[SGVLUG] SBC (Residential) Static-IP DSL Plans??

[Claude Felizardo]

my response intermixed below...

On 2/9/06, sean at seanodonnell.com <sean at seanodonnell.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I'm considering getting a static-ip DSL plan from SBC, but before I do so, I
> wanted to hear if anyone else has had a similar plan from SBC, and how their
> experience was.

I've had a Pacbell/SBC static DSL since 1999 and have been extremely
happy with them.   Other than power outages and reconfiguring of my
equipment, I can count the number of connection issues on one hand. 
Currently my router shows 18131 hours or 25+ months of continuous of
up time with the modem.  (The router has been on for 20387 hours or 28
months.)

> I was considering the following plan:
>
> ---
>
> SBC Yahoo!(r) DSL Pro-S Package
> 1.5 to 3.0 Mbps (down)
> 384 to 512 Kbps (up)
> 5 Static IPs
> One year
> $49.99/mo
> https://swot.sbc.com/swot/productDetail.do?offerId=78077

have you checked with DSLReports to see long the cable run is from the
CO?   Be aware that for a given plan, they will only guarantee the
lower speed and then cap your max speed.   So if you have a long cable
run or there are lots of taps and load coils along the way, this may
affect your max speed.

I'm at 5800 ft and have the 1500/384 plan.  I typically get 1200 down
and around 288 up.  If I wanted to pay more, I might be able to get
faster uploads but it was unlikely that I'd get close to the 3000 up
which was the next level plan at the time.  Then again, their
equipment and test tools have gotten better since then.  I too have
the original Alcatel 1000 modem  When my sister got DSL, I was jealous
that her modem included not only a router but built-in wireless!


> ---
>
> The reason I'm considering getting this sort of ISP service, is because I want
> to save money on hosting my (low traffic) web sites, and basically consolidate
> my web hosting and ISP expenses.
>
> I currently have a reseller hosting account @ Kionic, but during the holidays,
> they had a nasty server disaster and were unable to recover the email,
> databases, or html/php files for any of the sites that I have hosted there.
> Needless to say, I will no longer be using their service, as soon as I can find
> an alternative.

Don't you make your own backups of scripts and stuff?   Or is that not
available?

I'd think a big advantage of a hosting account is that they are
responsible for replacing equipment.  They also should have spares on
hand, UPS's, possibly redundant Internet connections, etc.  So was
this a one time screw up or they aren't prepared for these kinds of
problems?

> I'd prefer to have a dedicated server or co-location plan, but that is much more
> pricey than it's worth (for these sites).
>
> I need a dedicated server to run a spider/web crawler application that I have
> developed using PHP5, and shared/virtual hosting plans would not allow this
> type of activity.
>
> If I switch to this DSL service, and host my web sites from home, I will save
> approx: $600/year, as my current Cable ISP is $60/mo, and my reseller hosting
> account is approx: $50/mo.

Do you have an air conditioned location in the home where people won't
care about
the noise of the fans running 24/7?

Also, check with your electric company to see what the chances are of
rolling blackouts.  I'm fairly close to the CO and fire station that
I'm guessing that's why I'm not on the rotation list with SCE.  It was
a failed transformer on our street that took me out a few years ago.


> Now, we all know, running a web server from your house is pretty
> unorthodox/ghetto, but it has and can be done (for low traffic / non-critical
> sites).

I do it but it's all personal stuff, no public websites.  I use non
standard/advertised ports.  oh, yeah, check with them to see what the
CURRENT acceptable use policies say regarding web hosting.  will they
block port 80?  What about smtp?


> I know the bandwidth is pretty shallow, but I've been getting about 12,000
> hits/month to my home server already (using dyndns), on the same bandwidth
> ratio, and have not had a problem.

How much do people download from your site each time?  If its a a few
short files that's one thing, if its reasonably large images and
charts that might slow things down.   I've got a 1.5/384 account and
when I was doing online gaming with some friends, I was only able to
host the game if there were 1 or 2 other players, sometimes 3
depending on where they were but if we wanted a 4+ player game, we
generally had to have someone with a cable modem with higher upload
host the game.


> SBC doesn't mention Linux anywhere in their support docs and faq, but I have
> found some useful information from other Linux users who had the same plan, by
> searching thru google.

Yeah, that can be a problem.  When I first set it up, I used windows
and as soon as they left, i plugged the modem into my firewall.   For
subsequent problems, as long as I was able to satisfy myself that the
problem was past the gateway and in their network, then that was
usually enough.  I'd tell them I can ping the gateway but DNS wasn't
responding, etc.


> Does anyone here have any experience setting up a DNS server using this type > of SBC DSL Plan?

Nope.  I use dyndns.org to point to my IP.     If I ever finish
rebuilding my server at home, i may want to register my own domain and
do something similar.

claude


> Sean O'Donnell
> South Pasadena, CA (USA)
> sean at seanodonnell.com