We have had DSL here for a few years and the service is better than dial-up or ISDN when it works. We recently had problems keeping a good connection, and had a really difficult time getting anything done about it. The line would come up and stay up for a minute or two then drop and start the reconnect process. Bellsouth came out and looked at it, but claimed they could find nothing wrong with it. ( It's been up most of the time since their "Did nothing" visit.

We started with an Efficient Speedstream DSL modem connected to a router, and during the process of trying to figure out why the line dropped from time-to-time, we switched to a Zoom ADSL modem/router. The zoom gives much more feedback as to line status and other diagnostic info, so we're keeping it.

We actually get our DSL service from Internet Doorway, but the lines are still Bellsouth. I saw that AOL is now offering DSL service, but I guess they are reselling service from Bellsouth like the other area providers are. (It may be that AOL doesn't offer service in our area.)

I have also been using a SonicWall SOHO router to connect with their hardware VPN to pc's at my office and co-location. The SonicWall's are great as far as security and ease of setup / configuration. They are about the worst in cost of ownership, reliability, and service. We've had several SonicWalls fail right after their support contract expired. I have a friend that owns and ISP that has a stack of dead SonicWalls b/c they failed shortly after their support contracts expired, and he refuses to pay to get them re-instated. It really makes me start to think that these guys are programming a blow-off date into the units to make them fail after they have been out of warranty, but without access to their propriatery code, it would be impossible to prove. As for SonicWall support, I re-instated my support contract for my SOHO 3 in December because of problem I was having, and I wanted to try updated firmware. ( You have to be under support to get the firmware updates. ) This didn't solve the problem, and their support had me do a bunch of useless stuff like reset the unit to factory defaults, re-enter all the setting by hand, then they admit the problem I'm having is actually a known issue with the firmware I'm running. They continued to write me asking if I still had the problem, and when I started asking for my support money back, they somehow found a new firmware update. It didn't solve the problem either, and I had gotten use to not being able to have full access via VPN to resources at the office and colo, so now the SOHO is unplugged sitting on a shelf.

Back when they were getting started in the business, I referred quite a few businesses to them, but I regret this now as they have gone way downhill in my opinion. If your thinking about a SonicWall, stop, don't waste your money!