To me, this is the result of being stuck in the 90's.
Way back when you could set up a home-brew server and provide acceptable service to all your users on dial-up. But *25* years later home-brew usually means lousy transfer rates and unreliable service. For a fraction of the cost Nathan was paying, he could have used a hosting service and eliminated these problems. For example, the company I use (hostway.com) offers Linux hosting with unlimited storage, unmetered bandwidth, an SSL certificate, and more for $35/mo. At that price, who needs this rinky-dink stuff?