Andy R wrote:


> I can confirm that more than just Comcast does this. I
> think it's part of the script for tech support robots
> to tell you that you are breaking the rules by using
> NAT. It's too funny that there are a million companies
> selling these "routers" that help you to do just that.


Well, AT&T is selling home networking service here in WA. They 
realize people are going to have multiple machines hooked up so 
why not sell hardware or refer you to their partners (in that 
case, Linksys). I already set all my stuff up when I was with 
@Home so I have no need of the new offering, but they are aware of 
  us.


> Bottom line is, most "broadband" companies have no
> clue how to really run their networks. Anybody that
> does anything other than surfing are considered a
> threat. I'd be 100% agreeable to a contract based on
> bandwith, which is where the cost really lies, as long
> as I could have all my ports open and a static IP
> address. But they haven't figured that one out yet.
> How hard could it be? 


My take on this is that cable modems and DSL are consumer grade 
(realize that they're run by the local telco and the cable 
company, both monopolies and neither winning any awards for 
customer satisfaction). Better than modems, not as good as 
dedicated professional-quality bandwidth that would cost you $100s 
a month. You could call WorldCom or whomever and see if they'd 
pull a fractional T1 to your house, but I doubt it would be worth it.

I just use the webspace I have at Mindspring to host content: I 
have a <30 line perl script that mirrors my updated content (some 
MRTG tutorial stuff I'm building) every 5 minutes. So I can yell 
at them if my content goes away,  but I can create whatever I need 
to.

As for ports, I think you'll find that your ports are as open as 
you like: they don't filter anything here (love all those 
NETBeui/bootp requests I see).