How to identify a illegal internet?
To start this article, I would like to describe what are the Clandestine Internet Providers, or also called “Illegal Internet”. Illegal Internet service providers (Gato Net) are typically set up by individuals or companies that subscribe to a residential Internet connection and generally do not have licenses from government authorities to resell Internet service. They usually subscribe to a residential connection and share it or sell it to their neighbors, friends, etc. Illegal internet service providers, in addition to being illegal (pursuant to Article 183 of Law No. 9,472 (General Telecommunications Law—LGT)), can pose risks to our networks, since they are most often set up by people who lack the technical knowledge necessary to maintain a network with proper configuration practices. In many cases, Gato Net ends up being the target of DDoS attacks, which have negative effects on its provider. If a customer is identified at your provider who is committing such practices, legal means can be used to stop such practices. However, how do we identify a customer who is using these practices to share or sell illegal internet? With the Made4graph tool, we were able to visualize the customers with the highest bandwidth usage: We can also check the customer’s real-time graph along with the complete usage extract, showing us the consumption in each period that he was connected: With this information we were able to make some comparisons with other customers who have the same amount of bandwidth contracted. If there is a big difference in usage between customers, we have an indication that this user is illegally sharing the Internet. Another observation we can make is by using the Customer History Chart; there, we’ll see a pattern similar to that of an ISP’s charts, where the heaviest traffic occurs between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. It’s important for internet service providers to be proactive and maintain their networks so they don’t have to deal with even bigger problems! Would you like to see more chart options in the Made4Graph software? Try the demo version or schedule a presentation with the Made4it sales team! Gelso Baltazar | Consultant
What should you monitor on your network?
Monitoring provider networks is essential to ensure service delivery is never interrupted. There are several tools and protocols that can be used to perform this monitoring, but in this article we will focus on Zabbix with monitoring via SNMP v2.
How to configure Zabbix 6.0 LTS
Hey everyone, how’s it going? My name is Henrique; I’m a consultant at Made4it and part of the infrastructure and servers team. Today we’re going to learn a little about Zabbix, and I’ll give you an overview of what Zabbix is, how the tool works, and also show you how to install and configure a Zabbix server. For those who don’t know, Zabbix is a totally open source monitoring solution for companies of any size. What does the Zabbix tool do? → Provides health monitoring of servers, networks, applications and services through parameters and metrics. → It also provides a flexible mechanism for sending customized notifications about detected alerts and events and we can send these notifications via email, Telegram, SMS and even opening a ticket in HelpDesk systems. → Reporting and data visualization based on stored data for analysis and decision making. → Supports polling and trapping ⇒ Polling: Zabbix sends requests through configured metrics ⇒ Trapping: Zabbix receives the information through the configured metrics → It has a graphical interface for viewing and configuring the monitoring (devices to be monitored → applications, servers and services) → Support is provided by Zabbix SIA and also by official partners; Made4it recently became an official Zabbix partner. Zabbix version 6.0 LTS Recently, Zabbix was updated to version 6.0 LTS, which has several new features such as: Kubernets Monitoring, Business Service at a completely different level, High Availability Cluster (HA Cluster) native, Advanced Service SLA Calculation Logic , Machine Learning. Follow the link for a deeper reading about the 6.0 LTS update: https://www.zabbix.com/br/whats_new_6_0#business_service_monitoring Requirements for installing Zabbix 6.0 LTS In this tutorial, we use a virtual machine running Debian 11 with the following specifications: 4 GB of RAM, 2 vCPUs, and 50 GB of disk space, which is more than enough for a simple installation for case studies. Our installation will be all-in-one, meaning everything will be on a single server (database, Zabbix Server, and Zabbix Frontend). Installation Here are the commands we used in the installation video: Now we’ve adjusted the Postgres ph_hba.conf file so that any change in the database will require the password that we just defined. Restart postgres Installation of Zabbix Server After that, we add our Zabbix user password in the configuration file. Search for #DBPassword= uncomment and add your password Installation of Zabbix Frontend Now, we tweak the Zabbix web config file Now we restart our services Done! Now all you have to do is access it via the WEB and finish the configuration. Installation and configuration via WEB → Go to http://IP_SERVIDOR/zabbix in your browser → Select the language you want, in this case, I selected “Portuguese (pt_BR)” → Checking the prerequisites, if everything is OK, proceed. → On the next screen, add: → Define a name for the server → Also select a “timezone”, in this case, we add America/Sao_Paulo → Choose a theme (we leave it as default) → Summary/check of settings from previous screens. → Installation completed! After completing the steps above, you will be redirected to the login screen. By default, the credentials are: → Completed installation and 100% functional Zabbix. You can follow the configuration video on our youtube channel and if you still have questions about the configuration or the tool, please contact our team. If you need assistance with installing or configuring Zabbix, please contact us!
Understand the main screens of Made4Graph!
Our Made4Graph software features several screens designed to help internet service providers manage their PPPoE customers. To better understand why Made4Graph is needed , check out this content where we explain what the tool is all about. Here, we’ll navigate through the tool to get to know each of the main screens better—how they work and what information they display.In Made4Graph, which is accessible via the web, the home screen provides an overview of the status of the network as a whole. When you open the software, you’ll see a graph showing the number of users connected across the entire network, and on the right, a “pie chart” showing the proportion of these users per PPPoE concentrator. And yes, it’s also compatible with Mikrotik (even if you still use Winbox or something else to manage it). Below, we also have information regarding the addressing of clients on the network. Made4Graph brings us very important data on the proportion of users with CGNAT IPv4 (RFC6598) or with public IP addressed in the CPE, in addition to IPv6. This data is of great value, especially for those who are deploying IPv6 on the network, guaranteeing and helping the future of the Internet. Scrolling down a little further, we have the exact number of clients registered per NAS (or BRAS/BNG/Access Concentrador, that is, whatever you prefer to call your authentication equipment) in addition to a “top 10 users disconnected in the last 24 hours”. In the disconnected customers report, Made4Graph highlights the customers who have disconnected the most in the last 24 hours, immediately flagging users who may be experiencing issues to support and the ISP’s Level 1 team. We know that customers with a high number of disconnections and reconnections within a short period of time are a strong indication of problems with the CPE or related equipment, allowing support to be proactive with these critical customers (by contacting them, opening a support ticket for verification, etc.), which increases the end customer’s confidence in the ISP’s availability and service quality. Imagine yourself as an internet user who notices that your connection is dropping frequently, and then—out of the blue—you receive a call from support saying they’ve noticed this and are asking for your permission to run a check. This is truly a major selling point for the ISP. One of the most used features of Made4Graph is the real time graph. With it, we can have real-time data on the end user’s bandwidth consumption in an intuitive graph and with action buttons such as “Release Bandwidth” and “Disconnect” the user. It is also possible on this screen to access a “Consumption History” of the referred customer. If you, for example, want to know what the user’s bandwidth consumption was in the last 24 hours, Made4Graph brings this possibility. The action buttons are widely used by ISPs in their support/N1 that makes the first contact with the customer, since they allow to quickly and effectively diagnose common problems either with a “Ping” (Made4Graph can directly ping the end user on the verification screen) or freeing up the user’s bandwidth so that he can fully test the “throughput” of his connection, already showing any possible bottleneck in the network. On the same screen, a little further down, we also have information about the TR069 module. For ISPs that implement Made4Graph with support for TR069 (and that have their CPEs managed by it) we have a general overview of the user’s CPE with data such as physical port status, wireless signal strength, devices connected to the router, among other information. Made4Graph is not limited to a graph visualization tool. We have a dedicated section for “reports” where, with his ability and overview of the network, he manages to bring data of great value to the ISP’s operational body. One of the most used by support staff is the “Lost Carrier” report. Here, Made4Graph reports an overview of users disconnected in a given time interval due to loss of communication between the NAS and the CPE at the customer’s home. We know that customers disconnected by “Lost Carrier” are often a strong indication of network instabilities, and having data from these users allows for a more predictive and proactive action by the ISP. Made4Graph is a great piece of software to help ISPs manage their access users better, not being restricted by manufacturer or protocol, as it is compatible with the main brands in the market and with PPPoE and IPoE, while unifying the management of users from across the ISP. It eliminates the need to configure access users and passwords on routers, interact with them via command lines and the like, reduces the complexity of the operation and verification of end users and brings data that allow more predictive and proactive actions with access clients. . Aligned with the TR069, it guarantees facilities in the management of the users’ CPE where a “reset” of a router or ONT is no longer a reason to move a technician to the user’s home since the management and configuration can be completely done remotely by their support team already in contact with the customer via communication tools. Made4Graph’s goal is to be the best technical support tool for ISPs customer support including end-to-end customer visibility, problem resolution, auto provisioning and automation support. It’s software made for ISP by people who understand ISP. You can access our demo version and learn a little more about our software at – Gabriel Henrique, a Network Analyst at Made4it, has been working with technology and ISPs for over 10 years.
Made4Graph, the tool your ISP needs to manage your users.
We know that every small ISP starts with Mikrotik equipment and that it has a very intuitive “graphic” interface (via its own application, Winbox). Many ISPs grow with these facilities in hand and end up using them for various operational and often administrative tasks.
Graphics on the subscriber’s invoice, will it become a law for all states?
In the state of Espírito Santo, a law was passed in October 2021, Espírito Santo Law No. 11,201, which requires all postpaid broadband providers to include a customer usage chart on the bill. In case you’re not familiar with it, we’ve written another article explaining this law in more detail; you can check it out by clicking this link. You might think this law applies only to the state of Espírito Santo, but given Brazil’s “modus operandi,” the other states in our country will likely follow the precedent already set by the state court and the Supreme Federal Court (STF). But what does the law say? Let’s highlight the main points here: All customers should see their average daily internet usage—based on data sent and received—displayed on their bill in the form of a usage graph. Simply put, a usage graph like those from Zabbix, Cacti, LibreNMS, PRTG, or Dude, showing interface usage in Mbps (megabits per second). This graph does not include the early morning hours, from midnight to 8 a.m. Fine of R$4,000.00 to R$15,000.00 per customer But now you might be thinking: I understand the law, I understand its consequences, but now, how can I solve this problem or how can I protect myself? We at Made4it have a solution that’s perfectly suited to solving this problem, Made4Graph, our software designed to assist the Support, NOC, and Call Center teams, provides the necessary information through real-time and historical usage charts for PPPoE or IPoE customers and also offers insights into customer behavior. Using the historical usage graph, you can access the information required by this law. Doing this manually—collecting each customer’s usage chart to include on their invoice—is impossible for the operation. With that in mind, our development team provides an API that allows you to integrate with your management system, such as ISP Integrator, IXC, RBX (Routerbox), SGP, Mk-auth, MKSolutions, TopsApp, HubSoft, ReceitaNet, or any other software you use—allowing you to easily automate your invoice issuance process so that invoices are automatically generated with your customer’s historical usage chart. Made4Graph also includes TR069, which allows you to manage customer routers, generate reports to help you be more proactive with customers, and perform many other functions. It’s very easy to learn more—just contact us via WhatsApp, and one of our consultants will assist you and answer all your questions. Click here to speak directly to our contact:43 98485-4013
DDoS attacks, how should ISPs protect themselves?
How should ISPs protect themselves from DDOS attacks?
What to do before a maintenance window?
In the day-to-day life of the Network and Internet area, it is very common for Internet Providers (ISPs) to have the need to carry out certain changes at controlled times, whenever there may be a considerable risk to the Network, due to some implementation, equipment migration , etc and we call this action the maintenance window
Telegram Integration – Made4Flow Anti-DDoS | Made4Flow Update | February 2022 | [v1.2.1 (2022-02-01)]
Thinking about how to make our customers’ work even easier, the new Made4Flow integration with Telegram was launched last month. Telegram is a messaging app, with no business models involving ads or stores. The same application serves all types of users who want to exchange quick messages and make voice and video calls. It is the main alternative to WhatsApp and very widespread to send alerts from Zabbix and other monitoring tools. With our new integration, you can send DDoS attack alerts directly to a Telegram group or, if you prefer, to multiple groups. Setting up the integration is very quick and simple and can be done through the web-based configuration interface. To set it up, visit our Wiki via the link and see how easy it is to configure In addition to integration with Telegram, the following features have also been added to Made4Flow in this version: Added: Added test button in “Edit group in Telegram” to validate its working. The ability to create multiple Telegram groups and link them to another action. Added in “Configuration -> Status – Server” the insertion of all collectors. Changed Cosmetic changes to the “Status – Server” screen. To see all the latest updates, access our wiki through this link or, if you prefer, come and learn about Made4Flow by accessing our demo version, through the link in this link. If you have any questions about the updates, you can also contact our support via WhatsApp, E-mail or the ticket portal.
Good OLT practices to be implemented in internet providers
Check out the 3 best practice tips that should be implemented across all internet providers in the part of OLTs.
