Re: tlug: strange ISP behavior

[Jonathan Byrne <jq@example.com>]

On Wed, 21 Oct 1998, Jim Schweizer wrote:

> I would ask, but I'm afraid of the answer I'd get... I can see 1 ISP in my
> local area being clueless, but 2 ....?! And BOTH of them being so utterly
> clueless?

Yes, that is entirely possible.

There is (was?) a small ISP out in the
the suburbs of Tokyo (somewhere around Kokubunji) that was being run out of
the back room of a motorcycle repair shop.  I found about them when we
inherited one of their customers and I helped them get their Mac set up
right over the phone.  It was a PowerBook, and they had even taken it in
there to have the guy look at in person, but he couldn't get it configured
right to dial up, and the combination of that and the physical premises made
them decide them better switch to a larger ISP :-)

And then there was the guy in Korea who knocked our network for an
incredible loop a year or so back by misconfiguring his router so that it
was broadcasting that it was accepting traffic for our address.  We started
hearing real quick from other ISPs that they couldn't get through to us.
Our network was fine, but the routes were hosed.  They tracked it down and
gave us the fax number, and it took 2 or 3 days before everything was back
to normal.  Nobody there spoke Japanese, his English was horrible, and
nobody on our side speaks Korean, so it was loads of fun.  I got to read his
faxes and e-mails and try to figure out what he meant and then translate it
to Japanese.  Barrels of fun.

The best part was when I read where he said he'd had a problem like this a
couple of times before!  We filed a formal protest with KRNIC, but I don't
think anything ever came of it.

So sure, it's possible that two ISPs in close proximity to each other could
be that out to lunch :-)

We don't have any access points as far west as where you are, but there must
be some larger ISPs that do.  Maybe Asahi-Net might be out there?  They have
over 100 access points nationwide, I think.

Pleasepleaseplease ask them why you have to re-upload your page.  I can't
wait to hear their reason :-)

Jonathan

---------------------------------------------------------------
Next Nomikai: 20 November, 19:30 Tengu TokyoEkiMae 03-3275-3691
Next Meeting: 12 December, 12:30 Tokyo Station Yaesu central gate
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sponsor: PHT, makers of TurboLinux http://www.pht.co.jp