think tank forum

now that i'm in my new apartment, i've been figuring out what to do about an internet connection. i live right downtown, and as a result, i can access bozeman's free municipal wifi. however, it makes me authenticate every time i use it, it's not very fast, and it's flaky. also, i can't get the signal from my bedroom.

OPTIONS

a) grab a dumb wireless repeater. keep using the free wifi. pros: free, bedroom access. cons: slow, authentication, might still be flaky. cost: $50 setup.

b) use a laptop/soekris/minibox, put in two nics, wan to the free wifi, nat it. pros: free, bedroom access, simultaneous access for caitlin. cons: slow, might still be flaky, might have problems with headless authentication. cost: ~$75.

c) get bresnan internet. this will be a problem because right now we get free cable from downstairs. when bresnan comes to install, they'll figure it out and take away the free cable we don't use. i want to keep it there for future tenants because i hate bresnan. i don't know what kind of deal bresnan has right now, but i'm sure it'll cost about $45, and i don't know if there's a contract or install fee. want to avoid this; i hate them so much.

d) get qwest dsl. it's around $45/month or so, and i don't know what the install costs. it's pretty fast (1.5m - 7m), but it is adsl. plus it's qwest; i hate them too.

e) get bridgeband dsl. it's a local isp. this is my preferred option, though it's a bit more expensive.

sdsl
2.3 mbps - $99
1.5 mbps - $80
384 kbps - $40
install $149 (with modem, router, and static ip)

adsl
1.5 mbps/896 kbps - $40
install $199 (with modem, router, no static ip)

i think i'm gonna try to buy my own modem an see if they'll knock at least $100 off the install price. if they do that, i'll go for it. though i don't know if i want the adsl or the 384 kbps sdsl w/ip.

NEXT QUESTION
do i want to host a server at my house? possibly a web server that supports ruby/rails and has svn? if so, i'd want a sdsl package. as silly as it seems, a 384 kbps sdsl package would be superior to a 1.5 m/896 kbps adsl package. i'd probably try to get a 512 kbps sdsl line.

talk, yo!

the best option always seems to be the most expensive :). I pay 55/month for Speakeasy DSL. I get a static IP (sweet!) and 1.5 Mbps down/384 Kbps down (eh). the speed pales in comparison to the cable provider in the area (Comcast), whose download speeds are up around 6 Mbps. but their upload is about the same, so it's not so bad. Speakeasy's customer service is without a doubt the best service I've received from a company ever. I love them.

the free wifi sounds pretty awesome, and I'd probably be a-okay with that if I didn't want to run a server or anything. it might get on my nerves if it wasn't fast or reliable enough for me to use BitTorrent either, but I might deal for the sake of saving money.

running your own web server is pretty great. I love being self-reliant, so I really enjoy having my own self-administered web space/shell server/whatever else I want to make it.

yeah, i'd be fine with paying $40 to $50 monthly, but i don't like those install costs. :(

yeah, install costs suck. we got a mail-in rebate on our modem so it was free. we had to pay the 99 bucks for it back in September but we just got a check for 99 bucks in the mail a few days ago. I forget how much the install was. the rebate on the modem made it do-able though.

I hate Bresnan too but they have the best deal in Bozeman, mine is 40 a month for supposed 8mb/s ( not really that fast but pretty fast) no install cost and no contract to sign. Bresnan sucks but they are the cheapest/fastest around here. Though they didn't give me a static IP which I really don't care about but that may run you more.

is that a package deal with cable or just internet alone?

just internet

damn, son. i might jump at it. i really want dsl with the good guys, but i can't afford it at that rate.

thanks for the info, aaronson.

You know Lucas, if you are considering your own hosting, you don't need a static DNS, many domain registration companies offer DynDNS services. Looking into them, it might be a cheaper option to use a dynamic service rather than register a static IP.

Oh and also you might want to check around connection-wise. Most often, Bresnan's equipment goes out either Qwest's or Transaria's fiber lines.

>You know Lucas, if you are considering your own hosting, you don't need a static DNS, many domain registration companies offer DynDNS services.

yeah, but i would not consider dyndns services a top tier/provider class service.

> Oh and also you might want to check around connection-wise.

what do you mean?

I already explained it.

.. where?

Well, the connections some ISPs have are actually connections to other ISPs. I was saying that there is no need to go through more equipment than what's necessary. Right? I'm talking about hops, prioritization, QoS...

I'm getting cable from comcast for 25/month for a year :). their download speeds are getting insane right now, like consistently 12 mbps. I can't wait to ditch verizon; I'm so tired of slow dsl and pppoe.

now I am reevaluating my home network setup. I've been without pf for a few weeks because pppoe started to not work for no apparent reason so I've been doing pppoe from my linksys wrt54gl. I can't decide if it's worth having an openbsd server/firewall at home. I've been fine without it for the last few weeks, but I like the added security (I trust openbsd) and it's nice to have shell access. we'll see. I'll probably just set up my jetway box doing pf again and make the linksys a dumb ap.

Fiber for 20 euro/month, 100mbps download and upload. It's coming in my neighbourhood "soon" ...

I have to check out their service quality though, now I have ADSL with static IP, no port restrictions, ssh access to my ISP, IPv6, IMAP, and some other neat features ...

christ... i'd kill for that. people... wild boars... hell I'd dance with a siberian tiger with just a trench shovel for that.

I want a static IP and reverse DNS again :(.

DNS spam is so much fun. I used to have actual viagra ads in my reverse resolve. It drove those anti-dns spam people nuts... because it was both DNS spam... and REAL SPAM!

thats so crazy

19/8 mbps!! so awesome. I was getting like 2.5/1 with dsl.

I only get like 1/768k ... :(

Time to upgrade, this shit is weeeeeak.