Owen DeLong wrote:
According to the excerpts from the TOS, VMWARE, Firewalls (other than an in-box firewall like BlackIce, etc.), WAPs and the like are already prohibited. All of those represent termination of the connection on a non-comcast LAN.
I think that's reading too much into it. Clearly they allow for the use of LOCAL networks. I mean, why would you need multiple IP addresses, "expertise setting up a network", and so forth, if they didn't allow for the use of user-side networks? The reference you mention seems to be explicitly in the context of a REMOTE network, as in connecting 24x7 to a pair of Exchange and Oracle servers, sucking up bandwidth all day long. Let's look at this in their own terms. They allow frat houses, but I would guess that not many of those only have 3 computers, yet they only provide 3 IP addresses, so NATs would almost certainly be required for most frat houses. Conversely, they allow dorm rooms, but they don't want the resident of that ROOM to resell or even provide connectivity to the rest of the DORM. In this context, I would say that if they are looking for NATs at all, they are looking to see if there are dozens of computers hooked up somewhere that shouldn't be, such as a dorm room reselling pipe, or a residential house providing connectivity to the entire neighborhood. My guess would be that they are only looking for this after they have noticed a utilization issue. I mean, if you are using 100x the bandwidth of other people in your neighborhood, they want to figure out which provision you are PROBABLY violating. Are you running a warez server (forbidden)? Are you providing connectivity to others in your neighborhood (forbidden) (presumably via NAT, since they only give you 3 IPs)? Are you running a small business out of your house (forbidden)? That seems to be the only context that has any significance in any of this. Keep your utilization at a point where they don't have to upgrade pipes AND don't have to listen to complaints from your neighbors, and they probably won't care what you do with it. -- Eric A. Hall http://www.ehsco.com/ Internet Core Protocols http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/coreprot/