Recently in ireland Category
Eircom, one of Ireland's largest ISPs, has sent an email to its DSL customers to offer an apology and explanation for their outages and service issues that plagued the company in recent weeks:
Dear Customer
As you are aware, eircom customers experienced disruption to their Internet service over the last two weeks. On behalf of eircom, I apologise for the interruption to service and would like to take this opportunity to update you on the current position.
In early July we saw an increase in incidents known as 'cache poisoning'. This is a malicious activity by a third party to redirect customers to fake websites. We took immediate steps to protect our customers from this activity. This involved strengthening of the filters that block unwanted or suspect traffic. Unfortunately many customers could not, as a result of the incidents, access the internet or experienced delays for a number of hours on two specific occasions.
While our preliminary investigations have shown that, in general, our systems worked as intended when the attack occurred, we are taking additional steps to further protect our customers and their internet service. This involves upgrading and replacing some of our server equipment. Service has been fully operational since 14th July and we continue to monitor the situation closely. We want to reassure customers that eircom treats the issue of Internet security very seriously and will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that an incident such as this does not reoccur.
We sincerely thank you again for your patience over the past two weeks as the measures outlined above were put into place, and apologise again for service interruption. We know that our customers have made eircom Ireland's largest ISP because of its reputation for reliability and its ability to resolve issues when they arise.
Should you have any queries or indeed any comments on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact our customer care team at eircom_DNS_info@eircom.net
Thank you for your continued custom and support,
Kind regards
Gerry Culligan
Director
Consumer Market
(source)
On the plus side, Eircom have made some effort at communicating with their customer base, but on the negative side.. Should this really have happened?
Wasn't "cache poisoning" the focus of Kaminsky's DNS security hole discovery a year ago?
Dear Customer
As you are aware, eircom customers experienced disruption to their Internet service over the last two weeks. On behalf of eircom, I apologise for the interruption to service and would like to take this opportunity to update you on the current position.
In early July we saw an increase in incidents known as 'cache poisoning'. This is a malicious activity by a third party to redirect customers to fake websites. We took immediate steps to protect our customers from this activity. This involved strengthening of the filters that block unwanted or suspect traffic. Unfortunately many customers could not, as a result of the incidents, access the internet or experienced delays for a number of hours on two specific occasions.
While our preliminary investigations have shown that, in general, our systems worked as intended when the attack occurred, we are taking additional steps to further protect our customers and their internet service. This involves upgrading and replacing some of our server equipment. Service has been fully operational since 14th July and we continue to monitor the situation closely. We want to reassure customers that eircom treats the issue of Internet security very seriously and will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that an incident such as this does not reoccur.
We sincerely thank you again for your patience over the past two weeks as the measures outlined above were put into place, and apologise again for service interruption. We know that our customers have made eircom Ireland's largest ISP because of its reputation for reliability and its ability to resolve issues when they arise.
Should you have any queries or indeed any comments on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact our customer care team at eircom_DNS_info@eircom.net
Thank you for your continued custom and support,
Kind regards
Gerry Culligan
Director
Consumer Market
(source)
On the plus side, Eircom have made some effort at communicating with their customer base, but on the negative side.. Should this really have happened?
Wasn't "cache poisoning" the focus of Kaminsky's DNS security hole discovery a year ago?
Adrian highlights yet another advert that is highly misleading.
Why do ISPs keep on doing this?
Do they enjoy getting hauled over the coals by the advertising standards people?
Or does the benefit of duping people outweigh any negative consequences?
Why do ISPs keep on doing this?
Do they enjoy getting hauled over the coals by the advertising standards people?
Or does the benefit of duping people outweigh any negative consequences?
I came across this rather amusing cartoon on XKCD today, but while it is amusing I also suspect that it reflects a certain degree of reality for a lot of people in Ireland still.
How hard is it for people to get a reliable internet connection in a new house or flat?
I'd hate to even think about it.
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How hard is it for people to get a reliable internet connection in a new house or flat?
I'd hate to even think about it.
Image via Wikipedia
Simply sign up with O2, register the device in a Bitbuzz hotspot and find yourself surfing for free in our locations throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland.
In the last few days the plans to introduce free wifi to Dublin city have been axed.
Dublin City Council has come under some criticism for its shelving of the plan and has been accused of bowing to pressure from commercial interests.
The Council plans to run pilot schemes in some areas of the city which are not served by commercial ISPs according to reports.
Dublin City Council has come under some criticism for its shelving of the plan and has been accused of bowing to pressure from commercial interests.
The Council plans to run pilot schemes in some areas of the city which are not served by commercial ISPs according to reports.
Irish broadband provider Perlico has been making waves in the last few days with their "99 cent broadband" offer.
Does it sound too good to be true?
Well, putting it bluntly, it is.
Even if you were to factor in the below cost selling as being a cheaper way of acquiring clients, the figures simply did not add up.
The 99 cent broadband deal is actually 40.99. That's 40 euro more than advertised.
They may claim that there are "terms and conditions" etc., etc., but who are they kidding?
If you claim to be offering 99 cent broadband, then why can't I actually buy it for 99 cents?
Does it sound too good to be true?
Well, putting it bluntly, it is.
Even if you were to factor in the below cost selling as being a cheaper way of acquiring clients, the figures simply did not add up.
The 99 cent broadband deal is actually 40.99. That's 40 euro more than advertised.
They may claim that there are "terms and conditions" etc., etc., but who are they kidding?
If you claim to be offering 99 cent broadband, then why can't I actually buy it for 99 cents?
There seems to be a little debate heating up between Karlin Lillington on one side and Damien Mulley on the other.
There's also a couple of threads over on Boards.ie
The question is whether there is an issue of demand or is it a matter of supply.
Are people unable to get broadband because they don't want it, or is it a case of the ISPs not being willing to supply it?
Or is it more of a chicken / egg scenario?
There's also a couple of threads over on Boards.ie
The question is whether there is an issue of demand or is it a matter of supply.
Are people unable to get broadband because they don't want it, or is it a case of the ISPs not being willing to supply it?
Or is it more of a chicken / egg scenario?
The Register reports that users of 3 Ireland's broadband services have been getting a rough time.
The report confirms some of the issues that have been reported by users on Irish ISP Test, Boards.ie and elsewhere.
The kind of issues facing users are caused by ISPs using NAT for their network, instead of providing dynamic IPs or even fixed ones. This can lead to IP ranges being blacklisted
The report confirms some of the issues that have been reported by users on Irish ISP Test, Boards.ie and elsewhere.
The kind of issues facing users are caused by ISPs using NAT for their network, instead of providing dynamic IPs or even fixed ones. This can lead to IP ranges being blacklisted
I suppose it comes as little surprise to many people to discover that there were several complaints about Irish ISPs to the Irish advertising standards authority.
Adrian Weckler covers some of the low points for both UPC (NTL / Chorus' new owner) and Digiweb.
What's surprising is that there aren't more complaints.
I guess a lot of people don't believe in using official channels
According to Adrian Weckler Dublin City Council will not be pursuing its plans to introduce free wifi throughout the city.
A report commissioned by the local government suggests that the provision of wifi could infringe on European Union legislation.
