[oclug] Alternatives to IStop?

[Howard Krakower]

Mark, I also host in the US, after years of spotty DSL service. I use
Tyrtel (now Ottawa Telecom), but the DSL issues I had were for the
most part Bell issues. Only twice in about 5 years was I down due to a
Trytel issue - however, Bell's service for DSL (and ISDN before that)
was a horror story. Perhaps in a downtown location Bell is better, but
in the suburbs there can be many problems. Even though I'm supposed to
be getting 3meg service, my tested download rate is just under 1 meg -
and that is a Bell issue.

Since most of the Trytel staff went over to Ottawa Telecom with the
acquisition, service is good. While they officially support M$ & Mac,
they will be as helpful as they can with respect to settings (but I
doubt if anyone there would know how to install and set up rp-pppoe,
for example.

Ottawa Telecom will also be rolling out DSL over the power lines (I'm
told sometime in 2005), and the bandwidth will be 10meg.

Static IP addresses are obtainable - I have several clients (small
businesses) who, while they don't host any servers, need the static IP
to facilitate support for their POS software, which Trytel has
provided for them.

Howard.

Wednesday, June 30, 2004, 7:30:49 AM, Mark Harrison wrote:

MH> Brad,

MH> I have picked up from the threads above that you are generally unwilling to
MH> recommend IStop :-)

MH> I am more than willing to believe that you have had many, many, problems
MH> with them, and don't need these repeated...

MH> However, I have missed somewhere in the thread your recommendation for an
MH> alternative... could you re-post it please?

MH> Two different scenarios:

MH> 1: (Current requirement) All my websites and my mailserver are hosted in the
MH> States, and I'm not worried about changing them. I just need a basic ADSL
MH> connectivity ISP that allows HTTP, FTP, IRC, SIP/VOIP traffic outbound...
MH> (note that I use an externally hosted SIP gateway, so don't need a static
MH> IP.

MH> 2: (Future requriement) I may want to host an Asterisk server internally, so
MH> would need a static IP address and the ability to receive SIP/VOIP traffic
MH> from externally-initiated connections without using an external SIP gateway.

MH> Obviously, recommendations from people who aren't Brad are welcome also....


MH> Regards,

MH> Mark Harrison



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