[Gloucs] what broadband providers do people use?

[Graham Nye]

andy wrote:
>
> what broadband providers are people using, particularly at
> the cheap and cheerful end (ie 1-2MB, low monthly volume)

Blueyonder. 2 Mbps, unlimited monthly volume. £18/month.
There is currently an offer for free installation and
£15/m for the first year. It is rather more than the headline
prices for the cheap ADSL providers but watch their charges
if you exceed your monthly allowance. Of course, Telewest
doesn't cover all of Gloucestershire. There is apparently
a 512 kbps service for £10/m but I don't know if that's
available for new customers.

> All the main players in this market (BT, tiscali, virgin)
> have zero support for Linux,...

That doesn't mean their products won't work on Linux, just
that their helpdesks won't offer any help for it.

> ... and whilst I suspect that I could get drivers for
 > whatever modem they are giving away free this month,

As others have written, it's much easier if you get a
router (as I have). Your computers will then just see
an Ethernet connection and won't care what type of
broadband connection is behind the router.

(My Blueyonder cable modem does have an Ethernet port
so it's easy to connect one computer. I've got a router
as well, as it gives me wi-fi, a firewall and a 4 way
Ethernet hub. Oh, and when I get bored with the
firmware I can drop in a variety of Linux
replacements. :-)


-- 
Graham Nye
glug at thenyes.org.uk