Tempest in a tea pot.

Well I've stirred up a hornet's nest on Broadband Reports.com. I posted a message in reply to a thread about Comcast with 2 computers? (the user wanted to know if he could use NAT with more than one computer). That thread split in to [Split] Comcast Gunning for NAT Users?. While CTCEO is correct that it is in violation to have a service plan for one computer and then access the internet with more than one computer (using a NAT router). I really doubt that Comcast is going to hunt down all the users using NAT and kick them off their service. Their competition (Verizon DSL in my area) does support this and the majority of Comcast's users have purchased a NAT Firewall as a first line of defense from Internet predators.

In the past I've been critical of Comcast's Internet service for what they've not been doing (though they have improved it over the years I still think they need to add things like QoS). This is one of the times I think Comcast will not go after folks directly for this breach of the Terms of Service. They may be able to use it as a way of getting rid of a trouble maker on their service but as a source of revenue (upgrade to the Home Networking Service Plan or leave) it's bound to backfire and cause lots of bad press.

While on the subject of Firewalls I just saw an interesting piece on InfomationWeek where AT&T's CIO, Hossein Eslambolchi outlines the "10 Top Pitfalls Of Implementing Converged IP Networks". While Mr. Eslambolchi is discussing business enterprises his point actually extends to the home and home automation. Especially security, open standards, capacity and new services (SoIP, Services over IP - much better than my XoIP, everything/anything over IP). Computer Security is an area sorely lacking in the home and I'm not sure how to go about improving it. Open Standards has been something the Open Source community has been screaming about for a long time. Capacity, well just see one of my diatribes on bandwidth upgrades (see Summertime Musings) and finally new services, Internet TV/Tivo, VoIP, gaming, Internet radio and podcasting. It won't be long before we see home network management for all the computer equipment that will need to upgraded via the internet. Really it's started with the Virus & Adware protection service we're seeing available for Microsoft products.