Reader Comments on Aardvark Daily 27 June 2002
Note: the comments below are the unabridged
submissions of readers and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher.
From: Bahu For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Weights and Measures Good point, but a question that impacts on this is how much data have I sent as opposed to how much I thought or can prove I sent/received. MIME, BinHex and UUEncoding and such like, the methods used so that we can send/receive attachments from our modern (8bits to a byte) PC's and systems over the 30 year old (7bit to a byte) internet, makes most files larger. The difficulty is that you have to be able to prove that you got what you paid for or have been short changed. From: paul For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: ADSL Usage meters Interesting article. Since June 20 I have been comparing the Xtra Jetstart web based usage with a program call DU Meter that I have on my PC at home. I find that the Xtra usage is always higher that what DU reports. DU reports all traffic in and out of the PC even LAN printer traffic. I am watching it with interest. From: Matt For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Jetstart usage monitoring I've just got Jetstart at home. I run Smoothwall firewall software to isolate my internal home LAN from the ADSL router modem/internet. Smoothwall has fantastic traffic analysis and graphing tools, and I will use them to compare with what Telecom says I use via their usage meter. Smoothwall is free (its GPL), runs on a dedicated machine (requires a 486 or above), is easy to install and supports both dial up modems and ADSL via USB or ethernet. http://www.smoothwall.co.uk From: Jon Dean For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: ADSL Metering What exactly is being measured by Telecom. Is it IP traffic? or PPP packets? or ATM packets? Where exactly is it measured? Maybe at the DSLAM at the local exchange or maybe somewhere closer to Telecom international IP gateway. I realise that Jetstart/Jetstream Starter traffic is routed/managed/billed by the ISP, but with this type of account international traffic differs from national. How? What is the definition of national? Most of us don't have a clue what we are actually purchasing, because Telecom sees fit not to tell us.How many people actually understand the difference between Jetstart and Jetstream... ie. who is ultimately providing the internet connectivity? From: Steve For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Usage Metering One of the main problems with traffic metering for billing purposes is that the end user does not always understand how the billing is done and how it relates to the data that has been sent/received over their link. There have been a few articles on this subject on the DSL mailing list, one highlighting why what you see with programs such as DU Meter and what the ISP bills you for are different. (http://www.unixathome.org/adsl/archives/2002_05/0311.html) Telecom giving people traffic metering programs is not really going to help things much, the problem if anything will simply get worse, especially where there is traffic shaping involved, as more and more people will think that what the little program tells them is 100% accurate. While it would be good for an organisation to step in and prove that ISP metering is done correctly, this also is not usually an option simply because most corporations like this also don't understand the technology. Were there to be such an organisation that were capable of doing this then you would probably find the ISP's would want to get certified as this would help them prove to customers that they ARE infact being billed correctly without spending weeks in some cases, tieing up technical staff simply to prove that a user did actually do their 20.5Gig worth of traffic. (to add to the problems, if you have ever seen the output of a netflow report broken down to individual flow lines, and put into CSV format, its not nice, and there ain't many programs out there that can actually process it :-) ) From: Steve For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Useage Meters I note that the new Telecom useage meter will likely only access the same meter you can now see on the internet to get the results. It looks like it does not itself calculate useage at all, only display Telecom's figures on your computer. This gives the user a false impression that it is somehow counting differently and lull the user into thinking that the Telecom Useage Meter is correct, when in fact it is only reading the same meter. It is also, itself, adding to the amount of bandwidth that can be charged to you. I admit that it should be neglegable, but with potential for abuse. From: Keith For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Weights & Measures "Why should IP data be exempt from the rigorous scrutiny of the people at the Weights and Measures department of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs?" The short answer is that data isn't covered by the Weights and Measures Act. The long answer is that the science of metrology is based on tracability. The weights that a W&M inspector uses for checking a butcher's scales are calibrated against their department's standard which in turn is calibrated against NZ's national standard which in turn is calibrated against the international standard which is a 1 kg lump of platinum which sits in an air conditioned vault in Paris. There are simply no such *metrology* standards for data. A better remedy for consumers (but not business) is perhaps the current bill in Parliament which will bring telecommunications and software into the coverage of the Consumers Guarantee Act.Hit Reload For Latest Comments
Now Have Your Say
Home | Today's Headlines | Contact | New Sites | Job Centre | Investment Centre