[CLUG] No Chorus Powernet for Cork until October

[adam beecher]

> A sales woman from ESAT told me their DSL offering is due to come on
> line sometime in May. Given the absence of any concrete announcements I
> doubt that, but when it finally does appear it's likely to be better
> than Chorus. Still the lady took my number down so when something
> happens I should hear about it.
>
Did you "register" on the Esat Fusion DSL "site"? It's not advertised very
well - possibly not at all - but someone, somewhere found it somehow and put
the word out on boards.ie and ie.comp, etc. Given Esat's incompetence with
marketing and foresight - assuming again I'm not missing something and their
marketing execs are cleverer than they seem - I'm not sure it'll achieve
anything, but I guess it has to be worth a try. Maybe, just maybe, if enough
people show an interest, they'll sit up and take notice. Or maybe they'll
just use the information for marketing other services. Who knows?

http://register.esatfusion.ie/adsl/

It's intriguing actually, I registered previously but having seen it pointed
out again recently on boards.ie, I went and registered again shortly after
the post on boards.ie. The message the poster got was something like "we're
working on sorting out details of our service as best we can given the
limited information available, but we'll email you once a month to keep you
informed". However the message I got was more along the lines of "we're down
to the last few bits and bobs now, and it really won't be much longer.
Promise." I'm wondering did someone actually go in and change it, or is it
just a random message?

What I would /really/ like to see now, would be a press release from a
certain other operator. Of course, the operator in question will tear me a
new one for saying that, but screw it, it's time. The pricing is out there,
the public and press are starting to catch on and even become a little
proactive, and Eircom can only hold out so much longer. Unless it goes to
the courts that is. Eircom seem to think that because they set up the
network, no-one else should be allowed access to the lines. What they fail
to remember - an argument that I sadly forgot while talking to a line man
recently - is that /we/ paid for those lines.

> My biggest concern with all these offerings is what hardware is in the
> modem/adapter, whether it will be supported by Linux and whether the
> provider will be using NAT on their side. The NAT thing would be a
> killer for me and most other people on this list I expect.
>
I don't know anything about NAT, but I do know that there were problems with
Alcatel DSL modems and Linux in the UK for a couple of months, because
Alcatel refused to release Linux drivers for their modems. However they've
released them now. Unfortunately again though, the only people who could
answer your question are restricted by NDA's. We probably won't know until
after it's launched. If it's launched. :)

adam