Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:04:26 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> To: Reid Linnemann <lreid@webmail.cs.okstate.edu> Cc: Mark Hartkemeyer <hartkemd@gmail.com>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: ISP questions Message-ID: <4A28B56A.7000406@infracaninophile.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <4A281AB8.5030004@cs.okstate.edu> References: <4096aedd0906040923p6288e319ia083f47c7ccc29e1@mail.gmail.com> <4A281AB8.5030004@cs.okstate.edu>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 2440 and 3156)
--------------enigBC02C3519787C5CC9CDCA667
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Reid Linnemann wrote:
> Written by Mark Hartkemeyer on 06/04/09 11:23>>
>> I'm pretty new to FreeBSD and was reading part of Greg Lehey's The
>> Complete FreeBSD 4th Edition. I found the section on ISPs in chapter
>> 18 really interesting. I put some of his recommended questions to my
>> ISP, Cincinnati Bell's Zoomtown. I think I talked to three or four
>> people before I even got some of them answered.
>>
>> Here are some of the questions and answers:
>>
>> 1. What speed connections do you offer?
>> 5MBps upload/5MBps download (she said bytes, but should it be bits=
?)
>> 768kBps
>>
>> 2. Can you supply a static IP address? At what cost?
>> Yes, $49.95/month for the whole Internet package
>>
>> 3. How many hops are there to the backbone?
>> "It depends on the site you're trying to reach." (I think they
>> misunderstood what I meant by "backbone"?)
>>
>> 4. What kind of hardware and software are you running?
>> "Can't provide this, due to security reasons."
>>
>> 5. Can you supply primary or secondary DNS for me?
>> "You need a static IP."
>>
>> 6. Can you provide name registration? At what cost?
>> "Talk to residential services."
>>
>> 7. Do you give complete access to the Internet, or do you block some p=
orts?
>> "Cannot provide this info, due to security reasons." After
>> asking, I was told that I would be able to run a mail server and http
>> server on my connection.
>>
>> 8. Do you have complete reverse DNS?
>> (They didn't know.)
>>
>> I assume this is a pretty typical response from ISPs. Has anyone
>> asked their ISP questions like these? If so, what kind of response
>> did you get? Does anyone know of a really good ISP, or a good
>> resource for finding a good ISP around Cincinnati, OH?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Mark Hartkemeyer
>=20
> These responses don't surprise me. I'm actually impressed your rep knew=
> the numbers for the up/down bandwidth, even though their metric was
> wrong. There was a point in time when a technical support representativ=
e
> for an ISP was knowledgeable and courteous, but those days are forever
> gone and those reps have been replaced with poorly trained monkeys that=
> are forbidden to divert from The Script. You could not get any
> intelligible information about the ISP's services any more than you
> could expect to get intelligible information about a Dell computer's
> north bridge controller from a Walmart Associate. This is attributable
> to the explosion in popularity of personal internet access, resulting i=
n
> a greater need for servicing a high volume of low complexity technical
> support requests (e.g., "my internet don't work"). The reps are paid fa=
r
> to little to be technically competent and the ISP doesn't get a return
> for training them to be proficient when they can just ist them in front=
> of a knowledge database they've already invested cash into and tell the=
m
> to read what it says. You have to meander your way at least up to tier
> II or III support to get to anyone who might possibly be invested enoug=
h
> in the service to know the meaning of your questions and the answers.
Man, you're with the wrong ISP. The one I use would have no problems at
all answering all of the above, and they'd do it on the phone, by e-mail,=
usenet, IRC and probably by generating smoke-signals from the roof of the=
datacenter if they thought it would help. Brilliant approach to customer=
management; technical service levels damn good too, despite everything it=
seems their NSPs do to foul things up.
Actually, the answers to virtually all of those questions are on their we=
b
site already.
Oh, and they actually like you to run your own mail, web and DNS... The =
only
slight flaw is that they are a bunch of penguinistas rather than embracin=
g
the one true daemonic faith. But I can forgive them for that.
Cheers,
Matthew
--=20
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard
Flat 3
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate
Kent, CT11 9PW
--------------enigBC02C3519787C5CC9CDCA667
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc"
Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc"
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.11 (FreeBSD)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
iEYEAREIAAYFAkootXEACgkQ8Mjk52CukIz/PwCeLXznA/lyOfVIjzAjem1hN7AJ
efgAn13OzpeLCiiBiFsY6LYIMVyqCbRK
=fdLE
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
--------------enigBC02C3519787C5CC9CDCA667--
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?4A28B56A.7000406>