Road Runner Doesn't Do XP 438
PerlStalker writes: "Internet News has an article up that mentions, among other things, that Road Runner (owned primarily by AOL/TW) will not support XP. From the article: 'Road Runner, the second-largest cable Internet service provider (ISP) in the nation with more than 1.4 million subscribers, does not support the controversial new operating system (OS) for its customers and will not support its use on the cable network.'" Note that this doesn't stop customers from connecting to Road Runner from XP systems, but until their staff is trained specifically, Road Runner won't help them with technical problems arising from that combination.
Linux and RR (Score:2, Interesting)
They recently misconfigured their DHCP server here in KC, MO. It took me six hours of arguing to finally get to someone who understand what DHCP was and that it had nothing to do with which client was connecting. They temporarilly fixed the problem, but this last weekend, they went back to the old way forcing me to patch around the probelm without help from RR.
My
They told me it was my problem for choosing an alternative opperating system, not theirs.
Controversial? (Score:1, Interesting)
This may be what they are "publishing"... (Score:5, Interesting)
Linux, on the other hand, isn't supported, and most of their techies have no idea how to help out. Not that its tough (standard DHCP connetion), but the average user would be better off with XP than Linux right now (sorry if that sounds trollish, but I don't think this article is "news". Anything that can hurt MS in the least is being published now-a-days).
Dont say XP say 2000. (Score:4, Interesting)
I dont tell the phone monkeys im running linux, I say yup, running windows, whats the IPs/settings.
In fact, I have to lie about what browser im running, what OS im running etc... No monoploy, Uh-huh...
Re:And that would help consumers because...?? (Score:2, Interesting)
corporate warfare (Score:2, Interesting)
Now, OTOH, M$ has enough muscle and monopoly power to prevent XP users from using RoadRunner without detrimental effects to their userbase.
This would be the true test of the strength of their monopolies. Viciously attack another monopoly, and see who retreats.
Re:And that would help consumers because...?? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:While the giants are pissing, can the weak win? (Score:2, Interesting)
Every time I read a story that relates to technology and politics, one discussion thread always floats to the top: "We need to educate the public!"
My suggestion is that the Slashdot community organize and form their own local community access TV shows. A web site should be started that:
1. Gives tips on how to start your CATV show.
2. Tries to form a consistent show format.
3. Discusses show story ideas.
4. Offers on-air graphics for download.
The purpose of this show would be to educate the public about technology and the law. Teach the people how to install an open source OS! Have a call-in section of the show. Discuss the impact of the DMCA and the SSSCA. Discuss the impact of monopolies and intellectual property restrictions. Broadcast clear and direct means of contacting your local politicians. You get the idea...
If a show that looked consistent enough from city to city were to take hold, it could be a significant force in shaping public opinion.
Re:Big deal. (Score:3, Interesting)
I had dual boot connected to the cable modem which I kept specifically to keep Windows onboard for their benefit. The tech guy found it easier to diagnose the problem through Linux's IP tools though.
Unlike some people here, I AM surprised. (Score:2, Interesting)
Consider these facts:
- Everybody, including RR, knew that Windows XP was going to launch this week. It wasn't like this was a surprise to anyone.
- The Beta and RC versions of Windows XP have been available for months. Certainly they could have been testing it out and developing support scripts for it.
- There are going to be a lot of people moving to Windows XP. With new PC shipping with it pre-installed, and with the big XP marketing push, they are probably going to be flooded with questions about XP support. I imagine that they will scare a lot of non-tech users away from using their service with blanket statements like "we don't support XP". The non-tech uses are going to be driven to some other ISP.
- As others have pointed out, offering XP support is probably not that difficult. It's probably a matter of figuring out what icons to click and what buttons to push. Certainly some bright tech should be able to write up a support document in a couple hours (if that).
I can at least understand dragging their heels on Windows 2000 support to some extent. After all, the average home user isn't going to get a PC with it pre-installed. However, given that XP is supposed to be the consumer Windows operating system, not offering support for it seems like dumb from a PR standpoint.
Re:Hrm (Score:2, Interesting)
But, ignoring the obvious there, why wouldn't it have any business on a consumer's PC? What makes XP special versus Windows 98 or ME?
Re:Yup ... I suffered this recently ... (Score:3, Interesting)
I am behind a Linux firewall, typing this on Linux.
My cable modem (Shaw.ca) works just fine.
When I first set up my system, the tech came by with my free network card (part of @home at that time) and I said, install the cable modem, give me my free NIC and go away.
He insisted on installing the NIC... Until he saw my computer room with its 14 running systems (mostly *nix)
I got my systems up without problem, then one day @homes DNS went down in my area, and their routers began dropping packets.
When I phoned tech support to let them know they tried to "troubleshoot my system".
I had to inform the tech that "No, my system is fine, your DNS on my node is down, and the router from here to Calgary is loosing packets."
He could not understand that I had already switched over to my DNS servers at work (because theirs were down) and that the packet loss *HAD* to be on my end.
Thank god I know the (former) tech-head for that section, got through to him and told him what was wrong. I spent ages on hold, and longer talking to Tier 1. As soon as I got bumped up, mentioned the problem my node was working again (no loss) within 15 min. I don't know about DNS though, because I have not switched back off of my servers at work.
RoadRunner Installer (Score:2, Interesting)
tech support halloween story (Score:2, Interesting)
As I post this, I'm still ticked off about the "tech" that installed dsl yesterday at one of my client's locations. All this dude had to do was run a wire from the demarc to the telephone closet, plug in his router, and run the setup script via his laptop, and prove that we had a valid connection to the net.
He was so incompetent that he knicked the wires when he terminated his line, and had to cut then ends off several times before he got a reliable connection. He didn't know how to open a dos prompt, nor how to stop a ping -t. He would close out the dosbox, then hit start --> run then type his ping command again in the field, and hit ok. He also didn't know how to close his router interface program --- he would kick (there's a great tech-support term, meaning "hard reboot") his laptop, because he couldn't kill his app, nor shut down his win2k laptop.
He was on the phone to the real tech sitting in the CO for about an hour total, asking for them to check the line repeatedly, when all the problems he was having were of his own making. When he finally got one of our boxes on the net, he was ready to leave, and I had to stop him and make him give me the IPs, gateway, etc. info.
I even tried to talk to him a bit, to *gently* give him a little advice, and he got in my face and said to let him "do his job". Luser.
Ok, so I wait until he leaves (he was there for 3 hours), and called the tech support number I made him give me (he still had not told me how to make my server appear on the net --- all we could do is browse from the workstations), and also the number I copied off the side of his van, and both calls netted me promises of return calls by techs, which of course never happened. I don't have a support web site or email address, either. What a ripoff.
The dsl account was "free", a loss leader for some long distance company. 160k sdsl --- almost worthless, actually. And I had big plans of getting my client off domain hosting... *sigh*.
Scary, indeed.