SBC Yahoo for Mac OS X

[mwjd299]

I hope this is the right forum.

I just ordered SBC Yahoo DSL. I just noticed the system requirements in the FAQ section and it says it will run on Mac OS X but right after it in parentheses it says (excluding 10.0-10.4). this is contradictory to me as the 1st version of OS X is 10.0 and the last is 10.4.

I called a tech and he said it wouldn't run, but then changed his mind and said it would.

Does anyone have SBC Yahoo DSL running on Tiger?

 

[danny_w]

I have SBC Yahoo DSL, and I am running Tiger (just upgraded from Panther a few days ago), but I don't have any of SBC's software. I also have it running to a pc (Win98se), same story. I have never downloaded any of their software and never saw a need for it. I didn't even know that they had any software for Mac, only pc.

P.S. My DSL seems to be running somewhat slower in Tiger, but I think I may have a bad Tiger install. I'm not too happy with Tiger at the moment, and much prefer Panther 10.3.9 so far.

 

[Eidorian]

I used my last Windows machine to set up my SBC Yahoo! account. Then I sold it. They sent me discs for OS X. However on their website they state they only support 10.0-10.3. *shrug*

 

[superbovine]

I hope this is the right forum.

I just ordered SBC Yahoo DSL. I just noticed the system requirements in the FAQ section and it says it will run on Mac OS X but right after it in parentheses it says (excluding 10.0-10.4). this is contradictory to me as the 1st version of OS X is 10.0 and the last is 10.4.

I called a tech and he said it wouldn't run, but then changed his mind and said it would.

Does anyone have SBC Yahoo DSL running on Tiger?

yes...

to avoid all these problems with Mac support with sbc is to just get a broadband router (can be wireless) (about $50). just search the forum for recommendation. if you use a router you won't have to use sbc software to run your dsl, the router will handle it without software. this also allows you to connect multiple computer seamlessly. you should buy the router before you install your dsl, so you don't have to do any uninstalling of software. you will have to call sbc and register you router because you don't install it with the software. they will give you a url that you point you browser too and follow the instruction. it is very easy.

 

[Eidorian]

yes...

to avoid all these problems with Mac support with sbc is to just get a broadband router (can be wireless) (about $50). just search the forum for recommendation. if you use a router you won't have to use sbc software to run your dsl, the router will handle it without software. this also allows you to connect multiple computer seamlessly. you should buy the router before you install your dsl, so you don't have to do any uninstalling of software. you will have to call sbc and register you router because you don't install it with the software. they will give you a url that you point you browser too and follow the instruction. it is very easy.

That's not what the software is for though. The software is for setting up your account and connection. You can't plug in your router until that's done.

 

[jhu]

That's not what the software is for though. The software is for setting up your account and connection. You can't plug in your router until that's done.

you don't even need the software. i setup sbc dsl on my linux machine by calling up tech support. once your line is activated, they give you very limited access to the internet initally. essentially you just need to point your browser to their specific website to setup your account and that's it.

 

[Eidorian]

you don't even need the software. i setup sbc dsl on my linux machine by calling up tech support. once your line is activated, they give you very limited access to the internet initally. essentially you just need to point your browser to their specific website to setup your account and that's it.

That's much nicer than their terrible software that wants you to install SBC EVERYTHING onto your Windows machine.

Then again my brother "lost" his discs and had them do that for him.

 

[mwjd299]

Thanks for your help, I was a little concerned that it wouldn't run.
I ordered their router which is supposed to be wireless. I have an iMac G4 running Tiger which will be hardwired from the router.
I plan on getting a laptop to run wireless.

 

[danny_w]

Sorry, I didn't mention directly that I was using a router, but I did say that I had my Macs and PC's all hooked up to DSL. I have a Linksys WRT54g wireless router that works great and keeps the DSL connected. There is no software needed on any of the Macs or PC's for this.

 

[janey]

Back when I got SBC Yahoo DSL, their Mac support was retarded (still is), and essentially all you do is sign up for an account using a limited connection, and then use that account to set up the PPPoE deal on your computer, and that was that.

Like virtually none of their custom software works on Macs (or anything but seemingly Windows XP, for that matter...) and if you ever do need to call tech support but it's not computer related (like, your DSL modem is borked), it's not a bad idea to say that you have Windows XP as your OS.

The last 4 OS X techs I got were morons, and I only got actual helpful advice from a woman who was doing a followup survey call the day after I spent an hour arguing with a very thickskulled female OS X tech that the connection issues were not a problem with the computers (she somehow couldn't understand that I was running more than just OS X, but I said I was running it because there's no "Other" or "Irrelevant" option and because the Mac was more convenient...SBC doesn't have Linux support, pfff) or routers or Airport base stations, but rather a problem I'd like a technician to check out. Eventually my case did get sent to someone more capable, who twiddled around and made things work better, and raised the lower bound on my DSL from 1.5mbps to 2.5 because I was way too far from them and got whacky speeds from 50KB/s to 400KB/s. I both love and hate this company.

 

[Eidorian]

Back when I got SBC Yahoo DSL, their Mac support was retarded (still is), and essentially all you do is sign up for an account using a limited connection, and then use that account to set up the PPPoE deal on your computer, and that was that.

Like virtually none of their custom software works on Macs (or anything but seemingly Windows XP, for that matter...) and if you ever do need to call tech support but it's not computer related (like, your DSL modem is borked), it's not a bad idea to say that you have Windows XP as your OS.

The last 4 OS X techs I got were morons, and I only got actual helpful advice from a woman who was doing a followup survey call the day after I spent an hour arguing with a very thickskulled female OS X tech that the connection issues were not a problem with the computers (she somehow couldn't understand that I was running more than just OS X, but I said I was running it because there's no "Other" or "Irrelevant" option and because the Mac was more convenient...SBC doesn't have Linux support, pfff) or routers or Airport base stations, but rather a problem I'd like a technician to check out. Eventually my case did get sent to someone more capable, who twiddled around and made things work better, and raised the lower bound on my DSL from 1.5mbps to 2.5 because I was way too far from them and got whacky speeds from 50KB/s to 400KB/s. I both love and hate this company.

Yeah, SBC Yahoo! Messenger, SBC branded Internet Exlporer, and an SBC Yahoo! music player. They're just trying to overtake your machine with their branding. Luckily, that's all Windows crap.

 

[yankeefan24]

I hope this is the right forum.

I just ordered SBC Yahoo DSL. I just noticed the system requirements in the FAQ section and it says it will run on Mac OS X but right after it in parentheses it says (excluding 10.0-10.4). this is contradictory to me as the 1st version of OS X is 10.0 and the last is 10.4.

I called a tech and he said it wouldn't run, but then changed his mind and said it would.

Does anyone have SBC Yahoo DSL running on Tiger?

i did briefly. worked fine. then, i come home, it works fine with my airport, go away again, doesn't work well with my netgear comcast wireless modem. it actually registered a second ethernet port on my computer and getting rid of that fixed it.

 

[superbovine]

That's not what the software is for though. The software is for setting up your account and connection. You can't plug in your router until that's done.

if you read the rest of my post, I explain what you have to do to activate your account...

 

[eji]

Through a Google search, I found this FAQ link:

"Is Mac OS X compatible with SBC Yahoo! DSL Internet Service?

Yes. You can use Mac OS X. All the software necessary for DSL Internet access service is already installed in OS X."

Which means, I think, that punching in your username and password into a new Network connection (and selecting PPPoE) will be fine. My technophobic grandparents have signed up for SBC Yahoo, and I'm hoping that setup will be this simple.

But that doesn't leave me entirely worry-free. Companies often say things like this, but their tech support thinks otherwise. I have had good luck with many providers, though, like British Telecom and Tiscali.de, who have all sorts of crazy software to install for Windows, but on Mac OS X it's a no-hassle process: username, password... click Apply.

 

[janey]

But that doesn't leave me entirely worry-free. Companies often say things like this, but their tech support thinks otherwise. I have had good luck with many providers, though, like British Telecom and Tiscali.de, who have all sorts of crazy software to install for Windows, but on Mac OS X it's a no-hassle process: username, password... click Apply.

?? Dug up a 4 month old thread?

And yeah, it works fine, don't worry. I use SBC (now AT&T) dsl, have been for a while, none of their custom Windows stuff needed, it's just PPPoE and activating things is very simple.

You don't even need what superbovine tells you to do (at least, I didn't need to, and seemingly nobody else I know with SBC dsl needed to either..), all their hardware and all the setup can be done without Windows.

 

[MACDRIVE]

I just thought I would mention that my PowerBook G4 installed SBC DSL automactically as I was installing the OS. No Yahoo software needed. It is configured as TCP/IP Built-In Ethernet.

 

[Makosuke]

It's an old thread, but for the heck of it, I'm curious about newer SBC (now at&t) DSL customers:

They used PPPoE long ago, but when I signed up a little over a year ago, the modem they sent me does its PPP internally, so once the account was activated via their website it was totally plug-and-play--the Mac just pulls an IP address from the modem via DHCP, no stupid PPPoE configuration necessary.

What I'm wondering, though, is if they've fixed the idiotic registration app on the CD they send you. The thing automatically launches IE, which I could sort-of accept, except that there's something wrong with the HTML on the registration page so the "accept" button is litterally off the bottom of the visible section of the window and impossible to scroll down to. I set up accounts with them twice, almost a year apart, and it was exactly the same both times--I at first thought that there was a bug that wasn't displaying the buttons at all, until I realized you could *just* see them peeking up from the bottom of the page. Any novice or someone not inclined to look carefully before calling support would NEVER have noticed it, though.

I just can't believe that they'd do something that stupid--which has GOT to generate unnecesary support calls--and not fix it, even though their software is otherwise fine and sets up a new connection in the Network prefpane for the service just fine.

Any recent customers noticed whether they've finally fixed this, or is it *still* there? How can you go to the trouble of building a half-decent install app, then blow the online registration page so badly in a completely repeatable manner? Do they even test these things?

 

[MACDRIVE]

I never used their installation CD. Another way is to get the DNS server numbers for your account from SBC, then enter them manually into 'Network'. Boom, you're hooked up.

 

[janey]

bizarre! i guess that dates me and my dsl from sbc