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Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

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Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#51

Post by rvnx »

tyen_ wrote: post #42
rvnx wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are a private person and you choose to live deep in the country-side / on a desert / on an island / remote location / deep in the forest. Who should pay for your road, your electricity, your water, your internet connection when you are the one mostly benefiting from it ? Taxes have to be used primarily with the goal to maximize public interest, not the interests of single private persons. Perhaps a Starlink conne…

That's fair, maybe this family should be able to opt out of taxes that don't benefit them then, you know since they are so remote and everything.

Well it's not a stupid idea at all, that when you pay taxes, you could vote for the 3 or 4 topics that you want support in priority, and they get allocated a more budget in proportion or something like that.

This could even increase support of people to pay taxes (reducing fraud) as the taxpayers would know they would be supporting projects in line with their vision and lifestyle.

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#52

Post by upupandup »

Octoth0rpe wrote: post #9

A couple of fun facts about this guy: His little ISP is AS267, which is a SHOCKINGLY low number. That's like.. the ISP equiv of a 4 digit slashdot id, or owning something like sodapop.com. He's also one of the authors of RFC 5575, which is a pretty big deal in the DDoS world.

can somebody ELI5? what is this code mean? what is RFC 5575?

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#53

Post by alistairSH »

ericd wrote: post #26
toast0 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If utilities are underground, it can be pretty expensive to install anything. I have an estimate for municipal fiber that's about that much to get fiber a mile or two down the street overhead, and then about that much to go down my driveway underground 400 feet. It's hard to justify when the local phone company is probably going to roll out fiber in the next few years without a direct charge, at least for the portion…

Wow, have you considered buying some conduit and renting a trenching machine and giving the driveway portion a go yourself? Might be worth talking over that option with the muni fiber people. Though sounds like the overhead portion would still be $$$.

A friend did this at his farm in central VA, but for power line instead of fiber. It was previously above ground, unsightly, and occasionally damaged by trees. He dug the trench from the road and had the power company lay the wire in it and make connections at each end. I don't remember the total numbers, but he saved thousands by doing the dig himself (with rented equipment) vs paying the power company to manage it.

Of course, this assume you're comfortable with heavy machinery and can work around other utilities (most counties have a "Miss Utility" service that will mark existing services).

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#54

Post by _wolfie_ »

LetsGetTechnicl wrote: post #32
qwe----3 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That bill and these types of projects are basically why we have 10% inflation now.

Inflation isn't at 10% but it seems like investing in infrastructure is a good idea. If we needed to pinch pennies we could start at the bloated military budget

Right, in the middle of war with Russia and with war with China on the horizon. Great idea.

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#55

Post by jeffdn »

rvnx wrote: post #20
deelowe wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this sentiment. Taxes are levied to then pay for things such as infrastructure which this qualifies as. How else should this work?

You are a private person and you choose to live deep in the country-side / on a desert / on an island / remote location / deep in the forest. Who should pay for your road, your electricity, your water, your internet connection when you are the one mostly benefiting from it ? Taxes have to be used primarily with the goal to maximize public interest, not the interests of single private persons. Perhaps a Starlink conne…

It's pretty widely accepted that the government will help people gain and maintain access to infrastructure, even (especially?) in rural areas. Ever heard of the Rural Electrification Administration[0]? The Tennessee Valley Authority[1]? Despite the fact that it is not considered a _necessary_ utility de jure, internet access is hugely important in our modern society and economy. These areas have post offices, electricity, trash service, etc., so why shouldn't they also have access to internet? Those other utilities cost money to install as well.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Electrification_Act

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#56

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

rvnx wrote: post #20
deelowe wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this sentiment. Taxes are levied to then pay for things such as infrastructure which this qualifies as. How else should this work?

You are a private person and you choose to live deep in the country-side / on a desert / on an island / remote location / deep in the forest. Who should pay for your road, your electricity, your water, your internet connection when you are the one mostly benefiting from it ? Taxes have to be used primarily with the goal to maximize public interest, not the interests of single private persons. Perhaps a Starlink conne…

I don't understand this comment. There are a lot of places in the country where a majority pays for the minority when it comes to infrastructure. Case in point NYC or Chicago, whose populations and tax bases make up a majority of the state, yet their taxes still go to maintaining the state infrastructure as a whole. The state, in order to function, needs some kind of continuity and predictability to plan for population dynamics and spread out taxes accordingly.

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#57

Post by Tostino »

qwe----3 wrote: post #21
TrueGeek wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article: he had $2.6MM in help from the "American Rescue Plan's Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds". He's being paid by the government to bring Internet access to homes in the state that aren't currently wired for it.

That bill and these types of projects are basically why we have 10% inflation now.

Yeah I'm sure this is the exact US "government waste" driving the global inflation right now.

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#58

Post by [deleted] »

rvnx wrote: post #20
deelowe wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this sentiment. Taxes are levied to then pay for things such as infrastructure which this qualifies as. How else should this work?

You are a private person and you choose to live deep in the country-side / on a desert / on an island / remote location / deep in the forest. Who should pay for your road, your electricity, your water, your internet connection when you are the one mostly benefiting from it ? Taxes have to be used primarily with the goal to maximize public interest, not the interests of single private persons. Perhaps a Starlink conne…

[deleted]

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#59

Post by Consultant32452 »

tyen_ wrote: post #42
rvnx wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are a private person and you choose to live deep in the country-side / on a desert / on an island / remote location / deep in the forest. Who should pay for your road, your electricity, your water, your internet connection when you are the one mostly benefiting from it ? Taxes have to be used primarily with the goal to maximize public interest, not the interests of single private persons. Perhaps a Starlink conne…

That's fair, maybe this family should be able to opt out of taxes that don't benefit them then, you know since they are so remote and everything.

Yes.

Re: Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

#60

Post by xavxav »

Bloating wrote: post #33
TrueGeek wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article: he had $2.6MM in help from the "American Rescue Plan's Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds". He's being paid by the government to bring Internet access to homes in the state that aren't currently wired for it.

Gotta pay your fair share, so it can be granted out for someone elses gain

Today you help finance someone’s fiber, tomorrow they help finance your hospital/fire dept/etc, that’s the whole idea of public works.
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