FAQ
Is my DSL speed guaranteed?
Connection speeds are not guaranteed and will depend on many factors such as the length and condition of the telephone wires connecting your house to your central office and general conditions on the Internet at any given time. As such, we offer a "best effort" service. That means we don't offer any throughput guarantees, but we will always do our best to provide you with the fastest connection your specific conditions will allow.
What affects my connection speed?
When you connect to the Internet using a DSL modem, the speeds that you will experience will vary based on a variety of factors, including the following:
• Distance of your telephone line from our equipment
• Condition of telephone wiring inside and outside your location
• Computer configuration
• Network or Internet congestion
• Server and router speeds of the Web sites you access
• Other factors
Connection speed is the speed that data is transferred between your computer and the Logical Net Central Office during your initial connection to the DSL network. Throughput speed (also called download speed) refers to the rate that information is transferred from the Internet to your computer. It is the speed at which you receive data. Examples of receiving or downloading are reading a Web page, downloading a program, or receiving e-mail. Send speed (also called upload speed) refers to the rate that information is transferred from your computer to the Internet. Examples of sending or uploading are sending e-mail or sending files.
Does Pottawatomie filter any internet traffic?
Reasons for Filtering Ports
- Protecting customers - Certain ports are filtered to protect our customers. We can protect against certain common worms and from dangerous services on our customers' computers that could allow intruders access.
- Protecting upstream bandwidth - Upstream bandwidth to a cable plant is limited. If customers overuse their upstream bandwidth by running high-traffic servers or becoming infected with a worm or virus, it can degrade the service of other customers on that node.
- Protecting the rest of the Internet - Some filters prevent our customers from attacking other computers on the Internet. In addition to being in our best interests for protecting our bandwidth, it is our responsibility to prevent abuse of our network.
Port | Transport | Protocol | Direction | Reason for Filtering |
25 | TCP | SMTP | Outbound* | SMTP Relays |
135 | UDP | NetBios | Both | Net Send Spam / Pop-ups, Worms |
136-139 | UDP, TCP | NetBios | Both | Worms, Network Neighborhood |
445 | TCP | MS-DS/ NetBios | Both | Worms, Network Neighborhood |
1433 | TCP | MS-SQL | Inbound | Worms, Trojans |
1434 | UDP | MS-SQL | Inbound | Worms, SQLslammer |
3389 | TCP | RDP | Inbound | Worms |
*SMTP is only permitted outbound to Potelco provided SMTP servers.
Detailed Explanations of Filtered Ports
25 / TCP - SMTP | Mail servers use Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) to exchange email. We block this to protect upstream bandwidth and prevent customers from running open relays could potentially be used by others to send spam via our network. |
135, 137 / UDP, 135, 139 / TCP, 445 MS-DC – NetBIOS | NetBIOS (also known as Server Message Block, LanManager, and Common Internet File System) is a networked file sharing protocol. The Microsoft Windows “Network Neighborhood” runs over NetBIOS. We filter these ports to protect customers from exposing files on their computers, and to block worms which spread through open file shares. The latest addition to this series, a consolidated service port (445 TCP), has also opened new similar security risks in Win2K and WinXP. |
1433 / TCP, 1434 / UDP –MS-SQL | Microsoft SQL Server is a database application with a long history of security exploits, and is noted for the propagation of the SQLslammer worm. These ports are filtered to prevent exploitation and propagation of such MS-SQL exploits. |
3389 / TCP – RDP | RDP is a multi-channel protocol that allows a user to connect to a computer running Microsoft Terminal Services. We filter this port to protect customers and their computers from risks on the internet. |