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You have several options.
1) Get a real internet Service provider. .

If only that were an option for most of America. Even in NYC we have only two choices and this is the most densely populated place in the country. Choice and ISP are mutually exclusive concepts.

Not entirely so: NYC is #5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population_density, and there are MANY ISPs available to the 212 area code: http://www.thelist.com/areacode/212/.

Maybe I'm crazy, but is this website not helpful in finding another ISP?

you can get dsl and cable in nunavut:

http://www.thelist.com/areacode/867/broadband/

and the Northwest Territories:

http://www.theedge.ca/internet/index.html

THat argument doens't wash.

I have written a mailserver program and may need to update and test it in the future. Because of this, I need an ISP that WILL NOT BLOCK PORTS WHATSOEVER!

Please do not recommend I use The List (of ISPs), I do not have time to search through them all to find an ISP.

Please do not suggest AOL, Earthlink, MSN, and the like -- please suggest an ISP that is 'programmer friendly' if one exists.

Thank you for your consideration.

Got a legitimate need to run your own mail server? Ask your ISP for it.

I asked my ISP to unblock port 25 so I could continue to develop email related software I've written but my request went unfufilled.

I am not a n00b and I need affordable dialup access before June 1st with an ISP with nationwide access dialup numbers who will not block any ports coming or going! Anybody here have any recommendations?

1) ISP must be affordable (<= $10/month for 'unlimited access').
2) ISP must offer nationwide access numbers in the USA.
3) ISP MUST NOT BLOCK PORTS COMING OR GOING!

Please do not suggest I search The List -- that will take too much time and is only as a means of last resort.

Thank you for your consideration.

Know what you want. Are you connecting a network or just one system? (Some providers will actually charge you based on how many systems will use the line.) Are you hosting servers? (Some providers have restrictions on what you can host, and for this you'll want SDSL, and a static IP connection.)

Do your research on available providers. DSLReports is an invaluable resource for getting information on your area, and The List isn't bad, either. You'll also want to check out whatis.com's page on DSL . Find out what is their bandwidth oversubscription ratio. (ISPs make money by selling more bandwidth beneath them than they have coming in above them; otherwise the DS3 that feeds a network, $6k-$9k, would cost at least $133 per megabit before anything else was paid for. Typically the ratio is between 7.5:1 and 20:1.) If you're going to be spending big bucks for the connection, get references from the prospective companies.

Realize that a necessary part of the equation is the ILEC.(?) When nearly everyone gets DSL, a new copper local loop(?) must be installed, and that means the phone company in all their ignorance, circular logic, and incompetence must be involved. Realize up front that the loop installation will probably not go smoothly, and you'll save yourself some aggravation later on. Most people would agree that getting DSL installed ranges from a little annoying to a major nightmare, but that once it's installed, they're happy as clams; most of the installation problems are because of the ILEC.

When things don't work, kick ass and take names. When you talk to someone in the NOC or in customer service, don't accept half-assed or blow-off explanations. Make an issue when something you're told doesn't make sense. Make sure that they know you're taking notes and that you've written down their name. Don't take any crap. (One of our customers was recently told that their circuit was down because of bad weather in her area. "But there's a clear blue sky outside." No, the tech assured her, there was bad weather in her area and her line would be back up soon after the storm passed.)

I travel across the country with a laptop several times a year. No AOL is not the best choice because when you get to a motel on the outskirts of East Testicle, you're not going to have any idea what the dialup number is, and you're not going to have any way to find out.

What you want is an ISP with an 800 number. These are free and usable from anywhere. The problem is that the isp will probably charge you extra to use it. Does www.thelist.com still have anything useful on it? Have a look.

As far as access goes: yes, every single motel in the country (except maybe in Utah where for some reason everyplace is the most god-awful shithole imaginable) has a phone connection you can jack in to.

But sometimes the connection from the phone to the wall is hardwired. In these cases, you can normally detach the handset from the phone. The screw here is that the handset jack is a different size from the wall jack. So it's helpful if you've made your own connector. We've got this pathetic but omnipresent chain of stores here called "Radio Shack". You can find one almost anywhere, and often, especially in small towns, the sales person will have a clue and be passibly helpful.

If you're making your own connectors, and want to be extra-sure, make one with a rj-11 on one end, for your modem, and a pair of alligator clips on the other. That way if all else fails you can take the mouthpiece off the phone and clip on there.

And one final thing: Almost every single truckstop in america has restaurants with telephones on the tables! Usually little black "princess" desk phones. Jack in while you're eating.

Truckstops:
Flying J -- Bad food, inexpensive petrol, infrequent table phones.
76 -- The best, and a dying breed. They seem to have been subsumed by T/A. Independently run, often excellent food, REAL expensive gas, and -always- table phones.
AM/BEST -- Awful. Stay away.
T/A -- Awful. Stay away.
Rip Griffins There are about 6 of these scattered around. Nice if you can find 'em. Table phones.
Petro -- Popping up everywhere. Good food, table phones.

Have a great trip, and check out www.roadtripamerica.com for some well-organized touristical adventures.

So gain control over a substantial "Internet" provider like AOL and implement "Acceptable Use Policies" governing what you put on your web page...

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Corporations can tread on the First Ammendment in ways that Congress simply can't. It may end up that governmental internet censorship becomes a moot point if every company you can get access from demands that you be politically incorrect. And how long will it be before these vast companies start blocking access to sites that don't enforce their morality policies or that belong to a competitor? What if your ISP decides it's not in their best interest for their users to be doing price comparasons and decide to block access to The List for instance?

I'm sure some companies are going to start pulling some of these tricks in the near future and most of them will yank a web page today if someone even hints at a lawsuit. Food for thought.