ISPs for the Little Guy? 118
jjshoe asks: "While access to the Internet varies greatly, depending on where you are in the USA, I recently went on the hunt for an ISP that provided me the ability to have a 'broadband' link to the Internet. I am looking for would be the ability to lease/rent static IP's, so I could host my own DNS/WWW/E-mail server. I was wondering what ISP fellow Slashdot readers use for themselves, as well as what they pay. I have gotten quotes for $50 a month for a single static IP on top of my monthly DSL fee. This seems slightly outrageous to me. Colocation is not an option as it generally runs $150 a month and does not provide me Internet access. I am open to any other ideas the community might have."
Remember (Score:4, Informative)
I know I once payed Verizon ~$70/month thinking I would host my own site, only to find out they don't allow home website hosting.
Re:Remember (Score:2)
I am semi-aware of being able to choose what port to host your site with, but I gave up on that. But of course, if you are determined, then you can probably work around this.
Re:Remember (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Remember (Score:2)
Re:Remember (Score:1)
Optimum Online blocks 80 and others I think.
22 is left open, I know.
SMTP and FTP are almost definetly blocked
ADSL in Germany (Score:1)
In Germany, one has to pay approx. 60 Euro/Month for an 768/128 ADSL connection with static IP. A perhaps typical setup there is:
This ISP doesn't block ports, has no objections of you operating your own servers, and is well-connected to major backbones.
Bigger ISPs are generally more reluctant to give you full access to their backbones, but smaller ISPs com
Omsoft (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Omsoft (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Omsoft (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Omsoft (Score:1)
Re:Omsoft (Score:1)
Ask Slashdot (Score:4, Funny)
I want something that's exactly like a T1, except I only want to pay $60 a month. TIA.
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:2)
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:2)
That isnt a troll what so ever, its a perfectly valid point.
> Speed is not an issue. I just want something reasonable where i can do what
> i want.
Those are called T1's. T1's are resonable for what you get. DSL is resonable for what you get. Expecting one service for another services super low price is not resonable however.
> If im paying for the connection i should be able to do what i want with it.
But you arnt paying for it. You dont want to pay $400, you
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:2)
On the contrary, if you can get service from the right company, it absolutely can include those abilities. See my post further down re: this type of service (static IP address, servers, etc) for only $50/month.
You're not going to get it from any of the major ISPs but, in more populated areas at least, it definitely is available if you look for it.
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:2)
Thanks,
Wes
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:2)
are an obsolete business model which depends
on monopoly to persist. In locations where
there are competitive service offerings,
tarriffed T1s don't sell, period.
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:3, Informative)
Funny thing is that this exists. Dunno about the US, but my ISP in Sweden offers a
Well, the differance is that it's more like $40 a month.
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:2)
Re:Ask Slashdot (Score:1)
And the thing is, I agree with you. It's still unrealistic to ask for T1 quality service for $60 a month, until something changes to break the telco price fixing.
Could be a scam, but . . . (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Could be a scam, but . . . (Score:2)
Re:Could be a scam, but . . . (Score:1)
As others have suggested, I'd look into Speakeasy. For now, they're pretty reasonable to folks who run their own services. And the extra $50 you're paying should put you into the price range of 3.0 Mbps/768 Kbps service.
Go to a hosting provider. (Score:2, Offtopic)
You cannot host a site off your own internet connection as cheaply or robustly as a dedicated provider. I don't recommend hosting your own site unless you already need "fancy" service (multiple static IPs, fast upstream) for other reasons.
-Isaac
Re:Go to a hosting provider. (Score:1)
1) Most people don't need robust. When my mail goes down, everyone just queues it up for me until I fix the problem. It's never my server, it's always the Linksys router or the DSL modem crashing.
2) Cheap. It's the cheapest solution that I could find that meets my needs. It's hard to find someone who will provide a service where the server is located in my bedroom. I pay $65 a month for the ability to open that server up in my own bedroom, at 3 AM, naked. Do
Re:Go to a hosting provider. (Score:2)
Oh how cute idealists can be.... (Score:1, Troll)
The corporations have the money, and thats why they get to tell us how its gonna be.
Any OTHER questions?
Re:Go to a hosting provider. (Score:1)
For me, it's about learning and experimenting as much as it's about reliabilit
Re:Go to a hosting provider. (Score:3, Informative)
That kind of depends... If you've already got ADSL, with static IP, then the added cost of hosting is very small. If you want to host several hundred MB of MP3s or JPGs you're not going to find a cheaper commercial solution.
I've had some pretty poor experience of dedicated service providers. They go offline for a week, every day promising it will be up in 2 hours. They lose backups. They arb
Speakeasy (Score:1)
Speakeasy.net (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:1)
Both providers were roughly the same: $45 per month for SDSL 384Kbps (symmetric) with 3 static IP addresses and no filtering. Pretty good tech support, too.
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:2)
Prob one of the most linux friendly ISP's in the world.
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:2)
When I couldn't get a dial tone after September 11th, 2001 (I lived a mile from Ground Zero at the time), Speakeasy still had service.
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:1)
I only get 144k (18,000 feet away from the switch, darn it), but my bandwidth is mine to do what I want with. No filters, no restrictions.
The only burp I've ever had with them is that they switched my IP once without telling me, and had no record of it when I called. *That* was annoying, but their phone support was quick and accurate, as always. I only wish I'd have known so I could have put my DNS records on a short leash beforehand.
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:2)
I'd still r
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:2)
That's how good they are, I guess.
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:1)
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:1)
Re:Speakeasy.net (Score:1)
August.Net (Score:2)
speaskeasy.net (Score:1)
Use a virtual hosting company for your servers (Score:1)
There are two "classes" of virtual servers. Companies that offer shared hosting, and companies that offer true "v
Speakeasy's pretty good (Score:1)
I've been a pretty satisfied customer over the last three years.
speakeasy.net (Score:4, Informative)
Re:speakeasy.net (Score:4, Informative)
Re:speakeasy.net (Score:2)
I concur. Speakeasy owns. I now have (for $140ish/month) 3mbit down and 768 kbit up. With 4 static IPs.
And no blocked ports.
I can't believe people settle for anything less. (I also can't believe other posters think that "no blocked ports" is that unusual. Speakeasy's been that way for at least 3 years (as long as I've had their service))
Is Speakeasy really that unknown?
Speakeasy and Cyberonic (Score:2)
Cyberonic, at least ~Chicago only offers 1.5/768 single static IP connections. The cost is $40/month, but you have to pay upfront for 18 months. You can use it for servers and business as long as it's a residential phone (or the price goes up).
Speakeasy has more options and better service, but Cyberonic was cheaper at 768up. Both, generally,
Lanminds (Score:2)
DSL Extreme (Score:2)
Routing is good, just a couple hops from major backbones. I often ping 100ms to the east coast.
No questions asked, they just provide the pipe. Works great, fast installation. I don't work for them or anything, I'm just a satisfied customer.
Pricing varies by local telco and region.
-mo
Thanks (Score:2)
But wait! thats not all (Score:2)
If Speakeasy is not available, talk to linkline
Linkline (Score:2)
I'm paying $50/month for 768/128, but I get up to 1.5 downstream easily, I've got a static IP address, and I have their blessing to run whatever servers I want. They even set the reverse DNS on my IP address to my own host/domain name. Additional static IP addresses are $5/month each.
Also, they're small enough that if it goes down or something, once you've shown that you know what you're talking about it's fairl
Wow... (Score:2)
Seriously though, if you can't afford a dedicated server (80$ at RackShack or ServerMatrix), maybe a virtual server (10$/mth), like here:
http://www.ev1servers.net/english/virtuals.asp [ev1servers.net]
10$ a month, unlimited transfer, 100MB storage space, and it comes with:
One domain name hosted (purchased separately)
Unlimited email accounts
Unlimited email aliases or forwards
Unlimited FTP access
FrontPage 2000 extensions
U
Re:Wow... (Score:2)
Re:Wow... (Score:2)
meer.net (Score:2)
Something you can actually run a server with, like 250MB storage, 10GB transfer per/month, up to 384Kbit/sec upstream, a real router and not a broadband "modem", no PPPoE, support for all operating systems, routed subnets and firewalling by default, extremely minimal restrictions on usage.
The guys running it are very helpful, an
Limitation of ADSL line w/ running servers (Score:1)
2. Uplink speed generally sucks, at only around 50KB/s.
Something like virtual (machine) hosting would be a better bet. I am a happy customer of http://www.johncompanies.com/. You need the Linux package to run DNS thou.
Re:Limitation of ADSL line w/ running servers (Score:2)
Re:Limitation of ADSL line w/ running servers (Score:1)
I just switched to these guys (Score:1)
Comcast in the Dallas Area (Score:1)
Re:Comcast in the Dallas Area (Score:2)
What's your use? (Score:2)
Re:What's your use? (Score:2)
Try isomedia (Score:1)
Roadrunner business class... (Score:1)
Other than some problems with shit Cisco routers, which they fixed this past Saturday (weekend tech trip to my apartment, for free, can't beat that for service,) I haven't had less than 3 9's downtime in more than a year.
Colo cage (Score:3, Funny)
100MB+ internet access and it's only a few $hundred a month, but since you will live there (cm'on -- you're probably on IRC 19 hours a day anyway -- right?) you can eliminate rent.
Just get a few boxes of 'wet naps' -- maybe from your local KFC and you don't need to worry about showering or whatever.
Hey -- where else is it 70 degrees all day every day? Hawaii? San Diego? Who can afford to move there? Plus you would have major geek bragging rights at the local starbucks.
Good luck!
Re:Colo cage (Score:1)
Throw in some communal showers and bathrooms, make each room the size of a small dorm room....
A geek hostel. It'd be great.
Re:Colo cage (Score:2)
But I imagine you just painted a perfect picture of mit..
DSL (Score:1)
speakeasy... IJ.net (Score:1)
DSL In Idaho (Score:2)
So for $54.50 per month I've got static IP and 768x128.
I do have numerous problems with my ISP as everything they do is Winblows based. They g
Re:DSL In Idaho (Score:1)
Re:DSL In Idaho (Score:2)
1) I'm a county employee (i.e. broke)
2) I'm married.
I'm lucky to have DSL at home at all, I don't dare push it. Besides I get a certain joy in troubleshooting my ISP's problems. Usually I call and inform them of a problem, the cause and a solution before those idiots know what hit them. Not bad for a Linux hobbiest. It's fun in its own maddening way.
AVOID PrimusDSL (Score:2)
I'll throw in one more vote for Speakeasy (Score:2)
While I'm at it, I can recommend dyndns.org [dyndns.org] for DNS service. Relatively high but one-time cost; dynamic and static routing; servers are fast and r
Speakeasy.net (Score:1)
? standard reply (Score:2)
Best ISP known to man or beast. Standard $50-60 for 1.5/384 dsl and a static IP. More static IPs are like $2 per month per IP. No blocking, no unreasonable terms of service, no unreasonable outages, excellent service, excellent web service interface. What an ISP *should* be.
Disclaimer: I do not work or recieve compensation from speakeasy. I have been a customer of theirs for 3 years now, and currently enjoy 1.1mbs sdsl home connectivity through their service.
Look at Britsys and Covad (Score:1)
I recently got my mother-in-law set up on Britsys, and though she hasn't been up for long, they look quite good too--and less expensive than Covad.
In both cases I have a static IP, I know I don't have any blocked ports on Covad, I have to admit I haven't confirmed that for Britsys, but I don't think they block any.
Now if I could only find any decent non-dialup for my parents at 952-472-XXXX...
-kb
Don't get sucked into playing amateur sysadmin! (Score:3, Funny)
A much better value is virtual hosting, which is getting very cheap these days. By virtual hosting I mean your very own server -- an instance of Linux, BSD or whatever running on a big box via MWare. To you it's exactly the same as running your own box at home, but better. First of all, it's much better connected -- usually with at least 2-3 T1 or better connections to a major backbone -- not some silly upload-capped 128k DSL or cable line. Second, no more hardware worries -- everything is kept running by the hosting company, and all you do is admin your own software. You can even get Microsoft-compatible stuff. Finally, the cost ($20-30/month) is often less than the extra cost of a static IP on your home DSL or cable, and that's not even considering the savings on hardware.
I don't know why anyone messes with home servers anymore, except to satisfy a gearhead fetish.
Re:Don't get sucked into playing amateur sysadmin! (Score:1)
Re:Don't get sucked into playing amateur sysadmin! (Score:2)
Then they bitch because:
They only get 128k of bandwidth, and their friends want mp3's, videos and other stuff hosted. You'll never be able to upload a file again.
They want l33t email addresses, tons of them, and want to be able to send mail through them.
They want a webmail interface, and you're stuck running some bullshit like squirrelmail.
They bitch up a storm when you gotta reboot it.
Just don'
Re:Don't get sucked into playing amateur sysadmin! (Score:1)
More importantly, theyre pissing and moaning when they could have just as easily ponied up for their own goddamn DSL line and hosted anything they felt like.
Cavalier Telecom (Score:1)
I'm in Maryland and I get my voice and DSL from Cavalier Telephone [cavtel.com]. 384k DSL, static IP (you can get more than one for an additional fee, I just run my server on the static one and NAT my other boxen), total cost for voice and data about $65/month including all the taxes and fees. I'm quite happy with it.
Why, Speakeasy, of course! (Score:2)
For what it's worth, I'm getting ADSL, 1.5/256, and it comes with a shell account, 2 static IPs, 2 email addresses, 1 GB of Usenet per user courtesy of Giganews, Rhapsody access for music, and a few other bells and whistles. That package alone runs me $59.95 per month plus FUSF, and for an additional $9.95 per month they are also my primary DNS for my domains.
This is the same ISP who, when I was first interested in 2000, asked me if
Blarg (Score:2)
A static IP is cheap in Canada... (Score:2)
Why? (Score:2)
Oh, sure - it *might*. But dynamic DNS services are easy to set up, and free [afraid.org].
And if you insist on running BIND yourself, there's ways of doing that [granitecanyon.com], too, without bothering your registrar every time you hop IPs or costing you a cent.
Once you've got the DNS issues resolved, the rest (SMTP, HTTP, whatever) is cake.
(If this all seems too
Gee, Thanks Cliff! (Score:2)
Now, can you hunt for ISPs for the rest of
http://www.noip.com/ (Score:1, Informative)
Salt Lake valley, UT (Score:2)
My work also has a T-1 through them. Not only the T-1 connection, but also a full Class C block of IPs, all for the price of -just- the T-1 from anyone else 'round here. Then again, we signed up as the ISP was first
Re:Powweb (Score:2)
Re:Powweb (Score:2, Interesting)
So, my SBC DSL account gets me 5 static IP's (I use just one), about 1 megabit down, 128Kbits up, and no blocked ports whatsoever. They don't care what services you run on the line.
I have my own web server (www.pdrap.org), my own e-mail server, and anything else that I want to have.
I can add domains through virtual hosting, or I could make use of the other 4 static IP addr
Re:Powweb (Score:3, Informative)
Sounds like Speakeasy might be the choice... (Score:2)
Re:Maybe some who read this will want to re-consid (Score:2)
Wow! Hostility. (Score:2)
"... pushed by some junky."
It is amazing to me that Slashdot commenters become extremely hostile if they don't like something someone else said.
Re:Wow! Hostility. (Score:2)
slashdot koan (Score:2)
"Come with me," he said, and led the student outside where the miller was threshing the wheat to separate it from the chaff, so that he could grind the wheat to make flour. The separated chaff was quickly blown away by the wind.
The master rushed in, and began to collect the chaff instead, gathering it into a pile protected from the wind and criticizing it harshly for not being wheat.
"What are you doing?" the miller