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Dealing with "Unlimited-Service" Abusers

A common annoyance for ISPs is dialup customers that keep connections going endlessly during peak hours, causing busy signals for others. Respondants on the ISP-Lists offer solutions.

[September 21, 1999]

In a thread on ISP-Tech in September, 1999 MP asked:

"How do you prevent abusers of "unlimited" dial-up accounts causing other customers to get busy signals during peak hours?

A while back we tried setting a 20-minute inactivity limit, after which the user would get cut off. But this happened during both peak and non-peak hours. We got so many complaints we had to discontinue the policy.

We don't care if customers use the connection for as long as needed during the day when the modem racks are relatively idle.

Does any one know of software that will monitor idle connection time during specific periods of the day that would allow us to set a limit to the connection time peak hour periods?"

Replies sorted themselves out into two groups:

• Policy- and procedure-based solutions
• Technology-based solutions

User policies that work for you

[MS wrote] "We set our system to disconnect people after 10 minutes of inactivity. Some customers complain, but I explain to them why we do it, and that helps. I have lost a few customers because of the policy, but I've gained many more due to the service levels that I give.

"We also have a session limit in effect between 4 PM and 10 PM: two hours on; 15 minutes off. I enforce this one by hand. When we see a user online for more than two hours during the evening we send an email showing router connection time and a note that says 'Out of respect for others please limit your. . . .'

"If the customer constantly goes over the limit, I'll call and talk to them about it. If they still go over the limit, I'll start disconnecting them after the two hours are up. They often quit at this point, but that leaves room for three to five new customers to sign up! I still win. And I have the best reputation in town!"

[JC wrote] "We took a long hard look at our dial-up customer base a few months ago, to see exactly who the "abusers" were.

"We decided that the 20 people or so who were using our service like a dedicated account were costing us way more than $14.95 per month. So we contacted them and said we were very sorry, but we didn't feel that we were able to offer them the service level they deserved and they might be happier elsewhere.

"They switched, we don't have many/any abusers, and the world is a better place. Now our competition has to deal with them hogging a modem."

[PT added] "We dealt with this issue via an Acceptable Use Policy that's been consistent since our first customer:

"We don't sell unlimited service; we sell 200 hours per month. When customers express surprise or dissatisfaction, we point out that this is more than six hours per day for 31 days, and they're generally comfortable with that.

[BD observed] " From what I've seen, there's not much you can do with customers who want to leave their computer online 24 hours a day that won't alienate them and make them take their business elsewhere. That said, here's an approach we use:

"Set a session limit for all users-but modify it for specific abusers. Give customers that you know are flat-out robbing you an unusually low idle timeout. If they complain, explain to them that most ISPs enforce the same methods to prevent such activity. If they continue to complain, I offer to bump the limit up for them. They are usually quiet and happy after that."

Technology to the rescue

[JL observed] "The RAS we use here (IPAD 5000) has built-in "idle timeout" and "maximum session time" limits, which we've successfully used for years.

"The only limits our subscribers encounter are a 3-hour session limit and a 30-minute idle timeout.

"This frees the lines up from folks who forget they're connected, and it keeps people from thinking they can run a dedicated server via one of our dialups. Over the years, I've only had one customer leave us due to those restrictions."

[GD wrote] "We use all Portmaster products now, and have found a wonderful product call MaxStat which helps us enforce a policy of "unlimited attended access." All users are set by RADIUS to have 20 minute idle and 8 hour session. This is clearly stated in our Acceptable Use Policy."

[BM added] "If you use Portmasters, you can get TSMON, which will disconnect users who fall under a minimum bytes transferred rule. You can also impose session timeouts and put an end to multiple logins. You can get more information at http://www.tsmon.com/."

—End

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For discussions of related problems, read:
Dedicated vs, Unlimited Service,
Dealing with Problem Customers
Combatting Busy Signals