One of the cheapest Linux computers you can buy brand new (not at a garage sale) is the Linksys WRT54G, an 802.11g wireless access point and router that includes a four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch and can be bought for as little as $69.99 according to Froogle. That's a heck of a deal for a little box that performs all those functions, but a look inside is even more amazing. There you'll find a 200 MHz MIPS processor and either 16 or 32 megs of DRAM and four or eight megs of flash RAM -- more computing power than I needed 10 years ago to run a local Internet Service Provider with several hundred customers. But since the operating system is Linux and since Linksys has respected the Linux GPL by publishing all the source code for anyone to download for free, the WRT54G is a lot more than just a wireless router. It is a disruptive technology.
A disruptive technology is any new gizmo that puts an end to the good life for technologies that preceded it. Personal computers were disruptive, toppling mainframes from their throne. Yes, mainframe computers are still being sold, but IBM today sells about $4 billion worth of them per year compared to more than three times that amount a decade ago. Take inflation into account, and mainframe sales look even worse. Cellular telephones are a disruptive technology, putting a serious hurt on the 125 year-old hard-wired phone system. For the first time in telephone history, the U.S. is each year using fewer telephone numbers than it did the year before as people scrap their fixed phones for mobile ones and give up their fax lines in favor of Internet file attachments. Ah yes, the Internet is itself a disruptive technology, and where we'll see the WRT54G and its brethren shortly begin to have startling impact.
You see, it isn't what the WRT54G does that matters, but what it CAN do when reprogrammed with a different version of Linux with different capabilities.
Yes, smartypants, I know that other wireless access points and routers run Linux or can be made to run Linux. It didn't take long for hackers to figure out that Apple's original AirPort access point used a version of the 486 processor and could be convinced to speak Linux. But the WRT54G is different. This is a $70, not a $299 box and its use of Linux is no secret. Linksys, now owned by Cisco, not only doesn't mind your hacking the box, they are including some of those hacks in their revised firmware.
We're not in Kansas anymore.
Probably the most popular third-party firmware you can get for the WRT54G comes from Sveasoft, a Swedish mobile phone software company. Actually, Sveasoft is only kinda-sorta Swedish since the head techie (and for all I know the company's only employee) is James Ewing, a former contract programmer from California. Ewing took time off to visit Honduras where he met a woman from Sweden, and a decade ago moved with her back to Scandinavia, where they live three kilometers from the mainland on an island without broadband Internet service. Looking for a cheap wireless connection much like the one I had a few years ago in Santa Rosa, Ewing discovered through the Seattle Wireless Group web site the amazingly adaptable WRT54G, and has devoted much of his time since to improving the little box's firmware.
If you have a WRT54G, here's what you can use it for after less than an hour's work. You get all the original Linksys functions plus SSH, Wonder Shaper, L7 regexp iptables filtering, frottle, parprouted, the latest Busybox utilities, several custom modifications to DHCP and dnsmasq, a PPTP server, static DHCP address mapping, OSPF routing, external logging, as well as support for client, ad hoc, AP, and WDS wireless modes.
If that last paragraph meant nothing at all to you, look at it this way: the WRT54G with Sveasoft firmware is all you need to become your cul de sac's wireless ISP. Going further, if a bunch of your friends in town had similarly configured WRT54Gs, they could seamlessly work together and put out of business your local telephone company.
That's what I mean by a disruptive technology.
The parts of this package I like best are Wonder Shaper and Frottle. Wonder Shaper is a traffic-shaping utility that does a very intelligent job of prioritizing packets to dramatically improve the usability of almost any broadband connection. If you supposedly have all this bandwidth, but uploading slows your downloading to a crawl or web surfing makes your VoIP phone calls break up, you need Wonder Shaper. At the expense of the top 10 percent of upstream and downstream bandwidth, Wonder Shaper makes brilliant use of what's left over. The result is that not only are phone calls and web serving unaffected by each other but your wireless ISP customers won't have a measurable effect on your surfing, either.
Frottle is another Open Source product, this one coming from a network of wireless networks in Western Australia. Frottle's job is to cure the hidden node problem that was left unsolved in the original Wireless Distribution System (WDS) 802.11 specification from 1999. Hidden nodes are wireless clients or access points that are out of range from one party in a client-AP data transfer. 802.11's CSMA/CD technology assumes that all parties can listen on the line and avoid collisions. But on a wireless network this isn't always possible, so Frottle uses a token-passing scheme (yes, just like Arcnet or Token Ring) to make sure only one node at a time can talk whether the clients can hear each other or not. Maximum bandwidth is limited but maximum throughput is increased, which is why IBM used to argue that Token ring's four megabits-per-second was more bandwidth than Ethernet's 10 megabits.
Neither Wonder Shaper nor Frottle are the most elegant solutions, but they work well and they work together on the Sveasoft firmware.
The result is a box you connect to power, to a DSL or cable modem and MAYBE to your PC (if all you want to be is a service provider the PC isn't needed) and it automatically attaches itself to an OSPF mesh network that is self-configuring. In practical terms, this mesh network, which allows distant clients to reach edge nodes by hopping through other clients en route, is limited to a maximum of three hops as the WiFi radios switch madly back and forth between sending and repeating modes. If you need to go further, switch to higher-gain antennas or gang two WRT54Gs together. Either way, according to Ewing, his tests in Sweden indicate that if 16 percent of the nodes are edge nodes (wireless routers with DSL or cable modem Internet connections), they can provide comparable broadband service to the other 84 percent who aren't otherwise connected to the Net.
There is an obvious business opportunity here, especially for VoIP providers like Vonage, Packet8 and their growing number of competitors. If I was running a VoIP company ,I'd find a way to sell my service through all these new Wireless ISPs. The typical neighborhood WISP doesn't really want to DO anything beyond keeping the router plugged-in and the bills paid, so I as a VoIP vendor would offer a bundled phone-Internet service for, say, $30 per month. I handle the phone part, do all the billing and split the gross sales with the WISP based the traffic on his router or routers. If one of my users walks around with a WiFi cordless phone, roaming from router to router, it doesn't matter since my IP-based accounting system will simply adjust the payments as needed.
The result is a system with economics with which a traditional local phone company simply can't compete.
That's just one idea how these little routers might be used. The actual killer app will probably be something altogether different, but I am convinced this is the platform that will enable it. And that's because what we are talking about here isn't just what you can do with a WRT54G, but what you will soon be able to do with almost any wireless access point.
The cat is out of the bag. This same firmware runs on Belkin, ASUS, and Buffalotech routers today. The source code comes from Broadcom, not Linksys. Linksys paid a Taiwanese company called Cybertan to customize the Broadcom standard Linux distribution that is given to all manufacturers. Two years from now, the current crop of name-brand routers will give way to dirt cheap generics from China and Taiwan with exactly the same hardware and chips. If you look inside the current 802.11g crop from the big names you have basically two routers -- Broadcom and Atheros. They are all based on reference designs and are essentially identical internally.
A well-funded VoIP company like Vonage could today start WISP-based deployment one city at a time. With newspaper ads and direct mail, they could recruit what would be essentially micro-franchisees, each of which would get at cost a pre-configured router (or my preference -- a pair of routers) and a DSL or cable broadband account. Since each node costs the VoIP provider exactly nothing, the problem of flaky franchisees is eliminated by over-building the network and conscientious franchisees make more money as a result. For $50 down and $30 per month the franchisee makes $93.75 per month (provided they keep the connection up and running). Want more revenue? Put routers in all your stores or delivery trucks or in the homes of your friends in exchange for giving them free Internet and/or phone service. Your take per router drops to $78.75 but your gross profit margins are still more than 70 percent.
Or imagine a school or a church distributing routers among parents or parishioners as a fund-raiser. Let's see how long SBC or Verizon lasts against the Baptists. Now THAT's disruptive.
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2004/pulpit_20040527_000456.html
Friday, August 24, 2007
Internet Service Provider
Organization that provides Internet services, including access to the Internet. Several types of company provide Internet access, including online information services such as CompuServe and America Online (AOL), electronic conferencing systems such as the WELL and Compulink Information eXchange, and local bulletin board systems (BBSs). Most of the more recently-founded ISPs, such as Demon Internet, offer only direct access to the Internet without the burden of running services of their own just for their members. ISPs vary in the way they charge for services: some charge a flat monthly or quarterly fee; others do not charge for Internet provision instead getting revenue from advertising and electronic commerce; others obtain revenue through complex arrangements with the companies that provide physical delivery such as telecommunications and cable companies. ISPs serve individuals as well as companies and act as gatekeepers to the Internet. They are linked to each other through Network Access Points (NAPs) which are major Internet connection points.
Such companies typically work out cheaper for their users, as they charge a low, flat rate for unlimited usage. By contrast, commercial online services typically charge by the hour or minute.
The second largest Internet Service Provider, after AOL, was formed in the USA by the merger of Mindspring Enterprises, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and EarthLink Network in Pasadena, California, completed in February 2000. Mindspring had a market value of about $1.5 billion and EarthLink was worth about $2 billion. The deal created a company named EarthLink, Inc, with more than 3 million subscribers (to AOL's 20 million).
In September 1998, the UK ISP scene was revolutionized by the launch by Dixons, the UK high-street electrical retailer, of Freeserve, the first ISP with no registration or set-up fees and no monthly subscription charges. Users still have to pay for local-rate telephone connection charges. In 2000, this freedom from charges was taken a step further with the launch of services free of telephone charges, but in some cases with a flat fee, by BT, AltaVista, ntl, and others. BT also introduced a flat-fee broadband service using ADSL.
http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Internet+Access+Provider
Such companies typically work out cheaper for their users, as they charge a low, flat rate for unlimited usage. By contrast, commercial online services typically charge by the hour or minute.
The second largest Internet Service Provider, after AOL, was formed in the USA by the merger of Mindspring Enterprises, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and EarthLink Network in Pasadena, California, completed in February 2000. Mindspring had a market value of about $1.5 billion and EarthLink was worth about $2 billion. The deal created a company named EarthLink, Inc, with more than 3 million subscribers (to AOL's 20 million).
In September 1998, the UK ISP scene was revolutionized by the launch by Dixons, the UK high-street electrical retailer, of Freeserve, the first ISP with no registration or set-up fees and no monthly subscription charges. Users still have to pay for local-rate telephone connection charges. In 2000, this freedom from charges was taken a step further with the launch of services free of telephone charges, but in some cases with a flat fee, by BT, AltaVista, ntl, and others. BT also introduced a flat-fee broadband service using ADSL.
http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Internet+Access+Provider
Internet providers to combat child porn
New York (AP) - Five leading online service providers will jointly build a database of child-pornography images and develop other tools to help network operators and law enforcement better prevent distribution of the images.
The companies pledged $ 1 million among them recently to set up a technology coalition as part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They aim to create the database by year's end, though many details remain unsettled.
The participating companies are Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., EarthLink Inc. and United Online Inc., the company behind NetZero and Juno.
Ernie Allen, the chief executive of the missing children's center, noted that the Internet companies already possess many technologies to help protect users from threats such as viruses and e-mail "phishing" scams. "There's nothing more insidious and inappropriate" than child pornography, he said.
The announcement comes as the U.S. government is pressuring service providers to do more to help combat child pornography. Top law enforcement officials have told Internet companies they must retain customer records longer to help in such cases and have suggested seeking legislation to require it.
AOL chief counsel John Ryan said the coalition was partly a response to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales' April speech identifying increases in child-porn cases and chiding the Internet industry for not doing more about them.
The creation of the technology coalition does not directly address the preservation of records but could demonstrate the industry's willingness to cooperate.
Plans call for the missing children's center to collect known child-porn images and create a unique mathematical signature for each one based on a common formula. Each participating company would scan its users' images for matches.
AOL, for instance, plans to check e-mail attachments that are already being scanned for viruses. If child porn is detected, AOL would refer the case to the missing-children's center for further investigation, as service providers are required to do under federal law.
Each company will set its own procedures on how it uses the database, but executives say the partnership will let companies exchange their best ideas - ultimately developing tools for preventing child-porn distribution instead of simply catching violations.
"When we pool together all our collective know-how and technical tools, we hope to come up with something more comprehensive along the lines of preventative" measures, said Tim Cranton, Microsoft's director of Internet safety enforcement programs.
Ryan said that although AOL will initially focus on scanning e-mail attachments, the goal is to ultimately develop techniques for checking other distribution techniques as well, such as instant messaging or Web uploads.
Representatives will begin meeting next month to evaluate their technologies, determining, for instance, whether cropping an image would change its signature and hinder comparisons. Also to be discussed are ways to ensure that customers' privacy is protected. Authorities still would need subpoenas to get identifying information on violators.
The companies involved said they are talking with other service providers about joining. But companies that do not participate still are required by law to report any suspected child-porn images, and many already have their own techniques for monitoring and identifying them.
http://in.ibtimes.com/articles/20060705/internet-provider-child-porn-combat-aol-yahoo-microsoft-earthlink-online-netzero.htm
The companies pledged $ 1 million among them recently to set up a technology coalition as part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They aim to create the database by year's end, though many details remain unsettled.
The participating companies are Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., EarthLink Inc. and United Online Inc., the company behind NetZero and Juno.
Ernie Allen, the chief executive of the missing children's center, noted that the Internet companies already possess many technologies to help protect users from threats such as viruses and e-mail "phishing" scams. "There's nothing more insidious and inappropriate" than child pornography, he said.
The announcement comes as the U.S. government is pressuring service providers to do more to help combat child pornography. Top law enforcement officials have told Internet companies they must retain customer records longer to help in such cases and have suggested seeking legislation to require it.
AOL chief counsel John Ryan said the coalition was partly a response to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales' April speech identifying increases in child-porn cases and chiding the Internet industry for not doing more about them.
The creation of the technology coalition does not directly address the preservation of records but could demonstrate the industry's willingness to cooperate.
Plans call for the missing children's center to collect known child-porn images and create a unique mathematical signature for each one based on a common formula. Each participating company would scan its users' images for matches.
AOL, for instance, plans to check e-mail attachments that are already being scanned for viruses. If child porn is detected, AOL would refer the case to the missing-children's center for further investigation, as service providers are required to do under federal law.
Each company will set its own procedures on how it uses the database, but executives say the partnership will let companies exchange their best ideas - ultimately developing tools for preventing child-porn distribution instead of simply catching violations.
"When we pool together all our collective know-how and technical tools, we hope to come up with something more comprehensive along the lines of preventative" measures, said Tim Cranton, Microsoft's director of Internet safety enforcement programs.
Ryan said that although AOL will initially focus on scanning e-mail attachments, the goal is to ultimately develop techniques for checking other distribution techniques as well, such as instant messaging or Web uploads.
Representatives will begin meeting next month to evaluate their technologies, determining, for instance, whether cropping an image would change its signature and hinder comparisons. Also to be discussed are ways to ensure that customers' privacy is protected. Authorities still would need subpoenas to get identifying information on violators.
The companies involved said they are talking with other service providers about joining. But companies that do not participate still are required by law to report any suspected child-porn images, and many already have their own techniques for monitoring and identifying them.
http://in.ibtimes.com/articles/20060705/internet-provider-child-porn-combat-aol-yahoo-microsoft-earthlink-online-netzero.htm
ISP- Free Internet Access
Internet is one of the most essential things for some of the regular Surfers. We have a v variety of Internet Access Providers called as ISPs. They give different types of Inertest Access to their Customers, usually for a Price. But there are ISPs who provide access to the Internet absolutely free.
Let’s see about providing free cheap Internet access. We see several Advertisements like the following in the Papers. We provide quality, cheap dial up Internet access and a fast dial up Internet that enables you to start surfing the web quickly. We are cheap web hosting, domain hosting, budget hosting, reseller hosting, Linux hosting, Internet Access provider. Web hosting, cheap co-location, T1 and Dialup Internet access Accounts.
If there are only a few People on your Network use the Internet just to read e-mail and text-oriented Web pages, cheap access works. The main thing is to combine the cheap high speed Internet access provider with the above mentioned facts. If you want a free ISP provider, cheap Internet access, or to compare discount Internet Service providers, there are free ISP Service providers who can help you out.
Sign up with a Free ISP provider now for a free ISP account and start to get the benefits of cheap Internet access. Most of them provide quality, cheap dial up Internet access and a fast dial up Internet that enables you to start surfing the web quickly. In this modern days of always on Broadband and T1 Internet connections paying for a dial up connection is not worth it. There is no reason to pay much for Internet access when there are fast, reliable and cheap Internet service providers.
Even most of the free Internet Service providers simply provide you with a reliable, cheap Internet access account. These Free ISPs operate on Advertisement revenue and to maximize their revenue they will design their Services in such a way that they are able to display more number of Advertisements on your Screen. At times they include various sponsored Programs also on their Networks.
These Internet access providers have hundreds of Internet access Telephone Numbers to enable easy and cheap local access to almost everyone. An ISP caters to many thousands of Customers at one time, and they give access to all the areas of Internet. But they do not have many Security features in place to protect against Internet viruses, Worms and harmful Spy ware and Ad ware Programs.
So, it is very important that you use a combination Anti- Virus, and effective programs that can prevent the infection of Spy ware and Ad ware on your computer. Your System must have firewall Protection also to protect you against unauthorized access of your Computer by others who are also connected to your Free ISP. John Gibb is the owner of free ISP guides , For more information on internet service providers check out http://www.Free-ISP-Information.Info
http://www.amazines.com/Internet/article_detail.cfm/152651?articleid=152651
Let’s see about providing free cheap Internet access. We see several Advertisements like the following in the Papers. We provide quality, cheap dial up Internet access and a fast dial up Internet that enables you to start surfing the web quickly. We are cheap web hosting, domain hosting, budget hosting, reseller hosting, Linux hosting, Internet Access provider. Web hosting, cheap co-location, T1 and Dialup Internet access Accounts.
If there are only a few People on your Network use the Internet just to read e-mail and text-oriented Web pages, cheap access works. The main thing is to combine the cheap high speed Internet access provider with the above mentioned facts. If you want a free ISP provider, cheap Internet access, or to compare discount Internet Service providers, there are free ISP Service providers who can help you out.
Sign up with a Free ISP provider now for a free ISP account and start to get the benefits of cheap Internet access. Most of them provide quality, cheap dial up Internet access and a fast dial up Internet that enables you to start surfing the web quickly. In this modern days of always on Broadband and T1 Internet connections paying for a dial up connection is not worth it. There is no reason to pay much for Internet access when there are fast, reliable and cheap Internet service providers.
Even most of the free Internet Service providers simply provide you with a reliable, cheap Internet access account. These Free ISPs operate on Advertisement revenue and to maximize their revenue they will design their Services in such a way that they are able to display more number of Advertisements on your Screen. At times they include various sponsored Programs also on their Networks.
These Internet access providers have hundreds of Internet access Telephone Numbers to enable easy and cheap local access to almost everyone. An ISP caters to many thousands of Customers at one time, and they give access to all the areas of Internet. But they do not have many Security features in place to protect against Internet viruses, Worms and harmful Spy ware and Ad ware Programs.
So, it is very important that you use a combination Anti- Virus, and effective programs that can prevent the infection of Spy ware and Ad ware on your computer. Your System must have firewall Protection also to protect you against unauthorized access of your Computer by others who are also connected to your Free ISP. John Gibb is the owner of free ISP guides , For more information on internet service providers check out http://www.Free-ISP-Information.Info
http://www.amazines.com/Internet/article_detail.cfm/152651?articleid=152651
Content Filtering for ISP / Telco
Internet access has become a commodity. Loyalty can be fleeting. The difference between one Internet provider and another is often peripheral to the actual Internet connection. How can you retain or increase your subscriber base? What will make the difference? Reducing subscriber churn can have a dramatic effect on profit and growth projections.
Most Internet providers believe that Internet filtering is a must have in their product and service offerings to subscribers. Some providers use filtering as a central theme that distinguishes them from other providers. In any case, the technology offered must have high perceived value and ease of use by the subscriber base. Different filter products are expected for business subscribers and residential subscribers.
You know what your customers need. That's why Netsweeper lets you choose from a range of filtering products for large business, small business, and residential users. We even a full security suite that includes antivirus and antispyware protection. Find the competitive advantage that attracts new customers and keeps the existing ones happy.
Ease of Deployment to Subscribers
Anyone deploying a 3rd-party product or service has to be concerned about the ease of deployment. Every expectation is that the majority of cases will go smoothly with no support intervention at all. And those few cases requiring support need to be resolved quick and with empathy. The goal ultimately is to increase or retain subscribers, not to increase the support staff workload.
No one wants to complicate their product offering by including in their suite a product that has a significant support overhead. In the Internet provider industry, all are concerned about impact on existing support levels. In addition, what is the response of 2nd and 3rd level support? Is there an empathy for providing service at arm's length?
A significant goal of Netsweeper product development is to develop and enhance products that require the minimum of support intervention. As an example, our Client Filter has one of the smallest footprints in the industry – which can be important when offering it to tens of thousands of subscribers. Our customer support team is made up of people who have worked at Internet providers before – they know what it is like to be in your shoes with subscribers on the phone.
http://www.netsweeper.com/ISP
Most Internet providers believe that Internet filtering is a must have in their product and service offerings to subscribers. Some providers use filtering as a central theme that distinguishes them from other providers. In any case, the technology offered must have high perceived value and ease of use by the subscriber base. Different filter products are expected for business subscribers and residential subscribers.
You know what your customers need. That's why Netsweeper lets you choose from a range of filtering products for large business, small business, and residential users. We even a full security suite that includes antivirus and antispyware protection. Find the competitive advantage that attracts new customers and keeps the existing ones happy.
Ease of Deployment to Subscribers
Anyone deploying a 3rd-party product or service has to be concerned about the ease of deployment. Every expectation is that the majority of cases will go smoothly with no support intervention at all. And those few cases requiring support need to be resolved quick and with empathy. The goal ultimately is to increase or retain subscribers, not to increase the support staff workload.
No one wants to complicate their product offering by including in their suite a product that has a significant support overhead. In the Internet provider industry, all are concerned about impact on existing support levels. In addition, what is the response of 2nd and 3rd level support? Is there an empathy for providing service at arm's length?
A significant goal of Netsweeper product development is to develop and enhance products that require the minimum of support intervention. As an example, our Client Filter has one of the smallest footprints in the industry – which can be important when offering it to tens of thousands of subscribers. Our customer support team is made up of people who have worked at Internet providers before – they know what it is like to be in your shoes with subscribers on the phone.
http://www.netsweeper.com/ISP
Internet Providers Should Find Their Way to IMAP
A big part of this problem is the way most people check their e-mail -- an old standard called Post Office Protocol, POP for short, that was developed for a far simpler time.
If we downloaded e-mail to only one computer, POP would still work. But between work and home computers and Web-mail options, it's easy to have three different routes to one inbox -- something POP was never designed for at all.
Trying to check a POP account from two computers is always a mess. If you download each e-mail to only one computer, you lose track of who sent you what.
But if you keep your messages on your Internet provider's computers until you've copied them to every machine you use, you can expect that mail server will eventually forget which messages you'd already retrieved, sending down fresh copies of every one and flooding your inbox with duplicates.
A better mail setup that solves those problems was developed over a decade ago and has been tested extensively since. But IMAP (pronounced "eye-map," it stands for "Internet Mail Access Protocol") suffers two flaws of its own: One is that most Internet providers don't offer it. The other is that most users don't know it exists.
I can't do much about the first thing, but this is my attempt to change the second.
Like POP accounts, IMAP allows you to use the e-mail program of your choice. Unlike POP (but much like Web-mail), IMAP gives you the ability to access all of your e-mail from wherever you log in, while also tracking what you've done with each message.
So you can check your e-mail from different places, yet never lose your place.
Log in from every computer you use, borrow a friend's e-mail program, or use a Web-mail interface -- and every time, you can pick up where you left off by seeing which messages you've read, replied to, forwarded, flagged for follow-up or filed away in their own folders.
You can even start writing a message on one computer and finish it on another, since an online Drafts folder is a regular feature. So is a Templates folder for your stationery.
Spam and viruses are easier to deflect, since your mail software can peek at each new message before downloading it, then wipe it off the server before it gets to stain your hard drive. But if your computer does get wiped out by a virus, you won't lose your e-mail from it.
This setup functions best over broadband connection, but since IMAP mail programs can automatically "mirror" your online folders on your hard drive, it works over dial-up too. Even if you can't get online, you can still see every message that had arrived when you last checked your mail -- unlike Web-mail.
Finally, when you do want to archive e-mail -- for example, when your account starts to bump up against its disk quota -- it's easy to move messages to a local folder on your computer for permanent storage.
The odds are that you've used something like this once before. America Online's mail system was built on similar principles, and it remains one of the company's biggest advantages over its competitors. (In one useful aspect, its ability to store your address book online puts AOL ahead of IMAP itself.)
Making use of IMAP means finding an amenable Internet access provider. AT&T Worldnet, Comcast, EarthLink, Juno/NetZero, SBC Yahoo and Verizon all offer only POP and Web-mail access.
The usual explanation is that consumers don't want IMAP, and it would cost too much to offer anyway.
"We haven't seen a large demand from the pure consumer segment," said Stephen Currie, EarthLink's director of product management, in an e-mail forwarded by the service's PR department. He also noted the added processing capacity and disk costs needed by IMAP, concluding, "I don't think it would be feasible to offer a mainstream free IMAP product."
Further down the food chain, however, many smaller providers are doing just that.
For example, three local firms, Silver Spring-based Atlantech, PatriotNet in Fairfax and Rockville's Heller Information Services, reported that anywhere from 15 percent to a third of their customers had switched to IMAP.
What's particularly impressive about those numbers is that two of these firms barely mention their IMAP support on their own Web sites. That's typical; you'll probably have to ask your own provider if it offers this option.
Should your provider be so enlightened, switching to IMAP will involve noting the change in your e-mail program's setup screen.
The quality of your software, however, may be an issue in its own right. Two of the most widely used mail applications, Microsoft's Outlook and Qualcomm's Eudora, suffer from strangely sloppy IMAP support. The Mozilla browser's mail component, Apple's Mail program for Mac OS X and Microsoft's Outlook Express work better -- but even then, little defects such as Mail's habit of creating a "Sent Items" folder instead of using the standard "Sent" folder for outgoing messages can lead to confusion.
But these problems should all be solved in the usual course of development; someday, every e-mail account will work like this. Until then, IMAP should be on your shopping list the next time you look for an Internet service.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10089-2004Mar20.html
Music industry threatens ISPs over piracy
The music industry opened up a new front in the war on online music piracy yesterday, threatening to sue internet service providers that allow customers to illegally share copyrighted tracks over their networks.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI, said it would take action against internet companies that carry vast amounts of illegally shared files over their networks. It stressed that it would prefer not to pursue such a strategy and is keen to work in partnership with internet providers.
John Kennedy, the chairman of the IFPI, said he had been frustrated by internet companies that have not acted against customers involved in illegal activity. He warned that litigation against ISPs would be instigated "in weeks rather than months". Barney Wragg, the head of EMI's digital music division, said the industry had been left "with no other option" but to pursue ISPs in the courts.
The IFPI wants ISPs to disconnect users who refuse to stop exchanging music files illegally. Mr Kennedy said such activity is in breach of a customer's contract with the ISP and disconnecting offenders the IFPI had identified would significantly reduce illegal file sharing.
Mr Kennedy said talks with internet companies have been ongoing over the past year, but no action has been taken. "I realised I was being filibustered ... if they still want to filibuster, their time will run out," he said.
The IFPI took legal action against 10,000 individuals in 18 countries during 2006. It won a spate of significant legal victories against peer-to-peer platforms such as Kazaa that was forced to pay a $115m (£58m) settlement.
A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association said ISPs are "mere conduits of information" that can not be held liable for offences committed by customers. "ISPs cannot inspect every packet of data transmitted over their networks," he said.
Geoff Taylor, the executive vice-president and general counsel of IFPI, said that ISPs are in the best position to stop copyright infringements. "While it might be possible to argue that an ISP is exempt from liability for damages, that does not mean rights holders can't obtain an injunction to stop infringements of their copyright," he said.
A spokeswoman for Tiscali, a UK ISP, said the onus is on the IFPI to prove that the user is engaged in illegal activity and that the music organisation should share the cost of resolving disputes. Last year, due to a lack of evidence, Tiscali refused to close the accounts or hand over the details of 17 customers who the British Phonographic Industry claimed were involved in illegal file sharing.
During 2006, global digital music sales doubled to about $2bn on the back of an 89 per cent surge in music downloads to 795 million. The success of the digital music market has been underlined by bands like Koopa which is expected to score a Top-40 hit this week despite having no record label or any physical copies of their CD on sale.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2162919.ece
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI, said it would take action against internet companies that carry vast amounts of illegally shared files over their networks. It stressed that it would prefer not to pursue such a strategy and is keen to work in partnership with internet providers.
John Kennedy, the chairman of the IFPI, said he had been frustrated by internet companies that have not acted against customers involved in illegal activity. He warned that litigation against ISPs would be instigated "in weeks rather than months". Barney Wragg, the head of EMI's digital music division, said the industry had been left "with no other option" but to pursue ISPs in the courts.
The IFPI wants ISPs to disconnect users who refuse to stop exchanging music files illegally. Mr Kennedy said such activity is in breach of a customer's contract with the ISP and disconnecting offenders the IFPI had identified would significantly reduce illegal file sharing.
Mr Kennedy said talks with internet companies have been ongoing over the past year, but no action has been taken. "I realised I was being filibustered ... if they still want to filibuster, their time will run out," he said.
The IFPI took legal action against 10,000 individuals in 18 countries during 2006. It won a spate of significant legal victories against peer-to-peer platforms such as Kazaa that was forced to pay a $115m (£58m) settlement.
A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association said ISPs are "mere conduits of information" that can not be held liable for offences committed by customers. "ISPs cannot inspect every packet of data transmitted over their networks," he said.
Geoff Taylor, the executive vice-president and general counsel of IFPI, said that ISPs are in the best position to stop copyright infringements. "While it might be possible to argue that an ISP is exempt from liability for damages, that does not mean rights holders can't obtain an injunction to stop infringements of their copyright," he said.
A spokeswoman for Tiscali, a UK ISP, said the onus is on the IFPI to prove that the user is engaged in illegal activity and that the music organisation should share the cost of resolving disputes. Last year, due to a lack of evidence, Tiscali refused to close the accounts or hand over the details of 17 customers who the British Phonographic Industry claimed were involved in illegal file sharing.
During 2006, global digital music sales doubled to about $2bn on the back of an 89 per cent surge in music downloads to 795 million. The success of the digital music market has been underlined by bands like Koopa which is expected to score a Top-40 hit this week despite having no record label or any physical copies of their CD on sale.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2162919.ece
Hosting Internet Provider Service - Discover What You Need To Know
Hosting your own website may be the beginning of a new business or even an expansion to your already growing one. That is why when it comes to choosing your hosting Internet provider service a lot of consideration and thought goes into choosing the best provider to host your website. Because of this I have created an easy formula to ease the process of sorting out the many different hosting Internet provider service available. The formula consists of first understanding what kind of hosting Internet provider service you are looking for then from that compare different providers with the service you are looking for by sorting them out by price, reliability, and benefits.
Let’s start off with understanding what exactly you need in a webpage in order to better sort out a price range. For example if you are looking for a hosting Internet provider service that will provide you with over 300 GB of web space and large amount of monthly transfer volume, you are facing costs of about 20 dollars per month. However if you are only looking for beginner work that does not require so much web space or transfer volume, you are looking at a price range of around 4 dollars a month. Nevertheless, if you need a hosting Internet provider service that will give you something in-between being a beginner or developer the price range will be of around 5 dollars to 10 dollars a month.
After understanding what type of website you want to create you may then go on to compare the different hosting Internet provider service companies. By this point you will only be comparing providers in the same cost range and only comparing what type features they may offer. For example some hosting Internet provider service may offer a package with more included domains, however offer less starting webs space, another package form a different provider may offer exactly the opposite. Many web hosting providers often offer large quantities of email accounts for each domain, majority of the time users only end up using maximum of 10 or 15 of the 4000 email accounts offered. Features like these are not really important and can help when deciding which hosting Internet provider service to choose.
As you may have noticed these are just a few tips one must take into consideration when choosing a hosting Internet provider service. There are many more different techniques to find the best hosting providers Nevertheless sticking to the basics of comparing your need, then obtaining your price range you can compare the different features for each hosting provider.
Doug Churchill is constantly trying to help you find the best internet service providers To find free reviews of different Internet service providers such as, Satellite Internet, Cable and DSL, visit http://www.lowcost-isps.com
http://ezinearticles.com/?Hosting-Internet-Provider-Service----Discover-What-You-Need-To-Know&id=675717
Let’s start off with understanding what exactly you need in a webpage in order to better sort out a price range. For example if you are looking for a hosting Internet provider service that will provide you with over 300 GB of web space and large amount of monthly transfer volume, you are facing costs of about 20 dollars per month. However if you are only looking for beginner work that does not require so much web space or transfer volume, you are looking at a price range of around 4 dollars a month. Nevertheless, if you need a hosting Internet provider service that will give you something in-between being a beginner or developer the price range will be of around 5 dollars to 10 dollars a month.
After understanding what type of website you want to create you may then go on to compare the different hosting Internet provider service companies. By this point you will only be comparing providers in the same cost range and only comparing what type features they may offer. For example some hosting Internet provider service may offer a package with more included domains, however offer less starting webs space, another package form a different provider may offer exactly the opposite. Many web hosting providers often offer large quantities of email accounts for each domain, majority of the time users only end up using maximum of 10 or 15 of the 4000 email accounts offered. Features like these are not really important and can help when deciding which hosting Internet provider service to choose.
As you may have noticed these are just a few tips one must take into consideration when choosing a hosting Internet provider service. There are many more different techniques to find the best hosting providers Nevertheless sticking to the basics of comparing your need, then obtaining your price range you can compare the different features for each hosting provider.
Doug Churchill is constantly trying to help you find the best internet service providers To find free reviews of different Internet service providers such as, Satellite Internet, Cable and DSL, visit http://www.lowcost-isps.com
http://ezinearticles.com/?Hosting-Internet-Provider-Service----Discover-What-You-Need-To-Know&id=675717
Clinton Internet provider wins $11B suit against spammer
CLINTON, Iowa — A Clinton-based Internet service provider who successfully sued Internet spammers in the past now has been awarded an $11.2 billion judgment against a Florida man for sending millions of unsolicited e-mails advertising mortgage and debt consolidation services.
The judgment against James McCalla of Florida is the culmination of a multi-defendant lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in 2003 by Robert W. Kramer III, owner of CIS Internet Services in Clinton.
Handed down by U. S. District Judge Charles R. Wolle on Dec. 23, the judgment also prohibits McCalla from accessing the Internet for three years.
A representative of the business said Kramer would not comment beyond a news release sent Tuesday.
“I’m pleased with Judge Wolle’s ruling,” Kramer said in the release. “It’s a victory for every e-mail user and every responsible ISP. It’s proof our courts and Congress are committed to protecting the public.
“E-mail is an innovation like atomic energy or the automobile. In the beginning, the opportunity for misuse is obvious. For e-mail, that’s now changed,” he said. “This ruling sets a new standard. Gross abusers of e-mail risk exposure to public ridicule as well as the economic death penalty.”
The lawsuit claimed that McCalla sent more than 280 million illegal spam e-mail messages into CIS’s network. CIS Internet Services, which was started in 1996, provides Internet connections to areas around Bellevue, Clinton, Fort Madison, Low Moor, Maquoketa and West Point in Iowa and Albany, Fulton and Savanna in Illinois.
Kramer’s lawsuit initially named numerous defendants, many of whom were weeded out and dropped from the lawsuit over the past couple of years.
Other defendants named in the lawsuit, however, including Cash Link Systems of Florida, AMP Dollar Savings Inc. of Arizona, and TEI Marketing Group Inc. of Florida were ordered in 2004 to pay judgments totaling more than $1 billion to CIS Internet Services.
He claimed that under state law in effect at the time, he was entitled to $10 per illegal e-mail.
Kramer said then that he likely will not see any of the judgment money.
The lawsuit said the defendants “falsely and illegally represented that their e-mails originated from CIS or from some other user of the ‘cis.net’ domain.” The e-mails, the lawsuit states, used the “cis.net” domain as part of a falsified return address. By doing so, the defendants disguised the true source of the e-mails “to deflect the thousands of inevitable complaints from disgruntled recipients of the e-mails.”
Such e-mails included a work-at-home get-rich-quick scheme, illegal Internet gambling and a pornographic Web site, the lawsuit states.
Kramer’s company is one of many that have filed lawsuits against spammers over the past several years. AOL and Microsoft each have filed numerous lawsuits against spammers.
According to the Web site for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, or CAUCE, large numbers of junk e-mails have knocked out or disrupted Internet provider systems belonging to large Internet providers such as AT&T, as well as systems belonging to smaller rural providers such as CIS. Additionally, the massive numbers of spam e-mails cost businesses and individuals millions of dollars each year.
John Mozena, co-founder and vice president of CAUCE, said Tuesday that the judgment against McCalla is the largest one he has heard.
“By a couple orders of magnitude,” he said. “And we’re happy Mr. Kramer is holding spammers accountable.”
But the spamming problem remains huge, he said.
“Large judgments have not discouraged spammers as a whole,” he said. “There have been regulatory actions and even criminal actions against spammers, but it has not made much of a dent in the total volume of spam we see. Spam is still roughly two-thirds of all e-mail on the Internet.”
He said sending unsolicited commercial e-mail is not illegal in the U.S.; it is only illegal to send dishonest spam, which includes forging a company’s domain name onto the e-mail or having a misleading subject line.
State courts that have taken up the issue have said free speech is not hindered by anti-spam laws since the courts are only dictating “the manner of speech and not the content of speech,” he added.
The U.S. Supreme Court has not taken an anti-spam case, he added.
“What we need is a federal anti-spam law, such as some countries such as Australia have,” he said. “Spamming is illegal in Australia.”
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/01/04/news/local/doc43bb692ac9e86281138542.txt
The judgment against James McCalla of Florida is the culmination of a multi-defendant lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in 2003 by Robert W. Kramer III, owner of CIS Internet Services in Clinton.
Handed down by U. S. District Judge Charles R. Wolle on Dec. 23, the judgment also prohibits McCalla from accessing the Internet for three years.
A representative of the business said Kramer would not comment beyond a news release sent Tuesday.
“I’m pleased with Judge Wolle’s ruling,” Kramer said in the release. “It’s a victory for every e-mail user and every responsible ISP. It’s proof our courts and Congress are committed to protecting the public.
“E-mail is an innovation like atomic energy or the automobile. In the beginning, the opportunity for misuse is obvious. For e-mail, that’s now changed,” he said. “This ruling sets a new standard. Gross abusers of e-mail risk exposure to public ridicule as well as the economic death penalty.”
The lawsuit claimed that McCalla sent more than 280 million illegal spam e-mail messages into CIS’s network. CIS Internet Services, which was started in 1996, provides Internet connections to areas around Bellevue, Clinton, Fort Madison, Low Moor, Maquoketa and West Point in Iowa and Albany, Fulton and Savanna in Illinois.
Kramer’s lawsuit initially named numerous defendants, many of whom were weeded out and dropped from the lawsuit over the past couple of years.
Other defendants named in the lawsuit, however, including Cash Link Systems of Florida, AMP Dollar Savings Inc. of Arizona, and TEI Marketing Group Inc. of Florida were ordered in 2004 to pay judgments totaling more than $1 billion to CIS Internet Services.
He claimed that under state law in effect at the time, he was entitled to $10 per illegal e-mail.
Kramer said then that he likely will not see any of the judgment money.
The lawsuit said the defendants “falsely and illegally represented that their e-mails originated from CIS or from some other user of the ‘cis.net’ domain.” The e-mails, the lawsuit states, used the “cis.net” domain as part of a falsified return address. By doing so, the defendants disguised the true source of the e-mails “to deflect the thousands of inevitable complaints from disgruntled recipients of the e-mails.”
Such e-mails included a work-at-home get-rich-quick scheme, illegal Internet gambling and a pornographic Web site, the lawsuit states.
Kramer’s company is one of many that have filed lawsuits against spammers over the past several years. AOL and Microsoft each have filed numerous lawsuits against spammers.
According to the Web site for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, or CAUCE, large numbers of junk e-mails have knocked out or disrupted Internet provider systems belonging to large Internet providers such as AT&T, as well as systems belonging to smaller rural providers such as CIS. Additionally, the massive numbers of spam e-mails cost businesses and individuals millions of dollars each year.
John Mozena, co-founder and vice president of CAUCE, said Tuesday that the judgment against McCalla is the largest one he has heard.
“By a couple orders of magnitude,” he said. “And we’re happy Mr. Kramer is holding spammers accountable.”
But the spamming problem remains huge, he said.
“Large judgments have not discouraged spammers as a whole,” he said. “There have been regulatory actions and even criminal actions against spammers, but it has not made much of a dent in the total volume of spam we see. Spam is still roughly two-thirds of all e-mail on the Internet.”
He said sending unsolicited commercial e-mail is not illegal in the U.S.; it is only illegal to send dishonest spam, which includes forging a company’s domain name onto the e-mail or having a misleading subject line.
State courts that have taken up the issue have said free speech is not hindered by anti-spam laws since the courts are only dictating “the manner of speech and not the content of speech,” he added.
The U.S. Supreme Court has not taken an anti-spam case, he added.
“What we need is a federal anti-spam law, such as some countries such as Australia have,” he said. “Spamming is illegal in Australia.”
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/01/04/news/local/doc43bb692ac9e86281138542.txt
Bandwidth the Key to Network Choices
Communication constraints the biggest inhibitor to cutting costs by using VoIP.
COMPANIES have the choice of continuing to run their voice networks separately, run interbranch calls over their own wide-area network (WAN) or get a high speed internet service to act as both data and voice provider.
In an in-house scenario, a company could implement a Voice over Internet Protocol (V0IP) solution to route voice calls for interbranch communication between employees over the company-owned WAN, using traditional telephones.
The next step would be to add an IP telephony solution that integrates voice capabilities into PC applications.
For example, the user could then make an interbranch voice call by selecting an option in Outlook and speaking into an IP phone or speaking directly into the PC using a headset or built-in microphone.
"The latest laptops are coming out with a built-in, high-quality microphone so users can speak directly into it when making VoIP calls," says Danie Nel of Nebula.
Once regulations are in place that allows interconnection agreements between network operators and service providers, users will also be able to make VoIP calls from their PC to any subscriber locally and globally across different networks.
From this information we see there is merit in companies outsourcing interbranch voice and data communication functions to a service provider that will provide the WAN infrastructure, manage the service and route the traffic to relevant parties over their network.
Dave Gale, business development director at Storm, says bandwidth constraints are the biggest inhibitor to the take-up of VoIP. With a VoIP service, a gateway device is installed between the company’s PBX and the Telkom line and the signal is routed over a data line to the service providers network. This is where the bandwidth challenges starts.
Companies typically use a dedicated Diginet leased data line to connect to the service provider, because it is the only way to get consistent throughput and guaranteed bandwidth, says Gale.
Most companies use a 128 kilobits per second (kbps) leased line, which costs about R3 000 a month and is expensive for smaller businesses. With a 128kbps line a service provider like Storm has to optimise the bandwidth between the customer and its own network, and within its own network, tightly.
There are advantages in using the same leased line for data when it is not being used for voice, but this situation needs to be managed so the data traffic does not impede the quality of the voice calls. It is necessary to have an express speedway for voice and later for video.
A big enough bandwidth pipeline will ensure that the quality of VoIP calls can be better than when communicating over the public switched telephone network. But in a bandwidth-lean environment, South African companies and service providers need to optimise bandwidth usage or purposely downgrade the VoIP quality to a level that is still acceptable.
Jacques du Toit, sales and marketing director for Orion Telecom, says traditional PBX suppliers are selling companies on the benefits of attaching the equipment to the local area network (LAN) and carrying voice calls over the data network using VoIP.
However, the leased line is owned by Telkom and the company is at risk by having all its eggs in one basket if the link goes down, says Du Tolt.
It is better to have separate external voice and data lines than to run voice on the main wide area data network, because these links are unlikely to both go down at the same time.
It is important for a company to ensure its internet service provider can guarantee bandwidth capacity from origination to destination when voice calls are travelling over its network. Separate agreements should be drawn up for voice and data services.
Stand apart with Storm Telecom: a voice and data provider that makes sure your business stands out from the crowd. Storm offers a range of products and services that are essential to the success of your business.
http://www.amazines.com/Computers/article_detail.cfm/166581?articleid=166581
COMPANIES have the choice of continuing to run their voice networks separately, run interbranch calls over their own wide-area network (WAN) or get a high speed internet service to act as both data and voice provider.
In an in-house scenario, a company could implement a Voice over Internet Protocol (V0IP) solution to route voice calls for interbranch communication between employees over the company-owned WAN, using traditional telephones.
The next step would be to add an IP telephony solution that integrates voice capabilities into PC applications.
For example, the user could then make an interbranch voice call by selecting an option in Outlook and speaking into an IP phone or speaking directly into the PC using a headset or built-in microphone.
"The latest laptops are coming out with a built-in, high-quality microphone so users can speak directly into it when making VoIP calls," says Danie Nel of Nebula.
Once regulations are in place that allows interconnection agreements between network operators and service providers, users will also be able to make VoIP calls from their PC to any subscriber locally and globally across different networks.
From this information we see there is merit in companies outsourcing interbranch voice and data communication functions to a service provider that will provide the WAN infrastructure, manage the service and route the traffic to relevant parties over their network.
Dave Gale, business development director at Storm, says bandwidth constraints are the biggest inhibitor to the take-up of VoIP. With a VoIP service, a gateway device is installed between the company’s PBX and the Telkom line and the signal is routed over a data line to the service providers network. This is where the bandwidth challenges starts.
Companies typically use a dedicated Diginet leased data line to connect to the service provider, because it is the only way to get consistent throughput and guaranteed bandwidth, says Gale.
Most companies use a 128 kilobits per second (kbps) leased line, which costs about R3 000 a month and is expensive for smaller businesses. With a 128kbps line a service provider like Storm has to optimise the bandwidth between the customer and its own network, and within its own network, tightly.
There are advantages in using the same leased line for data when it is not being used for voice, but this situation needs to be managed so the data traffic does not impede the quality of the voice calls. It is necessary to have an express speedway for voice and later for video.
A big enough bandwidth pipeline will ensure that the quality of VoIP calls can be better than when communicating over the public switched telephone network. But in a bandwidth-lean environment, South African companies and service providers need to optimise bandwidth usage or purposely downgrade the VoIP quality to a level that is still acceptable.
Jacques du Toit, sales and marketing director for Orion Telecom, says traditional PBX suppliers are selling companies on the benefits of attaching the equipment to the local area network (LAN) and carrying voice calls over the data network using VoIP.
However, the leased line is owned by Telkom and the company is at risk by having all its eggs in one basket if the link goes down, says Du Tolt.
It is better to have separate external voice and data lines than to run voice on the main wide area data network, because these links are unlikely to both go down at the same time.
It is important for a company to ensure its internet service provider can guarantee bandwidth capacity from origination to destination when voice calls are travelling over its network. Separate agreements should be drawn up for voice and data services.
Stand apart with Storm Telecom: a voice and data provider that makes sure your business stands out from the crowd. Storm offers a range of products and services that are essential to the success of your business.
http://www.amazines.com/Computers/article_detail.cfm/166581?articleid=166581
Bandwidth the Key to Network Choices
Communication constraints the biggest inhibitor to cutting costs by using VoIP.
COMPANIES have the choice of continuing to run their voice networks separately, run interbranch calls over their own wide-area network (WAN) or get a high speed internet service to act as both data and voice provider.
In an in-house scenario, a company could implement a Voice over Internet Protocol (V0IP) solution to route voice calls for interbranch communication between employees over the company-owned WAN, using traditional telephones.
The next step would be to add an IP telephony solution that integrates voice capabilities into PC applications.
For example, the user could then make an interbranch voice call by selecting an option in Outlook and speaking into an IP phone or speaking directly into the PC using a headset or built-in microphone.
"The latest laptops are coming out with a built-in, high-quality microphone so users can speak directly into it when making VoIP calls," says Danie Nel of Nebula.
Once regulations are in place that allows interconnection agreements between network operators and service providers, users will also be able to make VoIP calls from their PC to any subscriber locally and globally across different networks.
From this information we see there is merit in companies outsourcing interbranch voice and data communication functions to a service provider that will provide the WAN infrastructure, manage the service and route the traffic to relevant parties over their network.
Dave Gale, business development director at Storm, says bandwidth constraints are the biggest inhibitor to the take-up of VoIP. With a VoIP service, a gateway device is installed between the company’s PBX and the Telkom line and the signal is routed over a data line to the service providers network. This is where the bandwidth challenges starts.
Companies typically use a dedicated Diginet leased data line to connect to the service provider, because it is the only way to get consistent throughput and guaranteed bandwidth, says Gale.
Most companies use a 128 kilobits per second (kbps) leased line, which costs about R3 000 a month and is expensive for smaller businesses. With a 128kbps line a service provider like Storm has to optimise the bandwidth between the customer and its own network, and within its own network, tightly.
There are advantages in using the same leased line for data when it is not being used for voice, but this situation needs to be managed so the data traffic does not impede the quality of the voice calls. It is necessary to have an express speedway for voice and later for video.
A big enough bandwidth pipeline will ensure that the quality of VoIP calls can be better than when communicating over the public switched telephone network. But in a bandwidth-lean environment, South African companies and service providers need to optimise bandwidth usage or purposely downgrade the VoIP quality to a level that is still acceptable.
Jacques du Toit, sales and marketing director for Orion Telecom, says traditional PBX suppliers are selling companies on the benefits of attaching the equipment to the local area network (LAN) and carrying voice calls over the data network using VoIP.
However, the leased line is owned by Telkom and the company is at risk by having all its eggs in one basket if the link goes down, says Du Tolt.
It is better to have separate external voice and data lines than to run voice on the main wide area data network, because these links are unlikely to both go down at the same time.
It is important for a company to ensure its internet service provider can guarantee bandwidth capacity from origination to destination when voice calls are travelling over its network. Separate agreements should be drawn up for voice and data services.
Stand apart with Storm Telecom: a voice and data provider that makes sure your business stands out from the crowd. Storm offers a range of products and services that are essential to the success of your business.
http://www.amazines.com/Computers/article_detail.cfm/166581?articleid=166581
COMPANIES have the choice of continuing to run their voice networks separately, run interbranch calls over their own wide-area network (WAN) or get a high speed internet service to act as both data and voice provider.
In an in-house scenario, a company could implement a Voice over Internet Protocol (V0IP) solution to route voice calls for interbranch communication between employees over the company-owned WAN, using traditional telephones.
The next step would be to add an IP telephony solution that integrates voice capabilities into PC applications.
For example, the user could then make an interbranch voice call by selecting an option in Outlook and speaking into an IP phone or speaking directly into the PC using a headset or built-in microphone.
"The latest laptops are coming out with a built-in, high-quality microphone so users can speak directly into it when making VoIP calls," says Danie Nel of Nebula.
Once regulations are in place that allows interconnection agreements between network operators and service providers, users will also be able to make VoIP calls from their PC to any subscriber locally and globally across different networks.
From this information we see there is merit in companies outsourcing interbranch voice and data communication functions to a service provider that will provide the WAN infrastructure, manage the service and route the traffic to relevant parties over their network.
Dave Gale, business development director at Storm, says bandwidth constraints are the biggest inhibitor to the take-up of VoIP. With a VoIP service, a gateway device is installed between the company’s PBX and the Telkom line and the signal is routed over a data line to the service providers network. This is where the bandwidth challenges starts.
Companies typically use a dedicated Diginet leased data line to connect to the service provider, because it is the only way to get consistent throughput and guaranteed bandwidth, says Gale.
Most companies use a 128 kilobits per second (kbps) leased line, which costs about R3 000 a month and is expensive for smaller businesses. With a 128kbps line a service provider like Storm has to optimise the bandwidth between the customer and its own network, and within its own network, tightly.
There are advantages in using the same leased line for data when it is not being used for voice, but this situation needs to be managed so the data traffic does not impede the quality of the voice calls. It is necessary to have an express speedway for voice and later for video.
A big enough bandwidth pipeline will ensure that the quality of VoIP calls can be better than when communicating over the public switched telephone network. But in a bandwidth-lean environment, South African companies and service providers need to optimise bandwidth usage or purposely downgrade the VoIP quality to a level that is still acceptable.
Jacques du Toit, sales and marketing director for Orion Telecom, says traditional PBX suppliers are selling companies on the benefits of attaching the equipment to the local area network (LAN) and carrying voice calls over the data network using VoIP.
However, the leased line is owned by Telkom and the company is at risk by having all its eggs in one basket if the link goes down, says Du Tolt.
It is better to have separate external voice and data lines than to run voice on the main wide area data network, because these links are unlikely to both go down at the same time.
It is important for a company to ensure its internet service provider can guarantee bandwidth capacity from origination to destination when voice calls are travelling over its network. Separate agreements should be drawn up for voice and data services.
Stand apart with Storm Telecom: a voice and data provider that makes sure your business stands out from the crowd. Storm offers a range of products and services that are essential to the success of your business.
http://www.amazines.com/Computers/article_detail.cfm/166581?articleid=166581
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