Categories
Bitlomat

Bitlomat TidBits

Bitlomat Default IP: 192.168.0.30 / 255.255.255.0

Point to Point Quickstart: http://support.bitlomat.com/customer/portal/articles/1384258-point-to-point-quickstart

Categories
Mikrotik Networking

Router OS 6.13

Straight from Mikrotik

What’s new in 6.13

*) console – comments are now accepted where new command can start, that is,

    where ‘/’ or ‘:’ characters can be used to start new command, e.g.

/interface { # comment until the end of the line

    print

}

*) backup – backups by default are encrypted now (with user password).

   To use backup on older versions, you should disable encryption with dont-encrypt

   flag when creating it;

*) files with ‘.sensitive.’ in the filename require ‘sensitive’

    permission to manipulate;
*) lcd – reduce CPU usage when displaying static screens;
*) l2tp – fixed occasional server lockup;
*) pptp – fixed memory leak;
*) sstp – fixed crashes;

Simply click “Check for updates” in QuickSet, Webfig or Winbox packages menu. If you run v5 or older, download the newest NPK package from our webpage, upload to your router, and reboot: http://www.mikrotik.com/download

Categories
Uncategorized

The double edged sword of being a consultant

For many being a consultant looks exciting looking in from the outside.   The reality is a very stressful job.  Let’s dissect why most folks hire a consultant. It boils down to one of a few reasons
-They don’t have the people power to do everything they need
-They need things done they don’t have the knowledge base to accomplish tasks
-They want to focus on their business and offload some work to others

So, how is this a bad thing for the consultant? I routinely run into two types of problems.  Either it’s a project or something broken.  Building a business model on something broken is not very sound.  So how do you keep money coming in? You take on projects.  Projects eat up time, but they keep food on the table. But as a result, this can take away from the issues that pop up.

So the balancing act always is how do you take care of the critical broken stuff and still make a living? One way is Red Bull, loud music, and no sleep.  This only lasts for so long.  For many years I have said being in the ISP business is a lifestyle.  One of the biggest problems is supporting a company that has to be functional 24/7/365.  Pretty soon you run into a catch-22.  You need more people to help you support clients, but you need consistent business to support the new hires.

Many consultants have supplemented their revenue by hardware and distribution.  Ive always felt that leads the consultant into being a little biased.  You might start recommending products which give you a higher profit margin or ones you have had sitting on the shelf. It would be an easy trap to fall into.

Being a consultant is either feast or famine.  Sometimes you can be busy for days at a time and then days of nothing.

Being a “break/fix” consultant can be very stressful if you let it get to you.  The anxiety of going into a movie theater and turning off your cell phone is worse than having a gun pointed at you.  What if a major network outage happens? What if that core router takes a dump.  Now imaging you have not one, but 10 networks to worry about.

Don’t get me wrong, being a consultant is something that i routinely enjoy.  You just have to be able to be strong enough to not let it overtake you.  Somedays that is easier said than done.

So, what are we doing at MTIN about being better? We have a multi-Step program we are working on.

1.We are hiring some junior techs to do things like open tickets, do routine maintenance tasks,

2.We are forcing customers to use the 317.644.2224 telephone number and the support@mtin.net number.  This will make sure you are not depending on just one person. This will ensure you actually are talking to some.

Categories
Mikrotik Networking

Mikrotik Chains Explained

What the wiki says:

  • input – used to process packets entering the router through one of the interfaces with the destination IP address which is one of the router’s addresses. Packets passing through the router are not processed against the rules of the input chain (DST address of the router)
  • forward – used to process packets passing through the router (SRC and DST is not on the router)
  • output – used to process packets originated from the router and leaving it through one of the interfaces. Packets passing through the router are not processed against the rules of the output chain

 

Categories
Networking UBNT

Some Edge Router shots

Just some random geek p0rn for you guys out there.

Screen Shot 2014-03-18 at 9.09.50 PM
PPPOE Server Setup
Screen Shot 2014-03-18 at 9.09.28 PM
DashBoard Screen

Screen Shot 2014-03-18 at 9.09.33 PM

Categories
DIY Networking

Cisco Rolled Cable

I was recently talking to a gentleman who came by and purchased some excess Cisco gear for his CCNA/CCNP studies.  I got on the topic of he didn’t need the special cisco cable if he had serial to ethernet adaptors.  Basically a Cisco rolled cable is just a cable with the ends flipped.
rollover-cable-wiring
As you can see the order is just reversed on one side.

Categories
Site News

Sponsorships and Ads

Since we finally were able to find a theme we like we now are offering the following:

Sponsor the Blog
Want to target xISP based readers? Advertise on MTIN for very low rates. Reach thousands of visitors.

Product reviews
Do you have an xISP based product you would like reviewed? Contact us on how to get your product out to many more customers.

Categories
xISP

BGP Looking Glass

One of the things we have been doing more of here at MTIN is BGP setups.  I am starting a series of posts on BGP troubleshooting and tidbits

Looking Glass
http://www.bgp4.as/looking-glasses

A looking glass can help you see how certain parts of the Internet view your advertisements.  This can be very helpful in troubleshooting.  Is someone in Europe seeing your advertisement? How about the guy next door?

 

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Azotel Webinar

e-mail from azotel:

I would like to inform you of the next Azotel SIMPLer online training webinar, taking place on Thursday, February 27th at 2.30PM London time. The topic covered will be Master/Sub Account Management in SIMPLer.

Further information on this topic can be found at page 47 of the following location: http://www.azotel.com/00_Az_Docs/Operator_Manuals/S05-04_End_User_Portal_Guide.pdf

If you are interested in attending this month’s training webinar, places are limited, so please sign up by sending your name and company name by email to emma@azotel.com before Wednesday February 26th.

Not interested in this month’s topic? Send your suggestions to emma@azotel.com – these will be considered for future webinars.

Categories
Uncategorized

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