Why I need a static IP

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kaspaas

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The Telkom charges for ADSL are so high, that the electrons carrying the data has to be covered in gold - otherwise there is no way to defend the charges.

Why a static IP should be included in the ADSL package:

1. As a business I pay R120 per month more than domestic users for no reason at all other than a whim of somebody at Telkom.

2. I now need an e-mail server elsewhere which is additional cost.

3. All e-mails require 3x the bandwidth than should I've had a static ADSL IP:
First from the sender to my external server
Secondly from my server to the Telkom ADSL net
Thirdly from the Telkom ADSL net to my premises.

Instead I could have run my "main server" in my office with my outside server as backup.

No wonder Telkom can create profits like they do - they force me to pay for 3x the bandwidth I actually required. And having the monopoly on bandwidth in the country, they take a pinch of money on each e-mail being sent.

4. I need another secondary DNS server. This can only be operated if I have a static IP. (Currently a friend and I have an agreement to assist each other, but it is safer to have your secondaries under your own control)

In Short: By asking Golden Rates, and delivering maybe charcoal, Telkom is killing a lot of ITC opportunities in South Africa.

What you should not do over ADSL:

Run production web servers
Run e-mail relays
Run file sharing services [B)]
 
Kaspaas, you can run your own mail server. Check out dyndns.org or one of the other similar services.

A number of the myadsl members are doing this.
 
Subject: Telkom ADSL Router Utility: Daily Restart, Dynamic to Static IP Address Convertor, ADSL Usage Stats

Hi,

ADSL was recently launched in South Africa and we've been using it since January. Our ISP is Telkom and in

their wisdom they decided that ADSL IP addresses needs to be reset every 24 hours meaning that you can't run a

web server on it.

We've written a utility to solve that. From the Read Me file:

A. BEFORE YOU START

This utility works with the Telkom ADSL Router. It's labelled "ADSL Router Pots" and is a flat beige hub-sized

unit. It's manufactured by Marconi. This utility has not been designed for the Alcatel ADSL modem or any other

third party ADSL modems.


B. INTRODUCTION

Though the ADSL router can automatically dial up to the internet, Telkom resets the IP address every 24 hours.

This requires one to manually restart the router or to connect to it via a web browser, log in and restart it.

This utility will automatically restart the router every 24 hours at the specified time.

The routers external IP address is determined and uploaded to a specified web site. Using the supplied Update.

asp and Redirect.asp combined with a free ASP (Active Server Page) host such as 7Host.com your ADSL line

effectively is changed from a dynamic IP address to a static IP address. Try the sample: http://free.7host01.

com/adslrouter/Redirect.asp

For a short URL use tinyurl.com. Use http://tinyurl.com/dp5c for http://free.7host01.com/adslrouter/Redirect.

asp

Your ADSL usage is retrieved from the Telkom ADSL Usage web site http://adsl.telkomsa.net.


C. INSTALLATION

Run the setupkit, Biometrics.co.za Telkom ADSL Router Restart.EXE, and select all the default prompts. After

installation run the utility from the Start/Programs/Biometrics.co.za Telkom ADSL Router Restart menu. Enter

your ADSL routers IP address, administrator user name and password. For ADSL usage data you also need to enter

your Telkom ADSL user name and password.

Click the Update button and the utility will download and upload.

An Update happens every 10 minutes.

Picture: http://www.biometrics.co.za/ADSLRouterUtility.jpg

We are releasing it as shareware. Feel free to add it as a free utility on your web site. Our FTP server is

ftp://ftp.biometrics.co.za and the file name is "Biometrics.co.za_Telkom_ADSL_Router_Restart_1.0B.EXE" in the

"Miscellaneous" folder. It's 3.60 MB.

Let us know what you think ...
 
Last edited:
The extra R120 a Month is because of the line have a high priority when it comes to repairs etc they have to do it in 24hours
 
At the gold plated rates Telkom is charging it should not be required to resort to makeshift solutions such as dyndns.

I tried dyndns, and it does not seem to be working that well in the few minutes after an IP change - emails were returned as "mail for domain x not accepted at this server". Obviously no business can afford this kind of risk.

As for the repair time: I was not asked what service level I wished to have. It was forced onto me. From my experience with the helpdesk, I doubt if I could force most of the idiots there to realise that I want a line repaired, nevermind that it is a priority repair. This said: Their are a few bright sparks at the support numbers, but it is playing russian roulette when calling.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by kaspaas</i>
<br />At the gold plated rates Telkom is charging it should not be required to resort to makeshift solutions such as dyndns.

I tried dyndns, and it does not seem to be working that well in the few minutes after an IP change - emails were returned as "mail for domain x not accepted at this server". Obviously no business can afford this kind of risk.

As for the repair time: I was not asked what service level I wished to have. It was forced onto me. From my experience with the helpdesk, I doubt if I could force most of the idiots there to realise that I want a line repaired, nevermind that it is a priority repair. This said: Their are a few bright sparks at the support numbers, but it is playing russian roulette when calling.


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Agreed, Kaspaas. DynDNS is very innovative & cool, but not for running industrial strength apps. Some DNS servers cache the lookups as well, so you might find that MTAs are trying to reach you with an IP that is a week old. Could turn out to be a most embarrassing situation.

My own personal experience with Telkom's telephonic support is that I wait a very long time listening to pretty music before I get to speak to a warm body, who invariably hands the call over to a 2nd or third level support person.

The Dynamic IP address situation was arrived at after Telkom realised that ADSL would eat into existing Leased line sales and contracts. As a monopoly, they can control the rate of technology change, so when they finally launched DSL, they had to give the product a handicap. They stand to lose billions of ZAR otherwise, which wouldn't go down well on the NYSE.

A similar situation exists in PC CPU chips. Intel has the monopoly, and so it can control the rate of change. AMD is the nearest competitor, with less than a tenth of Intel's R&D budget. Yet AMD consistently come up with products that out-perform Intel's offerings. It goes without saying that Intel posseses the technology to produce CPU chips that way outperform everything that they have got, at a quarter of the price, but why should they? By stifling technology and extending the life-cycle of existing technologies, they stand to gain far more revenue and greater profitability for shareholders.

De-regulation and healthy competition is the only answer.
 
LOL 24 hours iv been waiting , for overs week now for someone to come a guy came yesterday , and out of they wisdom they sent a ISDN techi and he ovicly knew nothing of ADSL or how it works
, how lame is it do they have sopeshil guys who only know 56k modems and guys who only know ISDN and guuys who only ADSL , thats pethetic , well they like to waste money on usless labour , thats propbbely why we also pay so much ....
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Agreed, Kaspaas. DynDNS is very innovative & cool, but not for running industrial strength apps. Some DNS servers cache the lookups as well, so you might find that MTAs are trying to reach you with an IP that is a week old. Could turn out to be a most embarrassing situation<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

cname to the dyndns address and make sure your TTL is very low.

<hr noshade size="1">iActive internet services
http://www.iactive.co.za
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Karnaugh</i>
<br />

cname to the dyndns address and make sure your TTL is very low.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

There are name servers out there ignoring the TTL settings and operating according to their own rules.

I can understand that from the point of view of an administrator of a major ISP who would not like to "waste" bandwidth/server capacity on too regular DNS updates.
 
This is just an idea, use it dont use it. Visit http://www.no-ip.com and see what they offer you...

Cheers
Ant

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by kaspaas</i>
<br />At the gold plated rates Telkom is charging it should not be required to resort to makeshift solutions such as dyndns.

I tried dyndns, and it does not seem to be working that well in the few minutes after an IP change - emails were returned as "mail for domain x not accepted at this server". Obviously no business can afford this kind of risk.

As for the repair time: I was not asked what service level I wished to have. It was forced onto me. From my experience with the helpdesk, I doubt if I could force most of the idiots there to realise that I want a line repaired, nevermind that it is a priority repair. This said: Their are a few bright sparks at the support numbers, but it is playing russian roulette when calling.


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

He who does not understand the value of war at the right time, cannot comprehend the value of life at any time - Anonymous
 
Kaspaas,

Just coming back to your original first question on why a business should pay R120-00 for ADSL. Because a business can normally claim its ADSL as an expense to SARS. And R120 is roughly what you would save. Telkom says: "We will keep that saving, thank you very much!"

The static IP address issue is one of my mayor issues with Telkom ADSL. I would like to run a small webserver with a predictable IP address. I would for instance want to monitor and control security when I am not at my premises or home.



-----------------------
| Christiaan |
------------------------
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by kaspaas</i>
<br /><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Karnaugh</i>
<br />

cname to the dyndns address and make sure your TTL is very low.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

There are name servers out there ignoring the TTL settings and operating according to their own rules.

I can understand that from the point of view of an administrator of a major ISP who would not like to "waste" bandwidth/server capacity on too regular DNS updates.


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Then I'm pretty sure the fault is with those ISP's who disregard TTL's. I dont know of any that do this though.

<hr noshade size="1">iActive internet services
http://www.iactive.co.za
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Karnaugh</i>
Then I'm pretty sure the fault is with those ISP's who disregard TTL's. I dont know of any that do this though.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

We've been running a mail server with dyndns for a few months and it's been pretty smooth. The only time mail has bounced was when the dynamic DNS client was misconfigured on our side.
 
yeah, I use dnip.net. Much faster when you're capped. (As I'm capped already.. and it's only the 3rd of the month). I think the current solution to our problem is a VPN.. when telkom disconnects you, auto-reconnect to the internet, and then to the VPN.. I don't think telkom will listen to us anytime soon.
 
yeah i dont think telkom will do enything about this anytime soon , why should they care what we have to say , we paying they getting it , what could be better , why should they care about what we gota say here , i wouldnt if i were there
 
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