Once again the SBC (oops AT&T) DSL stopped working.
So once again I called tech support. Since it was late at night, I got the India call center. (The sun never sets on the British empire). My line is dead. Can you fix it?
How far away are you from Irvine?
Oh, about 400 miles.
Scratches his head... OK, I see an outage in Menlo Park also, is that near you?
It's about fifteen miles.
Then that's the problem. It will be resolved by 11PM. Have a nice day.
Grumble, grumble. My POP is in Santa Clara. It doesn't go anywhere near the Menlo Park circuit. I've traced it numerous times. Whatever. Good night.
7:30 AM - still not working. I call again. This time I get Ireland. (The sun never sets on the British empire). My line is dead. Can you fix it?
Can you authenticate via PPPoE?
Uhm, I wasn't using PPPoE. That's why I got a static IP address.
No, you're definitely using PPPoE. Try authenticating again.
I can't authenticate. I don't have any PPPoE authentication software. I couldn't run it if I did, because I'm behind a Linux gateway. Everything worked fine yesterday. Then it just stopped. Nothing in my network has changed except that suddenly there's no IP routing through the ATM circuit. The ATM link still appears to be there.
Hang on... (goes away for thirty minutes).
It seems that your circuit was moved. You're now using PPPoE, and by the way, you've got a new IP address.
Uhhm, that's why I ordered a static IP (and am paying through the nose for it). So that my address wouldn't change, and also so I wouldn't have to use Windows to authenticate. I don't use Windows. I use Linux.
Well, that's too bad. You've got a new IP, and you're going to have to authenticate. Here's your new address. We don't support Linux, so you're going to have to use Windows, unless you get a new modem that does PPPoE authentication.
Have a nice day.
Is there some reason why you guys couldn't tell me this was going to happen? I mean, why do I have to find out by the fact that my line is dead?
This is like calling the post office to find out why the postman hasn't been around lately and being told that it's because your street address changed to another street in another city. Oh, and you'll have to sign for all your mail in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Sigh...
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Technoratido so much harm."
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the Troglytes in the mines all these centuries. A mistaken idea."
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No. But I had to get a new DSL modem. The new ones have PPPoE authentication built-in. At one point much earlier in my DSL saga, I left Earthlink because they could only provide PPPoE on Windows. They took over my account from Flashcom who went brankrupt, then I actually subscribed to Earthlink for one day just so I could pay a $100 early cancellation fee because this was the only way to get my line released so that I could use Linux with another providor. Otherwise using Linux would've required digging a trench from the nearest phone office to my home (about a mile) at great expense.
Oh, and after all this effort they still didn't release the line.
The saga has been going on for about 7 years now and even predates my official weblog, so the whole story is only known to a few friends and family. I should probably write a book.