November to December 2001 ramblings
Cheeky reader, it's dangerous out there, ntl rant, router dial-up fun, high-speed internet access, running on fumes, Seven Club meeting reports, puncture.
Cheeky...
I still get interest in my
bike computer page, but
some is less welcome than most. I got a message today which consisted of this question,
"please halpe me with this wark give me more halp please please tankyou",
followed by eight screens of information about an assignment to design a bike computer. I politely
replied saying that I didn't know enough to help, but the links on my page might give more information.
Thursday 27th December 2001. Link to this ramble.
It's dangerous out there
The firewall part of my router is doing its job, and I'm glad I went for it. In the last 24 hours it's rejected
the following probes by hackers on my IP address:
- 1 attempt on TCP port 111 (trying to exploit problems with some Unix RPC mechanisms)
- 1 attempt on TCP port 445 (used by Windows to allow file sharing; only a problem if you use easy passwords)
- 1 attempt on TCP port 53 (DNS vulnerability)
- 8 attempts on TCP port 80 (http, checking whether I've got a web server installed, as a prelude to hack attempts)
Given that I'm pretty confident that the attacks won't succeed, it's quite interesting to see that they're up to.
Doing a Google search for something like
"tcp port 53 hack"
usually gives good references.
Saturday 22nd December 2001. Link to this ramble.
ntl rant
My ntl cable modem is now installed, and the
home network is working great.
Getting there, however, was not easy...
- Saturday night: remembered that when I ordered the connection, they told me that someone would
phone to arrange delivery of the cable modem. That hadn't happened, so they're probably going
to install the line and I won't be able to use it.
- Monday morning: ntl engineers both arrive and leave well within the assigned times
(8:30-12:30); everything installed. I asked them about the cable modem, and they said it
would be delivered by Amtrak, and I should phone to enquire if it hasn't arrived the end of the
day. I didn't wait that long.
- Monday - Wednesday: lots of phone calls to ntl trying to find out what was happening. I got
two different stories. a) the modem would be supplied by a third party, or
b) the modem should have been installed by the ntl engineers (with the twist of
"I don't think we've got any cable modems; they are in short supply"). I phoned ntl's
cable modem supplier, Global Direct, and they'd never heard of me, so I knew they weren't
going to be shipping one to me.
- Getting to talk to a person in ntl customer skirmishes, rather than being put through
to a voice mail box which is full and then being cut off, is very difficult. The menuing
system is ludicrous. The only way I found to navigate it successfully was to avoid it - pretend
that I had a rotary phone and couldn't dial DTMFs.
- Once you do get through, don't let them go away. If they need to phone you back and you miss the call
then you're stuffed, because they can't / won't give you a direct dial phone number to get back to
them. You have to go back through all that IVR crap, and then you won't get back to the one
helpful employee in the company.
- They don't do email either. I said to one of them, "I know you can't give me a direct phone
number. Can I have your email address so that I can get back to you?" They said, "we don't have
external email, not since that virus that went round. We only have internal email."
Sheesh. And they're claiming to be an internet company?!
- Late Wednesday afternoon: cable modem is delivered and left with a neighbour. This is despite
a) me telling ntl that nobody would be in at that time, and b) ntl insisting
that they would only deliver to my home address, and that someone would have to be in to sign
for it.
- Once I had the modem, installation was a breeze. Speed test sites reckon I'm getting around 550 kbps.
- Thursday: get a letter informing me of my installation date.
- Friday: contract arrives, which I must sign and return before installation can take place. I'm
also told that the engineers won't install the line without first seeing two different forms
of ID (yeah, right). The phone number quoted is not the one that my line responds to (the engineers
did tell me what that was).
I just hope that everything stays working and I don't have to deal with ntl any more. They'll probably
screw up my direct debit next.
ntl aren't the only ones
Tele2 turned up again last Friday, exactly a week after they should have
arrived. ntl were coming on Monday, so I had to tell them to go away again. Can't any of these
companies get it right?
Friday 21st December 2001. Link to this ramble.
Router dial-up fun
I just used a borrowed modem (thanks, Andy) connected to my new router
to surf the internet wirelessly from my laptop. Excellent! Configuring the router for my Freeserve account
was simple, but surprisingly, so was setting it up to dial into our work RAS servers. I did a bit
of surfing, ran Outlook; all seemed to work fine.
I'm not sure how workable it would be as a true dial-up solution, because it called out
with seemingly no provocation (like when the router finished booting). I couldn't see
an option to modify this behaviour, other than by disabling manual dialing. After doing this,
I had to go to one of the router's configuration web pages and press a button before it would
call out. It's still pretty cool though. I had the iMac and my laptop sharing the connection.
I even accessed our work intranet from the iMac. Wonder whether that's a first?
ntl had better turn up and do the business on Monday, because I'm looking forward to
trying this thing with a decent WAN connection.
Wednesday 12th December 2001. Link to this ramble.
The search for high-speed internet access
I've been thinking about getting high-speed internet access at home for quite a while,
and I recently decided that the time is right to do something about it.
Providers
BT don't do
ADSL in my area.
Tele2 are also out.
(Background:
they do fixed-wireless broadband in the Reading
area, but their website says they don't cover my house. I phoned them on the off-chance,
and they said that they had successfully installed at properties near me.
They were supposed to come out to do the survey / installation on Thursday
morning, but turned up late after I'd gone to work. They said they did the survey
anyway, and I can't get the service. That's a pity because in Reading they offer a static
IP address, ethernet port, and they don't mind if you run servers.)
Which leaves ntl. They definitely cover my area, and
they are coming out to install on Monday. They offer ethernet (or USB), but they don't
allow me to run servers, and the upload speed is lower than the competitors (128 kbps).
I've heard lots of bad things about their customer service, so I hope the installation
goes OK. Incidentally, the web site and other publicity blurb is very confusing about
their tarrifs. Don't be conned into thinking that you have to get their Digital TV / Telephone /
Internet package if all you want is broadband - I've managed to get away with Telephone (which I don't want) and Internet.
Equipment
I wanted to be able to use the internet connection from my iMac and my work laptop
when it's at home. I also wanted to have the two computers be able to talk to each other,
for transferring files. After doing much research on the net I setttled on an
SMC Barricade SMC7004AWBR (Practically Networked have an excellent
review). This
includes a 3-port 10/100 mbps ethernet switch (for the iMac),
NAT router (for sharing the broadband connection),
11 mbps wireless ethernet access point (for the laptop),
printer server (with parallel port), and a serial port for hooking up to a modem (instead of the
cable / ADSL ethernet port). As an added bonus,
Action had them in stock as part of a package with a free
wireless PC Card for my laptop, for the same price as a cheap wireless access point from many other
suppliers (catalogue number 55-53-20).
The first one to arrive had a damaged antenna (there are two, and one was loose on its
mounting). Action's returns policy was stupid (they pay for a courier to collect it, but
wouldn't send a replacement out until they had confirmed the fault), so I got a refund,
and then ordered a new one. This one seems fine, but I've only tested the wired and wireless
access so far. I'll be able to test the broadband side when ntl deliver, and once I've got
a printer cable I will try that out too. The device is about the size of a paperback book,
has no fan, and runs cool so I have no qualms with leaving it turned on all the time.
It seems to be just what I was after.
Monday 10th December 2001. Link to this ramble.
Stuttering again
My engine stuttered again last night, this time just as I was leaving work.
It sounded terrible (a bit like a Subaru :-) ), and it was well down on power.
I suspected the spark plugs, but couldn't get the cover off with my Swiss Army knife,
so I had to call out Green Flag. Their mechanic arrived in good time, and sure enough
several of the plug wells had nice puddles of water at the bottom. (The K-Series head
seems like a stupid design - each plug is at the bottom of a tall thin well which is
usually sealed by the plug lead. If any water does get in however, it ends up all over the
plug, and there's no way for it to get out. I know the Ford Zetec engine is similar; don't
know why they did it this way.)
The guy soaked up the water with a rag, sprayed in a healthy dose of WD40, dried off the
distributor cap, and sealed everything with a light silicone spray. The engine sounded
better when I started it, but when I went to drive away I realised it wasn't fixed. I
really didn't want to wait around for a low-loader to take me home, so I decided to take an
easy drive. I joined the motorway late, because I wanted to make sure I could safely get up
to speed. By the time I got there, the engine seemed to be running fine, although by now
I was paranoid and was sure I could hear suspicious noises.
The drives in and home today were fine, so I don't know what the problem was.
I really hope I haven't shagged the engine. It's been pointed out to me that
my concern out sucking up crud from the bottom of the tank doesn't make sense (because
the pick-up must be at the bottom of the tank, so it would suck up the bits
regardless of how low the petrol level got). I don't think it's just folklore that you
shouldn't run the tank dry, so I guess the explanation must be that some of the crud
normally floats on the surface of the petrol, and that's what gets sucked in when the
level gets too low.
Tuesday 4th December 2001. Link to this ramble.
Seven Club meeting report for November
Forgot to mention that I've added Steve Foster's report for the
November meetings of the
L7C Hants. (North) & Berks. area.
Tuesday 4th December 2001. Link to this ramble.
Running on fumes
I've long wondered how far I can go on one Caterham tank of petrol. I've managed about 235 miles, but have been at least a few litres shy of emptying the tank; I seldom get more than 30l in.
Driving home last night, the engine started to stutter just after I came off the motorway. It recovered, so I carried on and didn't think any more of it. Then it happened again. It was at this point that I realised that I was low on petrol; very low.
There were a couple of petrol stations not far down the road. I pulled into the first, but all of their Super Unleaded pumps were blocked off, so I pulled back out and headed for the next station which was literally straight across the road. I just managed to make it to the first pump before the engine died. They didn't have Super either, so I filled up with Unleaded.
I've now broken my record for the amount of petrol used in one filling. I think that getting 36.45l in what's supposed to be a 36l tank means that I had pretty much emptied it dry. Didn't break the miles per tank record though - only 227 miles from that one.
I know that the stuttering probably didn't do the engine much good, and neither did sucking up all the
crud at the bottom of the petrol tank. Now that I know where the limit is, I will try to stay
away from it in the future...
Thursday 29th November 2001. Link to this ramble.
Puncture
Got a slow puncture, fixed by Bracknell Tyres for £9.99. I hope that's just bad luck,
and not down to how sticky the
32s
are, or how little tread there is.
Sunday 17th November 2001. Link to this ramble.
Seven Club meeting report for October
Added Steve Foster's report for the
October meetings of the
L7C Hants. (North) & Berks. area.
Saturday 10th November 2001. Link to this ramble.
This page is http://www.strangely.org/diary/200111/index.html. It was first published on Monday 15 April, 2002 and last updated on Monday 15 April, 2002.