Mac Forum / General / Networking / October 2005

On 9/3/05 6:32 AM, in article dfb90j$54p$1@xenon.Stanford.EDU, "Nelson Lu"
<nlu@xenon.Stanford.EDU> wrote:

Why would it not work with the mac?

Ethernet is standard.

ej

Everyone I know who has tried Verizon's regular DSL has hated it and
dropped it. I am referring to Verizon's basic DSL service, not their
high speed service. The high speed service seems to get good reviews,
but its expensive.

I use Verizon DSL in Massachusetts (3megabits down/768kbits up), and my
Mom uses Verizon DSL in Pennsylvania (1.5megabits down/384kbits up).  
Note, the speed you get depends on several factors.  Distance from the
DSL equipment, and whether the region is serviced by FrameRelay or ATM.  
The FrameRelay areas (formally GTE service area) are limited to
1.5Mb/348Kb).

I have 4 Macs (mostly iBooks) and a WiFi enabled PDA connected to an
Airport Extreme base station, that connects to the Verizon provided DSL
modem.  The Airport Extreme base station is the router for the home.  I
also have a Airport Express as a WiFi range extender to give coverage to
the back porch.

Mom has a 17" iMac G4/1.25GHz, connected to an Airport Extreme base
station (in bridge mode), connected to the Verizon provided DSL
modem/router combo.   My brother-in-law also connects his Dell via WiFi
to the Airport Extreme.  And when I visit, I connect my iBook via my
Airport card as well.

We have both had the service for about 2 and a half years.  For the most
part it has worked fine, although there are regional differences in
service which is suspect depends on the condition of the phone
infrastructure and condition of the wiring for a given region.

For the Mac, the MSN service does not apply, but I could care less about
using MSN.

The Verizon email service is so-so (or less than so-so), and you don't
get too much space (10MB).  I use a gmail account for my main mail, and
use Mac OS X Mail to read mail from both the Verizon and gmail accounts
(after all sometimes you do get something into the Verizon mail account
you need to handle).

As for cost, the list price for the 3Mb/768Kb service is $37.95 (plus
taxes), however, if you have a Verizon bundled service plan, or sign up
for a 1 year commitment, then the price drops to $29.95.  I pay a
Verizon bundled plan that charges me $29.95 PLUS $4.10 in taxes for the
DSL part.

Currently there is a 20 activation/shipping fee.  The shipping comes
from the DSL modem and DSL phone line filters they send you.  You get to
connect the DSL phone line filters to your phones before they activate
your service, and you connect your DSL modem.  Once they activate your
service, you connect to Verizon and finish the activation, by connecting
to Verizon and selecting your initial administrator account/email name
and setting up your password (both of which you will then use to
configure your PPPoE connection).

When I signed up 2 1/2 years ago, they did have a Mac OS X installation
CD that walked you through the entire procedure.  I would assume they
still have the same CD.

If there is any problem, you can always call customer support and finish
the activation over the phone.

Also the fine print says you can cancel within 30 days if not satisfied,
but you will have to send back the DSL modem and phone line filters.

                                       Bob Harris

<http://evdoinfo.com/Tips/PC_5220/Mac_EVDO_20050712475/>

Just recently changed over from Comcast.  So far so good.

1. Confirmed speeds of 15mbps down and 2mbps up
2. Roughly $10/month cheaper than Comcast Gold
3.    Too soon (3 days) to rate reliability
4. Dual modem/router free
5. I prefer the Comcast online portal but that maybe just familiarity
6. Phone lines associated with the account are also moved over to fiber

The only issues I had were in the set up appointment.  Verizon botched
that because one phase wasn't ready and they couldn't communicated
effectively between differrent parts of the company.  They run both
voice and data aspects of the service to your house.  Then setup an OTN
in your basement with 8 hour battery back up.  They then run the cat5
to where ever you want in the house.  For $60 they will install a
wireless router.  Unlike Comcast Verizon runs passive to your house.
Outtages should be less of a problem.  I plan to terminate Comcast
internet before the next bill kicks in at the end of this month.

If it is their EV-DO service then support for the card is part of OS
X.3 and X.4. I use it here in NY on my PowerBook. It's a PCMCIA card so
I guess PowerBook only... not iBook. I think there might be newer cards
where you have to install a driver, but from what I've read it's a
simple setup.

-Josh