[dorkbotpdx-blabber] best internet service provider?

Tue Jul 8 11:43:08 EDT 2008

I used Spiretech when I was in PDX, and was pretty pleased with them.  The 
people who work there seem to be mainly tech geeks and usually know what 
they're talking about, which was refreshing.  It was a shame I could never 
find a place to do a straight up dry-loop in town (I really, really didn't 
want to have to pay a phone util company).  But absent that, Spiretech was 
cool.
-Alexis

On Tue, 8 Jul 2008, Mykle Hansen wrote:

::FYI, some people have real strong opinions about Cable vs. DSL.  Know this:
::
::If you want Cable Internet in Portland, your options are Comcast, Comcast
::or maybe Comcast.
::
::If you want DSL, it comes in two parts.  Qwest, the local telco, provides the
::DSL line and charges for that; but you can have them hook that DSL line to any
::of a couple dozen local ISPs.  Qwest of course would rather you signed up
::with their ISP, but you have other options.
::
::(If you live far enough from central Portland, your telco might be different
::than Qwest, but the same situation applies.  I don't know of anyplace
::in the wider Portland metro area where you actually have a choice of local
::telco.)
::
::I have had DSL via a small local ISP, Spiretech, for close to a decade.
::Qwest customer support sucks, but Spiretech's is great.  I can always
::get someone on the phone, and they're usually willing to push problems
::through Qwest's support dept on my behalf, if necessary.  Uptime is excellent.
::Spiretech is also very specific about not filtering or adjusting or munging
::any of their clients' traffic.
::
::fyi,
::
::-m-
::
::On Jul 7, 2008, at 11:42 PM, Jared Boone wrote:
::
::> I've been with EasyStreet over Verizon (Beaverton) or Qwest (NE Portland)
::> DSL for nearly ten years now and I've been happy. That is, as long as I
::> don't need to call Verizon/Qwest technical support... The support staff's
::> understanding of third-party ISP configuration is almost non-existent.
::> There's one woman with Qwest in Utah who knows her stuff. Everyone else
::> blindly reads from a script. EasyStreet support staff is very skilled and
::> can often twist the right screws for you if Qwest isn't being responsive
::> enough.
::> 
::> I second what Don had to say about Qwest making more of an effort to block
::> government intrusion, and I'd expect EasyStreet to do so as well.
::> 
::> I have recently observed EasyStreet downplaying their residential device, so
::> I fear they may be trying to get out of offering that service. I hope if you
::> decide to use EasyStreet as your ISP, that they're still an option.
::> 
::>         - Jared
::> 
::> On Jul 7, 2008, at 10:48 PM, Matthew White <mtw at vne.net> wrote:
::> 
::> > I've been using EasyStreet DSL for about 5 years now.  No problems at all.
::> > 
::> > -mtw
::> > 
::> > On Mon, Jul 07, 2008 at 05:48:08PM -0700, Simran Gleason
::> > (fermatslasttheremin at yahoo.com) wrote:
::> > > 
::> > > 
::> > > Hello dorks,
::> > > I just moved to portland (well, just finished buying a house. haven't
::> > > quite moved yet),
::> > > and need to get it set up with hot & cold running bits.
::> > > 
::> > > What's the best internet provider? Speakeasy. qwest, verizon, comcast?
::> > > others?
::> > > Do you have any horror storrrries to warn us away from any of them?
::> > > Warmfuzzyohyeah recommendations?  Are there small local companies that
::> > > do a good job
::> > > of competing with the big bandwidth-limiters?
::> > > 
::> > > We're in SE (very S, medium E).
::> > > 
::> > > Thanks,
::> > > Simran
::> > > 
::> > > 
::> > > 
::> > > _______________________________________________
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::> > 
::> > -- 
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