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Aquiva

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Hi Guys

Can anyone tell me why the ISP do not offer WSUS (Windows Security Update Server) to their clients, and in a way not subtract it from their cap as a value-add. It has some benefits for them i.e less viruses=less bandwidth wastage.

Thanks!
 
Something like this would be more likely to be setup when local bandwidth doesn't count towards the cap (which is hopefully before year end), but an excellent idea and no better time to get the ball rolling than now :) ISP's, take note !
 
Thanks TheLoot for the support. I read that it is illegal for Telkom to charge for local bandwidth used (or something like that), but Telkom said that they can't split local from international bandwidth. How will they overcome this, or do you have a link to something to confirm how this will be done before year-end?

Thanks!
 
kevinswan007 said:
how does webafrica/openweb split local and international bandwidth?
Click to expand...

They don't.
If you start at the beginning of the month with a 2+28GB account and download 10 GB from a local server you end up with no international bandwidth.
You have to use the international first and then when that is finished you only have local left.

How hard can IP accounting be or is it just a matter of saying it's impossible/hard while you rake in the profits?
 
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Aquiva, regulations were published a while back that stated that "Local usage shall not count towards the cap" (see 3.4 of regulations)(Government Gazette no 29141) so yes, the fact that local usage does count towards the cap, means that Telkom/IS/Verizon etc are not in compliance.

There is a thread in another section of this forum where a forumite had complained to ICASA that local does count towards the cap, they took it further and ended up getting a response from Telkom. Telkom claimed that an upgrade needed to be performed on thier IP network (or something like that) before they could monitor in real-time the ratio of local versus international usage. How they got away with that baffles me since they do not need to monitor the ratio - they need to make it not count towards the cap ! The fact that IS and Telkom sell "local-only" accounts means that they both can very well and very efficiently (IS not so efficiently :p) tell the difference already.

Telkom said (in the abovementioned thread) that the upgrade should be completed by Novemeber 2007. So that's what I'm hoping for. I have since myself lodged a complaint to ICASA for the local usage and also for the 24-hour resets that I am subject to which are also in contravention of the regulations (see point 7 I think)
 
kevinswan007 said:
how does webafrica/openweb split local and international bandwidth?
Click to expand...

AFAIK OpenWeb/WebAfrica just resell packages supplied by IS and IS handles just about everything else (like the capping, local or international access etc).
 
I agree with TheLoot, I think Telkoms. IS etc. can do it, but try and make as much money as possible for as long as they can. I wonder if some sort of refund/benefit will be given to the ADSL users that have been done in by Telkom breaking the law.
 
you telling me with all the IT specialist skills we have in south africa, we cant sort this local/internation problem out? it cant be that hard.

how is it done in other countries?
 
kevinswan007 said:
you telling me with all the IT specialist skills we have in south africa, we cant sort this local/internation problem out? it cant be that hard.
Click to expand...

More likely "don't want to sort the problem out".

how is it done in other countries?
Click to expand...

It isn't done in other countries as far as I know.
I explained to people in Europe about international versus local bandwidth costs and my dual PPPoE connection on a Linux firewall and they were dumbstruck.
 
TheLoot said:
The fact that IS and Telkom sell "local-only" accounts means that they both can very well and very efficiently (IS not so efficiently :p) tell the difference already.
Click to expand...

Actually it's not that simple.
In order to differentiate between local and international bandwidth on a single PPPoE session you need an IP accounting solution.

It's easy to provide separate local-only and international/all accounts because you don't have to actually try to figure out what traffic is going where. All you do is count the total number of bytes for capping purposes.
For the local-only accounts all they have to do is block or heavily shape international access with some firewall rules.

Having said that I'm sure there are IP accounting solutions from the big boys like Cisco but as Telkom have pointed out they need to upgrade their systems first.
 
Paul_S said:
Actually it's not that simple.
In order to differentiate between local and international bandwidth on a single PPPoE session you need an IP accounting solution.

It's easy to provide separate local-only and international/all accounts because you don't have to actually try to figure out what traffic is going where. All you do is count the total number of bytes for capping purposes.
For the local-only accounts all they have to do is block or heavily shape international access with some firewall rules.

Having said that I'm sure there are IP accounting solutions from the big boys like Cisco but as Telkom have pointed out they need to upgrade their systems first.
Click to expand...

Aah. So if they wanted to comply before the upgrade, could they maybe give every existing ADSL user a free local only only account with a really high cap ? Or would it cost them more than simply incorporating the uncapped local in one account ?
 
Hi There

Just a short Q: But why would I want to surf locally; there are hardly any sites worth visiting (except for local news and myadsl)? I work on many research projects, doing literature searches, all databases are based in the US...

Unless, you are saying that, we conenct through a local SA proxy to access international sites???

Sorry for tracking back.

SL
 
Local access gives you the basics for your internet i.e email access, WSUS updates (if and when ISP creates their own servers), news, sport etc., but there are also a few 'download' servers in S.A.
 
ISP's are not allowed to host/distribute MS hotfixes. the hotfixes are only to be downloaded from Microsoft or via an approved 3rd party product - wsus, sms, radia or other approved distribution mechanism. Legally you are not even allowed to copy them to CD and take them home.
 
gregmcc said:
ISP's are not allowed to host/distribute MS hotfixes. the hotfixes are only to be downloaded from Microsoft or via an approved 3rd party product - wsus, sms, radia or other approved distribution mechanism. Legally you are not even allowed to copy them to CD and take them home.
Click to expand...

I did not know that :)
 
Working for a large corporate we wanted to offer a service for our users so they could take the patches home on CD and patch their home machines. Just to double check the legality of it I mailed MS local office and they confirmed we are not allowed to distribute them. :(
 
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