* All cable services are not created equal
Over the past year or so, we’ve addressed the issue of the SOHO market, cable and DSL services, and SMTP port 25 blocking (for sending e-mail) to servers other than those provided by the ISP. In particular, Steve made a move from BellSouth’s residential to business DSL service because of this blocking and his inability to get to his own server for SMTP (see this newsletter). Recently, the plot thickened with another service, but at least Steve was forewarned this time.
For several years, Steve has followed our own advice of having both cable and DSL service for myriad reasons, ranging from separate physical access to having both a production network and a test network available. However, even with two ISPs available, he still needed a third ISP for dial-up. Why? It turns out that in Brunswick County, N.C., where the family’s favorite N.C. beaches are, neither BellSouth nor the cable provider have local dial access. (It’s one of those areas still in the clutches of an independent telco, Atlantic Telephone Membership Company.) But there is a local EarthLink presence.
So while perusing the cable company’s Web site, Steve noticed that cable modem service was also available – via a reseller agreement – from EarthLink. Bingo! Change the cable modem service to EarthLink, and save the $20-plus per month for dial service – just in case a get-away weekend occurred.
But Steve is counting his lucky stars that he thought to ask about port 25 blocking. Admittedly it took almost an hour to get to a person who could answer the question, but, as it turns out, while the local cable company does not block port 25 traffic to external servers, EarthLink does. So much for the grand idea.
But there was a semi-happy ending. Due to the sporadic nature of the usage of the dial service, Steve called to cancel it. Then, next trip to the beach, he could re-subscribe for the $9.99 special again. Guess what? Faced with losing a customer, the customer service rep offered to extend the $9.99 service indefinitely.
Morals of the story? First, don’t assume that services offered over the same facilities are identical. Second, sometimes it pays to threaten to cancel services after those low “introductory prices.”
