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I hear that only mom-and-pop ISPs let you do that these days, but I can't find a list of them anywhere. This is also a couple of questions:

1) Do you have any recommendations for those kind of (possibly local) ISPs in central New Jersey?

2) Is it possible to run a home web server off a dynamic IP address?

I want to emphasize that I'm not using this as a private music of file sharing server between family members, I'd like to serve actual webpages off it.

Thanks!

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3 Answers

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  1. Sorry nothing for you here.

  2. Yep get one of the dynamic DNS services out there.

I run a WHS off my FIOS connection on HTTPS using Microsoft's dydns. Verizon doesn't block port 80 or 443 and the 20Mbps up makes for a decent home server.

Why not a cheap hosting plan? If you want to use your own hardware to mess around I understand if not a decent virtual host would be perfect.

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Hey I like your answer but I'm pretty sure Verizon does actually block port 80 wiki.answers.com/Q/What_ports_does_Verizon_DSL_block I have Verizon now which is why I'm looking for another one. I do have a hosting plan but I recently found out my charges are going to go up and I've been thinking about having a home server for a while now. So if I can get it off the ground myself that would be great. If Verizon actually doesn't block port 80, even more great. – 7777 Sep 17 '09 at 5:28
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Maybe for their DSL but my FIOS connection is wide open and I have no problem connecting on port 80 or 443. – user10547 Sep 17 '09 at 14:24
Ah good to know. And I see that FIOS is dynamic too dslreports.com/faq/verizonfios/1.3_IP_addresses_and_Port_Info Thanks for the FIOS clarification +1! – 7777 Sep 17 '09 at 23:27
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I agree with the above answers. There are many very inexpensive webhosts out there which will be able to provide a much more stable hosting service than your home connection. I would recommending choosing the best ISP in your area in terms of speed, uptime, customer reviews and customer service. This is far more important than their allowing you to host your own website. You can then use a service such as ZoneEdit to provide Dynamic DNS service so that your computer is always accessible via a hostname of your choosing. Then, use webforwarding to point specific subdomains to different open ports in your router.

If available, Comcast has very good download and upload speeds and provides reasonably reliable service. Their service combined with ZoneEdit provides a very stable testing environment for my own "hosted server". All production sites are hosted at reputable Windows and Linux webhosts with unlimited bandwidth and storage options.

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+1 Thanks for the ZoneEdit rec. – 7777 Sep 17 '09 at 23:25
This is a helpful resource for getting started with your self-hosted web server. dslwebserver.com – BlueDevil Sep 17 '09 at 23:35
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I have done this in the past. I used ZoneEdit.com for my DNS and DirectUpdate to update my IP at zoneedit when ever it changed. My ISP didn't block the service. It was fun for a while...but it's easier to let somebody else take care of all the security stuff.

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+1 Thanks for the ZoneEdit and DirectUpdate rec. – 7777 Sep 17 '09 at 23:25
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