AVonGaussPremium
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL
1 edit | Openness... I am not really a fan of DNS redirection for many of the reasons already stated here and in the forum comments, but I do want to commend the process in which this system is being rolled out. Its good to see the trend of Comcast being more open and forthcoming about changes continuing.
The burden definitely is not all Comcast's, but what I would be much more interested in seeing from any IETF efforts is a plan to correct what is broken by DNS redirection. Marketing spins aside, DNS redirection by ISPs is really about additional ad revenue and name branding which means it is primarily (if not solely) targeting the user and more specifically browser related services such as http, https, ftp, ftps - gopher? 
If DNS redirection is going to be implemented by ISPs as an opt-out system, there really should be efforts to address the issues caused at the browser level (caching, history, etc) and mechanisms established that allow other services such as SSH, POP, IMAP, SMTP and VPNs to continue to receive the NXDOMAIN responses as originally intended and currently specified in the standards. This is also something needed by networks such as WiFi hot spots or other semi-public networks that require a login and use DNS redirection to provide the user a login page. In this case, its not so much of the NXDOMAIN response as it is selectively redirecting browser requests vs all requests from all types of services.
Not trying to be preachy, but something I think all ISPs should remember; your customers are paying you for a service. They are not signing up to be an audience for ads that you are selling or reselling and while they will tolerate it to a point, there is definitely a threshold to that tolerance at which the customer will start to devalue your service no matter how well that service performs.
Now, Karl, about my crapping typing skills.... |
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| i havunt ta foagest ideaa whut yus giys ur takimg ubout.mi tiping skils ur jist fine. |
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 funchordsHelloPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA
kudos:5 | said by shoegazer:i havunt ta foagest ideaa whut yus giys ur takimg ubout.mi tiping skils ur jist fine. You, sir, are doomed.  |
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1 edit | i heard its nice and warm down there..
my first black spot,im so proud.. |
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| reply to AVonGauss
I don't get it, what do you want other services, SSH/POP/IMAP/SMTP, etc... to receive when you send your client to a mistyped URL? If their redirector sends them to a server which returns their ad page on port 80 and maybe the http SSL port as well but denies connections to all other ports how much harder is it for the user to figure out what they did wrong?
OK, I guess you get a connection denied error instead of host not found but isn't double checking the hostname you typed the first thing you would do for either error?
It's not like they are redirecting requests to correct hostnames to their spam page. Even if your mail server doesn't have a web server running at the same IP, since it's only redirecting when the domain doesn't exist that shouldn't apply. |
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AVonGaussPremium
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL | In the case of an ISP DNS redirection, yes, taking SSH for example...
If, due to my crappy typing skills , I mistype the host name, I want it to tell me right then and there that it could not find the domain name - like it is supposed to. I don't want to sit there and wonder why I'm getting a connection refused from a host that I know should be accepting the connection.
In the case of a WiFi hotspot or other similar service redirecting to a login page, I want it to return the correct address and just let the connection fail. A better example in this case is e-mail services.
Remember, DNS redirection to a search page provided by a search engine you partnered with is for the benefit of the ISP. I, as a customer, am attempting to compromise. |
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NormanSPremium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
kudos:4 Reviews:
 ·SONIC.NET
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to AVonGauss
said by AVonGauss:I am not really a fan of DNS redirection for many of the reasons already stated here and in the forum comments, but I do want to commend the process in which this system is being rolled out. Its good to see the trend of Comcast being more open and forthcoming about changes continuing. When ATTIS gets around to doing this (I haven't heard anything from them, yet), I'd rather they follow Comcast's lead, and not the other ISPs. I'd rather it be an "opt-in" service, though. Perhaps they could advertise it the way OpenDNS does, as an option that the user can choose to control how her Internet connection will respond to DNS requests.
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Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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