[ih] Secret precedence schemes back then

[Jack Haverty]

On Thu, 2009-01-29 at 00:18 -0500, Bernie Cosell wrote:

...pretty much exactly what I would have said.  Thanks Bernie!

Two clarifications:

1) Yes, my plan has a FAP-free time, from local midnite to 3 am.  That's
when I trigger software updates.  Most mere mortals don't know how to do
that though.  Home plan was good enough for me - after retirement other
toys compete with network-time.

2) My point about the ISP restricting types of traffic was simply that,
by imposing constraints based on amount of data, they effectively
discriminate against bandwidth-intense data types without actually
having to make it an explicit policy.  Yes, you can use a little bit of
rich multimedia, but then you head to the penalty box.  Delay-sensitive
traffic types, such as VOIP or most gaming, pretty much never work just
because of the physics of satellites and the speed of light.   You can
use some types of applications (i.e., some types of data), but not
others, either due to the effect of ISP policy decisions or laws of
physics.  As you say, if you don't like the service, shop elsewhere.

==========

We don't have cell service either, or cable TV, and barely have landline
phones, so satellite Internet feels pretty good.  On a hill nearby
there's a curiously large but blank "billboard".  It turns out that it's
a reflector that bounces the microwave beam from the local Telco office
over the mountain range to the rest of the world - at least when there
aren't any flocks of birds in the way.  DSL?  Hah!  

There are some places where you can get a cell signal.  Locals know
where they are.  We thought about painting large X's on the hotspots so
they'd be easier to find.  Then to make it more comfortable, maybe
putting a little shed up to keep you out of the rain.  About 2 feet
square would do, maybe with a door to keep out the wind.  You could
simply take your cell phone into the shed and use it in comfort.  We'd
call them "phone booths".

Since I used to be involved in running these kinds of IP networks, I
understand what the ISPs are going through with the costs and user
demands, so I guess I'm sympathetic.  Satellite does work amazingly well
most of the time.

It's ironic that I'm just a few miles from the place where major
transpacific cables come ashore, so a significant fraction of the world
bandwidth is right beneath my feet (almost literally), but it's not
accessible locally.  The County wasn't very clever when negotiating to
issue the permits they needed to trench miles along the middle of a main
county road to bring all that fiber inland to the rest of the country.

Hmmm, maybe there's another project for the backhoe....

/Jack