[vox] providing services from a broadband connection

[Michael Wenk]

On Wednesday 03 December 2003 11:40 am, David Margolis wrote:
> Like a lot of you probably have done, I have forsaken my Comcast cable
> internet acceptable use policy by running a small
> web/mail/file/ssh/smb/etc. box out of my home network.
>
> This is all experimental and fun, and I don't expect 100% uptime or
> anything, but every once and a while my network connection just flakes
> out.  It's not enough to complain about or bother calling tech support
> about as it doesn't happen all that often, and when it does it's no more
> than an hour or two.  It's no more flakey than anybody's DSL that I know,
> and for the most part it's a real rock solid, fast, consistant connection
> that I don't mind paying for given what I get.
>
> The most recent outage was yesterday.  My cousin e-mailed me and said "hey
> I can't access those pictures of your son you sent me."  I was I work, so
> I tried to SSH in and...nothing.  A few hours go by, and
> sure enough, it's back up.
>
> My question is this.  If I want a bit more consistancy for my Web pages
> and personal mail accounts, should I have to pay for monthly hosting ON
> TOP of what I pay for broadband?  Part of how I justify my $50+ a month is
> by telling myself that I'm basically getting free hosting out of the deal.
> Sure Comcast provides Web space, but it's not very big, doesn't support
> PHP/MySQL, doesn't support my domain name, doesn't come with a shell
> account, etc.
>
> Is anybody struggling with this sort of thing?  I have plenty of scattered
> Web accounts so it's not like i'm lacking for Web space, but nothing
> supports what I want to do quite like my perfectly customized box.

Comcast internet service is not very reliable.   I use it, and dyndns to be 
able to reach it.  My system runs a web server /mail as well as others.   
However, my system has only been down 3 times in the past month(last time was 
before thanksgiving.)  My question for you is this:  Are you using the linux 
box for routing, or do you have a linksys(or other brand) device as a router?  
IF so, Id be willing to bet that is part of your problem.  If not, I am 
unsure.  

> Let me reiterate that I don't think my internet connection is really to
> blame. They provide what they claim to provide in a reasonable manner.  To
> complain that I don't have a solid enough connection to provide services
> I'm not supposed to be providing isn't going to fly anyway.

I don't expect 24/7 uptime.  However the uptime I get is not very good IMO.  
Given what I pay for the service vs what I actually get and can use, I find 
it just marginally better.  I only hope that with competition(I plan on 
getting Surewest Broadband the second it is available in my area) that things 
will improve... 

> Just fishing for thoughts...is anybody paying for broadband, but also
> paying for separate Web or Mail hosting?

Nah, I wouldn't do that, too much trouble, not enough extra money... 

Its a luxury, not a necessity for myself anyways.  :) 

mike
-- 
wenk@praxis.homedns.org
Mike Wenk