LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Simon Hackett <simon@internode.com.au>
  To  : <drwho@firstlinux.net>
        < John Edwards >
  Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 17:09:03 +0930

'Local Access' downloading accounts [was: Re: Internode ADSL -here at last :)]

Ok, so here's a question for y'all on this topic (which has morphed 
back into into how to access local ISP resources equitably for you 
and your ISP, without, hopefully, too many arguments about the bill 
or how it was calculated)

I'm chewing over creating a new sort of dialup account here @ 
Internode, which was actually oriented towards supporting online 
gaming, but would also address the issue of accessing lots of 
Internet news as well.

The account would be approximately like this:

- $24.95 per month
- unlimited time
- unlimited downloads (yes, really), from LIMITED SOURCES (read on):

- full internet/web/etc access to any 'local' web servers (in our 
customer base, or attached to SAIX member ISP's customer bases)

- access filters applied so that downloads are only permitted from 
local-to-Internode and SAIX-connected sources

- full access to email (but only via the Internode mail server)

- full access to our news server (which has a completely loony amount 
of content on it, fed from multiple happy satellite sources)

- full access to our games servers

- blocked access to any content other than the above.  Try to surf 
outside of those boundaries, and it won't work. Try to use any other 
IP ports outside of those boundaries and it won't work.

- dynamic IP address (only, no static option)

- idle timer (probably fairly low - maybe 30 mins)
- session hard limit (probably something like 6 hours)

- special indial number to use this account, available Adelaide area 
and  Willunga/Fleurieu only (so far) - i.e. places where we have 
broadband private links back to Adelaide, as we install them - next 
likely area would be Barossa Valley

- option for full Internet access by dialling our *standard* numbers, 
but with *all* access (over a nominal/token included 50 Mb per month) 
charged at $0.18/Mb. So if you really need that external thing in a 
pinch, either pay-as-you-go downloads, or use some other ISP account 
you might have lurking for that need anyway

- Acceptable Use Policy covering deliberate attempts to rip us off 
(such as port bouncing to other Internet links and ftp-by-mail 
software to do huge external downloads through our long suffering 
mail server)

---

My target here was game players (playing on either our game servers 
or any other servers attached to SAIX), but it also works equally 
well for news server downloading.

Would anyone go for the above? Is it a useful thing to offer?

What it *does* offer you is the opportunity to create 'self service' 
local download optimisation.

What it boils down to is this:

	- dial one number, get local only for $0 per Mb
	- dial another number, get everything for $0.18/Mb.

So this is yet another opportunity for you to influence our product 
development :)

The above popped into my head a few weeks ago as one way to offer a 
reward for local access that was not subject to argument - i.e. on 
the special indial number, if you can get it at all, we definitely 
won't charge you for it - so there is no need to be worried, just try 
it - if it works, it's $0 per Mb. If it doesn't, then it isn't (and 
you can dial our main numbers to pay $0.18 /Mb to get it)

Cheers,
   Simon

At 6:08 PM -0700 25/4/01, Ian McLeod wrote:
>Actually - news downloads can often blow my usage sky
>high.  I would be mor than happy with a local
>'un-metered' news service.  Just downloading 1,000 new
>headers and then message bodies (if I want to run a
>search) can be huge.  And then there are the binary
>groups for me to use should I need them.
>
>--- John Edwards <isplist@pinnacle.net.au>
>  > wrote:
>  >Ian McLeod wrote:
>  >
>  >> The list goes on.  I don't think it is a hundred
>  >> individuals going sick that is the problem - it is
>  >> often 100 individuals downloading similar material
>  >> at some point which could have been stored locally.
>  >
>  >Sadly, Linux users who need to download ISO's are very much in the
>  >minority of ISP users.
>  >
>  >Also, caching big files doesn't scale very well, unless you've got a
>  >sort of file sharing and mirroring service. Since the majority of big
>  >downloaders are after 3 things (porn, mp3s, and warez), no ISP in this
>  >country can safely offer a content distribution service for such items.
>  >
>  >Maybe someone can negotiate you an all-you-can-eat rate for usenet news,
>  >which would let you continue downloading indefinately without adding a
>  >lot of cost to the ISP side of things if they already have a full
>  >newsfeed. Maybe you don't want news, but content only becomes valuable
>  >when someone wants it :)
>  >
>  >John Edwards
>
>==
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---
Simon Hackett, Technical Director, Internode Systems Pty Ltd
31 York St [PO Box 284, Rundle Mall], Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia
Email: simon@internode.com.au  Web: http://www.on.net
Phone: +61-8-8223-2999          Fax: +61-8-8223-1777

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