[SunRescue] Real ISPs

Wed Feb 23 18:45:56 CST 2000

On this note I would have to say that I'm lucky with my ISP MCI Worldcom.
The thing they do is simply provide my pipe & a block of 32 IP's, I run my
own name servers who work delegated from them so they don't do anything
but provide my bandwidth via leased line & allow me to use their news
server because I don't have the machine or inclination to have one.
However I pay a premium for this setup about 150 USD in ISP charges and
250 USD on the line. But this is worth it as I have no problems with both
besides the fact that I could use double the bandwidth but dousn't
anyone..

Michael
---  
Michael C. Vergallen A.k.A. Mad Mike, 
Sportstraat 28			http://www.double-barrel.be/mvergall/
B 9000 Gent			ftp://ftp.double-barrel.be/pub/linux/
Belgium				tel : 32-9-2227764 Fax : 32-9-2224976

On Wed, 23 Feb 2000, bobk wrote:

> On 23 Feb 2000 jwbirdsa at carfallin.picarefy.com wrote:
> 
> >    Well, I'm connected through Seanet in Seattle. I've been with them for
> > five years and until recently I've been quite happy. However, since the
> > beginning of this year, they seem to have gone senile, apparently a result
> > of growth, which means that most of their operation is geared toward
> > supporting braindead Windows users.
> >    I celebrated the New Year by being offline for four days because they'd
> > hosed the routing for my class C. That seems to happen about once a year,
> > but normally it's just a matter of a phone call to get it fixed. This time,
> 
> ...typical story about loser ISP omitted..
> 
> The dumbing down of the Internet continues unabated. The sad thing is,
> this is happening at most ISPs.
> 
> >    Assuming this pattern continues, I will probably change soon, but I'm
> > not going to bother with trying any of the consumer ISPs. At this point,
> > what I really want is a business ISP: they're used to hooking up entire
> > networks, not invididual machines, and they have 24-hour operations
> > staffing, so there's always somebody to talk to. It doesn't guarantee that
> > they can fix your problem, but at least you're one step closer than when
> > you can't even reach anybody because they're closed for the night.
> >    I haven't done any hard research on the matter yet, but I'll probably
> > start by looking at CAIS and Sprint.
> 
> I have seen that 'business' ISPs are not really much better. As a
> consultant, I have seen essential business functions destroyed by a
> 'business' ISP that couldn't or wouldn't deliver what the salesman claimed
> they could. And when you go to look at your service agreement, deep in the
> verbiage you find stuff that says basically they owe you nothing, and they
> can disconnect you for any reason any time they want. In addition, many of
> them have 'acceptable usage' policies that I find unacceptable (Exodus for
> example). If you're not a big player, its hard to get a salesman to even
> talk to you, and you have no pull on changing the service agreement. The
> 24 hour NOC means that there's some junior guy who is stuck there to
> answer phones in the middle of the night, and maybe reboot a hung windows
> server if someone yells enough. The rest of the time, they play doom.
> 
> Well this is all the worst case scenario, but you'll find a lot of these
> traits, and worse, in your average ISP.
> 
> The pseudo-ISP that I run, Sinister.Com, has never done any marketing or
> had a formal business plan or anything similar since we started in '95. I
> have about 60 shell users that I ask for donations, but those
> donations don't amount to much. We get our net connection from Ennui.Net
> via ethernet, they are located upstairs and are pretty much a hobby ISP
> like Sinister (and they use my class C). We've been having problems 
> because the ISP we are connected to (OEM.NET) has undergone three changes
> of ownership since we first got connectivity from them, and the current
> regieme seems to not really be interested in serving us at all. We are
> looking at alternatives, such as connecting directly to the Boston MXP
> (http://www.bostonmxp.com), and buying transit from whatever provider is
> best (don't know if that's possible yet).
> 
> Anyhow, my comments and the comments of others over time are making me
> think that a niche-ISP serving the geek market is viable in at least some
> locales. It would be great if we could be national, but that's quite a bit
> of work & money. Maybe a few ISPs of such ilk in different areas of the
> country would be the best shot.
> 
> I think the problem with most ISPs is the way they market. Almost all
> consumer ISPs operate like an "all you can eat" buffet restaurant. They
> assume a standard "diet" of about 20 hours per month, even though they
> sell you unlimited access. They depend on the statistical average of
> internet users to cram a lot of users into a given bandwidth. They don't
> like people who have a spare phone line and leave themselves connected
> 24x7. They institute all sort of policies and technologies to keep people
> from doing that. Its annoying for all involved, but as long as the
> customer looks for the lowest monthly dialup price, that's the way the
> mass market will continue.
> 
> I'd rather be a customer or operator of an ISP with a different marketing
> formula, one that is "a la carte": You pay for bandwidth, and connect
> time, in line with what it costs the ISP to serve you, and its not
> horribly expensive. Its a lot less hassle for everyone involved. The
> question remains, is there enough of a market for it?
> 
> -bob
> damned YANKEE
> 
> 
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