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    I am going to start an ISP

    IT Business
    isp wisp
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    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller
      last edited by

      I recommend mixing Vultr and Linode.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • bigbearB
        bigbear @NerdyDad
        last edited by

        @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

        @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

        @coliver said in I am going to start an ISP:

        @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

        @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

        Some tips...

        1.) Never even think about building a tower. Make a deal for a building top or get with American Tower (http://www.americantower.com) if you cant get high enough.

        Tower building and maintenance is a whole other business, any tower would end up costing 3 times what you are talking about.

        2.) You will register with IANA as an autonomous network and get your own IP address range assignment. Its illegal to resell internet from Spectrum, etc

        3.) Plenty of Tier 1 internet to contract with to your main tower site. Start with 2 connections, they will be redundant as your ip range will be hooked to a BGP. Any teir 1 internet provider will gladly walk you through all this to get your business

        4.) Make sure your first site is as HIGH as possible.

        5.) If you are going to bootstrap it (which is what UBNT is all about) you really should be thinking about any capital investments out of the wireless equipment.

        And I would add to this, almost certainly you can lease a space in a tall building and get roof access, sometimes just for trading internet access to the building manager if they have offices on premise. You can also sell internet down through said building, link backhaul to nearby buildings and do the same.

        I was going to mention that. One of the WISPs does that around here they paid for the backbone into the building and the lease is "free" for them.

        first WISP I started circa 2001 we used water towers in a rural area as a starting point. We got it free just because the whole area only had dial up and the city couldnt get Time Warner to bring cable internet int.

        The second time we were on top of the tallest building in a 60 mile radius with out initial office lease. Small data center in the building.

        American Tower has been crucial for residential expansions. We built a tower site on a government/school leased land and it was a nightmare.

        So you've been around this block a time or two, huh?

        Had given serious thought to a 3rd round trip but, as I predicted, Spectrum halves pricing and doubled speeds around the tri-state. I think the more rural you are the better your chances of success are.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • S
          StorageNinja Vendor @NerdyDad
          last edited by

          @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

          I would try to keep the business itself as paperless as possible, but would give the sub the option either way.

          This one is simple. Charge $5 more a month for paper billing and outsource it to someone who does paper billing.

          scottalanmillerS bigbearB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
          • scottalanmillerS
            scottalanmiller @StorageNinja
            last edited by

            @storageninja said in I am going to start an ISP:

            @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

            I would try to keep the business itself as paperless as possible, but would give the sub the option either way.

            This one is simple. Charge $5 more a month for paper billing and outsource it to someone who does paper billing.

            You need an avatar.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • bigbearB
              bigbear @StorageNinja
              last edited by

              @storageninja said in I am going to start an ISP:

              @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

              I would try to keep the business itself as paperless as possible, but would give the sub the option either way.

              This one is simple. Charge $5 more a month for paper billing and outsource it to someone who does paper billing.

              You should check out zoho invoicing, they offer paper service. There stuff has come a LONG way. I was recently looking at using stripe.com and zoho for payments.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • scottalanmillerS
                scottalanmiller
                last edited by

                Zoho is generally quite nice.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S
                  StorageNinja Vendor @bigbear
                  last edited by

                  @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

                  3.) Plenty of Tier 1 internet to contract with to your main tower site. Start with 2 connections, they will be redundant as your ip range will be hooked to a BGP. Any teir 1 internet provider will gladly walk you through all this to get your business

                  You are joking, right? Level3 used to basically tell you to go @#$@ yourself if you don't know eBGP and you call them to do a link turn up.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • S
                    StorageNinja Vendor @scottalanmiller
                    last edited by Minion Queen

                    @scottalanmiller said in I am going to start an ISP:

                    You can mitigate nearly all of that by splitting them between Vultr locations. But that still leaves account exposure primarily (I need to do a video on that!!)

                    I've seen Cloud Providers and ISP's f*** [moderated] up their external BGP announcements and get black holed by everyone they peer with....

                    bigbearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • ObsolesceO
                      Obsolesce
                      last edited by

                      Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                      Just a thought!

                      NerdyDadN 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • S
                        StorageNinja Vendor @brianlittlejohn
                        last edited by

                        @brianlittlejohn said in I am going to start an ISP:

                        What area of West Texas? I am in Midland/Odessa area

                        In Rocksprings, I can get 20Mbps down in my west pasture by the sinkhole on 4G. Cell providers are going to increasingly threaten WISPs.

                        ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • ObsolesceO
                          Obsolesce @StorageNinja
                          last edited by

                          @storageninja said in I am going to start an ISP:

                          @brianlittlejohn said in I am going to start an ISP:

                          What area of West Texas? I am in Midland/Odessa area

                          In Rocksprings, I can get 20Mbps down in my west pasture by the sinkhole on 4G. Cell providers are going to increasingly threaten WISPs.

                          Turn left at the 3rd cow, straight ahead down'yonder?

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • bigbearB
                            bigbear @StorageNinja
                            last edited by

                            @storageninja said in I am going to start an ISP:

                            @scottalanmiller said in I am going to start an ISP:

                            You can mitigate nearly all of that by splitting them between Vultr locations. But that still leaves account exposure primarily (I need to do a video on that!!)

                            I've seen Cloud Providers and ISP's fuck up their external BGP announcements and get black holed by everyone they peer with....

                            Verizon, Sprint and Cogent were all very helpful 10 to 15 years ago. Havent really needed that kind of help since then.

                            But if you do get shit from anyone tell them to #$%#$% off because you will figure it all out if you stick to it. Like anything else.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • NerdyDadN
                              NerdyDad @Obsolesce
                              last edited by

                              @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                              Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                              Just a thought!

                              And that is not a bad thought at all. Need to familiarize myself more with IPv6, but still a possibility.

                              bigbearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • bigbearB
                                bigbear @NerdyDad
                                last edited by

                                @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                                Just a thought!

                                And that is not a bad thought at all. Need to familiarize myself more with IPv6, but still a possibility.

                                I just still believe its never going to happen. Some type of paradigm shift is going to have to occur, akin to where iPhone brought mobile computing to the masses and boosted social networks.

                                Mostly, because case in point, even experienced IT admins still havent messed much with it. Even in VoIP you got ICE, which is far superior to TURN - but not adoption at all.

                                ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • ObsolesceO
                                  Obsolesce @bigbear
                                  last edited by Obsolesce

                                  @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                  @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                  @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                  Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                                  Just a thought!

                                  And that is not a bad thought at all. Need to familiarize myself more with IPv6, but still a possibility.

                                  I just still believe its never going to happen. Some type of paradigm shift is going to have to occur, akin to where iPhone brought mobile computing to the masses and boosted social networks.

                                  Mostly, because case in point, even experienced IT admins still havent messed much with it. Even in VoIP you got ICE, which is far superior to TURN - but not adoption at all.

                                  It's heavily used publically... LANs, no, it's very rare.

                                  Most of everything is IPv6 now... look at all major ISPs and Cell data.

                                  On your cellphone, turn off your WiFi and go to whatismyip.com

                                  NerdyDadN bigbearB 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • NerdyDadN
                                    NerdyDad @Obsolesce
                                    last edited by

                                    @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                    @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                    @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                    @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                    Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                                    Just a thought!

                                    And that is not a bad thought at all. Need to familiarize myself more with IPv6, but still a possibility.

                                    I just still believe its never going to happen. Some type of paradigm shift is going to have to occur, akin to where iPhone brought mobile computing to the masses and boosted social networks.

                                    Mostly, because case in point, even experienced IT admins still havent messed much with it. Even in VoIP you got ICE, which is far superior to TURN - but not adoption at all.

                                    It's heavily used publically... LANs, no, it's very rare.

                                    Most of everything is IPv6 now... look at all major ISPs and Cell data.

                                    On your cellphone, turn off your WiFi and go to whatismyip.com

                                    That depends on if UCRM/UNMS and the CPE equipment can support IPv6. Forums are showing that they are working on that.

                                    bigbearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • bigbearB
                                      bigbear @Obsolesce
                                      last edited by

                                      @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                      @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                      @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                      @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                      Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                                      Just a thought!

                                      And that is not a bad thought at all. Need to familiarize myself more with IPv6, but still a possibility.

                                      I just still believe its never going to happen. Some type of paradigm shift is going to have to occur, akin to where iPhone brought mobile computing to the masses and boosted social networks.

                                      Mostly, because case in point, even experienced IT admins still havent messed much with it. Even in VoIP you got ICE, which is far superior to TURN - but not adoption at all.

                                      It's heavily used publically... LANs, no, it's very rare.

                                      Most of everything is IPv6 now... look at all major ISPs and Cell data.

                                      On your cellphone, turn off your WiFi and go to whatismyip.com

                                      Not really, are you in Europe or soemthing.

                                      Carrier Grade NAT has been much preferred over IPv6 with mobile carriers in the US at least.

                                      I am writing this from my mobile phone cell connection with an IPv4 address

                                      DashrenderD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • bigbearB
                                        bigbear @NerdyDad
                                        last edited by

                                        @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                        @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                        @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                        @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                        @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                        Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                                        Just a thought!

                                        And that is not a bad thought at all. Need to familiarize myself more with IPv6, but still a possibility.

                                        I just still believe its never going to happen. Some type of paradigm shift is going to have to occur, akin to where iPhone brought mobile computing to the masses and boosted social networks.

                                        Mostly, because case in point, even experienced IT admins still havent messed much with it. Even in VoIP you got ICE, which is far superior to TURN - but not adoption at all.

                                        It's heavily used publically... LANs, no, it's very rare.

                                        Most of everything is IPv6 now... look at all major ISPs and Cell data.

                                        On your cellphone, turn off your WiFi and go to whatismyip.com

                                        That depends on if UCRM/UNMS and the CPE equipment can support IPv6. Forums are showing that they are working on that.

                                        Yeah and that's another case in point.

                                        I don't think it's gonna happen. I don't think it was designed for easy consumption.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • DashrenderD
                                          Dashrender @bigbear
                                          last edited by

                                          @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                          @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                          @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                          @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                          @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                          Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                                          Just a thought!

                                          And that is not a bad thought at all. Need to familiarize myself more with IPv6, but still a possibility.

                                          I just still believe its never going to happen. Some type of paradigm shift is going to have to occur, akin to where iPhone brought mobile computing to the masses and boosted social networks.

                                          Mostly, because case in point, even experienced IT admins still havent messed much with it. Even in VoIP you got ICE, which is far superior to TURN - but not adoption at all.

                                          It's heavily used publically... LANs, no, it's very rare.

                                          Most of everything is IPv6 now... look at all major ISPs and Cell data.

                                          On your cellphone, turn off your WiFi and go to whatismyip.com

                                          Not really, are you in Europe or soemthing.

                                          Carrier Grade NAT has been much preferred over IPv6 with mobile carriers in the US at least.

                                          I am writing this from my mobile phone cell connection with an IPv4 address

                                          yeah, but is it a NAT'ed address?

                                          bigbearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • NerdyDadN
                                            NerdyDad @Obsolesce
                                            last edited by

                                            @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                            @bigbear said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                            @nerdydad said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                            @tim_g said in I am going to start an ISP:

                                            Have you thought about IPv6? Why start a millennium behind?

                                            Just a thought!

                                            And that is not a bad thought at all. Need to familiarize myself more with IPv6, but still a possibility.

                                            I just still believe its never going to happen. Some type of paradigm shift is going to have to occur, akin to where iPhone brought mobile computing to the masses and boosted social networks.

                                            Mostly, because case in point, even experienced IT admins still havent messed much with it. Even in VoIP you got ICE, which is far superior to TURN - but not adoption at all.

                                            It's heavily used publically... LANs, no, it's very rare.

                                            Most of everything is IPv6 now... look at all major ISPs and Cell data.

                                            On your cellphone, turn off your WiFi and go to whatismyip.com

                                            Got IPv6 on my cell phone. Every time I check from work or home, its always IPv4.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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