RE: [TCLUG:8163] questions to ask DSL providers

[Unni Nambiar <unambiar@Legato.COM>]

> DSL Questions
> =============
> 
> 1. Do you officially support Linux?
> 2. Are static IPs available and at what additional cost?
> 3. What types of services am I allowed to run on my machine 
> (e.g., ftp,
> Web).
> 
> Others?
> 

-What downstream/upstream speeds are available and at what cost ? (an
obvious one)
-Do you also provide ISP services and at what cost ?
-Do you bundle dial-up access with DSL service ? (as a fallback maybe ?, not
really important)
-Do you have a list of supported ISPs ?
-Do you require on-site installation and at what extra cost ?  (USWest
recommends that you do it yourself and they have an excellent documentation
that walks you through it, though it is windoze biased, plus free 24x7
support)

Questions on hardware that DSL providers give.

-Do you provide DSL modems, internal and/or external ?  What make and at
what cost ?
-If external, do you provide a NIC card, PCI and/or ISA ?  What make and at
what cost ?

It's also worth checking out USWest's technical faqs.

-Unni