the REAL reason behind "unable to login to region"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21376597/

It's your ISP restricting your bandwidth. Suddenly you don't have enough net power to connect to the SL grid.

This could explain some of those "I got booted and now I get a DNS error" problems.

dslreports was talking about this recently. Geekier types may want to read that at http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/AP-Discovers-Comcast-Traffic-Shaping-88591

Ohhhh. I thought it was something cool like UFO's or something.....

I came to this thread expecting some conspiracy theory and this is all you got? Feh!

I can do better then that even (give me a minute or 20 and i will think of something..)

I was having this problem the other night. Things went sideways and I got kicked. Or tried to relog...now I can't remember. at any rate, once I was out, it didn't want to let me in. I'm starting to think that the biggest griefer in SL is Comcast.

I don't think that this is impinging on SL... yet.

The primary problem that Comcast is trying to get around is not one of copyright but of oversubscribed connections. The reason that BitTorrent is particularly troublesome is that for as long as you are running the client/server, you are uploading as fast as you can; many bittorrent users never turn it off. Cable IP services have the worst trouble with this (compared to say DSL) because every transmitter on a cable spine takes capacity from a finite pool for that spine. For example, 5 people running BitTorrent on one spine could use all of the upstream capacity of the spine, shutting out Aunt Bessie who just wants to connect to her mailserver.

The reason that SL is likely not impacted at present is 1) it isn't BitTorrent which is what is being blocked today and 2) a quick test showed SL sending me 20MB in the same time I sent them 1.6MB, that is, the upstream rate of SL is rather low compared to the downstream.

All networks, telephone, highway, and internet all face the problem of oversubscription of capacity; in a sense, they must. For example, if everyone in the US tried to phone someone at the same time they'd not be able to complete their calls. If you built a phone network that could handle all phones dialing at once, you'd have a network with most of its capacity being unused most of the time. Similarly, if you built highways to handle peak traffic without congestion, they'd need to be much wider with all the attendant costs.

With telephony though, we've got a century of data to show just how much excess capacity (above normal) needs to be provisioned. With internet services cropping up like weeds, the network suppliers simply have no idea what their needs will be next year.

I think the Comcast's blocking practice sucks, but also see it as mostly inevitable. Just as consumers and businesses now pay the phone company for the capacity they need, I expect that we'll begin seeing tiered pricing in internet services coming to pass. Why hasn't it yet? Because no one had any idea what to expect from the infant internet.

Yeah, this could be a major issue for us all (global) if Net Neutrality arrives via USA Senate.
net neutrality is where ISP''s can limit ones data supply to teirs of service. Some people download more than others, they will pay more for filling the tubes faster.

SL players will pay lots more in some cases where bandwidth is limited by greed.

Once they work out how to charge us for breathing, they will!

Have fun people and be nice to each other.

thats what THEY want you to think. it's really the pod people monitoring your SL use in it's attempt at taking over the virtual world. next they will spread the rumor that Residents Inventory is whats cause lag and slowdowns on the grid.

If you are only using Sl, normal browsing and the limited newsgroups that come with your Comcast Package.

I was assured by my Comcast rep " Josh" , that alone will not cause them to restrict your Bandwidth.

Now if you’re using any of those " file sharing programs" to excess, that will.....

His advice was to upgrade to a commercial package. I have......

Problem solved

Anyone who does commerce on the web knows, Bandwidth is not free.
it has nothing to do with net neutrality,

Bandwidth costs money, as long as I am being billed at my point of origin, for use, I have no problems

You have the terminology backwards. Net Neutrality means they do not have tiers of service based on content. They can limit your total bandwidth, but they don't limit your BitTorrent while allowing RealMedia or FTP to go through.

The wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality_in_the_United_States has some decent descriptions, though it's not as detailed as I'd like.

Hmmmmm

Well that explains something all right. Also, though, I was contacted by BT and advised that my service package was about to be improved if I took out another 12 month contract with them. I've actually been 100% happy with the service so I did.

If they are going to pull this on me then I am NOT happy and I can only assume bandwidth is a problem because of everyone else on BT at 2am trying to watch webcams of ... oh I dunno, otters in latex whipping stoats in a gasmask. Wait ... that's in SL isn't it, I'm confusing SL with reality again ...

Hmmmmmmmmmm ... now, if BT had had the grace to update the local telephone service I'd have a free 14Mb ADSL2 connection (not to mention a server) with my mate who runs his own ISP.

*shakes her fist* those pesky ex-GBPO rascals!

well thats not always true. I have unlimited bandwith and i still get these error.

They "say" you have "unlimited" bandwidth
Do you really think they let all their users run at top speed during peak times?

this doesnt make sence.........

I am on a 100mbsp fiber optical line. Its unlimited usage......Atleast it is in Japan.

Anyone who believes "unlimited bandwidth" is truly unlimited probably also believes they can go into an "all you can eat" buffet in Las Vegas, pay the $5.99, and stay there the entire day.

Of course it makes sense, how would ou be able to tell if they were throttling you to 70%?
Only time you'll get near top speed is when off peak. My 20Mb connection only hits 8Mb at best.

my 6MB at&t DSL runs 10MB+ all the time.
no throttling...just had at&t out cause I droped to 1.5MB (was there crap modem)
back to 10MB! and 1.5 UP I use torrents but never leave it on not a seeder.

Can run 5 machines on SL and have no issue.
Like Usagi I get those sometimes when I crash (very rare) and try to log back in to fast, its not my DSL its cause I tryed instant re log. give it 15 seconds and its fine.

Comcast is known for throttling, they are a scam they are not faster than DSL ever!
as well on cable as someone mentioned your all sharing the tube of 6MB DL speed so if everyone on the tube your on is playing and aunt bessie is watching full length porn and lil asner is playing WoW and mr Smith is watching monkeys smell their butt on u-tube, your bandwidth is nil!

I upload wav files large stuff all day when not playing, I record and send these back and forth to others to mix etc. I never have been throttled 5 years and counting!

No it does when people are on their own line by themself......as i said it only fits those that are sharing. no like people like myself.

5.99?!?!? where! I never found that one, found one for 21.99 unlimited and ate breakfast & lunch.. could not stay for dinner but they never asked me to leave, I just had to! But I did fill my backpack with snacks for later,, which my lovely waitress giggled over,, of course she got a fat tip~She didn't care!