[olug] Cox and Web Servers

[William E. Kempf]

From: "Phil Brutsche" <phil at brutsche.us>
> A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far way, someone said...
>
> > How does everyone else work around Cox blocking port 80?
>
> Cox doesn't block port 80.  The block went away when we swiched to cox.net
> from home.com.

Nope, they are blocking again.  Check out
http://www.expressresponse.com/cgi-bin/cox_isp/displayfaq.cgi?search_input=N
ULL and the question about what ports they block.  And I've tested to verify
that this is true.

> > Specifically, is there some other port you'd recommend running on
> > instead, and is there some service similar to dyndns that would map an
> > URL transparently to this alternate port?
>
> Almost any port # you want (don't choose stuff like 25, 137-139, 111,
> etc), and yes.
>
> > Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but it seems like such a service could
> > be provided.  If not, short of paying Cox the ridiculous fees they want
> > for a business connection, which this isn't, is there any other way to
> > get Cox to open the port up, such as complaining to the right individual
> > about how this is a terrible business practice on their part.
>
> It's not terrible business practice.

Yes, it is.  They don't universally block port 80 (or the other ports), they
only do so for non-business accounts.  That's unreasonably restrictive, and
nothing but a ploy to milk their customers of more money.

> It's smart security, in the face of Nimda and Code Red.

That's a security issue for the user, and their responsibility if they
choose to run such servers.  That's not relevant to Cox.

Bill Kempf