Beggers Can't Be Choosers...
Posted by hydrashok on March 28 2009 19:25:27
Things have come a LONG way here in Iraq in 2009 compared to when I was here in 2005. However, it comes at great costs to servicemembers!
We have "high speed" internet in our rooms. Well, we have SOMEONE'S idea of "high speed". Usually, during non-peak times, the speed is "decent" considering where we are. However, during peak times, the speed goes right in the toilet! When a page DOES load, it's horrendously slow! Joe Moss at OIFNET here at Al Asad Airbase says, "oh, the best you'll get is dialup speeds." The problem is there's not NEAR enough satellites, and they (OIFNET) overloads the wireless uplinks.
I understand it costs money to provide internet service to the troops. I don't mind paying that money at all. Here's my problem: I'm paying approximately $70/mo for shoddy service! I have to schedule my sleep time around "optimal" internet conditions. For that $70, I get 200MB TOTAL TRANSFER (uploaded data PLUS downloaded data) a day. Once I've used all of that up, I have to wait until midnight for my data usage to be reset. Paying all that money, I don't feel like I'm a begger, but I STILL can't be a chooser!!!
Certain websites are "filtered". There's no children over here, but I'm paying PREMIUM RATES for "filtered" service! If a service member on this base is killed or badly injured, the base instites what they call "River City"... which is a code word for "Restricted Communications". That means they shut down the government and MWR communications (phone and internet) to the outside world except for key leaders. This is to prevent the service member's loved ones from improperly finding out about the death or injury. OIFNET will also shut down their service... with no refunds or time credit!
What prompted this "F-U" to go out to OIFNET was the fact that I didn't realize how bad I had it here until I went to Joint Base Balad, just north of Baghdad. There, I had FREE access to Wi-Fi where I had AMAZING internet speed! I uploaded a 22MB file to my webserver in about eight (8) minutes.
No Backbone in Iraq:
There was an attempt to lay a fiber internet infrastructure in Iraq...
Extended News
Things have come a LONG way here in Iraq in 2009 compared to when I was here in 2005. However, it comes at great costs to servicemembers!
We have "high speed" internet in our rooms. Well, we have SOMEONE'S idea of "high speed". Usually, during non-peak times, the speed is "decent" considering where we are. However, during peak times, the speed goes right in the toilet! When a page DOES load, it's horrendously slow! Joe Moss at OIFNET here at Al Asad Airbase says, "oh, the best you'll get is dialup speeds." The problem is there's not NEAR enough satellites, and they (OIFNET) overloads the wireless uplinks.
I understand it costs money to provide internet service to the troops. I don't mind paying that money at all. Here's my problem: I'm paying approximately $70/mo for shoddy service! I have to schedule my sleep time around "optimal" internet conditions. For that $70, I get 200MB TOTAL TRANSFER (uploaded data PLUS downloaded data) a day. Once I've used all of that up, I have to wait until midnight for my data usage to be reset. Paying all that money, I don't feel like I'm a begger, but I STILL can't be a chooser!!!
Certain websites are "filtered". There's no children over here, but I'm paying PREMIUM RATES for "filtered" service! If a service member on this base is killed or badly injured, the base instites what they call "River City"... which is a code word for "Restricted Communications". That means they shut down the government and MWR communications (phone and internet) to the outside world except for key leaders. This is to prevent the service member's loved ones from improperly finding out about the death or injury. OIFNET will also shut down their service... with no refunds or time credit!
What prompted this "F-U" to go out to OIFNET was the fact that I didn't realize how bad I had it here until I went to Joint Base Balad, just north of Baghdad. There, I had FREE access to Wi-Fi where I had AMAZING internet speed! I uploaded a 22MB file to my webserver in about eight (8) minutes.
No Backbone in Iraq:
There was an attempt to lay a fiber internet infrastructure in Iraq. They buried a fiber cable about 3 feet below the surface from Baghdad to Ramadi. When they went to turn it on, the connection was broken. They discovered a farmer had dug up the line a quarter of a mile outside of Ramadi thinking it was copper he could sell. So, the company bankrupted itself because it couldn't keep the connection in tact! The company was advised to bury the cable 27 feet to prevent such activities because the farmers would see the freshly buried trenches. Not realizing the cable is made of just plastic, they would dig it up. At 27 feet, they reasoned it would take three (3) hours to get to the cable (if the digger was THAT persistent). If they had ground sensors, they could have a helicopter hovering over the vandal before they could get to the cable.
Once the Iraqis had exposure to the internet, they would realize its value. Joe Moss at OIFNET speculated the best way to win this war is give Iraqis computers with internet access and come installed with "World of Warcraft". He says they'd get addicted to computer gaming and wouldn't focus on making our lives hell anymore...