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Creating my own ISP
I purchased an ASN, purchased a /24 IPv4 subnet from auction now I am looking for two ISP to start up my project. I plan to start in a colo facility somewhere in the St. Louis area and sell my own transit.
My question is how exactly do I begin. Before anyone goes in on me I've been doing a lot of research on how to build my own ISP and the basics of what things I've learned is you must own your own IP block which I have and my own ASN which I as well have.
My goal is to sell transit to providers locally in the St. Louis area via MMR for a couple of years and then possibly expand.
I have gotten a few quotes from He.net as well as CogentCo for transit but I am confused as to what to do next.
Any information would help, I have not made out a complete business plan but since I had the spare cash I went ahead and grabbed a /24 subnet as well as an ASN. For the past few months I've been fooling around with my MX240 and a few servers trying to get the feel for networking again and I feel confident.
Comments
I don’t want to be rude, but this isn’t the place to ask for help with setting up infra with your venture. (yes, I saw what you said about going in on you)
Having said that, a few helpful tips:
You’ll have a really hard time giving decent bandwidth to your (future) customers if your network blend is limited to either one. Even with both, you’ll have a pretty crappy time with the complaints that you’ll get for the terrible international bandwidth.
(TL;DR: find better upstreams before continuing)
Just so you are aware, you won't be able to do this alone.
Do expect to spend some capitals.
Wow how stupid can some one be to ask blabla I want to start an ISP but have no idea. I mean really? I want to start an airline can some one please help me or even better write me a business plan? I mean are this questions for real? I don’t believe ...
So you’ve first spent money and then are asking for the most basic advice ?
Summer ISP > Summer host.
@HashTag - people here are right. You plan to open an ISP which is very competitive and run by some big players and you lack some basic knowledge about how to set one - and what's your advantage over your competitors.
I'd say take the money and find some other venture.
If you don't have anything constructive why post?
I obviously have a business plan or I wouldn't have wasted money on an IP block and an ASN. I have knowledge in the field as well as have worked with many companies in the St. Louis area whom are ready to actively invest in this project once I have the right people in the right places.
This thread was meant to gain some insight on networking, finding providers and actively seeking good network blends from a community of people I know are guru's in this field. However if you feel my questions are stupid feel free to keep your rude comments to yourself and save thread space for folks who can actually provide helpful feedback and not childish, unhelpful and rude replies.
Made my day.
Where did @William go? Last visit december'17...
I spent* the money on the basic things needed for ISP which was the first steps in this project for me. Its a long term thing which of course will take months upon months of planning and studying. I am actively doing research as well keeping in mind I don't expect any of this to be up and running at least until the 3rd qtr of next year.
Not planning on being that at all, for what its worth not only do I have the capital for a project of this length but I actively partner with many smaller internet providers in the St. Louis area to provide them dedicated internet access and some are as well interested in this project.
I am actively working on this as well doing research not only on the industry and starting an ISP but as well monitoring the market here in St. Louis. Hopefully by mid next year Ill have a solid industry entrance plan for now I'm in the early stages.
Well good luck to you, there's a lot of work ahead.
@HashTag, don't take the nasty negative comments personally. LET is quite a... err.. shall we say.. harsh place. Basically no matter what you post, be it a question, a request or a review, there will inevitably be an ample supply of negative comments coming your way. Mostly saying you're stupid, or unprofessional, and then people will come up with their own cock-eyed theories, assumptions, and narrative ignoring anything you actually said... Just the way things are here. Don't take it personally.
The real question I think is, what exactly do you want to do? How do you plan to sell transit exactly? Do you have connectivity already? A /24 isnt exactly large, and an ASN isn't exactly worth anything. Do you really mean to sell transit? Why would providers buy transit from you instead of HE.net or Cogent directly?
How much time and money are you willing to invest? Do you plan to run the network yourself?
Mostly agree with this. I know a few guys in HK running small DCs who are trying to break into the broadband market with just a couple of guys, and it seems to be a pretty challenging undertaking.
If you want to be a Ghetto ISP you can go with a Cogent/HE blend, but I personally would get at least one decent carrier + Cogent. Cogent is good for the price, but you want at least one carrier that is not dropping peerings left and right. We are very happy with TATA here in Frankfurt, but I am not sure how they perform in the US.
Good drama on LET this week. This troll is happy.
@HashTag
My 2c:
You only have one /24 in v4 addresses. You'll probably need to NAT.
NAT means you'll probably want to employ IPv6 as well. Allocate at least /64 for end users, and /48 for businesses.
You'll need to offer modems. There are plenty of manufacturers, but you'll need a model that supports both NAT and IPv6.
You need staff. Staff to install manage your infrastructure, staff to perform installations, etc.
That's just the tip of it too. Best of luck.
@FlamesRunner He’s trying to offer transit (not service to individual households)
Which is harder in my view. Becoming a residential ISP is much easier.
Well, I guess he wants to do it the Rocky way.
Do you have any idea about how much capital it will cost? equipment, location etc. Also is there any project plan? this may help as well. https://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2015/03/09/start-your-own-isp/
Probably a Low End ISP... soo... $7?
Sounds odd.
For the year right?
The plan is simple. He expects LET to guide him. I suppose that can be done. But he will need to do the leg works which I doubt he is willing to do.
Enter LET dark magic where everything magically starts to work in his favor.
Some time later, he will wake up in a hospital after apparently taking too much dose of awesomeness.
It would be easier to just resell transit, build a customer base and hire some who knows what to do.
Good luck mang. Everyone went in on you anyway. Welcome to LET. If I'm ever in St. Louis I'll download some torrents on your network and file a complaint
You should take your own advice.
You're being a bit dramatic lol, he just posted a thread asking for pointers and everyone was like Zoo000oooomg what an idiot starting an ISP and asking for pointers? Flame, flame, flame.
You must be new if you think that is dramatic for LET.
I know that a lot of people are being dicks on this thread completely unwarranted.
It's not like he was sounded egotistical, or over-confident. He already showed initiative and was asking for pointers.
"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".
You are new then.
I don't really think that's something to be proud of, or stuck in a state you can't be positive.
According to Anthony, he's proactively trying to improve the community since becoming admin.
Also, usually on threads negativity is abundant it's for a reason, such as OP being a dick himself. In this case, not really warranted.
A friend of mine started an ISP a while ago, they hate middlemen & absolutely won't go into business with someone who's merely reselling HE.
It's a cutthroat market which is nigh impossible to penetrate without spending at least 7 figures - save your money & look into something else.