From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Dec 22 14:54:33 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0775916A4CE for ; Wed, 22 Dec 2004 14:54:33 +0000 (GMT) Received: from wildbean.clapper.org (wildbean.clapper.org [216.158.26.4]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E407543D54 for ; Wed, 22 Dec 2004 14:54:31 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from bmc@clapper.org) Received: from condor.inside.clapper.org (phantom@condor.inside.clapper.org [172.16.87.5]) by wildbean.clapper.org (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id iBMEsVqK033448; Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:54:31 -0500 (EST) Received: from z.inside.clapper.org (z.inside.clapper.org [172.16.87.2]) iBMEsUSj008823; Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:54:30 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <200412221454.iBMEsUSj008823@condor.inside.clapper.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:54:30 -0500 From: Brian Clapper To: RL In-Reply-To: References: <20041222035615.GA10180@gamerasmog.com> <1103688155.7511.11.camel@server1> <41C8F39A.30104@makeworld.com> X-Mailer: VM 7.17 under Emacs 21.3.1 X-Face: /perrud9r1.|7j.*=/6)a%vZ$^sBn!P[?+}vWBxd1ps{4hd2ZOw8]u&t';}(kj=x; JpdSF7 1b<*T{.38]wnWl]j/ULRB*49qdsET_/)-siUd7A_n- List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 14:54:33 -0000 On 21 December, 2004, at 23:12 (-0500) RL wrote: > What's the most popular option? Is it buying a business DSL or T1 > service or is it to colocate it? All of them are pricey. :( Depending on where you are, you may have other options as well. I'm in the Philadelphia, PA, area. I have a somewhat non-standard DSL arrangement that works very well for me. Verizon supplies the wire and the DSL signal (as well as my local phone service), but I use someone else--a so-called Verizon partner ISP--as my ISP. My ISP handles all the billing, and they will give me up to 5 static IP addresses. (I currently use 2.) I provide my own forward DNS, SMTP and HTTP services. My ISP has no problem providing me with DNS PTR records for the assigned IPs; doing a "dig -x" on the address returned for my domain's MX address yields a PTR record that refers back to my domain. If, for some reason, I want to change the PTR record, I simply drop them an email; they usually take care of it within in hour or so. If I want another static IP address, the procedure and turnaround time are comparable. There *is* a small price for this extra functionality: I pay about $10-$15 more per month than if I were to go with a "native" Verizon DSL set up. I pay $44.95/month for 1.5Mbps/384Kbps ADSL. For native Verizon, a month-to-month plan is $34.95/mo, and a plan with a 1-year commitment is $29.95/month. But Verizon will not give me static IPs for that price; the extra monthly cost is worth it to me. I have had this arrangment for almost 5 years; 5 years ago, the monthly cost was higher and the bandwidth was lower. The cost and bandwidth have only improved over time. Shop around, if you can. There may be other providers of DSL service in your area who provide more "enlightened" service options. Regards, Brian Clapper, http://www.clapper.org/bmc/