Alan Spicer Marine Telecom All Blogs

Our apologies, Alan Spicer Marine Telecom web site and blogs has been down for just over 24 hours. We've had a DSL Internet Connection outage and have been working with AT&T to get service restored.

We're on Business Class DSL ... and somehow it went down around 5pm yesterday. It took work on both AT&T and our part to get it back up and running. I would like to thank the Customer Service and Technical Support and the behind-the-scenes IP/NOC services for their help in getting us back online as quickly as possible.

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Hello, I'm testing WordPress - and excellent Blog and Content Management System for possible use as a replacement for my current blog and possibly to manage (and clean up) the loads of content that's on my main web site: http://www.marinetelecom.net

If it goes well, even so ... it will be quite a job to migrate all or a good part of my content into WordPress.

Anyway... if you have a chance drop by to:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/wordpress/

and send me your opinions or comments on it. Especially if you've used WordPress yourself and have any suggestions.

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Spam may have dropped off as much as 50 to 75% on Wednesday after a hosting center called McColo was shut down by it's upstream provider, Hurricane Electric, and probably as well by Global Crossing company.

It's a fairly hot news item.

Hosting Companies and smaller Internet Service Providers (ISP's) have to get an Internet Connection too, just like rest of us, only more expensive and much better speed (called Bandwidth by many.) They also sign on, as us ordinary mortal users - to agree to AUP or Acceptable Use Policies, which stipulate what kind of activity they can and cannot do on their Internet Connection. Bigger connections do what is called "Peering" which without getting overly technical means that they "jack in" to a Larger Gateway often called an Internet Exchange or IX - or someone that is already big enough to connect to an IX. At the IX basically the "calling plan" of how to get to the "Littler Guys" network is shared and announced to the "Bigger Guys" network. This is how routing (on a basic concept level) works on the Internet. The little guy announces all of his networks (IP Address Blocks) to the bigger guy, who in turn uses it and passes it on to other systems on the Internet. The same happens at least on some level from the bigger guy to the smaller guy. But everyone uses some main "GATEWAY" point to get to everywhere else. An important part of this that most users don't know is that it is as important that 1.) A computer has a Gateway TO the Internet, and 2.) That the rest of the Internet knows how to get to that Computer. In actuality it's not the end computer, but the Network - or Network IP Address Block. This might be a way for spammers to be stopped no matter where they go. The routes to a network are announce by routing protocols. If a bad guy network were discovered, and there were a way to have everyone important (the Big Guys mentioned before) drop the routes to the bad guys networks, then he disappears off of the Internet. You see it's a two way street. Coming in, and going out. If the rest of the Internet were to "forget" how to get to your network, If everybody dropped the ROUTES to your network, then you're network basically disappears. No matter what YOU DO. Nothing has to be disconnected, no connection has to be terminated. The Internet just in effect forgets about you. You can send ip packets out all you want, but no acknowledgement or traffic would pass. Connections would never happen. Because the "return path" to BadGuy Network would basically not exist on a virtual level called Routing Announcements.

Basically Hurricane Electric (and Global Crossing?) pulled the plug on McColo after much apparent evidence of hosting of spamming, bot nets (which use infected zombie computers all over the Internet), and other exploit and possibly criminal server / services running on the Mcolo Network. Allegedly Mcolo turned a blind eye to these activities. I guess money still talks even to the point of almost or actually becoming criminal activity.

Mcolo.com has been around since at least February 2005, according to the Internet Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mccolo.com/ but they are DOWN now. By the way, my guess these guys are Russian (not that there is anything wrong with Russian persons.), from language I saw in the web.archive.org there was Russian Language in missing image files shown. I was viewing an English archived page, there was a link to change to Russian, but no other language option. 2005 page shows them bragging about their excellent connections to the Internet. Their web page design changed several times. Sometime in 2007 became somehow not very well saved by the web.archive.org.

Anyway spam supposedly dropped dramatically. Others say that Spam isn't necessarily dead. That it will just move elsewhere. And that other such large spam hosting operations have been shut down in the past, and the spammers and such just popped up elsewhere. Interestingly two of the recent such sites (the current one being discussed and a previous similar one) were both in California. I wonder what's up with California?

Supposedly they will just move off shore, possibly Eastern Europe. Hopefully those in Eastern Europe are hearing that as well. It would be a shame if there weren't some mechanism whereby it could be detected - where the new location is, anywhere on the Internet, and block it. Shut it off from the rest of the Internet. But that can get more complicated. If you can't get their upstream providers to cut them off, then what else can you do? Block their connection leaving a country? Block their connection coming in to a country (like the U.S., U.K., Australia, etc.?) And what if they spread out more... to multiple locations. It could be a long battle... possibly not really ending any time soon.

If the perpetrators were in the U.S. then why wasn't legal or police action taken? Maybe it still will be. If they are still in the U.S. make an example out of them before they can leave, or via the Internet do a "Virtual" leaving of the U.S. to places that may harbor their activities or support of such activities. Of course I'm not a lawyer and no doubt the legal aspects of this against the Mcolo provider can be complicated as well.

Hopefully our new President-Elect will be listening to these happenings and will give the right empowerments where necessary to get these kinds of things stopped.

An interesting blog about this stuff is here:

http://blog.fireeye.com/research/

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* Here's a tip that I've hinted at before here on my blog...

Yachts: [Tip] Saving on International "Internet" Roaming on Cellular GSM/UMTS/HSPA

2008 November 10th - by Alan Spicer - Our Yachting Customers might consider the following AT&T Internet Plans for when they are traveling outside the U.S. and needing to avoid expensive Internet Roaming Charges:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/affordable-world-packages.jsp Affordable World Packages. I found this while following an article lead on the newer 3G iPhone and Packages offerred by AT&T for these devices to travel. But the plans also have potential for other devices such as the Ericsson W25 that we sell here on Alan Spicer Marine Telecom. Note: If you don't have some international plan you should turn off your 3G Internet capability when outside of the U.S. Not doing so could result in $thousands on your cellular bill traveling internationally in a yacht (or any other way for that manner.)

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

ASMT Occassional Bulletin: Hot off the presses. Sorry to invade your INBOXES again so soon, but this looked IMPORTANT. This isn't a Microsoft "Patch Tuesday" and I get regular updates - and my computer NEEDED THIS. Yours probably does too.

* If you don't already have this critical update patch, you need to be getting it NOW! I grabbed it for XP, downloaded quick. Installed quick. And didn't require a reboot. It's also needed for Vista. So grab it now and be safe!

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067 - Critical

Heard about 1st on: http://ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=72382851-39d80d14b042abc4ff667ffb25d5ec69-bf&brand=ZDNET&s=5

MS08-067 worms squirming in the wild

Ryan Naraine: Virus hunters are reporting two new in-the-wild worms exploiting the critical MS08-067 vulnerability. The worms, intercepted on Chinese-language versions of Windows, are being used to install a Trojan downloader, a denial-of-service bot and a rootkit to maintain stealthy presence on infected machines.
READ FULL STORY

* In other news... a Minor Firmware Update (not required) is available for Ericsson W25 Cellular Voice and Internet Router units: http://www.marinetelecom.net/b2evolution/blogs/ get it at: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/. If you're going to do this update make sure you grab the Release Notes and Upgrade Instructions. Let me know if you have any problems doing it.

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

Please see: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/

and look for the R11B Required Files section.

A new firmware is now available for the W25 to fix some minor bugs with advanced features.

For the US the firmware fixes 'Caller ID' and calling waiting issues.

http://www.fixedwirelessterminal.com/ericsson_w25/downloads.html

This is not an important firmware release just a maintenance upgrade.

* * * * Note: Please make sure to get the RELEASE NOTES and the FIRMWARE UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS. You will need to follow the instructions closely in order to do this upgrade. The file format from release R11A forward has changed from ".img" file to ".arc" file. All upgrades after this will require the type ".arc" file. Please review the instructions and release notes about upgrade and downgrade capabilities and requirements. If you need help with this, let me know...

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

* * * * End of Summer Special - Code Name: SUMMER BREEZE - Take $100 OFF! Ericsson W25 now ON SALE for $719.95 including shipping - (within Florida w/tax $760.15.) Sale ends October 30th 2008. Get them now before it's too late. It does voice for your yacht pbx (or Analog Phones) and HSDPA/UMTS High Speed Internet for all of your computers onboard. I'll include FREE 30 days telephone and email installation support (max 2 hours total.) * * * *

Call Now: 954-683-3426

Alan,

FYI: The map is a misnomer in that the new coverage does not represent what the map shows...Lower South America and Africa are not yet covered... ;-)

Here is the KVH Article: http://www.kvh.com/Press/pr.asp?id=874&category=COMPANY

Previous to today's footprint: http://www.kvh.com/footprints/map_minivsat.asp

New GE Footprints: http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/ge23.html

Yes...you can post this if you like. :-)

Thanks!

JeffK

* Thanks Jeff

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

This just in... from:

http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMVII/2008oct00071.html

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom is obviously interested in keeping up with what's going on in communications for marine / yachts, so the Tracphone V7 also known as Mini VSAT is quite interesting. The expanded coverage looks good!!!! Anyone having comments or experiences on Tracphone V7 a.k.a Mini VSAT are encourage to write in to us about it - or on any other marine satellite or communications systems. If it's newsworth and we can get your permission, perhaps we'll blog it and / or post an article on it. So tell us! Hows it working? Good or Bad? Write To: communications (at) marinetelecom.net.

KVH extends mini-VSAT coverage
Expanding availability of mini-VSAT Broadband service, KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) has signed a 5-year agreement with GE International Holdings, Inc., (SAT-GE) to lease capacity on its GE-23 satellite to provide coverage in the Pacific Ocean via the satellite's North Pacific Ku-band Beam.

"The extension of mini-VSAT Broadband coverage into the Pacific will allow us to support a significant portion of the world's shipping lanes, including blue water coverage between Asia and ports in the U.S. and Canada," said Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH's chief executive officer. "Broadband connections at sea are essential for shipboard business activities, more efficient operations, and compliance with increased regulatory requirements. In addition, affordable broadband Internet, e-mail, and telephone services are vital as a means of improving the quality of life and the morale of the crew. We look forward to additional service expansion into new regions around the globe throughout 2009."

Expected to go live in December 2008, the new coverage area will include Alaska, the west coasts of Canada and the United States, Hawaii and extend into Asia.

The mini-VSAT Broadband service, along with the KVH TracPhone V7 antenna, comprise the first end-to-end 24-inch VSAT hardware, service, and support package available for maritime communications. Together, KVH and ViaSat are already offering Voice over IP phone service and Internet access as fast as 512 Kbps (upload) and 2 Mbps (download) at fixed monthly rates to mariners throughout North America, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic, and Europe.

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

I put some new Theboaters.tv videos up on my Boaters and Telecom Video Page, and I'll try to put some more Telecom TV videos and such on there as well. Check it out at:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/boaters-telecom-videos.html

Also make sure you ask about the End of Summer Special on The Ericsson W25 Cellular Voice and Fast Internet Sharing gear... I can create solutions for your yacht for Cellular, WiFi, Onboard Network (Wireless, and Wired) as well as service or replace Computers used for Navigation, PC's, and Laptops.

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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245