Ask Geek LJ :-}

[randysmith]

So I've had ISP service with Speakeasy DSL for a while now, but I'm beginning to get a little sick of them. My original reason for going with them was that they provided a static IP address and that they had knowledgeable, geek-friendly technical support. But over the years both how knowledgeable and how geek-friendly their tech support is has gone downhill, I haven't used the static IP, and speakeasy's pretty expensive, especially with the current economy (I'm paying $60/month and Verizon's $20 at their cheapest, and $43 if I find I really need good bandwidth (which I actually doubt I do)).

But my sense of the "standard" ISP world is that if you step one step out of the box they've set up for you they come down on you like a ton of bricks. And I have a few things that I'd really like that are non-standard:
* Two IP addresses (both dynamic is fine). They're both NAT routers; I keep my wireless network separate from my wired network.
* Tech support not getting hives when you mention the name of a non-Windows OS.
* Ok with sending outgoing mail with a different address than my incoming mailbox. I have my own domain and have no interest in having mail sent directly to an ISP I may leave next year (or month). The last support call I had with speakeasy they told me that I was using them for email forwarding, and that wasn't supported (Dude, I'm on your network and I forward the address in my From: line straight back to you; how is this forwarding?)

I'd like to have:
* No outgoing port filtering. I'm not planning on doing server stuff (see "never used static IP" above), so incoming port filtering, while annoying and wrong, I don't care about on a practical level.
* Preference for net neutrality; I realize that I may not get this.
* SSL & Password (or better) authentication for outgoing mail (I want this because I've found authentication to be correlated with being able to send email from behind firewalls, and I'd like SSL so my password isn't in the clear :-}).

Am I crazy to look a little longingly at Verizon's prices? More generally, what ISPs do the folks on my friendslist use? Many of you are substantially geekier (along this axis) than I--I can't believe that you hook your computer directly up to the wall and use the email address that Verizon gives you. What options do I have for a non-speakeasy DSL ISP that'll let me keep my current setup?

Thanks much in advance ...