On Tue, 28 May 2019 06:32:54 +0000 (UTC), neverland@GOODEVEca.net (Pete)
declaimed the following:


>The problems you describe are the sort of reason I've stayed far
>away from the Big Boys...  I'm handled by a good local company (fifteen
>minutes away by bike) that give me DSL, mail, web space and a shell
>account to handle it all. They'r just installing fibre in the area
>(associated with Sonic) but ATM I don't feel any need.
>

 I'd started with a Netcom dial-up shell account (and ran TIA [a SLIrP
competitor] on it before moving to full Netcruiser (Netcruiser used to be
proprietary protocol and I was on an Amiga at the time). Netcom was sucked
up by Mindspring, which was absorbed by Earthlink. But the DSL service was
just resold from AT&T -- since the phone lines were AT&T equipment.

 AT&T no longer offers DSL in my area (they did in Kentwood during the 5
years I was there), so Earthlink couldn't "move" my DSL service to Lowell.
and as mentioned, while I could have signed up for Earthlink's high-speed
service, that really means having to get a phone line from AT&T, having
Earthlink schedule a tech to come out and install the u-Verse compatible
modem, and having AT&T convert from POTS to u-Verse service. Much simpler
to just let AT&T bundle u-Verse, (VOIP) phone, along with DirectTV dish as
one bill.

 It's a good thing I only used four of the 8 email addresses my DSL
service allowed -- the $8/month email-only service is limited to five
addresses. These are distinct mailboxes, not multiple addresses forwarding
into a single mailbox.

{Hmmm, I should maybe create that fifth email -- just to rig one for
"admin" emails for my RPi server }


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