O > > I am from India and use Ethernet based connectivity (which breaks > > frequently) from a cable ISP who provides a private ip address > > 172.16.x.x and masqed outbound connectivity. > > That is really wierd! We have a vpn for a section of Salford Uni with an > IP address of 172.16.x.x and it's completely useless (IMO) > > According to whois though, it's owned by ICANN for private purposes so > shouldn't be allocated to anyone! > Well, it is...but it is being done a lot in India. There are many small home operation ISPs who use Linux based NAT boxes to provide connectivity to home users. Speed is usually comparable to dial-up 56k modems, though they are called BROADBAND always-on connections ;-) Guess the only thing broad about it is the name. In fact MTNL & BSNL the National telcos provide a similar service using NAT & address rangs 10.x.x.x, throughout India. I think thatÅ because the home user broadband (64K wide) has started to compete with 64K leased lines which provide a live IP and cost ten or more times as much.Giving private address space stops the inbound services and makes the connection much less valuable. Thats what I want to break out of by using a hosted UML server costing 5-10$/month and getting my NAT box to use a VPN getting the inbound packets from the hosted ip to my machine. The problem is, I dont know how? And the issues regarding security/performance etc. involved. Comments anyone? With best regards. Sanjay.
