Linux on Qwest DSL with own ISP

[Daniel Wolstenholme]

I have Qwest DSL with MSN (yuk).  I wanted a different ISP
but they charge extra for that.  If you think Qwest tech
support people are clueless, wait'll you talk to those MSN
morons.

Anyway, I'm using Linux with a LinkSys router, connected to
MSN's Arescom modem.  The Arescom also acts as a router,
handling all the PPPoE stuff on the MSN side, and providing
a simple DHCP server on the other side.  The LinkSys is a
DHCP client, getting its IP from the Arescom.  So my Linux
box uses a static IP.

Qwest is using DMT I believe.  I also have an Efficient
Networks 5650 DSL modem; I hooked this up once and it
trained the line with no problems.  I just couldn't do the
PPPoE crap with it (MSN has some weird way of doing it; I
had to run their stupid software on a Windoze laptop to set
up the Arescom modem, but after that I haven't had to touch
it).

The DSL, stupidly, is on the primary phone line pair
(unlike Covad which uses the second unused pair inside the
house).  So you have to use those annoying DSL filters on
all your phones.  Your security system probably won't work.
 I have a security system too in my apt, but I don't think
it uses the phone for anything.

The best part of the MSN setup is that the modem was free
(there was no installation, at least not inside the house),
and after several months I still haven't gotten any monthly
bills.  I guess they forgot about me...  (shhhh)

But MSN really sucks to use.  They don't use POP mail at
all; they insist you use their crappy web mail.  I've
resorted to using Yahoo mail.  They don't have an SMTP
server that'll work with Linux because it requires special
authentication.  They block outgoing port 25 requests (even
though they claim they aren't), so you can't run sendmail
for your own MTA and bypass them.  Again, using Yahoo mail
avoids all this, but I'd rather use local mail.

Their DNS servers are always down.  I use the DNS servers
of a couple of universities now.

They don't have any news server.  I use some publicly
available one at some European university I think.  It's
rather slow but it has all the groups.

But the speed is decent: 640/128, and since Qwest handles
the network connection and hardware, it's very reliable. 
Just don't rely on MSN's crappy services (DNS, etc.) and
you won't have any trouble at all.

With all the mail trouble, I've been considering switching
to DirectTV DSL for the same price.  I'd recommend looking
into this first if I were you.  But after I noticed that I
haven't been paying anything for MSN's DSL, I decided to
wait... :)

Dan

>I am wondering if there are any people in the group using 
>Qwest DSL with their own ISP. I called Qwest tech support
>and they were a bit helpful but for the most part
clueless.
>
>If you are running Linux on Qwest DSL with your own ISP as
>opposed to Qwest.net I need to know:
>
>Do you have a static or dynamic IP ?
>
>If you have dynamic are you using Roaring Penquin as a
pppoe client ?
>If static do you just config eth0 with your static ?
>
>Is Qwest using CAP or DMT encoding ? I know CAP is being
>phased out in 
>most places.Are you using a CISCO 675 or 678 ?
>
>I live in an apt complex and have a security system that
utilizes the
>phone if someone were to break in so I may have to filter
the signal or get a
>"home run" installed from the dmark to my apt, but that's
a sync issue.


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