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As the Internet continues to mature, there continues to be a rapid growth of Internet traffic and an ever-increasing demand for service . All providers must find ways to effectively and efficiently manage this growth so that all customers receive fair access to any service or application while ensuring that no customer's use of any service or application negatively affects or impairs the overall network operation. Obviously, it would be preferable to just add more capacity for end-users but it is especially difficult to do this in rural communities, where access to advanced services and faster gateway connections are limited or non-existent. A method of managing traffic is through the use of Internet Traffic Management Protocols (ITMP's). At times, users of our network may be subject to the application of an ITMP. A list of these limitations are posted in our Policies Section. As of September 15, 2010 (November 1, 2010 for existing customers) Bruce Street Technologies Limited (BST Limited) will be adopting an economic model for managing Internet use and the updated Service Specifications will come into effect. As individual usage increases, the fees for using the network increase. This way, users may modify their on-line activities to match the fees they are willing to pay. This type of system encourages conservation and therefore lessens the overall burden on the network providing a more enjoyable on-line experience for everyone. Bruce Street Technologies Limited continues to make significant investments in the network and is committed to providing quality services at competitive prices while operating within the technical framework and limitations imposed by the serving area. How do you monitor the network traffic?BST Limited uses devices located at the various Internet gateways on the network that monitor bytes transferred and record them by IP address. Every user on the network has a unique IP and MAC address assigned to the wireless device mounted at their location. Log files generated by the gateways are automatically enumerated by the system daily and the data stored on a secure server. This data is then available to each specific user in order for them to know and track their data usage. Only usage data by IP address is enumerated and stored and no personal information is contained within these reports. BST Limited does not proactively monitor content or customer activities. How will I know if an ITMP has been applied? There will be two primary ways you will know if an IMTP has been applied. If it is between 4:30pm to 2:00am EST and you notice a dramatic slow down in P2P applications, then it is possible that the ITMP of our primary provider (wholesale provider) has been applied. The other way is if you have exceeded the maximum number of simultaneous sessions or connection limit whereby more than 400 simultaneous requests for information from the Internet are originating from your location. In that case, your application may slow down and additional connections will be refused. You will also receive a "Maximum session limit has been exceeded" message in your web browser. To clear or avoid this condition, ensure that regular virus and malware checks are performed, limit the connection settings on P2P and bittorrent applications on all connected devices and keep in mind that the total connection limit is shared among all of the Internet enabled devices at each client location. What is "Mail relay via Port 25"? Why is this not allowed? Across the Internet, mail servers communicate with each other and deliver email over TCP/IP port 25. By default, this is also the port that email clients such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Windows Mail, etc use to send mail as well. Spammers and viruses/malware programs exploit this fact and therefore attempt to find vunerable email servers and computers through which they can relay the email they want to send. In this manner, it would appear that the sender is the compromised machine not that of the actual sender. In an effort to eliminate this activity, Internet providers usually modify their network in two ways. First, they authenticate the user sending the email. This may be by requiring a user to provide a username and password or they may restrict the sending of email through their network to only those who are connected to their network (users@mydomain.com can send mail on the mydomain.com network but not on the yourdomain.com network) . Another method is to only accept email on a non-standard port on their mail server and then have the mail server deliver it to its destination over the standard port 25. The end result is that without some sort of authentication method or advanced mail server configuration, traffic and users (legitimate or otherwise) are restricted from sending email. Due to the ever increasing options for free email accounts, BST Limited does not provide customer email accounts or operate an email server on its wireless network. Therefore, we do not provide an email gateway for sending mail. Users must contact their email provider for instructions and support for their email application and setup. For your convenience, we have included links to the Email Client setup pages of common email providers. Accessing your email through a web browser ("Web Mail") does not require the use of port 25 and is not affected by the above. Is this a shared Internet access service? Yes. BST Limited provides to its customers residential, shared, rural Internet access. This means that resources are shared first between all users on a particular network segment and then as it gets aggregated along our wireless backbone to the Internet gateway. If you have more than one Internet enabled device at your location, there is another level of sharing as those devices vie for a share of what is available at your specific location. Therefore, your online activities and usage may negatively affect your own household and the activities of your neighbours and their activities may affect your online experience. Traditional Internet traffic is "bursty" meaning that there is a short, high demand for data while a page gets loaded then no traffic while it is being read. With the increasing popularity of P2P and streaming applications, there is a constant demand and use of the network leaving less bandwidth available for the "bursts" with the overall effect of the network "feeling slow". Can you do this?BST Limited has an obligation to provide the highest level of service possible to all customers. In order to do this, we operate within the framework set out in our Internet Access Service agreement, our Acceptable Use and Customer Privacy Policies and the relevant guidelines, directives and legislation as may be established from time to time by the CRTC or Industry Canada. Through the proper application of network management procedures, we can manage customer demand and customer expectations while preserving network intregrity. |
Network Management |