broadband in east Watertown (cable vs. dsl)

[bogstad at pobox.com (Bill Bogstad)]

Kent wrote:
>But what am I going to do with it?  [more bandwidth]
>I mean, sure, I am certain it will
>help sometimes, but when?  And how much?  A static IP seems far more
>useful.  (Fairly necessarily, for example, for me to be ssh-ed into my
>basement server right now as I write this in mutt.)  It seems arguing
>raw speeds of DSL vs. cable modem in 2003 is a bit like arguing about
>muscle car horsepower at a time when roads were still all gravel.

I use AT&T Broadband for cable modem service in Cambridge.  I have a
dynamic (DHCP supplied) IP address.  I use one of the free DNS
services (dyndns.org) to associate that IP on the fly with a static
hostname.  I use cron to update dyndns.org every 10 minutes (if
needed) with my new IP address.  The TTL on my static hostname is 60
seconds.  I frequently SSH into my home machine from other locations.
The IP doesn't actually change that often.  I don't recall ever
having a problem getting into my home machine.  I admit that I don't
do this that often.

I do not run services advertised to the world.  I do run sendmail, but
only to accept mail relayed from my pobox.com account.  I could lose
some e-mail if my IP changed and someone else got the old one AND they
were running SMTP before I updated my DNS record.  I'm not aware of
this happening. So far, cable modem service has met my needs.  Yes,
I'ld like a static IP address; but the discount I get for bundling my
cable TV service with Internet access along with the elimination of
potential fingerpointing between Verizon and a DSL provider I'm happy.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

			      Bill Bogstad
`			      bogstad at pobox.com