Okay so if I got this right the host is in a student dorm?
Is there any possibility to upgrade the bandwidth to the host, or is it maxed out?
Also, have you been looking at remote hosting (i.e letting someone lend you their computer / and or connection with a remote control access) possibilities? I could offer myself for the latter part soon but I also believe it's a matter of trust of course.
I'm not asking you to do this for free obviously. I'd be willing to donate a part of the required amount for a bandwidth upgrade per month and I'm sure other people are willing to do so as well.
I've also been advertising Haven & Hearth on different forums, but most fall off due to either
1) low population
2) lag coming when server holds 350+ players, bottlenecking the population capabilities.
If we could get a thorough explanation on possible bandwidth or server upgrades I'd really appreciate it.
I'm also not against a subscription fee and I don't believe it's a bad idea for the game. Keeping it low could still attract a large amount of players, with maybe the first month free for new players to try out the depth of the game.