From http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9812/09/isp.idg/ :
Don't let your ISP cut you off
How to fight back when your ISP keeps kicking you off.
by Carla Thorton
(IDG) -- PROBLEM: Your Internet service provider kicks you offline when
you're in the middle of important work.
SOLUTION: Install an anti-timer utility, reconfigure your e-mail package,
or choose a regional ISP.
I bet Ms. Thorton never heard that TCP can preserve idle connections
when dial-up link is down. Yeah, dial-on-demand is such a hard thing
to do!
Am i paranoid, or is mass-media hell-bent on propaganda of antisocial
behavior in the Internet?
Or are they just really clueless?
--vadim
avg@alink.net (Vadim Antonov) writes:
Am i paranoid, or is mass-media hell-bent on propaganda of antisocial
behavior in the Internet?
Or are they just really clueless?
They found out a long time ago that controversy and sensationalism sells
papers. This predates the Internet or its founders.
Tony
I bet Ms. Thorton never heard that TCP can preserve idle connections
when dial-up link is down. Yeah, dial-on-demand is such a hard thing
to do!
Well, yes. But if you're on a dynamic IP, good luck at getting the
answers to your packets when you call up and are assigned a new IP.
Having your connection time out CAN be a pain.
Mike
They may be clueless.
They may be hell-bent on antisocial propaganda.
But the fact of the matter is that some ISPs do actively
kick people off (not just ppp idly dropping the line)
when they are not doing stuff. Furthermore, AOL, which
is sometimes considered an ISP (let's not get into
that debate), kicks people off if they are idle
for too long and _that_ causes all kinds of trouble
because the AOL application throws fits if it can't
get to the AOL servers.
Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by
stupidity. -- Lazarus Long, among others.
They're just _really_ clueless. They don't understand "the _right_
answer"... if the answer works, they'll promote it.
Kind of like the UDP meltdowns when I-phones first hit.
Cheers,
-- jra