Hopefully I have used the term correctly. I live in a fairly rural area of the United States, we have only one highspeed internet provider locally, and only two that provide dialup, but neither one have coverage for the entire county.

Here is my question: I am interested in knowing what it would take to start up a 'Point of Presence' if you will, DUN/RAS that would log people in to AOL (yuck) and other national providers. I understand that I would need to contract with them to set this up, but a lot of people would like to have alternatives to the local brand of internet, whether they want faster or cheaper.

Are there websites I can visit that are informative or documents or books I should consult?

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

It depends on how many people you want to service at the same time: you'll need one modem and phone line per user. You can get modem cards that contain multiple numbers of modems on them, and you'd also need a server capable of running the cards, and user accounts for each of the users.
You'd also need to pay for an internet connection (bear in mind that the more users you have, the more bandwidth you'll need, and even though you won't be making any outgoing calls on the modem lines, you'll probably end up having to pay line rental.

So the short answer is yes, it can be done, but it'll take time, effort and lots of money

Originally posted by pbuckne:

"Here is my question: I am interested in knowing what it would take to start up a 'Point of Presence' if you will, DUN/RAS that would log people in to AOL (yuck) and other national providers. I understand that I would need to contract with them to set this up, but a lot of people would like to have alternatives to the local brand of internet, whether they want faster or cheaper."

Well, I deal often DIRECTLY with my ISP since it is in my neighborhood & I have gotten to know the gent that owns it fairly well (stopping by there to talk shop & tossing him referral business, etc.).

He did a REALLY smart thing that helped his business excel:

That was to offer his shop as a dialup/dialin node for PeoplePC & other "national/larger" chains for cheap dialup you see on the T.V., & this has gotten him a large wave of new members. He survived w/out it, now it appears he is getting ahead because of it.

Now, in your case? IF you are the only "node" for a dialin WAN like most ISP's imo really are in your area exclusively?? My guess is they will hop on you like "White on Rice" because you'd be giving them a chunk of market & customers nobody else can apparently from your description of things in your area, etc..

(You're on the RIGHT track here imo because I've seen it done via watching his business moves & they worked! His shop's survived 1-2 years now on its own & now has greater security + membership via "partnering" with PeoplePC, etc. as another area specific dialin server for their national lists.)

* Good Luck, & congratulations on having the stones to start your OWN show in this life - that takes "balls" imo!

(Who knows? I haven't looked @ modem nests & such in years, but they may even help you cover things like "RocketPort" cards (iirc, allows multiple modem dialins etc.) & such too!)

APK

P.S.=> Myself? I can't really complain about being on dialup again, mainly for financial purposes! Switching from $50++ a month for TimeWarner RoadRunner from 1999-2003 iirc was tossing money out the window really for how I use the net personally (mostly email, & @ most typically program patches OR antivirus/antispyware updates). Dialup cuts it great for myself & I have saved TONS because $6-$9 is NOT == $50 per month, this has let me save money for other goals I have... that's good stuff! apk

The idea of working with national providers like AOL, Juno and PeoplePC is exactly what I am after, I would rather not sign up folks myself and the like, too much hassle, and far too many end users just don't know what they are doing, I would rather see them making that support call to someone else, and continue to work as the 'node'.

Thanks for the encouragement. I have a small business doing computer repair that has a good name and makes good money, but I would like to see something else going on for the community that also makes me money.

Does anyone know any books, any online resources I can get my hands on that will help me get started? I have a couple of guys who can configure the software, but they have no experience with licensing or other things than I do. I am a hardware guy, and I know I can build whatever servers are needed, etc, I just need direction on configuration.

Thanks, Pbuckne

Originally posted by pbuckne:

"Thanks for the encouragement. I have a small business doing computer repair that has a good name and makes good money, but I would like to see something else going on for the community that also makes me money."

No problem, and it sounds like you have "instant potential customers" as well if you keep it cheap, especially.

You mention "for the community" - that helps you, because you might be able to get a grant for it from the government believe-it-or-not...

(Especially if you set it up as "non-profit". I'm not an expert here, but I have heard you can get up to $65,000 from the U.S. Government in cases where you are trying to startup a business/organization that is of that nature).

You might want to look into "governmental grants" online.

Also? Non-profit doesn't mean YOU don't earn a paycheck either. I've done work for non-profit organizations in the past & got paid for it weekly and so did the people working there... that's the 'great illusion' that non-profit companies have going for them many people are not aware of.

* Some food for thought...

APK

I'm a little surprised that you don't have national dial-in numbers for the large ISPs.

Here in Aus, all major ISPs have either 13xxxx numbers or 0198xxxxxx numbers which you can dial in from anywhere at the cost of a local call.

Apparently it does some automatic cool thing were it locates the closest POP for the ISP and hooks you in. If you approach those ISPs and offer them some rack space in your business and allow them to hook up the required telco lines, you might be surprised how enthusiastic they are.

Essentially you don't even need ever to talk to a customer as all you are doing is allowing these ISPs to use some of your space and put in some cables. If you make the rent attractive, you should be on a goer. Then all you need is a foil hat and and cod-piece to protect your important bits when you enter the room and you'll be sweet.