[olug] Comments on Qwest as a commercial ISP

[Christopher Cashell]

At Thu, 23 Nov 06, Unidentified Flying Banana Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T, said:
> We are considering switching our data T1/DS1 at work from Sprint to
> Qwest.  While I've been pleased with the technical support from
> Sprint, the Qwest offer is low enough to be of serious consideration.
> (675 vs 550)
> 
> Does anyone have anything positive/negative to say about Qwest in this regard?

We use Qwest for one of our Internet uplinks at work, along with an MPLS
connection for a remote site.

My generally feeling with them has been, and continues to be, they're
mostly a pain in the ass to deal with, and frequently a pain in the ass
to get new services setup.  However, once you've gone through that,
they're relatively trouble free and as stable and reliable as anything
else I've found.

> Does anyone have multiple T1's or better with qwest? Fractional DS3?

We recently upgraded from multiple bonded T1's to an Ethernet drop.

> Part of the deal is an Adtran router, specifically a 3200 -- any comments?

My only experience with Adtran is with a MUX.  Never used one of their
routers.  A quick glance for this one shows:

  "The NetVanta 3200 is an access router designed for cost-effective
  Internet access, corporate Frame Relay, point-to-point connectivity,
  and Virtual Private Networking (VPN) for applications requiring
  bandwidth from 56k to dual-T1s. Residing in a standalone desktop
  chassis with a plastics enclosure, the NetVanta 3200 is a single
  platform that offers one interface slot and one 10/100Base-T Ethernet
  LAN port. The modular NetVanta 3200 will house a variety of Network
  Interface Modules (NIMs) and includes a Stateful Inspection Firewall,
  QoS for delay sensitive traffic like VoIP, NAT and DHCP, and all
  managed with a familiar Command Line Interface (CLI)."

Is it a freebie, or leased with the line?  Are they providing full
support for it (hardware, software, and configuration?), or is that an
additional charge?  If they are providing the support, does it match up
to your requirements as far as replacement/repair time, etc?  Does it
support any specific features you might need (VPN, firewall, etc), and
will it support what you need in the future?

Do you currently have hardware that could be put into use for the new
connection?  Are you planning on purchasing hardware for this?  Do you
have any idea what your bandwidth and routing requirements will be in a
years time, two years time, three years time, and five years time (yes,
I know that can be almost impossible to know for sure, but a best guess
is almost necessary if you are planning hardware).

I note that this particular router is limited to dual T1's, so that
would be your bandwidth limit with this router.  If you had a need to
increase beyond that, you'd be forced to change hardware.  

Lastly, the experience of you and the rest of the technical staff should
be considered.  If you guys have no experience with this router, make
sure you plan in plenty of extra time to familiarize yourself with it
and get it configured.

> Jeff Hinrichs

-- 
| Christopher
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| Here I stand.  I can do no other.              |
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