[svlug] DSL

[Don Marti]

begin  Ray Olszewski quotation of Wed, Jul 05, 2000 at 12:54:40AM -0700:

> DSL circuits can use an external "DSL modem" or a "DSL modem card" that fits
> in a pci slot. The external devices plug into Ethernet connectors on a
> computer or router, so they require no special Linux support.

Not necessarily. Some of those standard-looking Ethernet connections
really use non-standard "PPP over Ethernet" (PPPoE) for which only
experimental Linux support is available.  You could end up having to
recompile your kernel to use your DSL line.

Some of the non-Pac Bell ISPs that offer DSL service over Pac Bell's
lines are well-informed about Linux, BSD, and Un*x, and give you real
Ethernet:
http://www.rawbandwidth.com/
http://www.via.net/

I'm using rawbandwidth.com and I'm happy with the service. I had a
truly smooth "plug-and-ping" experience on DSL Day. (This probably
doesn't really apply to South Africa though -- all I can say is that if
I spent 4 grand for a DSL connection and it turned out to be PPPoE I'd
be...dissatisfied.)

-- 
Don Marti                                No haiku patents
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http://zgp.org/~dmarti/         
whois DM683     Software patent reform now: http://burnallgifs.org/