About This Particular Macintosh 6.04 - eDisk

I was seething, but I did my best not to let it show. As a fellow ATPM staff member confirmed,there is nothing to support with Macs and DSL. The same data is placed into bothplatforms’ TCP/IP control panels. However, after a number of phone calls, and after a lot oftelephone Muzak, the best answer I was able to obtain was that the reason for nonsupport isrelated to one or more of three issues. These issues may or may not be plausible, but they’rewhat I came up with:1. Many broadband technologies are using authentication software that must run on thecomputer using the service. Some companies have developed their own authenticationsoftware for both platforms, but many have developed it only for PC with a “Mac versionforthcoming” claim.2. Many broadband technologies are using the new transport protocol known as point-topointprotocol over Ethernet (better-known as PPPoE), and this protocol isn’t as easilyimplemented on the Mac as it is on Windows (or so they say).3. Many broadband technologies not using PPPoE are using DHCP as the connection protocol,and we all know that the Mac OS has had documented problems with DHCP. Notthat I’m saying the problems aren’t solvable…just that various broadband providersthemselves haven’t solved them.Totally for my own amusement, I invented a fourth choice:4. Many broadband technology providers are full of cr@& and just don’t think the Maccommunity is large enough or easy enough to service.Sprint service representatives repeatedly tried to explain the situation to me, but withoutsaying anything that Sprint brass probably considers taboo for discussions with customers(subjects such as the truth). During my last call to Sprint, I ultimately spoke to the directorof customer relations. I pointed out that I’d had conversations with Earthlink, and that theirtech support people had said that not only are they offering Earthlink DSL over on the westcoast in many areas, but that Earthlink specializes in Macintosh support.When she said that they’re still researching and testing connectivity for Macs, I casually(though I was getting irritated at this point, and again doing my best not to show it) suggestedthat it looked like a case of the right hand not knowing what the left was doing, andthat Sprint should better interact with the ISP they’ve partnered with—i.e., that they shouldATPM 6.04 ← 35 →Columns: DSL and the Mac