[TriLUG] OT: Arranging Employer Provided Broadband is Hard

[Scott Chilcote]

Hello LUGers,

My employer is upgrading their VPN. Since I work from home much of the
time, they want me to upgrade my broadband connection.  They want static
IP, and will cover moving up to faster service (~20 Mbps).  Who am I to
refuse?

Currently we have AT&T Uverse service (in Cary), which includes cable
TV.  That's where the problems start. 

I called AT&T customer service over the holidays, and spoke to them at
length. 
Their answer to each of the following questions was "No".

  * Can we separate the payments for TV and broadband service?
  * Can we arrange a separate, additional Uverse connection for
    commercial broadband?
  * Can we arrange a separate, additional DSL connection for commercial
    broadband?


We don't necessarily need two broadband connections, but I wanted to see
what the options are.

So, AT&T seems to have no solution.  I was transferred to their
commercial "advanced" tech support, who couldn't come up with anything
either.  Apparently people who work from home with employer provided
broadband are a new concept.

I'm looking at two alternatives.  One is to go back to Time Warner for
broadband, and keep Uverse for TV.  We had Time Warner for years, and I
was happy to get away from them.  AT&T's service is far better, by which
I mean just adequate.

On the other hand, the solution I like best is to cut the TV cord and
start streaming what we watch.  This saves a bundle of money, and
leverages the broader broadband connection when I don't need it for work.

I'm wondering if I've missed a better way to handle this.  As far as I
can tell, we just have Uverse, Time Warner Cable, and EarthLink DSL
serving our area.  Given my past experience with DSL I'd rather avoid it.

Thanks for any pointers,

   Scott C.

-- 
Scott Chilcote
Cary, NC USA
scottchilcote at att.net