Ascend Archive
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Re: (ASCEND) Nailed Modem Users - No No
On Fri, 1 Aug 1997, Robert A. Pickering Jr. wrote:
>
> Okay, onto another topic besides K56Flex. :)
> Anyhow, I'm sure there are lots of ISPs and dial-up modem pool owners
> on this list, so I've got a rather common question that I'm looking for
> an answer to.
> How do people approach customers who nail up modems 24x7?
We give them a nice warning, then the boot if they persist. Our TOS
are pretty d*mn clear that we sell "unmetered interactive use" and that
"interactive use" is defined as : "While you are physically at your
computer, guiding it's operation".
> I've currently got over 1000 Max ports, and around 10% of those are
> what I would consider nailed connections. The customer has a program that
> just keeps them logged into the service all the time, no matter what we
> do.
What you have is a 10% reduction in your modem pool, without a
commensurate increase in your revenue.
> Now I offer up suggestions of what we're looking into, tell me what you
> think.
> We're writing an SNMP tool, a la aview, that we're going to monitor all
> of the sessions on all of our Maxes. When a session has been logged
> into the service for say...XXX hours (maybe 12), then we're going to tag
> that account in a little database with a record of the in/out octets.
> If after X cycles of checking this account, they haven't done a certain
> amount of traffic, we kick them off, and record the fact we kicked them
> off. If after X times of being kicked off they're still doing it, the
> program will send the customer a message about it. After X messages, we
> disable the account.
Make sure your TOS allows this. We don't normally terminate a users
session for any reason, but we do pay CLOSE attention to the number of
hours used, the account traffic "density" and the times/days logged in.
NO ONE can interactively log in every 30 minutes around the clock, 7 days
a week, just as NO ONE can consistenly log 15 uninterrupted hours per day
7 days a week (especially if they have a job).
> How are other people handling this situation. Do you see the same ratio
> of modems always active (10%)?
Since we started sending the warnings again, most of the 'line hogs' have
decided to seek service with our competitors. :-)
Great. Since each one uses the resources of 10 users, but only pays for
one account.
A number of them are reasonable and decide to convert either to measured
service or dedicated service, both of which have some advantages for them
if they truly need that many hours.
A number of them "discover" that friends, family and office co-workers
have been sharing the account "without their knowledge". :-)
We see one of three results, all positive:
1. They quit the bad behaviour. (Good outcome).
2. They change to a dedicated line. (Great outcome)
3. They get mouthy and lose their account. :-) (You get the idea)
Since we don't actually start worrying until they reach 300+ hours, even
our heaviest real interactive users have nothing to worry about..
Later,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Portman - Alternate Access Inc. Affordable, Reliable Internet
baron@aa.net Seattle: (206) 777-7777 Everett: (206) 249-4949
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For free trial account: set modem to 8-n-1, login as "new"
For questions or support, call our voice line (206) 728-9585.
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