ISPs for the Little Guy?

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."

Comments

Remember

[igabe]

I apologize for patronizing you, but definitely make sure that the ISP you choose does not block ports required for hosting email, dns, or web servers.

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.

Omsoft

[BrynM]

You're probably going to get a lot of this particular answer (or at least I hope), but if you live in California Omsoft is incredible. Not only do they allow you to run your own server, they encourage it. They are responsive to user requests and very knowledgable. Sure it's only a DSL connection, but my site's been happy about. Good luck!

Re:Omsoft

[BrynM]

Forgot to post the rates Omsoft charges. Sorry. I pay $52.95 per month for the whole shebang - known to them as "Static IP Address Pricing". Repeat after me (and smile): "No blocked ports"...

Re:Omsoft

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

I was torn between modding BrynM up and making my own post. I'm very happy with Omsoft as well. For my business, I have 768 SDSL and 10 fixed IP's. I've never had a bit of trouble with them, 100% uptime since I was connected. $169/month.

Speakeasy.net

[kinema]

Check out Speakeasy. I have never come across a single unhappy customer. They allow the customer to use their connection for pretty much anything, even WiFi hot spots. They even offer symetric DSL up to 1.5Mbit.

Re:speakeasy.net

[base3]

Speakeasy's good, but static IP is no longer the default. The inexpensive plans (e.g. $49.95) come with a dynamic IP and use PPPoE. Good plans are still available from Speakeasy, but you have to make sure to order the right one.

speakeasy.net

[hawkfan]

speakeasy.net. they're not cheep but you get what you pay for:

• Static IP is the default.
• They not only allow but encourage running servers. They're even reasonable about secondary DNS and MX pricing.
• Free reverse lookup changes.
• Encourage sharing your connection.
• Don't block ports.
• Provide NTP services on all their local POPs
• Heck they even host game servers on the local POPs

I have no affiliation with Speakeasy other than being a more than satisfied customer. Go check out dslreports.com.

Re:Powweb

[qqtortqq]

Speakeasy encourages you to run your own servers on thier dsl lines, a static IP costs $3 or $5 extra a month, and they'll change your reverse dns for ya too. I have never been happier with an ISP than I was with them.

Re:Go to a hosting provider.

[canthusus]

You cannot host a site off your own internet connection as cheaply...
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.

...or robustly as a dedicated provider.
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 arbitrarily change hosting software and interfaces. Expensive ones may be robust, but "cheaply" and "robustly" don't seem to go together. If I host it, I control it. If my server goes up in smoke, if I care that much about reliability I'll go out & buy another one today (or swap over another old PC).

I don't recommend hosting your own site unless you already need "fancy" service (multiple static IPs, fast upstream) for other reasons.
Depends where you're coming from. I host my own web and email. I've learned a huge amount doing so. I have far better access to the server than I'm used to with commercial services. It means that MB stored data cost nothing (so all my music & all my photos are there, available from home or office, but pw protected). I can play with different languages. I can learn about virtual hosting. And yes, it opens up the possibility of home-based webcams, home automation etc.

Hosting your own can be great fun. Start with a limited-functionality webserver such as tinyweb - less to learn, less to go wrong, fewer security holes. Don't host an email server until you're certain you understand about open relays, and then test it at http://www.abuse.net/relay.html

Back to the original topic. I'm in the UK, so can't help with US providers. But I use Zen ADSL. GBP23.82 per month, single static IP. No blocked ports.

Re:Ask Slashdot

[Kidbro]

I want something that's exactly like a T1, except I only want to pay $60 a month. TIA.

Funny thing is that this exists. Dunno about the US, but my ISP in Sweden offers a .5/2.5 Mbps line (soon to be upgraded to 26/26) and several static IP-numbers. No ports blocked.
Well, the differance is that it's more like $40 a month.

http://www.noip.com/

[Anonymous Coward]

NOIP is a dynamic dns provider.. you install client on your end.. it it will send you new IP info back to them.. and your dns will adjust accordingly. The service is free - if you use one of their domains.. not sure how much they charge to host your own domain.. There are other dynamic dns providers out there as well