Best of the ISP-Lists

When one of your customers decides to run a web site off a wireless broadband link, your other customers lose out. What should you do about it? What can you do about it?

[April 25, 2000]

On the ISP-Wireless list in March, KL posted this query concerning customer control:

"How are you stopping customers from running servers on the wireless link? And how are you controlling bandwidth available to the customer?"

One respondent suggested that this problem should be dealt with before it happens with a good AUP and pricing policy:

[JS wrote] "Our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) specifically disallows running any kind of server over any of our high speed connections. As to the question of bandwidth, we control that by charging our customers for bandwidth usage above a specified threshold."

Others suggested filters:

[WD suggested] "You can block inbound http, https, smtp, pop3, ftp, etc. on blocks of IP numbers that you assign your residential DSL customers.

[MW disagreed] "You can only block the default ports for these services. Customers have 65,000 other ports to choose from, and they will. The only reliable way to keep your customers from running servers on their machines is to put them behind a proxy, and I'm not sure it's worth it."

[PF added] "If they are smart enough to know how to change the port number in the software, then they may be smart enough to get around any monitoring you do. You could dynamically assign an IP address, use Network Address Translation (NAT) on them, or simply charge them more money till they go away."

[MW explained] "That's exactly my point — they'll find a way around your monitoring. You can get into an escalating arms race with your own customers until they get sick of being monitored and go sign up with someone else. Or you can allow them to operate servers subject to certain conditions, which they'll accept much more readily. While encouraging your customers to go away may be a good engineering solution to the problem, it can lead to further problems over the long term."

[MH made a tangential point] "The really funny part of this is some ISPs and customers run wireless so they can run servers and other high bandwidth applications at their facility. I understand the reason for this 'control' need is mostly for consumer stuff; I just don't want people to think they can't run servers on wireless for technical reasons."

Another respondent said that NAT alone might work:

[AC wrote] "I think that NAT at the CPE is the answer. This is where a LRP appliance at the CPE end would pay dividends. Either way, for consumer level wireless CPE, I think NAT has to happen. Business level customers get a fully routed IP allocation with a monthly fee which reflects that."

—End