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<H3 align="left"><img src="../../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
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height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
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>What ISPs Do We Use for Linux</H3>
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<p><strong>From Chris Gianakopoulos
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</strong></p>
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<p></strong></p>
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<p align="right"><strong>Answered By Dan Wilder, Heather Stern, Thomas Adams, Faber Fedor, John Karns,
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Ben Okopnik, Mike Orr
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</strong></p>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Hello gang,
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I am going to lose my Internet service provider at the end of this year
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because they are going to disappear.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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I am visiting various web pages for ISPs out there, but, I am clueless
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about how to determine their (the ISPs) interoperability with Linux.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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For example, I talked to the support staff at www.excelonline.com, and
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they said that their ISP service should work with Linux.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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I'm not sure what the failure mechanisms are, and I will probably do lots
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more surfing of the web so that I can find a suitable replacement for my
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current ISP (provided by www.gateway.net).
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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About Linux Friendly ISPs... What does friendly mean? Does it mean that
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standard protocols are used?
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Dan]
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The short answer is, "almost any ISP works with Linux, but don't
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count on technical support from most of them."
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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With most ISPs, you'll have to know how to set up your PPP, dhcp,
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whatever, yourself. Increasingly, people are going to DSL and cable,
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and you need to watch out for the ones who want you to put the router
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or modem inside your box. Some of these are unsupported in Linux.
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Better to go with a provider who furnishes an external router or
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modem.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Mike]
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An external modem will be more expensive ($200), but is worth it because
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it's "standard". My Cisco 678 connects to an ordinary Ethernet card, and
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is configured via telnet or a null-modem cable (minicom/kermit).
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(Actually, I could never get the telnet mode to work because I couldn't
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figure out the device's IP address on its configuration network. So I
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went the minicom way.) The modem is switchable between bridging and
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routing. The telco said I have to use bridging mode, so I'm directly on
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the ISP's network. The modem converts from Ethernet to DSL, then to ATM,
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then back to Ethernet at my ISP. For those that use the telco's own ISP,
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I hear they use routing mode over PPP.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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The telcos/cablecos frequently have promotions where you get a free or
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discounted modem. And my ISP (oz.net/theriver.com, covering Washington
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and Colorado) has deals for ex-Covad customers now that Covad is
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bankrupt: free setup and installation for their portion of the fees
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and free first and last month. I expect other ISPs have similar deals.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Ben]
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By now, it's "you name it, and I've used it." I have not yet run into an
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ISP to which I couldn't connect (AOL is neither an ISP _nor_ anything that
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I want to connect to; I'd hate to wash my modem out with soap...) I've gone
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through, oh, at least a dozen ISPs - in the Bahamas, all over the Caribbean,
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in Bermuda, and a number of different ones in the States. Come to think of
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it, better make that around two dozen.
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle"> I've used Ethernet, PCMCIA/serial/
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USB modems, both wired and radio, and I'm about to try it via a cell phone.
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These days, I'm about to drop AT&T, their support policies <EM>and</EM> quality of
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service started from egregiously bad and took a sharp downward turn. And
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the rates. Blechhh.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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Anyway - trust me: if it's at all possible, Linux has a way to do it.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Faber]
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Basically, yes. TCP/IP is TCP/IP and even Microsoft Exchange supports
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SMTP and POP.
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle">
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Heather]
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[For connectivity itself] most dialup places that speak MSwin-only use PAP.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [John]
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Almost all services should work with Linux. Some might be a little more
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difficult to deal with than others, but most ISP's today use chap <TT>/</TT> pap
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and set things up to be compatible with the default MSW client internet
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connection cfg. I have found wvdial to work in almost all cases. Here in
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Bogota, virtually all ISP's are using w2k or other MSW platform servers,
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with no login scripts, which seem to be a thing of the past - which means
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less fuss for you. I have tried at least three different ones over the
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past 3 yrs and all have worked. Although sometimes (not too often) I have
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to try dialing more than once to get a connection due to PAP
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authentication gotcha's; but I tend to think that it's more an issue of
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telecommunications complications than anything else.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Mike]
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PAP and CHAP authentication are conceptually similar to an ssh login
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without a password prompt. It does send a login and password, but this
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is part of the built-in handshaking process rather than something you
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have to script. To troubleshoot, set PPP to debugging mode and watch
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the handshake strings and error messages. I haven't used pppd for years,
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but the most frequent errors I used to get were the one about the line
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not being 8-bit clean (you have to escape more special characters), or
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the mysterious "serial line loops back" or whatever, meaning it tries to
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contact the remote host but reaches itself; I think that means some
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client/server switch is wrong.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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As they say, Microsoft loves industry standards so much that it never
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saw a protocol it didn't embrace and extend. NT4 had PAP and CHAP, but
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it was "Microsoft PAP and CHAP". pppd users had to install a patch,
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which eventually made its way into the standard package. Each version
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of NT/Win2000/WinXP may introduce similar subtleties.
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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That's interesting (but not the least bit surprising) - I wasn't aware of
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that.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Cool -- I partly understand things.
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I noticed that my new ISP uses PAP. My (soon to be) previous ISP uses
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CHAP.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Faber]
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As Dan pointed out, just about any ISP will suffice, just don't expect
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any technical support. If you do require technical support, be
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preparedto switch over to Windows for the duration of the phone call.
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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That's cool. I can live without the support --
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It's more fun figuring things out myself (and with your
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help -- of course).
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Heather]
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I have found that either wvdial or xisp or (there's a k toy, is it kisp?
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kdial? oh well, it was on freshmeat somewhere) work slightly differently,
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so if one doesn't work for you try the others before even starting to stress
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out. Jim does dialup. I haven't had to in years, though I can trouble
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shoot a raw PPP connection if I really have to.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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Between freshmeat and the debian packages listing there are so many
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front-ends trying to make it easy to do dialup, it's hard to just pick one
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to use
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";P"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle">
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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That's true. Sometimes, I feel more comfortable doing it the "hard"
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way, just so I know how to set up the various ppp scripts. For my
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<A HREF="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</A> machine, I have two alternatives. I can use the pppd (our
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daemon), or I can use a program called ppp (a user space process). The
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latter is pretty cool, because, by turning on ip forwarding (with the
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sysctl command), and passing "-nat" to the ppp program, I get ip
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masquerading.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [John]
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An important part of the issue might be to tell them that you're running
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Linux, and ask if they would have a problem providing answers to you
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regarding such a platform. If they turn up their nose at you, look
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elsewhere. I would maybe ask them what platform they are using for their
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operation, and look for one which is using a *nix <TT>/</TT> non-MSW platform.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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There should be a number of ISP's that (still) fit this category.
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Another reason I would tend to avoid the MSW people would be that I would
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assume the *nix people might be a little more savvy technically speaking,
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as setting up a w2k <TT>/</TT> or NT box may done with a few mouse clicks - ok
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maybe several.
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Or does it mean that a bunch of advertising
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stuff does not clog your display window when using, for example, Netscape?
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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For example, a friend told me that when you use America Online, you need
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their special browser to interact with them. I thought that all browsers
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used http over TCP for the communications mechanism.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Faber]
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AOL is a proprietary network, with proprietary protocols. IMNSHO, AOL is
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not an ISP (in terms of a center that whose primary purpose is to let
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you gain access to the Internet) but a private networks which,
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coincidentally, you can access the Internet through.
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Now I see why this is so. ISPs I sort of understand. AOL, I did not
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understand (since I do not see their protocols in the textbooks that I
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read).
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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As far as email is concerned, I thought that POP and SMTP would be
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supported by each and every ISP (possibly a misconception on my part).
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Mike]
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Every regular ISP supports POP. Some may try to steer you toward IMAP
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instead of POP because it's more "advanced". Of course, if you don't
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need IMAP's features (which allow complex operations on messages stored
|
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on the server, rather than downloading them to your PC and reading them
|
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there), POP works just fine.
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</blockQuote>
|
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<blockQuote>
|
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Faber]
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As longas it's not a proprietary network like AOL or Delphi (is that one
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still around? What about Bix?), then you should be okay. But check
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with the ISP JIC.
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</blockQuote>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Very cool! I just tried an experiment using a friend's ISP account with
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the provider that I was interested in (with the friend's permission of
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course, and we were not simultaneously using the service), and it works!
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It was just a connectivity experiment -- not one to rob somebody's
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bandwidth.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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So, my goals were to discover if ISPs are somewhat generic in their
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behaviors (it seemed logical that they should be). Thanks to your
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responses, and my experiment, I am now confident to proceed.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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If a few of you could respond to the question "Which dialup ISP do you use
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with your Linux system", that would be cool. I'll go ahead and read the
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HOWTOs and figure out all of that chap-secrets stuff and make it work for
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my <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A> Linux distribution.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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I guess that I am sort of lost because I am not getting the information
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that I want from the various ISP sites (due to my ignorance of course).
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Dan]
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You didn't mention where you were.
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</blockQuote>
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<p>
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... Not that this kept most of the Gang from jumping in, nor
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that the results might not also be useful to you, dear readers ...
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</p>
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<P><STRONG>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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How silly of me, Dan. I forgot to mention that I am in the Chicago, IL
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area. Thanks for the ultra quick reply. I just tried an experiment with
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www.excelonline.com using my sister-in-law's login using my FreeBSD
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machine as a router. Therefore this particular ISP works with FreeBSD's
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ppp user space program. Linux should be free sailing -- I expect.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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I gotta log off because the use of her ISP account (with her permission,
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of course -- she's sitting next to me) was only for experimental purposes.
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</STRONG></P>
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<blockQuote>
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [John]
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With a *nix acc't you might want to look for an ISP which offers
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shell accounts. It's nice to be able to log in and read mail from their
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server if need be, or place a .forward file to have your mail temporarily
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forwarded somewhere else if you plan to travel to where there will be a
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local email account available.
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
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And, there might be more reliability with an ISP using a *nix-based
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box. :-0
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</blockQuote>
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<blockQuote>
|
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<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|
> [Mike]
|
|
Good luck. Most ISPs consider shell accounts a security risk, generator of
|
|
most of their tech-support calls ("Can you install/upgrade this
|
|
mailreader/newsreader/ compiler/library?"), and not a marketing priority
|
|
(because most of their customers wouldn't know what to do with a shell
|
|
account if it bit them).
|
|
</blockQuote>
|
|
<blockQuote>
|
|
<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|
> [John]
|
|
No doubt the shell acc'ts are rarer today than a few years ago. I admit
|
|
that I haven't shopped for an ISP shell acc't for about 3 years; but at
|
|
that time I did come across a few. Also, my Colorado ISP acc't which I've
|
|
had since about 1995 is still a shell acc't. They use a kerberos'd DEC
|
|
ultrix.
|
|
</blockQuote>
|
|
<blockQuote>
|
|
<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|
> [Dan]
|
|
In the Seattle area, where our offices are located, we have a number
|
|
of Linux-supportive ISPs, such as blarg.net, eskimo.com, serv.net,
|
|
zipcon.net, oz.net, speakeasy.net, and others to whom I no doubt do
|
|
an unjustice by not listing here. Some of these providers have points of
|
|
presence in other cities.
|
|
</blockQuote>
|
|
<blockQuote>
|
|
<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|
> [Heather]
|
|
My provider, Idiom.com, offers dialup. It's S.F regional and spreading, but
|
|
I don't think it's nationwide quite yet. The owner is a big BSD fan so it's
|
|
all free software under the hood, and an all-digital internal backbone. It
|
|
may be more expensive than others, but we like getting our DSL from someone
|
|
we can trust - not like those PacBell bozos...
|
|
</blockQuote>
|
|
<blockQuote>
|
|
For Jim and I, Idiom's dialup is mainly a backup for if we are out of town,
|
|
but it's still handy.
|
|
</blockQuote>
|
|
<blockQuote>
|
|
<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|
> [Thomas]
|
|
Hello. That is a shame that Gateway are cutting their
|
|
ties with providing Intenet Access. I know of a few
|
|
ISP's in the UK that are Linux "friendly":
|
|
</blockQuote>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><pre>www.uklinux.net
|
|
www.f9.net.uk
|
|
www.vigin.net
|
|
</pre></blockquote>
|
|
<blockQuote>
|
|
All offer PPP support allowing you to dial in.
|
|
</blockQuote>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|
>
|
|
I did find a good ISP. At least the tech support staff answered their
|
|
phone during a Saturday morning and afternoon. When I asked them if it
|
|
took 25 minutes to service my phone call because of their heavy service
|
|
load, they told me that there is only a few people around their on
|
|
weekends. I suspected something like that. I almost gave up waiting,
|
|
but, I decided to give them a fair shake (on the belief that they were
|
|
real busy). It was worth the wait! When I asked them if they knew if
|
|
their system would play well with Linux, they told me that they would
|
|
help me if I had any problems. They the fellow said "We're just a bunch
|
|
of computer geeks hanging around here" (or something like that). I saw
|
|
their coolness (I'm somewhat of a geek too), and decided to give their
|
|
site a try. They have a good staff at www.excel.com.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
As things went, I had no problems setting things up on my FreeBSD
|
|
machine (using user-space ppp) and no problems using Linux (using
|
|
wvdial).
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
I'm rereading the HOWTO that
|
|
talks about ip masquerading for Linux, because I do tend to give my
|
|
FreeBSD machine and Linux machines equal treatment. It's making sense
|
|
now...
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
Thanks much to all of you that answered! You all, once again,
|
|
increased my confidence in this stuff. This is just like engineering --
|
|
lots of successes and lots of time me being humbled. There's always
|
|
something to learn in this protocol world (and Linux world). That's
|
|
what makes it so much fun.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
Chris Gianakopoulos
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 5 -->
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<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
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<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
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of <I>Linux Gazette</I>
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<a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
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>Copyright ©</a> 2001
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<BR>Published in issue 71 of <I>Linux Gazette</I> October 2001</H5>
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