[GRLUG] NOT LINUX - net neutrality

[Michael Mol]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 1:08 PM, Chase Bolen <chase.bolen at gmail.com> wrote:
> That only works for the minority of people who:
> 1) have a choice of ISPs

Which is the majority of Americans. Vast majority, when you only look
at urban and suburban areas.

> 2) can afford it

That's the kicker, isn't it? But that's why you shouldn't complain
when you get what you pay for; subsidized services aren't going to be
as nice as pure services, but they will be comparatively cheap.

> 3) understand what an SLA is

It's called reading the contract, and realizing that the terms are
dependent on what you pay for them to be. If a provider won't budge,
you *do* have other options. It may mean not going with AT&T ADSL or
VDSL*, and not going with Comcast cable. It may mean using a leased
line, or it may mean getting dedicated copper or fiber. If you're
closer to downtown, you can get a gigabit network connection via one
of the metro ethernet providers.

* More generally known as U-Verse
>
> Are the vast majority of Americans essentially doomed to a mickey mouse
> internet?

No, they need to learn, drop their myopia, and not expect things to be
handed to them on a silver platter.

The stuff isn't free. People (like me, even) who go for data-only
network connections from consumer-grade ISPs like Comcast get a cheap
Internet connection at the expense of some functionality. (I don't
know what/that Comcast is messing with my connectivity, but I know
that consumer ISPs blocking things like port 25 or inbound port 80 is
old hat.)

I didn't know half of this stuff two years ago. I learned, and I'm
working my way up in terms of knowledge and capability. If you don't
want to work to do more than scratch the surface, you're not going to
see past it.

-- 
:wq

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