RCN vs Mediaone cable modem experiences?

[Charles C. Bennett, Jr.]

Hi Seth -

   I got an RCN cable modem installed this week.  I think I'll be
giving it back.  Their DHCP server appears to use a very short lease
period and hands out hostnames that look like this: r93aag000892.
This means that I can't reasonably expect to be able to telnet to
my machine from on the road and I'll no longer be able to continue
to host some of the mailing lists that I host from this machine.
If you're doing client-only stuff, the RCN modem appears to work
as advertised.  As soon as you try to get back into your system from
somewhere outside the house you need to go to a dynamic DNS service
like tzo.com and set up a permanent name.

   The MediaOne service (at least in Cambridge), while not providing a
static IP addr at least provides a stable name in the DNS namespace.
This allows them to look the other way on the "NO SERVERS!" mandate
unless you become a bandwidth pig.  I'm not likely to go with MediaOne
because they keep squeezing the cable lineup...

   Looks like it's time to write a letter to Mr. V Chip about
legislation clarifying open access to cable systems for ISP's.  Cable
modems would be great if you could only get a reasonable company
working the other end.

ccb


---
Charles C. Bennett, Jr.				VA Linux Systems
Systems Engineer,				1382 Bordeaux Dr.
US Northeast Region				Sunnyvale, CA 94089
+1 617 543-6513					+1 888-LINUX-4U
ccb at acm.org					www.valinux.com

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