[Vision2020] V2020 Problems

[Bill Moore]

Mr. Fox and Vision2020 subscribers,
 
I feel that I must respond to your charges of poor customer service and inadequate network
resources. Vision 2020 is a forum made available to the community through the donation
of considerable resources and expense by First Step Internet. I feel it is in very poor
taste to use this venue to spread unsubstantiated rumor and innuendo about First Step.
We as a company have spent time enough chasing windmills for Mr. Fox that we have
come to more or less expect this sort of attack. I'd really rather not get into technical
issues of mail-server horse-power and bandwidth.  Our bandwidth is more than sufficient 
to handle our customers' requirements. That is why when the University of Idaho went looking for a 
redundant carrier to handle their network load when their network fails, they chose First Step.
 
If Mr. Fox were willing to schedule a time to speak with our technical support team (he's not),
I'm confident that we could diagnose whatever perceived problem he is experiencing. I see
from our customer support records that we have never failed to respond to Mr Fox's calls; 
the longest he's had to wait is 2 hours. We have two levels of technical support, and in the
event that a problem remains unresolved at level 2, know that my partner Kevin Owen and I 
are always available to respond. Despite Mr. Fox's assertion that his "problems" are "widely 
talked with some degree of anger and impatience about among wireless FSR customers," I 
can promise him that the vast majority of our clientele are very happy with their service. 
 
Please don't ever doubt our commitment to the community and region. First Step is now nearing 
completion of a redundant ring of wireless access points that will finally bring high-speed internet
access to the digitally disadvantaged of rural Latah, Whitman, Nez Perce and Asotin counties at 
a cost to First Step in excess of $500,000.00. We believe in our region and we will continue to
support our region by donation of service, hardware and support.  Our commitment to excellent
customer service should never be doubted.
 
Sincerely,
 
Bill Moore
Co-Owner, First Step Internet
 
 
 
 
 
 


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From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Art Deco aka W. Fox
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 8:51 AM
To: Vision 2020
Cc: First Step Internet
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] V2020 Problems 


Ted, et al,
 
I may be wrong, but below is a possible explanation of the FSR email, V 2020 problems.
 
First, it is not just V 2020 but emails from various sources and geographical locations that are sometimes delayed up to six days.
Some emails have been forever lost.
 
The servers at FSR have a maximum capacity to handle email.  When that capacity is exceeded, the emails are cached somewhere else
and retrieved, if possible, when the system has enough unused capacity to handle them.  Sometimes it is not possible to retrieve the
cached emails on a timely basis or to retrieve them at all.
 
Another problem concerns the allegations that certain users emails are being read by certain FSR staff.
 
When I first signed up with FSR, the technical support was very good and one seldom had to wait.  Now, it is hard to get connected
on call to them; leaving a message sometimes leads to a long (more than a day) wait.  The last experience I had was with someone who
could not find the problem of why I could not connect to the mail server and seemed to have no idea of how to investigate the
problem.  (I always do the obvious before calling, including a cold boot just in case of an OS foul-up).  He then said it was a
problem with my machine.  A few hours later without any more action on my part, the mail connection started working again.
 
I am on a wireless connection.  Sometimes it works very well.  Sometimes it is pathetically slow, due probably due to FSR's
insufficient bandwidth.
 
Further, FSR is on a number of span-block lists.  This means that certain ISPs will not accept any emails from anyone using FSR.  I
reported the problem yesterday after receiving another message saying my email was blocked because FSR was considered a spammer.
The problem was acknowledged by FSR with a very short note saying that they are working on it.  It may be a problem with virus
infected machines of FSR users who are spam robots and/or real spammers.  This explanation would also explain the sluggish response
at times.  It is alleged that FSR does not have the adequate hardware, software, or technical expertise to find the spammers.
 
I like to support local businesses.  However, the problems above are beginning to lead me to consider finding a more reliable, more
secure, and more responsive ISP connection.
 
Has anyone else had these problems?  Or different explanations/solutions?


Wayne
 
Wayne A. Fox
waf at moscow.com
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID 83843
208 882-7975
 
 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Tbertruss at aol.com 
To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2004 9:50 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] V2020 Problems 


All:

It took about one minute for my last post to post to the list.  So why after six hours has my previous post from earlier today not
posted yet?  Some computer God must know.

Ted Moffett 



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 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
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