John Rumm wrote:

snip

You seem to be assuming that one gets to choose and specify the kit.

that's quite an assumption you've made there.

In the real world many times the job is to "make that lot work" where the
equipment has already been bought on price or advertising hype by people
who have not done any research.

yes, like in the 'real world' 2 DSL installs I've done this year (so far)
both have signed up to talktalk from carphone warehouse (?) and neither
of them have thought about a router firewall despite me telling them both
that they would need one and that talktalk were rubbish.

I've got another install to do next week (quick £50)

snip

Maybe you are lucky, or don't do much of this sort of stuff.

these days ? not as much as I used to do (daily, for several years) but
enough to realise that pointing out the negatives of a technology doesn't
negate the benefits of it. but I've never had any problems in searching out
the positive elements of technology or finding workarounds for any issues
I might encounter. YMMWV