I'm using a hosted Filemaker 7 database on 4 Macs. I've got 1.5M DSL coming through a Qwest Actiontec (GT701WG) then into a router. 2 of the Macs are hardwired and 2 are wireless. Each Mac loses "Communication with Host" anywhere from 1-6 times a day. I think some of the crashes are simultaneous, but not all of them. This started happening when we switched service, but I can't nail it down to the DSL provider, the ISP, the modem, or the aurora borealis (the router and the host are the same). Tech support at the provider and ISP have been of little use.
Has anyone had similar experiences? How much interruption does a Filemaker db need in order to drop out? How much interrption is expected from this modem, hardwired or wireless?
We changed three things. We switched to DSL with a big name company that starts with a Q. We switched our ISP is a small local company. And we installed a new modem.
I disagree. That's like suggesting people should all use MS Access because it's made by Microsoft, the dominant OS provider. Access is a terrible database. Filemaker is a great database. Filemaker Inc. doesn't make an OS though. So by your logic using filemaker would be a mistake. ;)
Granted Filemaker is owned by Apple... but that's beside the point. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good analagy! Just pretend this is the 4D group or something. =)
That's true. But if it was just Qwest with no 3rd party then they'd just point at the customer.
So you think selection of application software is the same as selecting a vendor for basic internet connectivity.
Typically not, at that point the business has some leverage and a simple statement, "I'm buying this from you, make it work". Obviousily you have never dealt with multiple vendors in a situation like this. It is in their best interest to point the finger at the other vendor (you should have bought all this from me, sending a guy out to fix issues with 'his' product costs me money). With a single vendor there is a single point of contact.
Not at all. With basic internet connectivity your options are often extremely limited. In many areas there is only one DSL provider.
Selecting a services providers (hosting, etc) however, is much more complex -- there are a lot more options. And the small local companies often have much better service and competency. You call them and somebody competetent picks up the phone... meanwhile the major telcos have outsourced your support calls to India, and that's after you spend half an hour working through their automated phone system.
Feeling compelled to select your DSL provider for hosting services is nuts -- the DSL provider around here has no competency with Filemaker at all; the most they'd do is let me co-locate my own server, and they charge triple what other anyone else does for that priviledge.
Typically a technician comes out verifies the line meets the standards, claims it does work. And the problem must be you and/or your software.
At that point your leverage becomes: "I'll stop buying from you if it doesn't work". Big leverage - like a major telco like Qwest is that concerned about retaining a difficult customer paying $60/mo, and odds are the front line flunkies to whom you are issuing this threat couldn't possibly care less.
I've been through this exact scenario a number of times. I seriously wonder if you have.
Yes. And with a single basic DSL line on a major carrier like Qwest, that point of contact isn't terribly interested in you, but it may be a necessary evil, because you don't have much choice as far as dsl goes.
On the other hand, the best hosting companies, the ones that will bend over backwards to serve you often aren't in the DSL provider game, focussing on their core competency - hosting.
I agree with you in principle, but its like buying a Ford truck and putting a stereo in it. Sure if you stick with a single vender - Ford, you'll be able to have any and all issues resolved at the ford dealer without any finger pointing. But lets face it, Ford stereos are pretty limited. If you want something truly amazing you'll have to ditch the ford stereo and put something from another vendor in.
We must be talking different things here, what do you call and ISP? That is what do the letters I S P stand for in this discussion in your opinion. Let me say I don't think of ISP and Host as being the same thing.
First, I'm sure we both agree that ISP stands for "internet services provider".
But I agree there does seem to be a disconnect. I -usually- consider the ISP to be the company providing the actual internet access to my premesis. So, my DSL provider would normally be who i consider to be my ISP.
However, in this case, because the OP differentiated between his DSL provider and his ISP. I presumed (perhaps mistakenly) that what he was talking about w/r/t "ISP" is what I'd normally call a host provider. (which is reasonable, hosting is an internet service, and thus its reasonable to call someone that hosts an internet services provider (ISP).
That said, I have dealt with situations where "one's ISP" is merely reselling DSL from a major telco. But that doesn't seem to apply either, as I only have one point of contact, "my ISP". The fact that Telco-X actually owns the wire is irrelevant to me the customer; I don't have an account with Telco-X, and their support team won't talk to me anyway.
Just as when you buy a Dell or an Apple, and a problem crops up and it turns out its the hard drive which happens to be a Maxtor - I don't care what the actual hard drive is; I deal with Dell or Apple - one point of contact.
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