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m v . m v . c o m m u n i c a t i o n
April 1994
Note: text copies of all issues of the monthly newsletter
can be found on mv in the public archive; look in
/pub/mv/inews. They're also in the online menu!
Upgrade in Internet bandwidth
As a result of plans and investigations that began late
last year, MV has now upgraded our Internet bandwidth. As
of this writing the transition to the new T1 service is in
its final stages, and users of online accounts and SLIP/PPP
services should already have seen the results.
In making this upgrade, we have gone to a new source
for our Internet connection. Until now MV's connectivity
has been obtained through NEARnet, which was originally a
member-based organization founded by several Massachusetts
universities as a regional network provider. NEARnet came
to special terms with MV to allow us to provide the services
we wanted to, but in limited ways. Changes in our require-
ments and in NEARnet's posture led us to seek alternate con-
nectivity. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the support that
NEARnet has expressed for us over the last two and a half
years. We will be maintaining the NEARnet connection on a
fallback basis through June 30.
One effect of our upgrade strategy is that we will now
be offering high-speed Internet connections via dedicated
leased line access. Pricing and terms will be listed
shortly and will be available on request.
MV joins the CIX
As part of the changes in our network, MV Communica-
tions has joined the Commercial Internet Exchange (the CIX),
effective May 1, 1994. The CIX is an organization that
facilitates the unfettered exchange of Internet traffic
between members (and others): it provides both a physical
connection point for networks and a political structure that
ensures that Internet data can flow in the commercial arena.
It was created to help prevent a Babel-like situation where
multiple providers can talk to all other providers only
through special one-to-one arrangements between individual
providers. You might relate this to the situation with some
of the small independent telephone companies that exist even
in our area. With no uniform interconnection strategy,
except via whatever settlement options each arranges with
the other, these independent companies often end up
representing isolated pockets in the telephone system. In
the Internet, the CIX provides a way for all independent
providers to communicate with each other on an equal foot-
ing. For the time being and at least for the foreseeable
future, we believe that our support of and membership in CIX
is good for the Internet in general and for our users in
particular.
Use the appropriate number
MV operates dialin modems out of our location in Litch-
field, NH. These modems are all in the 424 and 429
exchanges. We also have an access number in Manchester
(645-NETS) and one in Nashua (888-NETS) for the benefit of
those who are not within local dialing range of the Litch-
field number, who can dial the other numbers locally.
However, the way these non-Litchfield access numbers
work is that they provide a path to the Litchfield numbers.
When you dial the Manchester number or the Nashua number,
your call is still being routed to the Litchfield modems,
and one of the Litchfield phone numbers is still being used.
This setup works best when you only use the non-
Litchfield numbers if you can't dial Litchfield locally, but
can dial the other number as a local call. To help conserve
resources and reserve the access to the Manchester and
Nashua numbers for those who need it, please dial the Litch-
field numbers (424/429) if you can.
Speaking about modems
We have experimented with two models of the Microcom
Deskporte Fast modems, which operate at V.fc (fast class)
speeds up to 28,800 baud. We had high hopes that the less
expensive model (the ES) would be appropriate for our
further use, but that did not prove to be the case. Aside
from being less configurable than the other, the ES is lack-
ing some capabilities, is not as easily upgradable to the
eventual V.34 standard, and comes with at least one defect
that seriously retards its usefulness. However, the non-ES
model, while more expensive, has proved to be very usable
and we intend to continue purchasing this model for the time
being.
Miscellany
* Group Plans: Using MV's group plan for online accounts
you can easily put family members or company members
onto the Internet. Under our normal rates, an indivi-
dual online account has a $5/mo minimum and is charged
for access time according to a tiered rate structure
each month. Additional accounts under a group account
are charged only a $2/mo minimum, and all the time for
all group users is summed and applied to the rate
schedule (so that you only go through the higher tiers
once).
* Have a special requirement? Let us know. For
instance, if your system is shutting down for a vaca-
tion, we can install special handling of mail for your
system (for instance, returning a recorded message to
the sender, forwarding the mail to another place, or
simply keeping your mail from being returned while you
are down).
* Do you know someone else who should be on the Internet?
There several different ways they can get information
about connecting through MV. They can send email to
info@mv.mv.com for an automatic reply or contact us in
one of the usual ways or try our info login (no pass-
word) at (603) 424-7428. For new referrals we will
credit a small finder's fee to your account. This fee
is a token of our appreciation and the amount depends
on the type of new access. Please be sure to have your
referral let us know you sent them to MV.
* MV maintains an archive of files related to UUCP and
networking, and of files of recent interest. This
archive is in /pub on mv; a directory (updated nightly)
is in the file /pub/ls-lR, with a compressed version of
/pub/ls-lR.Z. Files in the archive include mail and
news software for MSDOS and the Macintosh as well as
UNIX; Ian Taylor's alternative UUCP package for UNIX;
information about Internetworking; uucp maps for all of
the USA and Canada; MV, NEARnet, and NSFnet policy
statements; program listings from Doctor Dobbs Journal;
etc.
MV Communications, Inc. (603) 429-2223