[mythtv-users] Comcast vs. FIOS, ease of mythtv integration?

[Brian Wood]

On Friday, July 09, 2010 12:45:42 pm Eric Sharkey wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 2:38 PM, Greg Woods <greg at gregandeva.net> wrote:
> > I believe you will find that the terms of residential service explicitly
> > prohibit running servers.
> 
> Of course.  But that doesn't make it right.
> 
> Bill me per packet if you want.  Bill me more for an increased
> reliability guarantee if you want.  But don't bill me more because you
> don't like the bit patterns inside my packets.  That's just not right.

It has nothing to do with the "bit pattern". It has to do with the fact that upstream bandwidth is at a premium with cable 
TV data systems, and running a server means you will presumably have a lot more outgoing traffic than a typical residential 
connection.

When something is scarce the price goes up. Residential service provides only a sliver of outbound bandwidth, because most 
people don't need it, and it is in shorter supply than downstream B/W.

So the cost reflects the availability of outbound bandwidth, if you want to use a scarce resource, by running a server, you 
pay more.

Port 25 is often blocked by ISPs in order to make your machine(s) unattractive to spammers who might compromise you. If 
they can't send out spam from your connection, there is less reason to target you.

Many mail providers (like Apple) will accept smtp traffic on ports other than 25, but spammers generally don't try to send 
out spam through Apple, they have the resources to filter and/or block it, which most residential users do not.


So it might not be "right", but it does accurately reflect the situation with their network and the world at large.