Has anybody converted over to SBC Yahoo! DSL from either pacbell.net or sbc dsl? They sure are pushing hard, and as far as I can tell, it's only a bunch of client-side crap. What's the downside, other than having to do some work and getting a bunch of "premium" services that I've never needed before. Are they gonna shut me off if I don't drink the Koolaid?
I've been rebuking that crap as hard as I can. At times it seems like an avalanche of shove in the direction of... I just say no.
I converted my dial up line over to Pacbell/SBC after my three previous DSL providers went belly up. The "new" yahoo tie in is a huge step backward, IMHO. Special browser, tying to content, trying to create a walled garden. Took me about one night to get back to where I was. I couldn't see any reason to convert over unless you really want to be guided by hand through the internet by your friends at SBC. -JC
sbc gobbled up pacbell and now they want to spit out the seeds. thanks for the comments. i will continue to rebel.
I have the SBC Yahoo deal. In fact that is why I choose it over cable and the others... You do NOT need to use there browser at all. I like it a lot as I already use Yahoo for mail and the like so they just bumbed my old account up in turns of all the premium stuff like more email room and some 250 megs of pictures/files... The picture thing sucks in comparison to smugmug but eh. If you use Yahoo for mail / personal file hosting. I say go for it. It is nice to have a copy of your most needed documents ready for ya. If not than it probably is not better than anything else out there. Good luck in the DSL choosing... Jason
Hmm...not sure if SBC's service here is the same as there, but I know a number of people who have it. They run PPPoE, which many claim eats quite a bit of CPU and has sent some digging up better PC hardware, but most to the store to buy a $40 router. If you have no router, then you install their driver, which might also install other crap at the same time. Other than that quirk, I've heard nothing about special browsers and whatnot. Perhaps the key is to self install with the router in hand and NOT install any of their shit? OTOH, Covad, our other local provider also does PPPoE.
I've already got the SBC (pacbell) DSL, and it's been rock steady and fast. The change is to this Yahoo! thingy. The only reason I'm really considering it is because it portends to have some kiddie controls in it. I have a router, btw. Covad can shove their DSL service as far up their asses as possible, the bastards (ex-stockholder )
Don't see how the parenting stuff can be anything but a software change to your PC....?? I'd only swap if it's cheaper. :) Who's your local phone people? Here is was Ameritech, bought by SBC. They dragged their feet with regards to DSL and made it difficult for 3rd parties to offer it as well. Even got sued over it. So Covad is the "other" local provider and the choice for many just to dis' SBC for their past behavior. My IDSL is from Covad, they've been good, it's been stable, they knew what was going on when I called them on the phone to order. SBC was horrid. First they said I could get ADSL, then time passed, so I called "you can't get ADSL"...but I've got an order" ..."oh, we canceled that without telling you"...What are my options, I've read about IDSL, will that work? "Oh, that's an ISDN based product, we don't do that here, you'll need to talk to the ISDN department".... Bah, f'em both.
I have 2 DSL accounts, one at home and one at work. For the hell of it, I tried "upgrading" the home account to the Yahoo deal. Basically, a total piece of useless shit, waste of time. Don't do it. Pacbell's DSL service, however, is quite reliable and speedy, although some would not agreee. Check out www.dslreports.com for some interestig info.
Why is it a POS and a waste of time? You can use the extra disk space on there server if ya want to store shit and if you don't want to use it. It will not infect your computer. The upgrade is free is it not?
Yes it is free. I just found the Yahoo content and browser changes to be ugly commercial noise. I don't use pacbell for incoming mail, but I expect that the "upgrade" will result in more spam for those who do, as pacbell has a pretty crappy reputation for protecting their users from spam already. When using a dialup account on the "upgraded" account, Zone Alarm reported many many port scanners running. Based on that slim evidence, I leap to the conclusion that whoever is supervising this network is not very vigilant about abuse. You raise a valid point about server space, however. I didn't pay attention to that feature, because I don't need it.
