chrisa <hm@mmm.com> hath wroth:

>That's what I had suspected. I've been stupidly paying an extra $10 a
>month for the last 2 years for nothing!

<http://www.earthlink.net/highspeed/extras/homenetworking/>
You don't need the extra service. However, I can tell you didn't look
at the Earthlink web site. There are lots of other connectivity
options that come with the service. They offer wireless, power line,
and hard wired CAT5.
<http://www.earthlink.net/highspeed/extras/homenetworking/faq/#kind>

However, I'm a bit suspicious of their expertise as they claim:
"Wireless Home Networking uses low frequency radio waves to
transmit data between computers and other electronic devices."
Ummmm... 2.4GHz is not low frequency.

What got my attention is that there *MIGHT* be a limit to the number
of individual routeable IP's that Earthlink might be delivering via
such a service. I doubt that they'll deliver more than one because
IP's are precious and becoming scarce. There would also be a limit to
the number of PC's that could be connected. I found none mentioned on
their web pile or with Google. That's unfortunate, because it
eliminates one of the most useful features of having multiple IP's,
the isolated "sand-box" network. You use one IP address for your own
machine. You use another IP address for a completely seperate
wireless router, for your "neighborhood WLAN", neighbors cooperative
billing extension, or shared FON system. The only share the DSL modem
and Earthlink account. Everything else is seperate.

Oh, I just answered my own question. They'll "give" you $140 rebate
on a WRT54G and other stuff, which cannot route multiple WAN IP
addresses, so you only get 1 IP address. Bummer. The other stuff is
not free. See:
<http://www.earthlink.net/highspeed/extras/homenetworking/pricing/>
<http://www.earthlink.net/highspeed/extras/homenetworking/equipment/>
The promotional rate is $8/month for a year, with no indication of
what it will increase to after the promotional period. Nice deceptive
pricing, but typical Earthlink. So, basically you get up to $140
worth of hardware, for $80. That's not too horrible a deal if you
cancel after a year. Unfortunately, it appears you have order all the
equipment at the time of initial subscription, so you probably can't
get them to give you some "free" hardware.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558