[NTLUG:Discuss] Which dsl isps will survive? Firstworld, Covad, IPC

[Mark Bickel]

> From discuss-admin at ntlug.org Sat Aug  4 23:44 CDT 2001
> From: Lance Simmons <lance at lsimmons.net>
> To: discuss at ntlug.org
> Subject: Re: [NTLUG:Discuss] Which dsl isps will survive?
> Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 23:43:17 -0500

> but not all the isp's on that list can service my line (in Irving). Here's
> what I've found about some of them, skewed toward my own interest in having a
> replacement for my current Directlink service. 

> CyberRamp became Fastlane became Firstworld; website is hard to navigate, has
> broken links... I'm not sure if they provide service to my area any more.
> mail or web servers for either kind of service. Not sure what that

On July 19th, Firstworld announced that they are discontinuing ALL dial-up and DSL
services. Seems they'be been bought out and the new owners (Calling themselves
Verado) want to concentrate on hosting services. So I've got till the end of August.

I've been with Firstworld since August of last year. Due to the fact that my house
is 34,000 feet from the CO, and cable modem service is NOT available in my town, my
options are seriously limited. I'm in SWB territory, but even ISDN is not financially
viable, due to toll & tarrif rates. The loops are viable for ISDN however, and that
has left me with one delivery technology: IDSL, which provides 144/144 using a loop
conditioned with ISDN repeaters, but terminating in an IDSLAM rather than a switch.

I was reasonably happy with Firstworld, as they provided me with 2 static IPs, 20 MB
webspace, five mailboxes, plus nationwide dial-up for when I'm travelling for $79/mo. 
which sadly is considered a good deal for IDSL.

Covad is the IDSL carrier on my current circuit.

Firstworld referred me to Earthlink and Covad for ISP switchout.

Earthlink would only offer a business IDSL package w/ 8 IPs for $140 mo.
Covad offers residential IDSL package for $65/mo BUT the catch is no statics and
they make you run PPPoE w/ DHCP. Yecch! Let's take what little bandwidth I get and
add another layer of encapsulation, making my pipe even narrower. And of course their
PPPoE drivers only support Win 98/NT/2000, not even MacOs! Uhmm ... No thanks!

So after looking around, I found few ISPs who would provide service with Covad IDSL.
Many of them were too expensive, like Earthlink. One possibility is Speakeasy.net
Speakeasy will offer IDSL w/ 1 static, 10 MB webspace 2 mailboxes, 2 aliases and
nationwide dialup (which is important to me) for $89.95 plus $2.95 per addional IP.
No usage limit and their TOS permits VPN and running a webserver, w/ traffic limits.
The techs and sales people at Speakeasy seemed reasonably clueful, and they are very
Linux-friendly. You also get a Linux shell account to admin your webspace - cool!

Another possibility would be to go with an ISP that partners with a loop provider
called IP Communications, based in Dallas - http://www.ip.net rather than Covad.
Austin based ISP Constant.com will provide me IDSL over IPC circuit for $69/mo.
including 1 static, 10 MB web, 5 mailboxes, nationwide dialup, no usage limit and
their TOS permits VPN and running a webserver, w/ traffic limits..

The downside is that since this would be a whole new circuit with IPC I have to pay
$150 installation fee, whereas switching to Speakeasy would be free. Constant's
lower price would make up for the up-front install fee vs. Speakeasy's higher rate
within less than a year.

Both Speakeasy and Constant claim to have approx. 20,000 DSL subscribers presently.

Anyone with experience w/ Speakeasy, Constant or IP Communications? Feedback would
be greatly appreciated. Other alternatives also welcomed.

Mark.Bickel at ericsson.com at work
mbickel at firstworld.net (but not for much longer) in Lowry Crossing,TX pop. 1292.