---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <676B0C83-F6B2-4FA2-B313-ECFE4BB5445B@roscom.com> Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2017 10:38:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: 802.eleventy what? A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks 802.eleventy what? A deep dive into why Wi-Fi kind of sucks When wireless networking based around the 802.11b standard first hit consumer markets in the late nineties, it looked pretty good on paper. Promising "11 Mbps" compared to original wired Ethernet's 10 Mbps, a reasonable person might have thought 802.11b was actually faster than 10Mbps wired Ethernet connections. It was a while before I was exposed to wireless networking - smartphones weren't a thing yet, and laptops were still hideously expensive, underpowered, and overweight. I was already rocking Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) wired networks in all my clients' offices and my own house, so the idea of cutting my speed by 90 percent really didn't appeal. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/802-eleventy-what-a-deep-dive-into-why-wi-fi-kind-of-sucks/ ***** Moderator's Note ***** Since the iPhone that my employer has provided to me doesn't work in my home unless I allow "WiFi" connections to AT&T, I hope this will be of interest. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.64.1703032136000.12558@panix5.panix.com> Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2017 21:40:16 -0500 From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> Subject: FCC grants emergency "unblocking" of CNID to Jewish Centers This is in response to the numerous (over a hundred in the current wave) bomb threats phoned in to Jewish Community Centers and similar facilities [FCC Press Release] The Federal Communications Commission today issued an emergency temporary waiver to Jewish Community Centers and [the] telecom- munications carriers [which] serve them to allow these entities and law enforcement agencies to access the caller-ID information of threatening and harassing callers. "This agency must and will do whatever it can to combat the recent wave of bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. "I am pleased that we are taking quick action to address this issue and hope that this waiver will help Jewish Community Centers, telecommunications carriers, and law enforcement agencies track down the perpetrators of these crimes." ======= rest: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-grants-emergency-waiver-help-protect-jewish-community-centers _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ***** Moderator's Note ***** It's not exactly clear to me if the exception to caller-id blocking is being given to local law enforcement, or directly to the community centers which have been threated. If it's the former, then Mr. Pai is grabbing some free ink (police have always had that access), but if the later, then Mr. Pai is setting a bad precedent: "Jewish Community Centers [and] telecommunications carriers" are not, IMO, the appro- priate agencies to find and/or punish those making crank phone calls. IMHO, giving /any/ religious community center access to blocked caller-id info for all callers will come with the risk of inapropriate responses to peevish or rude callers. Public safety agencies should not be allowed to subcontract their jobs to religious leaders who are neither trained in law enforcement, nor accustomed to applying the often-frustrating, but necessary, rules about which calls, exactly, rise to the level of criminal behavior. Please ask yourself - 1. When I call the Striar center and complain that the chemicals used for the pool could cause an explosion because I think they're stored improperly, should my call be placed in the same category as that of a threat to kill people? 2. If I call the local mosque and voice a concern that one of the worshippers spoke inappropriately to my sister, should I be regarded as a dangerous islamophobe? 3. When I ring the Kingdom Hall and ask that those proselytizing in my neighborhood respect my "no soliciting" sign and refrain from waking me up at three in the afternoon when I work the night shift, am I an extremist? 4. If I should be able to call the YMCA and ask if my yoga class has been cancelled, without having to worry about being placed on some fundraising list. Cops are schooled and experienced at evaluating both context and capability, which is why they are given the job of evaluating "threat" calls, and they should be the first line of defense, not the second. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <ff0f263f-f306-4714-add9-e1cf3d61ac44@googlegroups.com> Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2017 11:00:31 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: With Jews nationwide watching, the FBI works to crack the tough case of a telephone culprit On Friday, March 3, 2017 at 1:40:07 PM UTC-5, John Levine wrote: > Unfortunately, it's real. VoIP gateways can send arbitrary junk. I > have an account with a VoIP provider that happens to be in Europe, and > I can send pretty much any calling number I want. It would seem to be very reasonable, in order to protect the integrity of the communications network, to require some sort of "hard" source identification at VOIP gateways. In the past, some folks here raised the complaint that such an ID would be too expensive and too inflexible, but, for what it's worth, telecom administrators I've informally talked to say it's perfectly doable and a good idea. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <44AC3541-89B7-4EBD-8784-01D5FE40D84A@roscom.com> Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2017 10:48:55 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbers FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbers The FCC in 2015 made it clear that voice service providers can offer call blocking tools to customers, but commissioners said at the time that more needed to be done about Caller ID spoofing. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has now scheduled a preliminary vote for March 23 on new rules designed to solve the problem. "One particularly pernicious category of robocalls is spoofed robocalls, i.e., robocalls where the caller ID is faked, hiding the caller's true identity," the proposal says. "Fraudsters bombard consumers' phones at all hours of the day with spoofed robocalls, which in some cases lure consumers into scams (e.g., when a caller claims to be collecting money owed to the Internal Revenue Service) or lead to identity theft." https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/robocalls-begone-fcc-seeks-to-block-calls-from-spoofed-numbers/ ***** Moderator's Note ***** I wonder if the FCC chairman is planning to run for public office: he's certainly grabbing for free publicity. Given the LECs *permission* to spend a lot of money and time providing a service that will anger direct-marketing companies and benefit only powerless consumers isn't likely to produce any change. If it benefits the public and lessens fraud, why isn't Mr. Pai seeking to make it a *requirement*? Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <cnnjbc179194mo8phg95srjoiq54nk9j26@4ax.com> Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 16:25:03 -0500 From: Pete Cresswell <PeteCress@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: With Jews nationwide watching, the FBI works to crack the tough case of a telephone culprit Per John Levine: > I have an account with a VoIP provider that happens to be in Europe, >and I can send pretty much any calling number I want. Dunno about "... pretty much any calling number..." but my USA VOIP provider allows me to spoof my outgoing calls' CallerID with my home landline phone number. -- Pete Cresswell ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sun, 05 Mar 2017