[mythtv-users] (US) Goodbye to unencrypted QAM...

[Brian Wood]

On Thursday 27 August 2009 21:11:26 Greg Woods wrote:
> On Thu, 2009-08-27 at 17:21 -0600, Brian Wood wrote:
> > I wonder if they were quoting you a high service level, even if they do
> > have lesser options.
>
> I suspect that if I asked again, I'd get a different answer. The
> broadband market is changing really fast. I have Comcast now (regular
> residential one-IP/DHCP service, using a Linux box as a router) and it
> works fine for my needs. I was dragged kicking and screaming to Comcast
> when Sprint Broadband went belly up, leaving me with literally no other
> option. Even the wireless providers in town are out of range. Qwest
> finally got their act together, after many of us in my neighborhood have
> been riding them for more than a decade, to get DSL service in our
> neighborhood. Other neighborhoods further from the central office had
> it. But they came through about two weeks after I signed a year
> agreement with Comcast. Now that the year is up, I probably should call
> Qwest again and see what they have to offer.
>
> What I really want is an Internet service where I don't have to pay for
> ISP service I don't need. I have my own rented virtual server for mail
> and web, I don't want to pay Comcast for mailboxes or web space,
> features that only work on Windows, etc. Qwest seems tied to MSN, the
> absolute last place I want to give any of my money. But I suppose a
> conversation with Qwest couldn't hurt. It's on my proverbial list of
> things to do.

Qwest here is tied to MSN, at least it was when I set up DSL for my brother. 
At first they told me I couldn't use the service unless I got an MSN account, 
which I refused to do. Of course I finally got things figured out to just use 
Qwest for connectivity, nothing else.

Qwest and most cable companies are extremely Windows-centric. They might work 
with Macs, but try mentioning Linux and you will get nowhere.

They also seem to want to "give" you "free" anti-virus software, which will of 
course nag you unmercifully to pay for updates while slowing Windows to an 
(even worse) crawl.

-- 
Brian Wood
beww at beww.org