[Vision2020] V2020 Problems

Fri Dec 10 11:43:38 PST 2004

I'm not trying to step on any toes, but it seems to me that complaining
about FSR's service on the FREE V2020 board is kinda like bitching about
the brand of the free, cold beer someone hands you.

It's just not cricket

DC

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Bill Moore
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 9:51 AM
To: 'Art Deco aka W. Fox'; 'Vision 2020'
Cc: 'First Step Internet'
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] V2020 Problems 

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

  _____  

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 

  _____  

_____________________________________________________
 List services made available by First Step Internet, 
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
               http://www.fsr.net                       
          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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