An ISP of their own (was RE: [rescue] Being jobless)

[Rob Fielding]

Phillip Hale wrote:
> yes, as i said earlier i worked for carinet...i was domaingurus.com...a
> ghost company started by me and financed by carinet. together we put
> together the idea of a virtual ISP and all the services that go along with
> it(dialup,domain hosting,DSL,T1). you don't need any hardware!they supply
> it, basically you are supplying the tech support and providing the sales and
> they run the back-end of things. it really is a great concept for a salesman
> type of person.i don't do it because the tech support to the laymen type
> person is extraordinary, not to mention frustrating. example:try telling
> someone who just unpacked their computer that the desktop you are referring
> to isn't the one the computer is on but its what they see on their screen.
> like i said its a great idea for the right person in the right area. i know
> of customers who only signed up their family and close friends. they got
> internet access for $6.00/month anywhere in the USA. just having these few
> people signed up covered the cost carinet charged.its a good solution for a
> group of individuals.

THat's not really the idea I was getting at.  This guy wants to put his 20cpu 
beast into work. Of course if you wanted you could just set-up a Virtual ISP 
and pretend you own loads of networking equipment, service infrastructure and 
support then you could do no worse for yourself than visiting one of the many 
high quality hosting establishments set-up with plenty of unbranded services 
for precisely that reason like *ahem* dee-eess-veee-arrrr *ahem*

But you've raised some other issues. My idea dates back to our humble 
beginings 5 years ago (that's the UK internet 5 years ago too). Thesedays 
customers want it all. They want space, they want services, they want 
application compatability and they want support. And they want it all for 
free. :( Where as setting up a little ISP on the back of a 20 cpu Solaris box 
and selling vs's for peanuts just to cover the bills might be a way of paying 
your keep, because the market has shaken down all the the flybynights the only 
people left are offering soooo much more that competition alone would make the 
whole project completely unworkable without plenty of $$$.

But that not the point either. If you (the 20cpu guy) has the skilz and can be 
bothered (you're jobless right?) and can set-up a handful of services for a 
few like minded friends and cover the bills, then he's done all he needs. It's 
not like it's going to be any serious money making scheme but if you've got 
the time then it's something. It might even be fun. :))

j

-- 


Rob Fielding	
rob at dsvr.net	Development	www.dsvr.co.uk