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Bajan Website Inaccessible To LIME Users?

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Submitted by Ian Bourne (Bajan Reporter)


Good Morning Alex; (LIME’s Country Manager)

Trust this note finds you well and eager to clarify… I have everyone on board so we’re at the same page – last night a number of regular readers to my site said they could not access it – now I have a new server to accommodate increased users, I checked via Safari/Firefox/Chrome/Internet Explorer browsers and my signal is fine! But the fans who could not?

They all were using LIME, my service is no longer with Caribsurf – so my site appears in no time flat? Is there a problem in relaying my info to your customers? The fact I carry regional Football coverage from your competitors is considered objectionable? Or their forays into Asiatic climes?

In addition I decided to add Political coverage on my site, is this another problem? I recall having a chat with you at the Ermy Bourne Resource when George Payne said he was running for the BLP’s Party Chairman – I should hate to think LIME is embroiled in political intrigue at the behest of certain interests? If that was true, it would speak poorly to freedom of press which the BAJ so valiantly upholds, even Social Media as myself, plus if this can happen to myself… Imagine what would happen to Advocate, Nation or other online media houses when they have truth to carry? Perhaps an alert campaign with each house’s subscribers should be made to warn people who they support via Internet or Mobile or otherwise they may be denied complete access to their service which they paid for which is contrary to dictums from the Fair Trading Commission?

Speaking of the FTC – I decided they also needed to be alerted of the situation in this same note, if you don’t mind? I really don’t know what’s going on and I am only suggesting possibilities, but I know you’ll deal with this ASAP, correct? Many Thanks!

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32 responses to “Bajan Website Inaccessible To LIME Users?”

  1. The Scout Avatar
    The Scout

    It seems Lime is beginning to penalise persons for not using their services exclusively. I am hearing reports of clients who have installed magic jacks are being disconnected in the middle of conversations with overseas persons, the reason given is that they have loss internet service. It is time LIME get their act together.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    BU sources have always told us LIME formerly C&W has always had issues with resolving IPs. Whether this is by accident or design is another matter.

  3. anthony Avatar
    anthony

    Ahh well if they switched over to new server yesterday then i would say it was a lime dns issue. as such people show try http://www.opendns.com/ for their dns if they know what to do. they update far quicker and much more reliable than lime

  4. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Lime has called me several times about NET SPEAK, I told them that I am not interested since there is skype, IM and now Gmail where I can make calls via the internet. I also own a magic Jack. If that is their way of forcing customers to use their services perhaps it is time we part company.

    I called them to report that my phone was not working and that I couldn’t hear anything at all when I answered it. This is how the conversation went:

    LIME ” Hello welcome to LIME customer service my name is Debra, how can I help you today?”
    ME ” I would like to report that my phone is not working. It will ring and when I pick it up I hear nothing at all”
    LIME ” Mam can you tell me what exactly are you hearing when you pick up the phone?”
    ME……long silence
    LIME ” Mam can you please tell me what you hear when you pick up the phone”
    ME ” What part of hearing nothing don’t you understand?”
    LIME ” I was just asking a question Mam”

  5. GoWEB Avatar
    GoWEB

    I don’t think it was LIME this time. I’m using TeleBarbados and I couldn’t access the site either in this last outage. I know LIME is famous for poor DNS resolution but since I switched to TeleBarbados I haven’t had any DNS problems with my sites.

  6. iWatchya Avatar
    iWatchya

    LIME is also using DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) to both monitor and limit traffic of certain types. I would not be surprised that they would be limiting VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), P2P (Peer to Peer sharing) and Video Streaming.

    Don’t forget that they want you to sign up for LIME Entertainment and VOIP products. Their thinking may to place bandwidth limits on these traffic streams so that customers have to buy their products.

    But I think that they have forgotten about the Cable & Worthless factor – we have not forgotten how C&W ran roughshod over the people of BIM for so long.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    Thanks for the feedback. We have discussed for a long time on BU the possibility of ‘throttling’ and other issues occurring. In fact our resident telecoms guru Chris has been merciless in this regard. Even if the Bajan Reporter issue cannot be tagged to LIME we have enough issues outstanding to replace this one.

  8. Charlie Avatar
    Charlie

    Over the weekend my magic jack stops working. I chatted with the people at Magic jack and they took me through all kinds of methods to get it to work and it would not get dial tone. They told me that the device is working from what they could see.
    Maybe Lime has something to do with it not working. Don’t know just checking.

  9. anthony Avatar
    anthony

    well never had any problem with magic jack with lime . constant bandwidth is another matter entirely.

  10. Asman Avatar
    Asman

    I have been trying to read Barbados Today for the whole morning unsuccessfully.

    With regards to the throttling. Lime wants you to pay for ADSL and encourages you to upgrade the package, but as soon as you start consuming bandwidth regularly; pipe block, stopcock lock! Imagine signing up for high speed to only read emails or chat.

    Waste of bad word money.

  11. peter deane Avatar
    peter deane

    @ Charlie
    The MagicJack people have made some changes recently and apparently their current database data differ from the original data which you entered when you installed the equipment. There is a 14 character alpha-numeric equipment identification or subscription number which they are requesting before they restore your service. Luckily I had copied mine on a sheet of paper in my diary and was able to provide them with the information. The email address and password are useless unless you can provide them with this equipmkent id/subscription number.

  12. Oh My Avatar
    Oh My

    LIME simply does NOT provide the bandwidth they advertise. I have been in discussion with them for months now over an issue of download available being 10% or less of the package I pay for. They reply that they cannot guarantee download speeds… why advertise them then!

    time4lime to get lost!

  13. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Only in Barbados can the customer be shortchanged, abused and ignored.

  14. David Avatar
    David

    Chris Halsall has advised that as consumers we have to use the tools available to track our bandwidth usage and advise the FTC where there is conflict in what we are paying for compared to advertised. It is tedious but it is the only option currently available. Unfortunately our FTC continues to hide behind the legislation by refusing to proactive go after LIME. The CEO Peggy Griffith was in the news recently referring to pending amendment to the legislation which will help the FTC to act differently.

  15. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @anthony et al…

    Rather than OpenDNS, may I recommend instead Google’s DNS servers. 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Please see http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/ There are configuration instructions linked from this page.

    The reason I recommend Google over OpenDNS is the latter does not conform to the Request For Comments (RFC) which defines the standard in that they don’t respond correctly to non-existent domains, but instead redirect to a page of advertising. It’s how they make money.

    To speak the issue which started this thread…

    In addition to LIME’s DNS servers not being terribly reliable, most machines behind a LIME-provided ADSL modem are directed to that modem for DNS lookups by the DHCP exchange which provides the IP to the machine.

    Many of these modems take upwards of five seconds to answer a DNS request. If this is an issue with the modem itself or the DNS servers the modem is configured to query I have not been able to determine as I can’t “sniff” the traffic beyond the modem.

    But, again, try using Google’s DNS servers, and you will likely discover a much faster and more reliable browsing experience….

  16. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @David: “Chris Halsall has advised that as consumers we have to use the tools available to track our bandwidth usage and advise the FTC where there is conflict in what we are paying for compared to advertised.

    Actually, that’s not what I advised.

    To say again, the contract every customer of ADSL agrees to is the advertised bandwidth is the maximum the consumer will receive. The contract specifically says that the consumer will not always get the maximum.

    I know you’ve said this isn’t fair David, but it is the same everywhere in the world. The truth is ISPs oversubscribe consumer-level bandwidth at somewhere between 10-1 to 24-1. Guess where Barbados is in that range?

    What oversubscription means is that for every Megabit/s (mb/s) you “buy”, 9 to 23 other people have been sold the same, and you and they share it.

    What I have (and will again) advise is people need to look at the other dimensions of their connectivity. Specifically, latency, packet loss and gitter.

    Please see http://winmtr.sourceforge.net/ for a WinBlows tool based on a Unix tool, Matt’s Trace Route AKA My Trace Route (MTR) which can be used to generate and collect this data.

  17. sunseeker Avatar
    sunseeker

    islandgal246 | October 21, 2010 at 11:48 AM |

    Only in Barbados can the customer be shortchanged, abused and ignored.

    TRY LIVING IN THE UK , ORDINARY FOLK ARE SHORTCHANGED,ABUSED,AND IGNORED AND THAT’S BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT

  18. anthony Avatar
    anthony

    thanks for the info chris will add to my dns list. i really have no problem with them resolving to ad pages as it their way of generating income but always good to have more dns than less.

  19. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @anthony: “i really have no problem with them resolving to ad pages as it their way of generating income…

    But… You *should* have a problem with OpenDNS not respecting RFC 2606 because it “breaks” the Internet. Or, at least, that small part of it using them.

    As defined in the standard, a DNS server which does not know the answer to any and all questions presented to it should answer with the message which means “I don’t know”.

    Then the requester can ask another DNS server if it knows the answer.

    @anthony: “…but always good to have more dns than less.

    This is *exactly* the point!

    The Internet was designed to be resilient and redundant.

    If a client computer happens to ask an OpenDNS DNS server for the IP of a domain name which it cannot speak about, instead of answering correctly it doesn’t know, it instead answers with an IP full of advertising (via a subsequent HTTP request).

    So, even if you have other DNS servers listed in your “/etc/resolve.conf” file (or the WinBlows equivalent) which *do* know the answer they will never be queried, because OpenDNS has “hijacked” the request.

    May I please be more explicit when I advise people to use Google’s DNS instead of (rather than in addition to) OpenDNS.

    (As an aside, please note that Unix uses all available DNS servers in a random order. WinBlows uses the available servers in the order listed.)

  20. sunseeker Avatar
    sunseeker

    Hi anybody, I will be in barbados for 4 weeks soon and for convenience i want to bring my laptop to keep in touch with my daughters who are at uni, where i am staying in st james there is no internet connection so, is it possible to buy a broadband dongle from lime or others, and then skype my kid’s back in the uk .thank’s in advance for any reply’s . yours sunseeker ps i am sorry to hijack this site for info but seeing as it’s about lime etc.

  21. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    I can’t imagine why Barbados underground is publishing this article.
    Ian Bourne is a sworn enemy of Barbados Underground, he calls it racist and sides with Barbados Fee Press against Barbados Underground. As far as Ian Bourne is concerned Barbados Underground is the worst blog in the world.
    Now that he is having a problem or two he turns to the “racist” Barbados Underground for help.
    He ought to be ashame.

  22. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    @Sunseeker
    Internet cards are available for purchase on the island. Have a great holiday!

  23. EyeSpy Avatar
    EyeSpy

    @ Carson C. Cadogan | October 21, 2010 at 5:55 PM |

    Although I don’t want this topic do get side tracked, I’m with you. However, there are times and things that we need to overlook. We, be it BU/David or others, have to be the bigger person at times and do what it takes that may be of help to others.

    Trust me; Ian’s intent was to expose LIME and was not being selective with whom he shared his story.

  24. J Avatar
    J

    Dear CC:

    Ian may have no shame, but he is a sweet guy.

  25. Kammie Avatar
    Kammie

    The enemy of my enemy is my friend!

  26. David Avatar
    David

    The following is an update to the note which Ian Bourne sent to LIME and Barbados media today:

    Dear All;

    To be fair, one of my FB pals claims –

    "Some users were having DNS issues last nite.. when they restarted their modems it worked fine. Use Google’s or open dns’s servers 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4 or 208.67.222.222 , 208.67.220.220"

    But it does not explain how Sunbeach & TeleBarbados users got thru immediately, quite a few LIME users had to reboot their modems – but some remain w/o coverage from The Bajan Reporter? In the interests of fair coverage I make this update…

  27. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Fellow bloggers there is hope.

    If Lime has IT specialist and equipment to do what Ian Bourne alleges, then maybe they will ,one day, provide reliable, consistent,fast problem free internet and phone services.

  28. Ian Bourne Avatar
    Ian Bourne

    If it happened to me, then it can happen here, and that is why I sent it to BU as well… If that is no shame, then so be it. And I want to verify David’s comment and Update from myself, thanks – was busy chasing another story and the comment dropped in the Spam bucket up to when I left home…

  29. Ian Bourne Avatar
    Ian Bourne

    Here is a useful URL to verify; http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/#

  30. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Ian Bourne… hmmm

    No sympathy here, sorry

  31. Observer Avatar
    Observer

    LIME is very much involved in politics. In the past they have donated 100s of 1,000s of $ to the BLP and the then Minister of Telecom Reginald Farley. Today Alex McDonald while pretending to support both sides he is very much in bed with Wilfred Abrahams and theis off-and-on relationship has taken on a new pair of legs with Alex promising to underwrite Wilfred’s upcoming election campaign. LIME also recently co-sponsored Mia Mottley’s Crop Over “fundraising” party.

  32. A. Freeman Avatar
    A. Freeman

    While some of the criticism here of LIME may be justified, I urge you not to target LIME and other publicly traded companies, but to embrace such companies. Publicly traded companies present us with an opportunity to invest in and share in the profits of those companies, unlike closely held private companies. For example, I prefer to support LIME over Digicel. Back in 1998, after years of observing ordinary Barbadians complain post-Christmas of debt and paying bills or stories of items, secured on credit, being repossessed in contrast to then reports from the likes of Mr. Cave of how successful the Christmas season had been for his stores, I was more attracted to Mr. Cave’s position and started investing in LIME/C&W and other publicly traded companies. I have no regrets.

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