Re: verizon FIOS +linux

On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 12:11:01 +0000, Jean-David Beyer wrote:

Amadeus W. M. wrote:
On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 23:41:57 +0000, Jean-David Beyer wrote:

Amadeus W. M. wrote:
Slightly off-topic...

I got an offer in the mail from verizon for a fiber optics internet
connection, which advertises 5Mbps upload, and between 5 and 50 Mbps
download. That's very tempting.
That is not the terms around here in New Jersey.

When I signed up the speeds offered were

5 Mbits/sec down, 2 Mbits/sec up
15 Mbits/sec down, 2 Mbits/sec up
30 Mbits/sec down, 5 Mbits/sec up.

I took the middle option. That was last spring sometime.
Since then they have raised the speed to 20 Mbits/second down and 5
Mbits/second up.

Right now, the actual speeds from near Red Bank, New Jersey to NYC are:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 20074 kbps (2509.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 4257 kbps (532.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Before I subscribe, are there any known issues under linux?
Do I have to run some proprietary program in windows first, to
sign-up (as I had to when I installed dsl)?
Sort-of. You must register at their site to activate the service, and their
site stupidly insists on using ActiveX. Stupid because all it asks is
something simple like your name and password.

Now the techie(s) that install the service for you should bring a laptop
with them that runs Windows so that they can do it for you. But mine did
not, claiming the batteries were dead. Luckily my other machine (the one not
directly connected to the Internet) does have a Windows XP license, wo we
temporarily hooked the Verizon stuff to it, booted Windows on it (it is dual
boot), diddled the networking to talk to the Verizon-supplied D-Link router
(DI-624) router and activated the service. Then I had to put it all back.
But it is no big deal if you are allowed to run Windows on your machine(s).
You need do this only on one machine and only once.
I imagine I still get an IP address through dhcp, right?
Right, or you can pay a lot more and get a static IP address if you want one.

Is it stable? Reliable? Fast? Any gotchas?
Stable and fast. Reliable. No gotchas.
Thanks!

All this sounds fantastic. The offer I got was 5/2Mbps for $34.95,
which is less money, for more upload speed than what I have now.

That was the official terms when I signed up. But if you get your local and
long distance through them as well, they drop the rates so I pay
$39.95/month for the 15/2 service, and they just speeeded it up, gratis, to
20/5.


But the $39.95 is just the internet alone, right? It doesn't
include the phone service.


That's just to lure me in, they do have 15/2 for ~$45 and
30/2 for a LOT more. Probably the 15/2 would be the best deal.

Since I posted, I read on a blog though, that

1) It's pppoe, not dhcp. Is that true? Not sure if the guy
who posted that knew the difference. If pppoe, I'd need a phone
line, which I don't have.

Yes and no. The stuff coming out of the box on the side of the house is
pppoe, but you need not know that because they supply a free router (their
version of the D-Link DI-624, called a VDI-624) that talks pppoe to the
outside box, but talks just plain ethernet to your computer(s). You do not
need a dial-up line for pppoe in any case, but your computers will never see
it anyway.

2) You have to use their d-link router, although there are
reports that other people have replaced it with their own.
Don't know why the d-link would be so special and why another one
would not work.

Other ones will work, but with problems if maintenance is required. The
D-Link they supply has custom firmware in it so Verizon can remote test
everything all the way to the router. One thing (least important, but
obvious) is that they can tell you when it is time to replace the battery in
the ups part of their box. The techie says they can tell when you are going
to have trouble before you even know it.


What battery? What's it for?

3) Most importantly, they won't let you run any sort of server.

They will if you pay more.

I absolutely have to have sshd running permanently.
Do they do anything funny in their routers? Do they allow
incoming connections to your computer?

They do not do it in the router. Probably at the central office.

That's what I meant, their central office.

They do
allow me to run the ntpd even though it is technically a server. But you
will not be able to run servers anyway unless you get a static IP address,
and these are normally for the more-expensive business accounts.

I know that they do not block all connections to ports <1024, which is what
I thought they might do. I suppose they block port 80 so you do not run a
web server.

Thanks!


Now, how often does your IP address changes with pppoe?
I only used pppoe once for about 1 year, when I had dsl, and
I had all sorts of scripts to check if the address has changed,
and notify me by email if it did. If there's one good thing
about my current ISP is that for 1,5 years that I've had them,
they have not changed my IP address, even though I've had many
interruptions - seems like my connection works according to the
weather, and if the stars and the planets are in alignment.
But the address is rock solid.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: verizon FIOS +linux
    ... wo we temporarily hooked the Verizon ... router and activated the service. ... If pppoe, I'd need a phone line, which I ... many interruptions - seems like my connection works according to the ...
    (comp.os.linux.misc)
  • Re: Internet connetivity over LAN problem
    ... > I think my 2503 router is not compatible for broadband. ... It just can't act as a PPPoE client - Ciscos are not generally ... > provide internet connection for my all 5 XP pro Pc's. ... dcpromo on it and run DNS, and have all clients--and the server ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: PPPoE and WiFi Router
    ... I did set it to "Never dial a connection", ... connect the PPPoE. ... >>Now I installed a Linksys WiFi router. ... >Since your router dials the PPPoE connection and ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
  • Re: Automatic DSL connection
    ... And, if i do buy a router, what do i have to do on a SBS ... >The best way to keep a pppoe connection up is to put a ... >> start a connection manualy. ... >> machine to connect to my DSL provider at startup time. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Urgent! New router and big disaster
    ... by CEICW for any type of connection other than full time broadband was ... exists - is completely transparent to the SBS. ... "local router with an IP address" is the setup that matches her network. ... between the server and my cable modem. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)