[H-GEN] ISP Recommendation

[Andrew Pullin]

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Dear List,
    Before people jump down my throat about this shouldn't be posted here,
please reply OFF LIST back to me. Now down to business.

    I am presently running a permanent 56k dial up connection with 64 static
IP addresses on a RedHat 7.2 Box. The Specs on the box are a Pentium I
166Mhz, with 64Mb RAM, a 2 MB HDD, a 4spin CDROM and a 1.4Mb FDD, No
monitor, and No mouse). This Box acts as a gateway for a small Network. The
Network consists of 2 Win98 Boxes, one Dual booting into RedHat 9.0, 2
Toshiba Laptops, one running Win98, and the other Dual booting XP and RedHat
9.0. There is also one research machine that could be running anything from
Windows to Linux to BSD or even Minix. There is also a plan for a small
research cluster to come online of between 4-8 machines within a few months
and when my son is old enough another dual boot machine. Finally the Server
also runs several IP based Websites and some news lists. At present, all DNS
is handled by the ISP, but since the Network is growing so rapidly, my
medium term plan is to set up my own DNS. The ISP also offers a caching
service to reduce data download costs. In the last year, one of the websites
sent almost 1 Gb of data upstream, and it is expected to grow steadily as
the site increases in size and it's popularity grows (at present this site
will fit entirely on a single floppy with heaps of room left). The other
sites while not as popular also managed a reasonable amount of data.

    In a nutshell, the present setup is getting long in the tooth, and
expensive to run since it is based on an old plan which was very competitive
at the time, but isn't so good now. The plan also includes a data cap of
100Mb per month, which again was very competitive at the time, but is now
unrealistic. Finally, 56K is just too plain slow for most things except
email and some light surfing.

    What I would like are some recommendations for a new ISP to run the
present site without costing me the earth. I want to continue to run Linux
from my server, but initially what I want is the connection and DNS. I will
do all the firewalling, and I will gradually cut over DNS to my server.

    My Server requirements are:
        64 Static IP addresses - i.e. one for each machine and website and
some spares.
        A faster connection - preferably ADSL
        The appropriate hardware to connect - i.e. ADSL Modem with a single
100Mhz
            Network port - NOT hub or switch I already have those and it
will run through
            the server for a firewall.
        A non existent or large data cap with cheap excess data rates - 1Gb
per month
            will probably be enough, but 3-5 would be nicer as I
occasionally download
            ISO images to burn onto CD
        A DNS service
        A Usenet Newsfeed - the type where I only get what I subscribe to,
not get it all
            and pick what I want.
        A Time Server - optional, but nice to have. I will eventually use a
GPS unit.
        The capability to run multiple websites from my server over the ISP
connection -
            i.e. some ISPs block certain ports to stop home broadband
becoming a website
            or FTP site.
        The ability to block worms and viruses and hacking attempts -
Telstra will NOT
            do this after numerous complaints because they claim to be a
content provider,
            and that some people WANT this stuff. I even had proof of where
this stuff was
            coming from, and they refused outright to block it (I assume it
was so that I                 could continue paying data charges on all of
this "content" I didn't want).

    My pricing requirements are along the following lines - at present I pay
$20 per month for my connection, which includes 100 Telstrabytes of data
(Telstra charge by the 1000000 bytes, not per Mb), modified by cached info
already on the Telstra cache. I then pay 22c per Telstrabyte excess data,
which drops to 9c per Telstrabyte if I manage to utilize 1:1.75
download:upload ratio. Add to this the monthly dedicated phone line
connection fee of $24 and a few calls when Telstra routers hang up on me,
and the total monthly charges come to about $45, and lately an extra $20-40
per month for data. This is way too much for a 56k modem connection -
although was REALLY competitive when a phone line rental was $12 per month
and data flow was always under 100Mb per month.

    As a guide for what I want to pay - Telstra offered to upgrade my link
to ADSL and get all of the above - i.e. just replace the modem link, then up
my data cap to 1 Gb per month and charge me a whopping $120 per month after
charging me $800 to upgrade the actual hardware. This is simply not
acceptable. How they con anyone into signing up with them is beyond me. This
is after they bombarded me with junk mail about how my business could hook
up to broadband for only $54.95 per month. This is closer to what I want to
pay for my connection.

    I have been out getting a couple of quotes and have been offered $49.95
per month, no data cap, and a $16 per quarter "administration" fee for the
static IPs. I will be charged $100 to convert my existing phone line to
accept ADSL (apparently this is a Telstra fee and what they charge for it),
and I can either get my own ADSL modem or use theirs and that will cost
about $200 to buy. This type of deal is right in the ball park of what I am
prepared to pay.

    I managed to get a quote right about what I am prepared to pay without
any trouble, so now it comes down to who are the ISPs in Brisbane who can be
competitive with those numbers, and who will not stuff me around getting it
installed, ongoing tech support if required, and general reliable ongoing
service - i.e. not upping the price every 6 months or dropping a data cap
and not going down all the time. Also, which ISPs are compatible with Linux
connections - Telstra officially are NOT, but if the right tech is on duty
he will help you out if need be. I am prepared to do all of the server admin
my end, but I will probably need a little assistance setting it up, so which
ISPs (if any) are willing to be patient in getting this done. I live on the
North side in Zillmere, and so I hope a Humbugger could help me out if I
need it, and I am willing to come to some arrangement with them if required.

    So there it is. Can people please reply to me OFF list so as not to
upset people, and I am looking at upgrading the link within a couple of
months, and do the cut over within a couple of months after that. Your
patience and help is greatly appreciated.

    Thanks in Advance.

        Andrew.


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