In this case, I have convinced them to host their Website and Email with a service. The local access would be for Email access (POP) and Web browsing only.
The local DSL provider (SNET telco) uses PPPoE last I checked. None of the local cable providers do. Good point about checking with the locals about service quality. I think SNET is oversold. The local cable provider (in my area at least) recently capped 1t 1500/128. Their area may differ... Mostly I was concerned with PPPoE, since I have no experience with that type of connection. Ethernet is a no-brainer. Thanks! Sean > At 01:27 PM 2/27/02 +0000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >I have the opportunity to setup a firewall for a local > >non-profit organization. They want Internet access for > >their office. Both Cable and DSL are available in their > >area. Prices and speed seem comparable. I have been > >using Eiger and Dach 'steins for years with a cable > >connection. I have not used DLS or PPPoE. Are there > >any advantages/disadvantages with either option? Thanks > >for your opinions! I am mostly concerned with ease of > >administration. > > Before you can recommend a solution to them, you need to find out more about > what they want. "They want Internet access for their office" has too many > meanings to serve as a guide. > > The important question is whether they want to make services (like an onsite > Web server) available on the Internet. If they do, you want to recommend > that they get either (a) a service that offers static addresses -OR- (b) one > that offers dynamic addresses that don't change very often (making use of > dynamic-DNS service easier and more reliable). The first is better, but the > second will be cheaper, and since non-profits rarely have more monry than > they know what to do with, cost may be a big issue for them. > > If you need to opt for (b) above, this *probably* means going with cable. My > experience is that cable/DHCP leases change relatively rarely, while > DSL/PPPoE leases change multiple times per day. But those observations are > generalizations, and you need to find out what is true in your area. > > If they only need outgoing service, this consideration does not apply. LEAF > variants now support both DHCP addressing (used by cable-modem providers) > and PPPoE addressing (used by most DSL providers), but do allow for the fact > that PPPoE requires a bit higher level of hardware than true Ethernet-based > connections. > > The last thing to think about is service quality, both the frequency of > interruptions and the actual speed delivered. Cable connections use shared > bandwidth (they are functionally like a hub-based LAN in this respect), so > the actual speed delivered can be much lower (or, occasionally, higher) than > the service's nominal speed. DSL is point to point, so the promised speed > will be the real speed ... between the client site and the ISP. But > bandwidth is shared *after* that point, and can be underprovisioned by a DSL > ISP as easily as by a cable ISP. There is no general answer to this one; you > need to ask around locally to find out what the specific providers you are > considering actually do. > > Aside from that, the only advantage I can see to DSL is that you are likely > to have multiple DSL-based ISPs in your area, but only one cable-based ISP. > My observation is that this is an advantage of DSL only in theory, though, > as the low-price DSL provider always seems to be the telco. > > > -- > ------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--- > Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo > Palo Alto, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > _______________________________________________ Leaf-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user
