[linux-help] Re: Routing sanity-check

[Jonathan Hall <jonhall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm getting DSL service from SWBI.  I suppose I can comment about them a
little bit... I'm getting their cheapest business-class service (5 IPs,
$39/month or something like that).

Their customer service/tech support reps seem friendly enough.  Most of them
have been able to answer my question right away--although of the 5 or 6
people I've spoken with, 4 or 5 of the answers were "call this number
instead"  (doh!)

When I did finally get ahold of the person who was able to help me set up
DNS (I needed to assign names to my 5 IPs), she was very friendly, polite,
and seemed quite knowledgable.  However, due to problems in another
department, she was unable to find any information about me in their
database.  So... we sat on the phone for 45 minutes talking to each other
while we waited for her to query the database with about 20 different search
options... I found out she was learning Solaris along with the other people
in her dept... we talked about Unix flavors, blah blah blah.

So.... to sum all that up in a single statement:  SWBI's customer
service/technical support seems knowledgable... however unorganized :-)  I
talked to people in at least 3 states before I got my DNS setup.  (The woman
I describe above was in Texas--she did a conference call with me to some guy
in California... so she at least didn't totally pass the buck--she stuck
with me while trying to solve the problem).

To comment on their quality of service... I've had one instance since I got
their ADSL service in late Feb, when their service was unusable.  It was
late (2am or so?), and seemed to be a problem at Sprint, actually (according
to the traceroutes I ran)... So SWBI is not totally to blame necissarily for
the outtage.  What I was able to gather from this experience, though, is
that SWBI (at least in Wichita) is apparantly NOT multi-homed (SouthWind
is).  What does this mean?  It means that SouthWind has 3 upstream
connections--if one (say Sprint) goes down, one or both of the other two
connections will take over.  So the chances of losing all network
connectivity are slim with SouthWind.

So... I'd say that SouthWind is probably the better choice of the two,
overall.  At least for now.  With OneMain.com, it's hard to say how things
may change in the upcomming months.  Maybe customers in Wichita will become
just a "drop in the bucket" with OM just as they are with SWBI... (I hope
not!)


On Wed, Apr 26, 2000 at 06:32:30PM -0500, Carl D Cravens wrote:
> On Wed, 26 Apr 2000, j m wagle wrote:
> 
> > Not a very related question, but please tell me the advantages of
> > using DSL from SWB and Southwind at internet provider?
> 
> SWBI is an unknown quantity.  I've been a customer of SouthWind for over
> five years.  I know what their service is like.  I even know what their
> weaknesses tend toward.  I don't know what SWBI is like... except that
> right now I'm hearing they're having DNS problems.  I've never heard
> anyone praise them for anything, which is almost as bad as hearing about
> problems.  
> 
> I prefer to get my Internet from the small guy... SWBI is a large,
> faceless corporation in which I'm a drop-in-the-bucket customer.  Just in
> trying to get my DSL line hooked up through them I got one representative
> that rudely would not let the SouthWind rep stay on the line with me
> during ordering the service.  Supposedly her supervisor backed her up.  
> We called back and got another rep who didn't care if the SW rep was on
> the line with me.
> 
> SouthWind cares about Wichita and the surrounding area... they're a
> city-wide provider, not a multiple-states-wide one.  Though they're owned
> by OneMain, they're still run in Wichita by local folks.  (At least for
> now... who knows what OneMain might do in the future.)  
>  
> > I am not very bright and don't understand the advantages of either service.
> > (Note: I only have a 28.8 modem and use Southwind as my ISP)
> 
> Beyond being a known quantity, I already have them set up as my secondary
> DNS for my dedicated services.  It's much easier to move to another set of
> IP's staying with SouthWind than moving to another company.  That won't be
> a concern of yours, though. 
> 
> --
> Carl D Cravens (raven@xxxxxxxxxxx)
> Hey, I ran Windows the other day, and it didn't crash!
> 
> 
> -- This is the linux-help@xxxxxxxxx list.  To unsubscribe,
> visit http://tmp2.complete.org/cgi-bin/listargate-aclug.cgi

--
Floppy disk tip #4: Never insert a diskette into the drive upside down.  The
data can fall off the surface of the disk and jam the intricate mechanics of
the drive.
--
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  Jonathan Hall  *  jonhall@xxxxxxxxxxxx  *  PGP public key available
 Systems Admin, Future Internet Services; Goessel, KS * (316) 367-2487
         http://www.futureks.net  *  PGP Key ID: FE 00 FD 51
                  -=  Running Debian GNU/Linux  =-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

-- This is the linux-help@xxxxxxxxx list.  To unsubscribe,
visit http://tmp2.complete.org/cgi-bin/listargate-aclug.cgi