Do you provide Internet access?

Post date: Jun 12, 2011 6:46:51 PM

We provide access to our Gigabit-capable LAN (local area network) for $5/month and you get to use our Internet connection at no extra charge. It would be an agreement separate from the lease and not guaranteed in any way, which we can discuss after you have moved in. If there is abuse - such as excessive downloading impacting network performance - we remove it without having to end the lease. There is both wired and wireless Internet available. We are not in a position to offer free technical support for such a service as it is not our core business (it's just a courtesy for you) and it could easily eat up all our free time. You are also free to subscribe to other ISPs.

We generally provide wired access as it is faster, less error-prone and without the negative health effects some studies attribute to WiFi, but we have the ability to provide N speeds and on request we may consider providing it. Note however that numerous studies have shown that WiFi radiation retards vegetation growth and it may be harmful to humans as well (vsf, gc-nl, cnet-wifi, ntn, hacker, physorg, mash). Our internal LAN operates at Gigabit speeds, but unless you subscribe to services from us requiring local traffic (such as HDTV), a Gigabit connection will not be too useful to you.

Wireless access requires a setup charge of $5 and a monthly charge of $5. For the aforementioned reasons as well as security, it is off most of the time. To turn it on, you will have to press the router button in a special way. The connection will turn itself off without further input within 1h after you are done with it.

Our router and modem are backed up by a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) so that even in the event of a blackout or brownout you will still be able to access the Internet, for as long as your laptop battery holds.

We also provide emergency printing services ($0.50 / page charged in $1 increments, laser printing, email documents in PDF format), access to a scanner (Canon Lide 500F, $2/h, minimum $5) and a large screen projector for your movie night (Sony projector + screen $3/ every 2h). We are open to discussing arrangements for other advanced services on our network (such as local storage) or a more permanent set-up for printing or anything else.

We are blocking certain websites containing malware as well as entire TLDs such as .cn and .ru. You may circumvent such restrictions by getting your own Internet service or by using a proxy or VPN, which we do not block.

You may also start your own Internet subscription from an ISP of your choosing. The apartment has both coaxial cable and phone jacks already installed, so our permission is not necessary for you to commence service (we will not give permission for further cable installation but our permission is not necessary for you to start using the existing cable in your apartment).

NB: Please limit your internet activities to what is legal, as you can still be traced even when using someone else's internet. If you are engaging in activities of political dissidence and/or civil disobedience, consider routing your traffic through an anonymizing proxy such as TOR. You are also responsible for securing and cleaning your computer of viruses. If we identify network attacks coming from your computer we may discontinue service. We strongly discourage you from using "hacked" or "cracked" antivirus programs as more often than not they contain a virus or trojan payload, hijacking your computer and transforming it into a networked zombie. There are numerous free yet often better than commercial antivirus solutions, such Avira, Grisoft, Avast, Ad-Aware, Panda Cloud, Microsoft Security Essentials, Comodo and others. If you need help deciding, there are many online reviews such as PCmag.