Reader Comments on Aardvark Daily 23 April 2002
Note: the comments below are the unabridged
submissions of readers and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher.
From: Paul Warner For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Xtra Jetstart If Xtra goes ahead and down grades their "broadband" further towards 3rd world status I will jump ship to another ISP. I can live with a 10Gig cap but not 5Gig. I just hope this is an Xtra thing and not a Telecom edict that they will force on all other ISPs. From: Joe For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Jetstream 'Starter' Interesting article..I wonder if, since its call 'Jetstream' if they will allow static IP addresses. Also of note, I thought 'Jetstream Starter' was Jetsteam Home 400. I also wonder if they are trying to hand-off to would-be new users the fact that most that hear 'Jetstream' would think it is full speed DSL. I got kind of a nice surprize from Telecom the other day (will wonders ever cease) when I checked my usage of my Jetstream 600 (600M cap) and saw it had been changed to Home 1000. After calling Telecom, I was told that all Home 600 users are now Home 1000 (1GB traffic) at the same price. So they increase Jestream by 400M a month and axe Jetstarts Flat Rate. I myself can't see why anyone would want thier data provider as Xtra, I also hope my ISP dosen't follow suit and tell me I no longer have flatrate. (I also have Jetstart via my ISP) All does not bode well for the 'Vapor Knowledge Economy' that the gov't states is so critical to NZ. We are quickly heading to be a third or forth world country as far as the internet is concerned. Some of my USA internet friends are crying foul now that thier free-ride is over soon download/bandwidth wise. Once some ISP's in the USA start capping and charging for 'over- usage'. But what better way to stop 'piracy' the recording industry is yelling about, but to make it to expensive to download largish files. We all might as well go back to a modem and like it, as far as most business are concerned. But you know someone is lining thier pockets at the users expense..but such is history.. From: Vincent For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Data Capping. I wholly agree with your point. Admittedly I haven't considered caching in that light. That is 'charging for a service they didn't provide', getting the content international. I have yet to read their policy fine print but if they state 'international' traffic, then I would expect a summary in my next bill of Local and International. They can now save even more international traffic by caching streaming content with RealProxy. I would be prepared to join any action. Bring on the case. From: Brian Harmer For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Jetstream Caps The 5 GB cap on whatever it is that Jetstart is now called is vastly more generous than the miserable .5 GB on Jetstream 500 and 1 GB on Jetstream 1000, with a 20c/MB charge for excess usage. I just don't understand the rationale. What's more, they are constrained by their software (they say) from upgrading between plans except on month "anniversary" of your contract! Oh how I wish Telstra/Clear would get off their butts and run the cable up my street! From: Dave Dustin For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Xtra's JetStream Starter Looking at the page on Xtra regarding their JetStart service, it would appear you cannot track usage of the JetStream Starter package. Only the JetStream Home 500 and 1000 accounts are listed beside the link to the JetStream Usage page. If this were so, then Xtra are offering a capped service with no way to track usage. Yay! From: Craig Box For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Reply to Chris Barton you might be interested in To: chris_barton@nzherald.co.nz Hi Chris, A couple of points that I'd like you to consider in light of your current articles. I use Jetstart on an ISP that is not Xtra, and regularly get 16KB/s. I can get almost 16KB/s in the other direction as well (it should be theoretically impossible to send and receive at 16KB/s full time due to fact that TCP/IP has to receive acknowledgements for every packet it sends, and vice versa.) Xtra blamed their bandwidth problems on P2P apps such as Morpheus and Kazaa. The problem was actually their incorrect provisioning of bandwidth. I have friends that were Xtra customers getting less than 1KB/s, changed to another ISP and instantly went up to 16KB/s. The problem was nothing to do with their line, as it was rumoured Telecom suggested, because the user could change between connections on the same equipment - Xtra 1KB/s downloads, other ISP, same site, 16KB/s. Regarding your classification of heavy Net users as 'vampires', let me clarify something very important that everyone seems to be overlooking. A standard PC modem is 56Kbps, a theoretical maximum of 7KBps. Multiply that up to a day and you get 604,800Kb (590Mb) per day. That's almost 18GB in a month. A second phone line costs around $35 a month, and a flat rate dial up account costs under $30*, making this form of 'always on' connection cheaper than "Xtra JetStream Starter". It runs at only half the speed, however someone with this could download up to the 5GB cap in 10 days. This person is using more bandwidth in a month than a "Xtra JetStream Starter" customer who stays within their 5GB limit. And for an "Xtra JetStream Starter" customer to download the 18GB they could have downloaded had they not spent $400 on a DSL modem and $200 on installation, to be given sub-modem speeds, would cost $1331 above the $70 monthly cost. This user is also connecting over the analogue phone network; meaning their call contributes to overloading of exchanges, and could (in a very contrived example!) potentially be the difference between a 111 call succeeding and failing. Remember, Xtra are not the only ISP in the country. Even users who aren't 'vampires' (and I for one object to the use of the term) will be changing away from Xtra in droves after this announcement. Do you remember the public outroar when Ihug said that their flat rate Internet account was being limited to 350 hours a month? They eventually had to change their story and retract the statement, implying that it was meant for Australian customers when it was clearly sent to customers at, and from the address, ihug.co.nz. Craig Box Happy JetStart customer on a non-monopolistic ISP. There's a list of them at http://www.telecom.co.nz/content/0,2502,100621-200135,00.html. * Xtra's products page says "With the Xtra Value Pack you can connect and surf as much as you like plus you get other benefits all for one fixed monthly price of $27.95". It is linked to with the phrase "Flat rate", which is also used in several places on their web site. From: Dominic For : Right Of Reply (for publication) Subj: Changing DSL service from Telecom In some ways I am sad; in other ways, I'm not surprised. It's clear that broadband makes video sharing practical and feasible. It's clear broadband enables many activities that otherwise would not be attempted. In the US, the development of data caps and reducing the transfer rate will reduce copyright problems - but won't stop it. Also, telcos are after income. They put themselves in a disadvantageous relationship with fixed fee internet. If the vision in the telly proggie "Earth: Final Conflict" (TV4?, Sat, 9.25pm) is an indication (set in 2020 I believe), we'll be living most of our lives via the Internet. All TV programming will be broadcast via it. If all I'd pay is $50 / month and I could use the INternet till I dropped, Telecom could never, ever please it's shareholders. Why doesn't Telecom ditch the shareholder system and in it's place, put a system that is sensitive to the economy of the future? And relates to the relevance of broadband connectivity to the form of living produced by its use? (er, not sure if that makes sense.....) The new charging structure will make my life in that time difficult. Quite frankly, I couldn't survive. I am open to paying for data; I'd prefer to pay .20c per 250MB, rather than per 1MB. Anyone in Telecom reading this? From: Kurt Häusler For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Difference between you and a record company Hello. The editor places his material on the web, in the hope that people will see it, he knows beforehand, that such things as web caches operate to boost the performance of the net, and they function by storing data for retransmission. IMHO caching is not republishing, the ISP charges not for the content you produce, but the infrastructure used to deliver it, on your behalf, to your viewers. The record companies dont place their material on the web, it is first copied by someone else. I see know common ground between the 2 scenarios. But don't get me wrong, I am not anti-piracy. I have certain moral obligations against seeing my money follow the path through record companys, through the us govenrment via taxes, and then on to fund the murder of palestinians in the middle east. Call it my own form of boycott. Hell, I would feel much more guilty paying for music, or any of the many tv shows or movies I download at a rate of 2 Gigs per day through my uncapped, flatrate, 1Mbps, 25 euros per month, German TDSL connection :) From: Ian O For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: International charging test? Anyone want to try a test on Telecom's international charges? Get a mate in the USofA to set up a sizable file at an FTP site and make it available for a short period, enough for sufficent locals to download a copy to ensure it has been copied to Telecom's Proxy server(s). Then arrange for it to be removed from the US site and continue downloading it. If it appears on anyone's bill locally, it should be at the local rate, not the international rate, since it no longer exists internationally. This assumes of course that the Proxy servers don't check on the validity of what they're offering, which is unlikely if Bruce's experience with Aardvark is anything to go by. This may be simplistic, but it would be interesting to see Telecom with an eggy face.Hit Reload For Latest Comments
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