Zoom products for dsl

[loninappleton]

I intedn to move to a new ISP in a few months when my contract expires.

They use and supply Zoom product for dsl modem and modem/routers.

I run about 3 machines in my home and currently have an Actiontec
modem supplied by the service and a Dlink 4 port switch.

The quoted price in the package for the new service is $70 for a Zoom
4 port router modem and they configure the thing.

My first purchase of dsl included the actiointec free and at a pretty good
monthly rate.

But with the Actiontec, I could not make things like portforwarding work
worth squat for setup.

Where does Zoom fit in as a good prooduct for these more advanced
setups. I know the name has been in the business since the early
days of Usenet. What I want to know is what has the user experience been with Zoom products for dsl?

In other words, will I have to have a lot of contact with tech support at
the service during my contract?

[johnwill]

Is that $70/mo? That seems excessive! I pay $44.75 for 15mbit/2mbit fiber service, and that included an Actiontec MI424WR modem.

[loninappleton]

Originally Posted by johnwill

Is that $70/mo? That seems excessive! I pay $44.75 for 15mbit/2mbit fiber service, and that included an Actiontec MI424WR modem.

No, no. The $70 is a one time charge that Zoom model with router.

First year for a 1.5mbit connection is 9.95/mo. Then $19/mo for the year after.

Milwaukee PC in Wisconsin USA claims to be the largest independent ISP in the state..

The local ISP called Athenet got sold to a phone company and there have been outages
since the sle went down. My current contract is about $11/mo with phone line charges. But the new outfit is not extending the low rate. The service is for 354 max kbps service. I never see speeds that high.

[johnwill]

Well, $70 is a bit steep for a wireless router, since they can be had for $10 and up on various bargain sites.

Deal News

Tech Bargains

More Stuff 4 Less

[loninappleton]

Originally Posted by johnwill

Well, $70 is a bit steep for a wireless router, since they can be had for $10 and up on various bargain sites.

Deal News

Tech Bargains

More Stuff 4 Less

As I understand the terms, it's not an option. They set up the Zoom.
I asked them about this and they started in with the technobabble that
referred to proprietary setup with the phone company.

They use the Zoom (don't know the model number and it's not wireless)
and they set it up.

I'm sure they are figuring the cost of the installation hardware into the
bargain price some way and they have an option for a dsl modem without the
four ports for about half the $70.

What I want to know is is this a gouge?

[johnwill]

Well, since you can get a decent wireless router for $10 after rebate on the links I provided, you can make up your own mind how good a deal this is.

[loninappleton]

Unfortunately there's not an infinite selection of ISPs around here.

There's SBC, the aforementioned Athenet and this MPC outfit.

They pretty much call the tune.

And what's the big secret about setting up a dsl modem with the phone company anyways? I'm sure they all have their ways of skinning the
public but I also think that a $10 dsl modem/router is of questionable value.

Besides those links are just trip to the haystack. What specific products are you talking about? Anyone can link to pricegrabber and so forth and say
'start looking.'

[johnwill]

I used a $10 ZyXEL router for about a year here before I got Verizon FiOS and they supplied an ActionTec router with the service. My $10 router worked great, never had any reason to complain. It's still in the closet, patiently waiting for when it'll be called on again.

[loninappleton]

Well what's all the shine that the salesman gives about how they have to do all these special things to set it up? And no possibility of doing it yourself with
the equipment you choose?

I imagine the bare minimum is setting up the account password and so on
and some sort of account set up with the phone company.

I would like to set up port forwarding. I had no luck doing that with the
Actiontec setup site-- way too confusing and error prone. I gave up.

Curiously I was getting help from one of the people at my current service
and all of a sudden no more mail. I do not like any of the gatekeepers of the
secrets.

[johnwill]

Salesmen was the magic word in the question.

For a DSL account, you may need the account name and password, but any common brand broadband router should connect without issue. Obviously, knowing exactly what kind of service and connection they require would be a big help.

As far as actually configuring port forwarding on the Zoom, I have no idea. That's one brand of router that I've never had my hands on, and they're certainly not one of the "mainstream" providers.

[loninappleton]

Ok, that's good to know.

When I got the package with the Actiontec I pretty much just
plugged it in with a setup sheet from my current ISP for Windows of
various flavors.

All the companies follow SBC for dsl rates and there's no current deals
from the phone company going on.

I have until September or so to find a new deal.


I am a pretty good hike from the phone company and so do not get
very high speeds at 354 kbps. I don't know what enhancement a
1.5 connection would give in real terms at that distance.

[johnwill]

If you're a long distance from the CO, you may want to consider cable Internet if it's available. The curious thing is, I'm too far from my CO to have DSL, but they had no problem running fiber to my house.