangle area

[Ben Pitzer]

Jeff,

Well, time to plug my service.  Time Warner Cable's Road Runner service in
this area is very solid.  I work for Road Runner, so I can tell you that the
network has been improved in the Triangle to a very high level of service.
Your IP is DHCP, and we do not use PPPoE (not sure if DSL does, never used
them).  Our DHCP policies, however, are such that your IP will rarely
change, if ever.  Typically, it only changes if you leave your PC down for a
prolonged period, if there's an outage (fairly rare), or if we are forced to
make scope changes to add or remove IPs from a certain hub (also rare).  The
service basically requires that your PC can get a DHCP IP, and that's about
it.  I use a Debian Sarge machine with two FastE cards and iptables as a
firewall/DHCP server for my network.  It also performs web server and
inbound mail service functions for my wife's business.  TWC is very server
friendly, and typically only gets annoyed if a user is saturating their pipe
for prolonged periods.  Typically, that means that they are doing file
sharing of large files, which usually means music and/or video sharing and
is almost always illegal.  (Notice I said "almost")  Nevertheless, we also
offer two tiers of service:  standard at 3 Mbps downstream and 384 Kbps
upstream (max speeds.  No minimum speeds are ever guaranteed for any
Internet service, broadband or dialup), and Road Runner Premium at 6 Mbps
downstream and up to 512 Kbps upstream.  Pricing is available from the Time
Warner Cable web site or customer service.

I'm a sysadmin for RR, and I check the list regularly.  I typically am
willing to help out (time permitting) if the tech support folks aren't able
to answer the questions or address the problems adequately, or if they won't
escalate a problem you know isn't your machine.  I'll also gladly answer any
questions that don't compromise the security of my network or my NDA (and
thus my job).  My manager also peeks in on occasion, and will sometimes
throw an answer into the fray when questions are raised about RR services.

On the whole, though, there are plenty of people willing to help you out in
here in pretty much any way possible.  Take care.

Regards,
Ben Pitzer

---------------------------------------------

"Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
 --Ben Franklin--




> -----Original Message-----
> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org]On
> Behalf Of Jeff Patterson
> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 9:40 PM
> To: trilug at trilug.org
> Subject: [TriLUG] broadband option in the Triangle area
>
>
> Greeting fellow future TriLuger's!
> I'm about to move to the Raleigh area within 1 month.  I would like to
> get some recommendations for broadband in the area (who to check out,
> who to avoid, etc).
> Things that are important:
> speed (UL/DL)
> reliability
> uptime
>
> I would really prefer DHCP, but a static IP would be even better.  I
> keep seeing info that suggests PPPoE is the trend in the area (am
> moving from Denver).
>
> So far what I've found in the area is BellSouth, Time Warner cable,
> Sprint.  Is there anything else?  Any/all suggestions feedback would
> be very appreciated!  Thanks in advance!
>
> Jeff
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