[kwlug disc.] Atria WiFi as ISP

[unsolicited]

Khalid Baheyeldin wrote, On 02/05/2008 7:27 PM:
> 
>     They've cut my connection in the past.  My crime?  Running a web and
>     email
>     server.

Two buddies have had their service cut due to viruses, or so they say. 
(I tend to believe them, but I could find no evidence of the virus.) 
Next time they lose it for a week. The Rogers guy I talked to about it 
at the time seemed to know his stuff. Or, at least, he didn't ask me 
"What's a virus?"

Couple of things I found out in the process:
- the events they were being accused of happened a week before they 
lost service. i.e. A reasonable virus scanner would have cleaned out 
the beastie along the way - so when they lost service, there was 
nothing to be found. <sigh>

- they are willing to automatically e-mail a message with their logs 
as to what was going on / what was found. At the time / automagically. 
If you haven't told them what address to use, you're searching for a 
needle in a haystack, that might not be there.

	Which is all to say - give them your e-mail address. You'll get the 
logs, and therefore proof of what they're talking about, and moreover, 
you'll know what the heck you're looking for!

> Many ISPs  these days block the SMTP port because of zombie PCs used to
> deliver spam.

Which is 'easily' gotten around by using TLS or SSH. i.e. They're 
blocking any any 25. Problem is, when your e-mail provider doesn't let 
you use TLS or SSH. e.g. Execulink. (Mind you, they will give you 
terminal access. Hadn't thought to try tunnelling.)

And the other side of the coin ... anything encrypted they bandwidth 
limit. Sometimes. I suspect this is based on time of day. Early AM 
torrents scream. Mid-evening torrents ... well ... the data does keep 
coming. Slowly. I can torrent a DVD iso in the early evening, have 
maybe a GB by midnight, then get the other 3.7 GB before 1 AM. Sort of 
thing.

> Initially Rogers looked the other way when you ran an email server. 
> Later they
> blocked the port, and now they allow you to run it through their own SMTP
> server, but cap the number of messages per day.

Above I say you can't get out to SMTP. Are you confirming that one 
can't get in, either? (Have to go through Rogers?)

> I have been running like that for some time with no problems.
> 
>     (I was accused of all kinds of web mischief – including running certain
>     well-known software products that are riddled with security holes -
>     that had
>     nothing to do with the event).

See logs above. And don't put up with B.S. Get up the managerial / 
technical chain as soon as you can. <sigh>

I always get good support from Rogers, over the phone that is. Course, 
you have to be irritated enough to make the call. And you'll go around 
in circles trying to get to the right person - e-support, no billing, 
no accounting, no TV, no Internet, no e-support, no ...

But once you get the right person, they'll help you to death. And bump 
you up the managerial / technical chain upon request.

Also, from what I've read ... if you whine and chew at them ... you 
can usually wangle a lower rate. Assuming you find, say, $3 off a 
month worth the hassle. I suppose it depends how irritated one is at 
the time.

In my case, it's Rogers, or no reasonable internet. Bell lines are 
just useless for data at my place.