|
2009-08-30 | Providers Reset
The last update here was the 5th January, 2008. Scary.
I wanted to update sooner, but I got busy with work and other commitments.
I've had to reset all the provider statistics, as Servers Australia (the provider we used for colocation), is so unreliable, it caused all the monitoring data to be placed in question.
The times reported were higher than they are now, and all I did was switch to a MUCH better provider in the SAME location, which clearly points out the incompetence of the people behind "Servers Australia".
So, we now have all providers back to 100%. All latency reset, and 'first monitored' times changed to today.
This was the 'easiest', and best move given the circumstances and state of the data.
2008-01-05 | Updates
Ok. It's been a long while since I've made a news post here.
That doesn't mean however, there hasn't been anything happening with VoIP and this website.
The opposite is true.
VoIP has grown a fair bit, and providers have both, come and gone.
That said, last year, I used a publicly available data source, from a company that has two words to its name, the first letter M, the second word C, and unfortunately, the data they have is equivilent to garbage.
Sorry to the company, but the data collected is far from an accurate representation of the actual VoIP services.
I've gone and cleaned out the rubbish so to speak, and the data I have is of VoIP providers who trade on the public internet, and have, or appear to be having a VoIP service available for consumers.
Also, I cleaned out the rubbish of resellers.
And, as can be seen, we've added more to the monitored list.
I've also made a change to something that isn't so visible, and that is the network the site is hosted on. The previous network was riddled with issues, and constant outages, so much so that the monitoring wasn't that of a VoIP monitoring service, and more of a "network specific VoIP monitoring application".
I put up a mirror of the site on this box, at the same time as left the other running, and needless to say, we saw an immediate difference. A minor increase in latency, due to the differing location, but a major increase in accuracy of monitoring.
Thus far, this network hasn't really seen any downtime, and that has shown the other network to be "multi-homed" - yet unreliable.
Hopefully, the new change stops the problematic issues and allows monitoring to continue!
I posted on My Blog a while ago that I enhanced the outage monitoring system, but that never made it here, because of a few reasons, the top being, I'm entering directly into a database now, my blog has an admin editor.
That said, there are plans (and actions) underway for the website, so much so that the look and feel is going to change, many pages recoded, some features lost, others added.
I did say when I released this site, that I planned to constantly maintain it, and for the most part, I have. Many enhancements have been invisible, I do actually check many of the outages that get logged to ensure they have some ground to them, and much work has gone into this aspect to improve the testing, monitoring, reporting of VoIP.
The sites new layout should make the look and feel more user inviting too, and that'll solve a few issues in one blow with regard to the website.
This year is going to be a little more interesting with VoIP, as broadband is set to improve for many more, and the current 'favourite', so to speak, VoIP provider, PennyTel, seems to be getting bad feedback on quality.
MyNetFone holds a clear second place, ready to do some collection of customers.
We might see more entrants into the market too, but they'll be replacing the ones who have left, really.
The website improvements to OzVoIPStatus will make many of the VoIP providers see a new use for the website, and allow for much more enhancements. They'll be coming soon, so long as I don't have to be fixing dud outages, and problematic network issues, and certainly, find the time to do them. Hint: I have indeed started!
The next update WILL occur this year. There, it's on the website now, so it must happen.
2007-05-07 | Provider Status Logos
Provider Status Logos are DONE!
That's right, you can now show the world your VSP's Fantastic Unstability by placing one of our VoIP Provider Status Logos on your website.
And they are stylish as well. You can choose from 2 exciting styles:
Black.
Blue.
As I said, very exciting.
What do they look like?
Look below:
  
So, to do that yourself, and display any of them on your website, you need a few things:
A colour for the font, pick any from:
Black
White
Grey
Red
Green
Blue
Aqua
Pink
Yellow
Orange
Purple
More can be added easily by telling me the RGB values.
Next, you need to find our definition for your VoIP provider.
To find it, you basically go to our Provider Status Page, and choose your Provider's name, as it is shown. That information, is what we use for identification.
Next, you choose a style. More styles (might) be coming soon!
Black or blue are the only two at the moment. And, A HUGE thanks goes to maty, for designing those logos for me. I'm happy for any others, as long as they are the same width and the same sort of text layout.
With that information at hand, to add them to your site, use the following HTML code:
<a href="http://www.ozvoipstatus.com"><img src="http://www.ozvoipstatus.com/img.php?color=YOUR-COLOR&prov=PROVIDER-NAME&style=YOUR-STYLE" alt="VoIP Provider Monitoring" /></a>
Example:
<a href="http://www.ozvoipstatus.com"><img src="http://www.ozvoipstatus.com/img.php?color=green&prov=MyNetFone&style=black" alt="VoIP Provider Monitoring" /></a>
Please note, color and style are to be lowercase, otherwise you will get the default.
2007-05-06 | Engin Additions & Provider Status Logos
Wow. It's been exactly a month since the last update, and that was about a provider being removed.
Since that time, I've done a fair bit that isn't immediately visible, and some things are.
One thing I've done just now is added two new engin servers, nsw.engin.com.au and vic.engin.com.au. Another server added as well, was OzSite, a new VoIP provider! My source for the engin servers told me they were part of the engin network, so should be pretty interesting targets to monitor.
The next thing I'll want to try and get out now is the provider status logo's I've had planned for some time. They've sat, on my local server, waiting. Patiently. Sleepily. For me to find a spare moment to ... BREATHE.. and release them.
I do still actively maintain this website. A few days or so ago, I was actually up until 1.30AM chasing an issue with the monitoring system and IP resolution. That issue will be fixed further in the next coming days, I hope, as I'll add more nameservers to the system.
I also got an idea, my home connection is generally very reliable, just a little shy on spare bandwidth. So, I'm running a newer version of asterisk at home (no, my home), and I'm gonna run some pretty strong tests with it, to see how solid it is, and use it for monitoring a few providers, and use the results also to assist in outage verification, though a lot of the time the outages are minor blips. The major outages are all very much realistic from the data logged, and it seems to be in a great stable state.
The website isn't really up to my navigational liking, and I've got great ideas for the site, in a great new change. But it's not gonna happen for a little while, in fact, since I thought of the idea and started on it, I've had to stop and wait on it again as I continue with other more important issues. I do plan a lot of features and time for the site, so it's all coming, just when quanities of time are available to set forward for the site.
So, I'm moving onward now, and hopefully you get to see some Provider Status Logo's for you to display on your website, or whatever, to show just who you are with, and how reliable they are!
2007-04-06 | Provider Removed
ISPhone have requested to be removed, as their service offering is primarily wholesale.
The statistics have been kept on file incase they decide to retail.
That applies to any provider wishing to be removed as well, you only have to ask, and it shall be done, but it's in the better interests to be monitored!
More updates coming.. sometime soon.
2007-02-20 | Provider Status Logos: Beta
I have a new update for the site, but let me revisit the previous topic on the 6th of February. I got two contact items related to that, and they had content that contained:
1: "I don't see any bais here what so ever!
All I see is just good useful information that has help me make an informed decision regarding my venture in the world of VOIP."
2: "I would simply like to congratulate you on the site & service you provide."
That's it. So even with money offered, no one wants to PROVE I am in any way biased? Or does it mean that I am not biased, and everyone gave up wasting time on it?
Moving on. The new feature I plan to add (amongst the other things I have to do, including getting OzVoIPStatus live on its new home - working on it now), is provider logos, a Provider (WDP - WorldDialPoint) had bought the subject up and wants one for his website, so I pulled the feature forward some more and got to work on it.
Feel free to see and comment on the proposed samples, at my blog, tocpcs.com.
We are specifically looking for any comments on the logos suggested, and more so, which ones you like. Leave comments on the blog, and not OzVoIPStatus's contact form.
2007-02-06 | Challenge
Since we seem to be getting yet more messages of bias, here is my final challenge.
Using the website, and all the data on offer, all the statistics on offer, all data within the website. A user can email me, and prove to me, beyond all reasonable doubt, that I am biased. That is, you must show that using the website, OzVoIPStatus.com, I am using it for purposes of bias, and prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that one provider is disadvantaged due to programming designed to disadvantage that particular provider.
If one user so much as emails me, and I find them absolutely correct, I'll put the entire story on the front page. Actually, if I find time tomorrow, I'll add page specific to this.
And what are the stakes I hear you ask? This:
I am that certain, that I coded this system to not disadvantage a provider, that I have not gone and done that myself to deliberately disadvantage a provider, that the site is not designed to disadvantage a single provider. If one user can prove that this site is biased, beyond any reasonable doubt, I will gladly do the following for that user:
1. Publish the entire story on the front page, and add it to My Blog.
2. Pay the user for the hours they spent researching the issue and coming to the final claim that we are biased.
Remember, the only thing you have to do is use the website, and find as much data as you can that proves that one single VSP on this site is being deliberately disadvantaged.
That's it. Simple heh? Well, some users think so, they jump up and down and shout biased as loud as they can at any old oppourtunity, I thought I'd give them the oppourtunity to substantiate their wild claims.
I can't wait to see how this one turns out. I'll create the user data logging page tomorrow afternoon. I dare say, this will be both, good for me, and serious waste of time for others. But money is a real motivator, so there it is. Get paid, prove your wild allegations once and for all.
- Terms and Conditions will apply. But the general deal is as above.
TEG.
2007-02-01 | So Biased, that we are honest
Yet again, it seems we need to revisit the topic of bias, because a provider feels that our monitoring is incorrect.
Curtis, a Koala staff member wrote a comment on the Koala Ratings page (against our site terms), which reads:
All I can say is you are so bias it isnt funny. We have not had a single outage since October. Not even 1minute.
Even the customer below says he MADE calls when you say there was an outage.
I know you dont like Koala, but what you do is low low low...
Lets see if you delete this one like the others.
So, Curtis seems to be sure that OzVoIPStatus are biased against Koala Telecom. So, let's look at the facts, you know, what actually counts in this day and age.
You state, "I am so bias it isn't funny". My reply to this is, "I am not bias at all".
You state, "We have not had a single outage since October. Not even 1 minute". Ok, you can state that, but the facts aren't in your favour, read below:
Koala have had numerous outages since October 2006. In fact, they confess to this themselves, as per the below screenshot.
As no doubt can be seen from my highlights, Koala have had outages not just in October, but in November, and afterwards as well.
A picture says a thousand words, some of those include "hypocrite". "Lies", or a formation of that word should also be applied to this issue.
You further state, "Even the customer below says he MADE calls when you say there was an outage.", To which I reply with:
That's fine Curtis, you see, you yourself should know that the internet is a very well connected network. The customer in question could very well have made calls, the point here is, we didn't get a response back from your servers, and that was for some time. There are numerous reasons that could be, and customers can still be making phone calls, one of which includes this little favourite:
"Koala are blocking this servers IP, and therefore making it look as though we are faking outages when customers make ratings to discredit the service.".
"Koala changed IP addresses and our server didn't detect this due to a DNS issue."
"Koala's router refused to route traffic."
There's a mammoth of possible explanations, of course, none of them can easily be proven. The point here is, we do monitor you, and we only use the data from monitoring to form outage statistics for you. We do our best to simulate as best possible a experience a home user would also experience, so that includes using PIPE where a VSP has PIPE peering, not allowing for provider DNS issues, like most ATAs would, and so forth. We do our best to simulate what would be classed as a advanced home user's internet connection, and in doing that, we try to see exactly what they would see.
You then state, "I know you dont like Koala, but what you do is low low low...". Curtis, I did nothing but offer a public monitoring service for VoIP users of Australia. You seem scared of this, can you not provide the service your customers might be looking for? That's not my problem. This site exists simply to keep VSPs honest.
You finally state, "Lets see if you delete this one like the others.". I am leaving it there. As with this news story. It says thousands of words about Koala that have plenty of facts behind it. You can try and manipulate our system all you like, it won't work. As this article will hopefully demonstrate, the truth and pictures both speak thousands of words.
2007-01-17 | Home, Sweet Home
Made of steel, maintained at a pleasant -10c, neighbours that don't threaten your existance, and a massive 4" high.
Sounds like the ideal place, for those living in Antartica, perhaps, but I'm actually referring to OzVoIPStatus, and the Global Switch Data Centre (has inbound links with Telstra, Optus, MCI, PIPE, etc, etc).
We already live in the same city (Global Switch), however, we are hosted on a VPS that's been running fine (with the exception of occasional network outages, a data centre move, and just a few days ago, >15 minutes of 1 second ping times).
I've been informed today that the new home for OzVoIPStatus is near completion, with the final stage, transporting to Sydney and placing into Global Switch being a final task, before I get my hands on a new IP with some fantastic bandwidth, and a server specced out more then your average Joe's system (P4 2.8 800Mhz 2MB cache CPU, 2GB DDR2 RAM).
Whilst the VPS has been a happy home for OzVoIPStatus, it's increasingly important that we offer our users (and the providers) the benefit of the doubt of proper data, that isn't prone to issues that could be provoked from a VPS. Others might recall my news post on the 4/1/2007, about bias. To assist in allowing fair chance monitoring, I figured, we are on a shared server, the bias could come from someone sharing the server with us by sucking up all CPU and RAM resources, so the search for a host that could hold one of my many household servers began.
Unfortunately, it costs an arm, and 2 legs to get a Tower hosted with some providers in Australia, and others figure they'll take the other arm as well (good luck getting into SSH with only your head).
My search continued from host to host, with some generous offerings from one provider, however, the hardware wasn't what I'd consider ideal (a P3, it was good!!), but the offer came just after I settled with the new provider, Servers Australia, who are offering me a great deal on hosting my server with them. I still need 1 arm to enhance the site, and lucky for me, and the viewers, Servers Australia agreed, and in fact were generous enough to let me keep my other arm as well.
As a gesture of thanks, to Servers Australia, for the fantastic deal they've given me, I want to encourage users to support them in return, simply, if you need hosting, or are looking to get a server that is more public then your Telstra Wholesale internet connection, do contact them. They've got fantastic deals, and staff who are great with infrastructure.
OzVoIPStatus is expected to move within the next few days.
On a personal note, I am also moving soon (great!). Not only did I see a need to improve and renovate, but the owners of our rental property thought that my request to fix the sagging, leaking roof was probably too much to do, and instead thought they'd renovate. We were planning on moving in February anyway, as one of our lunatic neighbours has been threatening us for the last 9 months. As such, moving, as well as my rather large workload are going to hold off enhancements to the site for a bit longer.
--
Support OzVoIPStatus, support Servers Australia, simply click over to their website, and check out great hosting plans, and great colocation rates.
2007-01-12 | Plan Search
The long awaited, and probably too delayed Plan Search is now here. It's still in beta form, and we only have a few providers data. It is working, and still undergoing some appearance and performance enhancements.
Providers should add their plans as best they can. If the core data is given to me, the fishing part becomes rather easy and means just a few edits, rather then page crawls.
If you have any comments about the feature, feel free to contact me.
|
