Upgrading my home server uplink
For more than a few decades now (!), I've been running my own server. First it was just my old Pentium 1 squatting on university networks, but eventually grew into a real server somewhere at the dawn of the millenia. Apart from the university days, the server was mostly hosted over ADSL links, first a handful of megabits, up to the current 25 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up that the Bell Canada network seems to allow to its resellers (currently Teksavvy Internet, or TSI).
Why change?
Obviously, this speed is showing its age, and especially in this age of Pandemia where everyone is on videoconferencing all the time. But it's also inconvenient when I need to upload large files on the network. I also host a variety of services on this network, and I always worry that any idiot can (rather trivially) DoS my server, so I often feel I should pack a little more punch at home (although I have no illusions about my capacity of resisting any sort of DoS attack at home of course).
Also, the idea of having gigabit links at home brings back the idea of the original internet, that everyone on the internet is a "peer". "Client" and "servers" are just a technical distinction and everyone should be able to run a server.
Requirements
So I'm shopping for a replacement. The requirements are:
higher speed than 25/6, preferably 100mbps down, 30mbps up, or more. ideally 1gbps symmetric.
static or near-static IP address: I run a DNS server with its IP in the glue records (although the latter could possibly be relaxed). ideally a /29 or more.
all ports open: I run an SMTP server (incoming and outgoing) along with a webserver and other experiments. ideally, no firewall or policy should be blocking me from hosting stuff, unless there's an attack or security issue, obviously.
clean IP address: the SMTP server needs to have a good reputation, so the IP address should not be in a "residential space" pool.
IPv6 support: TSI offers IPv6 support, but it is buggy (I frequently have to restart the IPv6 interface on the router because the delegated block stops routing, and they haven't been able to figure out the problem). ideally, a /56.
less than 100$/mth, ideally close to the current 60$/mth I pay.
(All amounts in $CAD.)
Contestants
I wrote a similar message asking major ISPs in my city for those services, including business service if necessary:
- Oricom -
ventes@oricom.ca - TSI -
sales@teksavvy.com Ebox -bought by Bell (!?)sales@ebox.ca- Beanfield/Openface
- oxio -
bonjour@oxio.ca, added ~2 years later, sold to Cogeco
I might have forgotten some, let me know if you're in the area and have a good recommendation. I'll update this post with findings as they come in.
Keep in mind that I am in a major Canadian city, less than a kilometer from a major telco exchange site, so it's not like I'm in a rural community. This should just work.
TSI
First answer from TSI was "we do not provide 30mbps upload on residential services", even though they seem to have that package on their website. They confirmed that they "don't have a option more than 10 mbps upload."
TSI were the first to respond, within 24h.
Oricom
They offer a 100/30 link for 65$ plus 25$ for a static IP.
No IPv6 yet, unlikely to come soon. No services blocked, they have their own PoP within Videotron's datacenters so clients come out from their IP address space.
I can confirm that the IP is fairly static from the office.
Oricom were the second to respond, within 24h, but required a phone call instead of an email exchange. Responded within 6 hours after leaving a voicemail.
Ebox
Update: what used to be called Electronic Box has now been bought by Bell. It's therefore irrelevant to the conversation here.
Ebox claims my neighborhood supports 400mbps down, but offered me a 100/30 package with 350Go bandwidth per month for 54.95$/mth or unlimited for 65$/mth.
Many ports are blocked, which makes it impossible for me to use their service:
- port 25 blocked incoming
- port 25 filtered outgoing (only allowed to their servers)
- port 53 blocked incoming
No static IP addressing, shared dynamic space so no garantee on reputation. IPv6 only on DSL, so no high speed IPv6.
Ebox took the longest to respond, about 48 hours.
Beanfield / Openface
Even though they have a really interesting service (50$/mth for unlimited 1gbps), they are not in my building. I did try to contact them over chat, they told me to call, and I left a message. They responded saying they mostly offer business services for now, no residential in Montreal.
Oxio
oxio looks promising. The costs seem reasonable with a nice transparency statement. They have status page and speed test. They provide a weird Amazon router, but we can use another. No contract, no setup fees.
Their TOS explicitly forbids running Tor relays and generally doesn't seem as liberal as others.
63$/mth + tx for 120/20mbps, contacted with the standard boilerplate on 2022-02-25T10:29:30-0500, response within the hour:
no ports restrictions "on router or service"
no static IP
no clean IP
no IPv6
So this might be a good provider for a regular client, but not for my use case.
Update: Oxio was sold to Cogeco, so much for the independent player... Prices are currently unchanged. Cogeco, interestingly, doesn't offer services to my location at all.
Others
Friends from the debian-quebec community came up with a bunch of
other, smaller and seemingly independent providers that might be worth
a look as well:
Those have not been reviewed by myself in any shape or form.
Discarded
- Fizz seem like a cheap option! 400/50 for 60$/mth, ports may be open, according to this post, unclear, but a chat with tech support clearly states they do not have a "business" class, no static IP address
I have not contacted those providers:
Bell Canada: i have sworn, two decades ago, never to do business with that company ever again. They have a near-monopoly on almost all telcos in Canada and I want to give them as little money as possible.
Update: ironically, I'm now considering Bell again, possibly breaking my vow. It's quite unfortunate, but they are the only ones offering fiber in the neighborhood and while they probably won't allow me to run a server or anything, they have cut-throat prices currently. Their package page actually varies by location, but on the phone (1-866-558-0708 is the magic, undocumented number to call, don't try their online chat, it's useless) they can qualify your line (apparently) within 24-48h and call you back.
Prices were quoted as 3gbps symmetric at 65$/mth (normally 80$/mth), then 1, 1.5 or 2.5gbps at 60$/mth.
Update 2: turns out I don't have to break my vow after all. They were supposed to call me back and (of course) didn't. When I called back, they told me the line couldn't be qualified, so it seems like Bell insists on offering crap old copper in a central Montreal area in 2023.
Videotron: I know for a fact they do not allow servers on their network, and their IPv6 has been in beta for so long it has become somewhat of a joke now
Updates
2023-07-24
I had a nightmare time trying to convince bell to give me their sweet 3gbps symmetric fiber link for 60$ / mth. I spent hours on the phone being bounced back between incompetence and hilarity, and eventually got a robo-call survey at the end. Awesome. They refuse to offer me service.
Most reasonable deal I could find was Ebox, 120/20 for 55$/mth. That probably won't allow me to host the server there, but I have to get something moving, and I've heard you get notified when fiber does land, so I have hope.
2024-01-29
Again, I'm confronted with this problem. Oricom is having trouble porting my IP address to a new subscriber: they want me to register a new account, and for that they need a provincial business number (a "NEQ"), which is another 40$/year fee. Which means they only accept business registered in the province, which seems ludicrous to me.
Compared to others who live in the countryside, my situation is ridiculous. My fine colleague is getting symmetric 3gbps and a redundant 100mbps link far out of the city, and I can't get any fiber here. It's amazing.
So I shopped around for options again:
- TekSavvy is 85$/mth for 120mbps, before the static IP, so not cheap, but maybe should be reconsidered. they did try to do IPv6 at least. update: have a business package, 108$/mth for a 250/50 on a 12-month contract, 100$ installation fee, 21$/mth extra for a /29 (6 usable IPs), so actually cheaper than Oricom. asked about latency. possibility of ADSL fallback as well, for an extra 70$/mth on a 1-year contract, ~55$/mth on a 3-year contract
- EIcat is, amazingly, still in business, and some contact there responded to a ping, still trying to figure out pricing and conditions
- Bell charges 32$/mth for a static IP and they don't want my business anyway
- Videotron is 35$/mth, interestingly you can get a /29 for 80$/mth too
- Rogers might be interesting, but are unavailable in my region
- Cogeco might be as well, but the sales rep burst out laughing when I mentioned I was in Montreal, so I guess that's a nope as well
- Oricom is 130$+tx/mth for 250/50 all included, needs NEQ, but could accept US business
- b2b2c is 99$+tx/mth for 100/30, 400/50 for 129$. were dithery about email hosting ("maybe it will work, but won't change IP if it doesn't"), asked about contract length)
So the short list right now is TSI, Oricom, b2b2c (they answered a ping, amazingly).
In fact, according to this search site there are exactly zero ISPs that provide static IPs in Quebec
I posted two threads on DSL reports (1, 2) and the answer was basically to get a proxy service, which I have considered, but I refuse to admit defeat. I still think we should be able to host a server at home, and that the internet should be more symmetric.
Other than the speed being lower than what you want and the IPv6 being iffy, does TSI satisfy your other requirements?
I live on the South Shore, and haven't been very happy with either Vidéotron or Bell. Teksavvy might be an improvement.
It does, mostly. I'm looking for something cheaper / faster.
One problem I have with TSI is they are not local. I come out from somewhere in Ontario, both in geolocation but also (more critically) in terms of latency. So that's inconvenient for local voice conferencing, where you want latency to an absolute minimum.
DSL also adds quite a lot more latency than cable, so the latter is kind of becoming a must. And unfortunately, there, TSI has the same problems as Ebox, last I checked (that is, services are blocked).
I'm with Ebox in NDG, on DSL 50/10. I believe 53 (DNS) is blocked, unless you have a static IP, which they do sell. IPv6 on DSL works well so far, I have a DHCP'd but ultimately static /56.
You've seen this (older) post from the CEO?
Many of the limitations you're seen come down from Videotron as far as I can see, so DSL is probably one of your best options if you want the flexibility.