How many of you have ever had to educate your ISP?

[MoebusNet]

Just today I was on the phone with my ISP, who directly manages the WiFi network for all of the tenants of my locale. This was day 2 of trying to get internet connectivity, because the internet portal page would not redirect to the internet. Had to escalate to a 'systems engineer' to find someone able to discuss http vs https redirects vis-a-vis web portal design and the latest browsers. I suspect I'm not alone in this...

[QIII]

That sometimes seems to be the norm rather than the exception. Those first-line people are good folks, but their understanding is often limited to their "flip books".

I've had discussions with the first-line help desk at my ISP about not providing content to Linux users, getting "We don't support Linux" ... and then getting stammering and blather from them when I made them aware that they are serving the content from Linux servers.

[mastablasta]

"flip books"

+ sometimes very basic training. i would imagine this is also one of the reasons why user support can be stressful work for many people or they just detach.

my ISP offers a forum, where users help user but for more complex issues they experts jump in very quickly and resolve it. i also (so far) didn't have issues with their phone support. they quickly transfer to people who know things and they do know the networking stuff well (ports, port forwarding, static IP, IP...). i can tell by their quick answers as well as their "chattiness" on other things surrounding the topic. :)

[speedwell68]

I have had ISPs tell me the following...

Linux is malware and I am breaking their terms of use using it.
Linux is illegal and they were at liberty to report me to the proper authorities.
Linux will break their network.
Linux is why I am getting slow speeds and if I use Windows it'll get faster.

My current ISP don't support Linux as such, but if you can get to their second tier of support you can at least have a meaningful conversation about my issues.

[lisati]

I've had more than one less-than-helpful discussion with my ISP about the spam filter on their email system not working as well as it should. They seemed to think that it was my fault that spam was making its way to my inbox, but a pile of legitimate mail (including at least one that I'm aware of from their support people and another with my bill from them) being rejected as spam. There seems to have been some improvement, but I still see complaints on their Facebook page from time to time.

[kurja]

I have had ISPs tell me the following...

Linux is malware and I am breaking their terms of use using it.
Linux is illegal and they were at liberty to report me to the proper authorities.
Linux will break their network.
Linux is why I am getting slow speeds and if I use Windows it'll get faster.

My current ISP don't support Linux as such, but if you can get to their second tier of support you can at least have a meaningful conversation about my issues.

I must wonder how that ISP feels about a smart tv or a smartphone...

[MoebusNet]

I must wonder how that ISP feels about a smart tv or a smartphone... The issue is that they don't know that they don't know.

[coffeefiend]

I consider myself fairly lucky in that, other than paying way too much for service, I haven't really had any issues which required me to call my ISP.

[Tadaen_Sylvermane]

Many years ago when we were getting satellite internet installed I had the installer tell me that the signal was sent on the die electric plastic part of RG6 coax. The copper in the center was a ground. I asked him how plastic can transmit a network signal. He just looked at me like a deer in headlights. It was amazing..

As far as Linux specific I don't tell them anything. They've never asked me what OS I'm using and I have no desire to debate with them on the pros and cons either way.

[again?]

I use a local Ubuntu repository mirror for updates that my ISP runs because the downloads are not included in my quota.
A year or so ago the mirror was continually giving me update errors where as other mirrors where not.
The help desk girl referred me to a "tech expert" who knew nothing about the mirror or Ubuntu.
He didn't even know what Linux was and I spent about 15 mins explaining to him the benefits of Linux and how updates from the ISP mirror work.
I expect tech experts to be geeks and if you have not heard of Linux you ain't no geek.

[coffeefiend]

if you have not heard of Linux you ain't no geek.

So very true.

[poorguy]

I don't waste time with first line tech support as they're useless and a waste of my time so I always ask for an field engineer.

I've been very lucky and have had very few problems and when I have it was usually on their end and I was back online in a few hours.

[nonetheless]

I couldn't inform my ISP that I am not getting connection. I am a new user and I was afraid that they wouldn't know the know-hows of Linux and I won't be able to explain much to them either.

So, after a week, I called them and they sent a system engineer to check everything.

This guy, after looking at the monitor, looked back at me .."Oh my God you are using Ubuntu !! You know how to use it ? "

I was like,](*,) no I don't, don't ask me any more questions, do your work and give me that stupid connection.

[VMC]

I usually tell them, yes I'm using Windows, I just don't fight their system. I use a linux equivalent of some Windows command that their asking, and then after they complete their script and pass me on to some knowledgeable tech, I get my problem solved.