20 Mar
2014
20 Mar
'14
8:56 p.m.
I've been little more than an observer for some time, but I must say ALL
the points in this e-mail are right on. I began thinking about 44 almost
5 years ago, and to reiterate a few points made:
1. Coordination at first seemed almost impossible. I was told by a few
other hams, "Good luck getting an address. 44-net is dead". I sent a
number of emails over a span of 2 years before I got the attention of who I
believe is the most recent coordinator for my area. I was greeted with a
"You DO know that a /24 is 253 routable IPs?" After 3+ years of trying to
get anything, I asked for a sizeable segment that I could break up and
route as needed. I didn't want to wait 3 years for every /29 I needed for
a new project. I'm sure the portal has made things easier, but with all
the space available, why the grief over a /24? I didn't ask for a
networking lecture, I know what a /24 is..
2. Some of my experience with even getting addresses coordinated, along
with what Steve pointed out in the Terms and Conditions, as well as the
overall complexity, I haven't found 44 to be very welcoming. If a club
posts their repeater rules, and they consist of "Feel free to use the
repeater. The tone is unpublished... you'll need to figure it out, here's
a list of 20 things NOT to do, oh, and we're watching you!", I am probably
not going to use the repeater.
I have a strong networking background, and I am far from being an appliance
operator, but it's hard to make a pizza if you've never seen one, the
recipes are so vastly different that the concepts aren't clear, and it
almost appears intentional.
Danny
On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 7:45 PM, Steve Wright <stevewrightnz(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:
> (Please trim inclusions from previous messages)
> _______________________________________________
> Ok here's my opinion.
>
> Technically, it's difficult for prospective members to connect a 44 subnet
> of any type, using any method. It is not clear at all how this is ACTUALLY
> done or what options are available.
>
> The wiki should be the authoritative document, but ;
>
> 1.) The main page is all about how to edit the wiki and a logo
> competition, and ONE LINE on how to set up a gateway - which the whole
> reason people went to the wiki.
>
> 2.) The "Setting_up_a_gateway_on_Linux" wiki page has a broken link
leading
> to "common instructions for setting up a gateway", inviting newcomers to
> consider that there ARE NO such instructions, at which point they'll
> probably completely give up.
>
> 3.) The three main options, munge script, rip44d.pl and rip44.c are not
> stated clearly, nor are there links to any such subsection, nor are these
> options grouped from the users' perspective - namely their chosen platform,
> be it JNOS, x86 Linux, OpenWRT, or METARouter.
>
> 4.) There's no real index to what people are actually DOING over the 44net,
> and people ARE DOING some cool stuff. If there were some page in the wiki
> where people shared what they were making, then others might duplicate
> their efforts.
>
>
> Sysadmins on the portal are reluctant to issue /24s, when there's lots and
> lots available.
>
> The portals' "Law and Jurisdiction" section in the terms and
conditions
> insults the user. Most of the rest of that section is pretty unsavoury
> too.
>
> WISPs and others who want to peer don't have access to any toolkit or
> support.
>
> Some stuff in the portal doesn't (or didn't) work, and it's not clear
> which.
>
> There's not really an apparent reason WHY newcomers might even WANT to
> number a network with 44. It's simpler to just throw a DHCP server at an
> interface and add some routing - easy peasy, why number the network with
> 44, and if they did - HOW to do that?
>
> It's not really clear to network builders, that they can actually number up
> with 44 right now, and worry about connecting to other 44/xx Networks later
> when they're ready. If they want to expose several 44/24's to the wild
> internet, then that doesn't really affect anyone else but themselves.
>
> All this tunnelling really is an unstable mess. Apart from allowing the
> wild internet to connect inbound, why not just route the whole thing?
>
>
> HTH,
> Steve
>
>
> --
> Meshnetworks - Rangitaiki Plains Rural Broadband Internet Providers
> +64 21 040 5067
>