NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: Who Confirms The Accuracy Of ISP Usage Meters?
So what we need is a independent device that can measure that network
usage. It should be open source, to be verifiable, and cheap. It
won't fix the problem, but it would put a solution in the hands of
many users. The more users that have it the more accountability which
could be imposed on the service providers.
A small box with two ethernet ports, one for the outside world, and
one for the inside world.
A web server on the inside world that displays statistics.
An NTP server that keeps the time up to date.
A configurator page that lets users configure ip blocks to be tracked
separately (unmetered streaming video from the service provider for
instance).
A NAT-like interface that can count packets at a variety of
resolutions. Total packets through would be the main one, but what
about attacks on peoples homes where you send a large amount of
traffic at an IP address to raise their bill? If that was detected
and listed as a separate line item it could be useful. In general,
the more data a person can store about their own traffic the more
useful it would be (I'm sure law enforcement would agree on this
point).
It would need a good robust data storage system internally, and a way
to automatically synchronize the data into a machine on the inside
world for backup purposes.
Obviously if someone implements this you should send me some of the
money you make from my idea!
[ Actually, much of this functionality already exists in, or
could be added to, somewhat higher-end commodity cable/DSL
modem/routers.
But what happens if a subscriber's locally gathered usage
statistics turn out to be at wide variance from the ISP's
official figures? Then the real fun begins.
-- Lauren Weinstein
NNSquad Moderator ]
On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 8:35 AM, Bob Poortinga <nnsquad@k9sql.us> wrote:
> Here's a good article in DSL Reports which brings up some important points:
>
> <http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Who-Confirms-The-Accuracy-Of-ISP-Usage-Meters-106292>
>
> --
> Bob Poortinga K9SQL
> Bloomington, IN US
>
--
-- Schlake