unblock port 80

[Mark J. Dulcey]

Robert L Krawitz wrote:

> They seem to be a few dollars more than Verizon or such, but it's
> small change in the overall scheme of things to get a provider that
> treats me as a customer rather than as a calf, sucking on the teat of
> the entertainment-retail complex.

No, they're often not more expensive if you compare apples to apples. 
(You can find a complete summary of Speakeasy prices at 
http://www.speakeasy.net/main.php?page=res_allpricing - that's the 
Mozilla-friendly version. The fancy Javascript-driven one doesn't work 
with Mozilla currently. To get to the Verizon prices, you have to go to 
http://www.verizon.net/promo/com/ and give them a phone number that 
qualifies for DSL.)

The most basic Speakeasy package is "Standard EssentialEdge Basic", 
which costs $49.95/month. The least expensive Verizon package is the 
same price. Verizon does give you 10MB of web space and 4 email 
addresses (instead of 2) with that package, but Speakeasy lets you run 
your own servers, so I'd call that a wash. If you pay Speakeasy an extra 
$10/month, they'll give the 10MB, plus 30 hours of dialup (handy for 
travel - they have dialup numbers nationwide). They'll also give you two 
static IP addresses ("/radsl/usr") - something Verizon won't sell you at 
any price - and you can buy more if you need them.

Verizon is a bit cheaper if you step up to the faster services with 384K 
uplink speed. Their version is $79.95/month (with dialup and web space), 
while Speakeasy charges $89.95. Still worth it. You want the 
"/radsl/usr/gold" version, rather than "Standard NetExpert Pro", because 
it comes with two IP addresses instead of one - just what you need if 
you want to run your own DNS servers and host domains.

In fairness, I will point out that Verizon is offering a better 
introductory offer - they'll give you $10/month off for the first three 
months. Verizon also gives you a cheap digital camera, and Speakeasy 
gives you a cheap video card. Both are currently offering installation 
cost rebates.

Another difference - Speakeasy doesn't oversell its upstream bandwidth. 
In other words, they have enough backbone bandwidth so  that you 
actually get the speed you're paying for. Verizon's record on that is 
mixed, at best. A nice fast link from your house to the local CO doesn't 
do you much good if the ISP has a bottle neck a couple of hops up the chain.