Fucking Verizon and their bait and switch schemes.
I waited years to get FiOS, their fiber optic network. Fiber carries a much higher bandwidth, and it was bound to make better TV and faster Internet.
When it finally came to my door, I was ecstatic. I ordered the entire enchilada immediately - phone, TV, and Interweb. Then, they screwed up my install date. Then they screwed up my phone. Then they lied to me.
You see, I run this blog off a server in my house. Port 80 isn't blocked by my current Internet provider, which also happens to provide me with cable. Let me be blunt - Brighthouse cable sucks. Their DVR sucks, the signal quality is overly compressed, their HD is horrendous, etc. However, I was able to upgrade to a faster Internet connection because I had the cable package.
So, when I found out that FiOS blocked port 80 on their residential plan, I called to see about their business plan. I was told, repeatedly, that the dynamic IP business plan would allow port 80 to be open. Repeatedly. I asked to ensure they meant both incoming and outgoing and they said yes. I asked "If I put a web server on my network, anyone on the Internet can connect to it, right?" and was told "Mr. Allen, absolutely".
They fucking lied. You cannot get port 80 unblocked unless you pay $100+ a month for a fixed IP business account. No matter how many sales people, tech support personnel, and installers promise you.
Now, Verizon already has installed all their gear which means they dug up my yard and drilled holes through my outside wall. We've already switched over our phone numbers and have the cable box in use. So now, I'm in a dilemma of biblical proportions.
I told Verizon to shove the Internet line where the sun doesn't shine. I can still use Brighthouse for connectivity. But the problem is that I have to cancel the cable from Brighthouse which means they will cut down my bandwidth (the speed I have is only available with the cable + Internet package). Then, the cost of said line, even though it is smaller and slower, goes up because it too is part of the package.
So, I could just tell Verizon to get all of its shit out of my house and just stick with Brighthouse for everything. The problem is that Brighthouse sucks. Verizon's TV is superior to what crap Brighthouse sends down. And we've already changed our phone number with our friends and would have to try to switch back to Vonage.
The other issue is that FIOS Internet is blazingly fast compared to Brighthouse. I mean, night and day.
So, I can stick by my principles and stick with a shitty product (Brighthouse) or swallow my pride and get a much better product albeit without a particular function I absolutely need. ANd I have to do this knowing that the company I'd be getting it from intentionally lies to their customers to try to bait and switch them into more expensive products.
And to pay for offsite hosting... well, I might as well pay for the static IP. I can't stand the thought of not running the server the way I see fit and since I tinker with this blog code from time to time, I need immediate access to it.
So, the best case scenario has me losing my blog, the worst case makes it so slow and unresponsive I'd probably wish it was down. Port redirects aren't a solution (trust me, I tried and there are actual things that prevent me from doing it) and I'm not having funky port numbers at the end of my URL (which, incidentally is the same reason I can't use redirect very well).
AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
rolled out on
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 3:00 PM