BT broadband in Birmingham ... and salespeople ... sic

Hi there,

I have a sister living in Birmingham, who asked me for advice regarding
getting a new computer.
There are not very technical, had stuggled with virusses and never plays
games on the computer anyway, so I told them to get a Mac.

So they call BT to find out about broadband, and the person tells them, that
they support Win9x,Win2k/XP, MacOS 10.1, 10.2 but not 10.3, which they have
on their 15" PowerBook ...

So they are a bit like "you said we should get a Mac, and now we can't get
broadband!"

I'm technically savvy, and thinks this is really odd.
I mean, here in Denmark, broadband is a a splitterbox/filter, a modem and
then a router. You connect whatever you have to the router, get an IP-adress
from the DHCP-server in the router, and you are online. End of story.

So do BT use a USB-thing and don't have MacOS 10.3 drivers or what? My
sisters PowerBook has build-in WiFi, so they want wireless anyway.

So here is the question: Is, for some reason, wireless broadband not
available in the Birmingham area, does anyone know? (Or was the salesperson
slow ...?)

Best regards
Martin

[Martin Stender wrote in uk.telecom.broadband]
[...]
> So they are a bit like "you said we should get a Mac, and now we can't get
> broadband!"
>
> I'm technically savvy, and thinks this is really odd.
> I mean, here in Denmark, broadband is a a splitterbox/filter, a modem and
> then a router. You connect whatever you have to the router, get an IP-adress
> from the DHCP-server in the router, and you are online. End of story.

This is correct.

> So do BT use a USB-thing and don't have MacOS 10.3 drivers or what? My
> sisters PowerBook has build-in WiFi, so they want wireless anyway.

May I suggest checking www.adslguide.org.uk for an alternative supplier
as there are many decent ADSL providers who will be happy to provide a
service meeting your requirements.

> So here is the question: Is, for some reason, wireless broadband not
> available in the Birmingham area, does anyone know? (Or was the salesperson
> slow ...?)

Slow sales person. It is perfectly possible, you will simply need a
wireless adsl router.

--
Alistair Cockeram, Badford UK

"Martin Stender" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:cgc91t$rdq$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi there,
>
> I have a sister living in Birmingham, who asked me for advice regarding
> getting a new computer.
> There are not very technical, had stuggled with virusses and never plays
> games on the computer anyway, so I told them to get a Mac.
>
> So they call BT to find out about broadband, and the person tells them, that
> they support Win9x,Win2k/XP, MacOS 10.1, 10.2 but not 10.3, which they have
> on their 15" PowerBook ...
>
> So they are a bit like "you said we should get a Mac, and now we can't get
> broadband!"
>
> I'm technically savvy, and thinks this is really odd.
> I mean, here in Denmark, broadband is a a splitterbox/filter, a modem and
> then a router. You connect whatever you have to the router, get an IP-adress
> from the DHCP-server in the router, and you are online. End of story.
>
> So do BT use a USB-thing and don't have MacOS 10.3 drivers or what? My
> sisters PowerBook has build-in WiFi, so they want wireless anyway.
>
> So here is the question: Is, for some reason, wireless broadband not
> available in the Birmingham area, does anyone know? (Or was the salesperson
> slow ...?)

Broadband is available if their exchange is enabled, and it doesn't matter what
computer they use. They do not support linux but people still use it. I think
what they mean when they say they donot support it, is that they cannot support
it if there is a problem. Thats down to BT not training their staff. All your
sister needs to do is to choose an isp who does support Mac10.3

In article <cgc91t$rdq$(E-Mail Removed)>, Martin Stender wrote:
>
> So do BT use a USB-thing and don't have MacOS 10.3 drivers or what? My
> sisters PowerBook has build-in WiFi, so they want wireless anyway.
>
> So here is the question: Is, for some reason, wireless broadband not
> available in the Birmingham area, does anyone know? (Or was the salesperson
> slow ...?)
>

Hi Martin.

Firstly, I wouldn't consider using a USB ADSL modem.

Secondly I wouldn't consider using BT as an Internet provider.

If ADSL is available at an exchange you can choose any ADSL provider. I
recommend PlusNet, there are plenty of other good companies.

Sign up with an Internet provider, then buy an all-in-one ADSL router, moden
and wireless base station. The Belkin F5D7630uk4A retails at around 80 GBP in
Dixons. I use mine with an Apple PowerMac G5, a G4 iBook, a Windows laptop, 2
Windows PCs and a networked USB hub connected to three printers and a scanner.
The whole network works perfectly.

The Belkin connects to the phone socket and it makes the connection to your
Internet provider. Any attached computer then has 'always-on' access to the
Internet. All the overheads occur in the router rather than in your computer
as with a USB modem.

--

To reply by email please replace 'news' with 'phillip' in my email
address

Phillip Deackes

Phillip Deackes wrote:

> In article <cgc91t$rdq$(E-Mail Removed)>, Martin Stender wrote:
>
>>So do BT use a USB-thing and don't have MacOS 10.3 drivers or what? My
>>sisters PowerBook has build-in WiFi, so they want wireless anyway.
>>
>>So here is the question: Is, for some reason, wireless broadband not
>>available in the Birmingham area, does anyone know? (Or was the salesperson
>>slow ...?)
>>
>
>
> Hi Martin.
>
> Firstly, I wouldn't consider using a USB ADSL modem.
>
> Secondly I wouldn't consider using BT as an Internet provider.
>
> If ADSL is available at an exchange you can choose any ADSL provider. I
> recommend PlusNet, there are plenty of other good companies.
>
> Sign up with an Internet provider, then buy an all-in-one ADSL router, moden
> and wireless base station. The Belkin F5D7630uk4A retails at around 80 GBP in
> Dixons. I use mine with an Apple PowerMac G5, a G4 iBook, a Windows laptop, 2
> Windows PCs and a networked USB hub connected to three printers and a scanner.
> The whole network works perfectly.
>
> The Belkin connects to the phone socket and it makes the connection to your
> Internet provider. Any attached computer then has 'always-on' access to the
> Internet. All the overheads occur in the router rather than in your computer
> as with a USB modem.
>

as she is in Birmingham she probably has the cable option also, see:

http://www.telewest.co.uk/html/internet/internet.htm