F@(*K Mediacom

[IsaacHayes]

http://tumblr.dderek.com/post/183616295/mediacom-is-hijacking-page-requests-now

That sums it up. I can't get to ANY 404 pages now. I NEED to for some things I do such as websites....... the opt out option I change to disabled but it doesn't do damn thing.

These dickweeds are really pissing me off. I'm about to go to super slow DSL. At least it won't have packet loss out the ass. It was fine for years, now they upgraded to 12mbs... Well 2 weeks before the upgrade the service was crap, had to reload everything all the time. Then 2 days the 12mbs worked awesome, verified it and all. Then its back to packet loss city and 2mbs rated from speedtest.net... But yet I can't even watch a youtube video without 6 reloads and it crapping out halfway through, or just giving me an error.. Files download and complete but when you open them up, they are 1/10th the size they should be.....

Now they are hijacking not only DNS, but now 404 HTTP header info and redirecting me to their stupid ass search page?

Oh yeah lets not forget the nasty letter they sent me wanting me to fess up to downloading some movie or show or something that I had no idea what it was, turns out it was some BBC comedy show I'd never heard of... The letter was really tricky, something along the lines of "If you would like to deny this allegation against you, send a signed letter stating that you have removed the mentioned media from your computer and that you have ceased activity" HELLO if I'm denying this accusation, why would I admit to having the media on my machines... That would be ADMITTING to it. I never downloaded it fools!.... That letter went into the trash with no response from me.

Yeah someones getting an ass chewing. Assholes can't get their shit straight either getting fined by the FCC all the time for not complying with emergency alert system/etc. Cable bill for ANALOG TV with NO PREMIUM channels (they even took away HBO which used to be included) and internet is well over 100 bucks a month.

[1988GTU]

You are just getting a minimal taste of what I deal with here in monopoly land some may call a state in which that name is known as Michigan.

[IsaacHayes]

Well I don't know what I'm paying them for if I get crap for TV and crap for internet in both connectivity and now they are censoring the internet. This shit has to be illegal. They are not providing the service I am paying them for and it's certainly not 12mbs as they advertise. I could get better service with dial up as far as quality goes...

God I miss the old days of the internet. When shit worked the way it was DESIGNED without assholes F***KING with it.

As far as I'm concerned I will take my business elsewhere if they can't make this shit right. The letter accusing me of downloading crap was one thing, (at least accuse me of something I DID download...) but the service is useless most of the time.

I'll go to DSL for $40 a month for 768k, at least my downloads will FINISH in full. At least I could watch youtube. (I can't even pause and have it buffer, it just stops). Then I'll go to a DISH and have HD TV, and more than 40 channels of TV. It will end up being less than 100 a month, and the shit will actually WORK. And hopefully without them preventing me from getting the webpages I request. YES A 404 ERROR IS SOMETHING I NEED TO SEE. NOT YOUR SHITTY SEARCH FULL OF ADS AND SPAM.

Whats next they are going to filter and redirect searches in google/etc other sites? Censor information? This is just wrong. What made the internet great is what is going to be taken away from us.

[1988GTU]

Well I don't know what I'm paying them for if I get crap for TV and crap for internet in both connectivity and now they are censoring the internet. This shit has to be illegal. They are not providing the service I am paying them for and it's certainly not 12mbs as they advertise. I could get better service with dial up as far as quality goes...

God I miss the old days of the internet. When shit worked the way it was DESIGNED without assholes F***KING with it.

As far as I'm concerned I will take my business elsewhere if they can't make this shit right. The letter accusing me of downloading crap was one thing, (at least accuse me of something I DID download...) but the service is useless most of the time.

I'll go to DSL for $40 a month for 768k, at least my downloads will FINISH in full. At least I could watch youtube. (I can't even pause and have it buffer, it just stops). Then I'll go to a DISH and have HD TV, and more than 40 channels of TV. It will end up being less than 100 a month, and the shit will actually WORK. And hopefully without them preventing me from getting the webpages I request. YES A 404 ERROR IS SOMETHING I NEED TO SEE. NOT YOUR SHITTY SEARCH FULL OF ADS AND SPAM.

Whats next they are going to filter and redirect searches in google/etc other sites? Censor information? This is just wrong. What made the internet great is what is going to be taken away from us.

You can thanks those that dont watch their own actions and worry about whats going on in your own home rather than their own.

[nixtux]

Just use a public DNS server. That way their DNS can't redirect you. I normally disable
my ISP's DNS servers because they suck.

Google Public DNS servers

Go to your router, add it to your DHCP DNS list.

Or add it manually on your network interface.

Mediacom can't examine every single packet, they only examine DNS.

Or at least that is my understanding.

[IsaacHayes]

DNS can be worked around.

Them monitoring the HTTP header info coming back from a server that says 404 and then sending me a different page, cannot be solved with changing DNS servers.

I have a networking degree, trust me this is out of my hands.

[robertisaar]

I have a networking degree, trust me this is out of my hands.

well, if you can't fix it, we're sure as hell not going to be able to help

michigan is horrible for internet choices... i'm paying something like 50 a month for 1Mbps(HA! liars and thieves, i rarely get that, most of the time, it 3/4) DSL...

BTW: even with a slow as grandpa and grandma fucking connection, i've probably downloaded somewhere around 500GB a year...

[Superdave]

Mediacom isn't doing that here yet.. i 404'd on purpose and got the standard error.. if i remember right mine is about $50/month for 8mb down and ~700K up.

[IsaacHayes]

Dave, it's coming. Other states had it before me from what I've read. It's one thing to log all traffic coming in for records to sue you or get you arrested later for your actions, but it's another thing to intercept data and then send you their own crap instead.

For those that don't know, when you send a request to a web page from clicking a link (GET) or click a button (POST) in a form, there is a HTTP header that gets sent with your request along with stuff like what browser you are using. When you get the info back a HTTP header as well, with a # which can be 404 not found, 403 not authorized, etc and then any HTML the server provides such as a message explaining what happened that the web/server admin wants to put on there for the customers. It's been a while but I think 200 is successful. Well Mediacommunist is intercepting this data, and when it sees a 404, it halts the data coming from the website, and then sends you it's own html data which uses a javascript redirect to their own search page.

So it's nothing that can be bypassed except to not use Mediacommunist. I went into the preferences on the search page there and selected to opt out, but it had absolutely no effect, and others have said it resets after a month and you have to do it again. Others have said that it does not disable it either like what is happening to me.

So there is no way for me to get around it, the data comes through Mediacommunist, which looks at it and modifies it.

The DNS redirects were annoying as hell, but could be worked around by using other DNS servers. But this is taking it a whole other level and can't be worked around.

[Superdave]

ok, you were right.. they're doing it here now too.

[IsaacHayes]

lol... FWIW I noticed that the opt out works ONLY for DNS redirect searches. It does not affect the 404 detection and packet injection.

[LeftVentricle]

I just got this with Cox Communications. They listed a more permanent solution (at least that's how it looked to me, I have little networking experience). It said to go into network properties and input a couple if IPs into the IPv4 DNS section. See attached. I get a regular old 404 now.

[pocket-rocket]

Verizon was doing this not to long ago with their DSL, got caught and fined. $40 for 768k O.o You might want to buy some Astroglide before you sign up. My 3mb runs me $29/mo. It's reliable... most of the time. Sometimes I do have load problems though. I know when I'm having load problems, it's not my equipment. For a while a short time back people in my area were having problems with their Verizon DSL. Routers were loosing their IP address and you would have to release and renew or reboot them. For the most part though, my service has been pretty decent, and I've never gotten a letter for movies (or programs)- then again, I don't tend to download stuff like that heavily, not that it should matter.

[bszopi]

I just recently downgraded my Cox internet (and canceled cable service) from the 12.5Mbps service. 12.5 runs $45/mo, while 1.5 runs $27/mo. Its kind of nice going from $100/mo cable bill (expanded basic only - no digital) to $27. DL speeds definitely aren't where they were before, but its still decent. Just can't DL and watch videos at the same time anymore.

[pocket-rocket]

I forgot to mention. Last winter I had received a flier from Verizon. They are now offering 7mb DSL as well. I had considered switching to it (IIRC it ran $50) and moving to VoIP for my telephone service to keep my monthly bill pretty much the same, but I never did.