[Tfug] broadband opts

[dave jordan]

greetings, o fellow uni-xors.

today (tues) was the big day for the cox to qwest switchover.  big, as
in flop.  you will recall i had ordered the 1.5mbps/whatever service. 
bzzzt.  after a lengthy conversation with the qwest installer-dude --
whose mere presence i now realize was a Bad Sign -- it seems that my
circuit will only support 256/640 kbps.  this being measured from the
CO downtown to the "crossover box" i believe he called it, somewhere
in my neighborhood.  he spoke of decibel drops and other mysterious
things.  he was very patient with my questions.  he refused, per qwest
policy, to hook me up on a 1.5 mbps basis since the best i was gonna
get was about 900 kbps.  can't blame them for that.  so, it was call
back the biz office, tell them what happened, and redo the order at
640.

the modem showed up today as advertised, and it is an actiontec
gt701-wg, having a single ethernet jack, and purporting to be a dhcp
server.  i will eventually see if it can dole out IPs through my 10
year old hub or not.

qwest gets a minus for overselling me, but a plus for being on time
and for the quality of the tech rep., so i will give them a wash this
time.

next date of interest is 7/6, when allegedly they will try to make the
640 happen.

cheers,
dave