Linux + (Telstra) broadband services?

Unruh · External Since: May 27, 2005 Posts: 2213

"Addinall" <addinall DeleteThis @addinall.org> writes:

>"Felix Karpfen" <felixk DeleteThis @webone.com.au> wrote in message
>news:pan.2007.04.24.05.57.27.896395@webone.com.au...
>>I have just emerged from a 20-minutes <phone-call|sales-pitch> from
>> Telstra on the savings achievable by signing up to its broadband
>> service.
>>
>> The poor bunny, who was given this job (and the supervisor, whom she
>> had to consult every few minutes), had not even heard of Linux till I
>> mentioned it. I therefore thought it worth a posting to this NG to check
>> on some of her assertions. These include that:
>>
>> 1. Telstra's high speed ADSL is currently available to 98% of Australian
>> households (I found this difficult to reconcile with the reported ALP
>> proposal to raid the Superannuation fund in order to give Australian
>> business the communication network needed to remain competitive);

telephone ADSL which is what I assume they are talking about, needs to be
close enough to a switching station so that the signal does not degrade too
much going down the wire. If you have optical fibre, that is not a problem,
but most places still have copper.

>If you start at the definition of "It still does nothing", through xDSL,
>then
>Wireless, then Sat, they can get to 99.999% of Australia.

>>
>> 2. The fact the my current ISP does not offer high-speed ADSL services in
>> my area does not mean that Telstra cannot offer such services in my
>> area; and

True. It will all depend on the state of the telephone network.

>>
>> 3. Telstra's high-speed ADSL does not work with Linux.

I agree that this is highly likely to be nonsense. Linux can send out
ethernet packets just as well as anyone else can. Now you probably do not
want a usb adsl modem-- ask for one with an ethernet port instead.

>Just plain wrong. The NOC Help Desk will not SUPPORT
>Linux, any UNIX, anything on a LAN. All of these things work
>however. I used it for years with all sorts of strange beasties.
>And when I worked at Telstra up there in Creek street, the Linux
>boxes on our desks worked just fine (apart from ODIN sometimes).

>I just chucked a new Solaris 10 box on this net and it works out of the
>box, as does Fedora 6.

>Cheers,
>Mark Addinall.

Unruh · External Since: May 27, 2005 Posts: 2213

David Segall <david.DeleteThis@address.invalid> writes:

>"Addinall" <addinall.DeleteThis@addinall.org> wrote:

>>> 3. Telstra's high-speed ADSL does not work with Linux.
>>
>>Just plain wrong. The NOC Help Desk will not SUPPORT
>>Linux, any UNIX, anything on a LAN. All of these things work
>>however. I used it for years with all sorts of strange beasties.
>>And when I worked at Telstra up there in Creek street, the Linux
>>boxes on our desks worked just fine (apart from ODIN sometimes).
>>
>>I just chucked a new Solaris 10 box on this net and it works out of the
>>box, as does Fedora 6.
>>
>Everything you say is true except your first sentence. If, as happened
>to me recently, you cannot send email because of a problem with
>Telstra's SMTP server and you cannot communicate with them because of
>a different problem with their HTTP server I call that "does not
>work". It happens that I was using Windows XP so by using Internet
>Explorer I could send a message to Bigpond telling them that my email
>was broken using Thunderbird and that their web site was broken using
>Firefox. They responded that they did not care and, as you say, they
>only support a few Microsoft and Apple products.

>I can continue using Bigpond because I can use Outlook and Internet
>Explorer when I must but a Linux user faces the real possibility that
>their email client and/or their browser fails. In those circumstances
>I think "will not SUPPORT" is indistinguishable from "does not work".

I have no idea what you mean. both the email client and the browser will
work. If you mean that they will not work with their particular site, well,
you do not have to use their site. If their smtp server is broken, then
NOONE, including anyone on windows will be able to send email. I would
assume that they have a telephone help line as well as a web based one.

Addinall · External Since: Jun 26, 2005 Posts: 8

"Felix Karpfen" <felixk.DeleteThis@webone.com.au> wrote in message
news:pan.2007.04.29.02.08.42.785344@webone.com.au...
> On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:19:37 +1000, Roger Brown wrote
> (<20070427081937.2a2170c4@rtb>):
>
>> ADSL2 can provide up to 24 MB/sec bit again this is distance dependent
>> - once you get outside 1km from the exchange your line speeds falls away
>> - quite quickly once you get outside 2km. Telstra provides this but
>> currently ONLY to match the competition where another ISP has already
>> installed its own equipment to provide the same service.
>>
>> The broadband choice site can tell you what is or is not enabled at
>> your exchange. See http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/
>
> By following up some info contained in the above reference, I ended up
> with the following entry in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransACT: -
>
>>
> ,----[ transact_info.txt ]-
> | The newer Phase 2 rollout involves TransACT placing its own DSLAM
> | equipment within Telstra exchanges and utilising their own fibre-optic
> | backhaul to their main data centre in Dickson, ACT. TransACT completed
> | their ADSL 2/2+ rollout on 1st March, 2007. The Phase 2 network
> | is available to anyone with a Telstra phone line in Canberra and
> | Queanbeyan, as long as they are within sufficient distance of their
> | telephone exchange - as with any ADSL service.
> |
> | TransACT operates an open network with **eight companies providing ISP
> | services.** These include a mix of large national ISPs and smaller local
> | operations. One of the ISPs is jointly owned by TransACT and ActewAGL.
> `----
>
> One of the "eight companies" is my current ISP - WebOne. I have
> failed to locate any WebOne reference to ADSL 2+ being offered in my area.
>
> I have found a reference to an offered "Fibre/VDSL" service, that claims
> an impressive performance and has stunningly low monthly charges. I
> assume that this is a different animal which achieves its high speeds by
> using optical fibres. It is unclear to me how this can deliver the
> claimed speeds if the upstream network lacks the needed ability to deliver
> inputs at comparable speeds.

Not sure what you mean, but lucky old Canberra has Fibre to the curb.

Mark Addinall.

>
> Felix Karpfen
>
> --
> Felix Karpfen
> Public Key 72FDF9DF (DH/DSA)
>
>

David Segall · External Since: Jan 09, 2007 Posts: 7

Unruh <unruh-spam.RemoveThis@physics.ubc.ca> wrote:

>David Segall <david.RemoveThis@address.invalid> writes:
>
>>"Addinall" <addinall.RemoveThis@addinall.org> wrote:
>
>>>> 3. Telstra's high-speed ADSL does not work with Linux.
>>>
>>>Just plain wrong. The NOC Help Desk will not SUPPORT
>>>Linux, any UNIX, anything on a LAN. All of these things work
>>>however. I used it for years with all sorts of strange beasties.
>>>And when I worked at Telstra up there in Creek street, the Linux
>>>boxes on our desks worked just fine (apart from ODIN sometimes).
>>>
>>>I just chucked a new Solaris 10 box on this net and it works out of the
>>>box, as does Fedora 6.
>>>
>>Everything you say is true except your first sentence. If, as happened
>>to me recently, you cannot send email because of a problem with
>>Telstra's SMTP server and you cannot communicate with them because of
>>a different problem with their HTTP server I call that "does not
>>work". It happens that I was using Windows XP so by using Internet
>>Explorer I could send a message to Bigpond telling them that my email
>>was broken using Thunderbird and that their web site was broken using
>>Firefox. They responded that they did not care and, as you say, they
>>only support a few Microsoft and Apple products.
>
>>I can continue using Bigpond because I can use Outlook and Internet
>>Explorer when I must but a Linux user faces the real possibility that
>>their email client and/or their browser fails. In those circumstances
>>I think "will not SUPPORT" is indistinguishable from "does not work".
>
>I have no idea what you mean.
It was not a complicated point. Telstra won't help you if you are not
using Apple or Microsoft products. If your Internet connection fails
when you are using Linux and you are unable to demonstrate that it
also fails using supported software it is possible that you will never
get it to work.
> both the email client and the browser will
>work. If you mean that they will not work with their particular site, well,
>you do not have to use their site.
Of course you have to use their site. How else can you administer your
account or use web mail when you are away?
>If their smtp server is broken, then
>NOONE, including anyone on windows will be able to send email.
True, and the problem was at my end. Their SMTP server had ignored my
error for years until they did an "upgrade". Some trivial support,
even just showing me the settings for Thunderbird on their web site,
would have saved me hours of frustration.
> I would
>assume that they have a telephone help line as well as a web based one.
They do and they won't help you unless you are using Microsoft or
Apple products.

Peter D. · External Since: Dec 06, 2006 Posts: 71

on Wednesday 11 July 2007 07:33
in the Usenet newsgroup aus.computers.linux
Felix Karpfen wrote:

> On Sun, 08 Jul 2007 13:31:44 +0930, Addinall wrote:

[snip]
>> ADSL2+ is great, IF you live within 1200m of the exchange and IF
>> your copper is nice and fat and new. My ADSL2+ link is currently
>> running at 3720 KB/sec, which is the best I get.
>
> Even so, that sounds better than 256KB/sec - which my ISP is willing
> to supply at $39.95/month. While the supplied information is very
> confusing, it looks as though my ISP applies the same monthly costs to
> ADSL2+ connections, that offer much higher speeds. It is possible that,
> with the higher speeds, the controlling cost factor is the monthly
> download volume rather than the basic cost. However, I am in no position
> to check that, until our local exchange gets its promised facelift.
[snip]

I think the story goes...

Where ISPs have to use Telstra's DSLAM equipment they are limited
to 1.5 Mb/s ADSL and Telstra's charges. When anybody else gets
around to installing their own DSLAM equipment at an exchange they
routinely go for 24 Mb/s ADSL2+ equipment. The incremental cost
of providing a Meg of data does not depend on its speed. They would
rather have users connected to their own hardware than Telstra's.
They hope that if you *can* blow your month's quota in three
minutes then you might run over quota and pay a penalty or buy
an upgrade.

--
sig goes here...
Peter D.