[UNRELATED TO NS] Connecting while riding Amtrak

[Oliver L.]

(Moved from NoScript Support -- Tom T.)

Does anyone have any experience connecting to the Internet while riding Amtrak in the Northeast? (For me usually between Philadelphia and New York.)

I know Amtrak says the service is still "spotty" but it seems like at certain times I can connect well, but other trips it's just a mess (and I know that NS often plays a role in connectivity.)

In ABE I have the rules

Site securelogin.arubanetworks.com
Accept
Site nmd.phillyiap.philapa.wayport.net
Accept

but I think these apply more to 30th St. Station, any hints for getting (and staying) online while riding through through New Jersey?

[Thrawn]

In ABE I have the rules

Site securelogin.arubanetworks.com
Accept
Site nmd.phillyiap.philapa.wayport.net
Accept

but I think these apply more to 30th St. Station, any hints for getting (and staying) online while riding through through New Jersey?

Can't help with your main problem, sorry, since I'm in Australia. However, if those rules are intended to override the default one, then I think that they should be written differently.

I'm guessing that those two sites map to local addresses (ones that belong on a LAN), and you have to go through them to get to websites? If so, then probably what you want is to change your default SYSTEM rule to:

Code: Select all

Site LOCAL
Accept from LOCAL securelogin.arubanetworks.com nmd.phillyiap.philapa.wayport.net
Deny

[Oliver L.]

In ABE I have the rules

Site securelogin.arubanetworks.com
Accept
Site nmd.phillyiap.philapa.wayport.net
Accept

but I think these apply more to 30th St. Station, any hints for getting (and staying) online while riding through through New Jersey?

Can't help with your main problem, sorry, since I'm in Australia. However, if those rules are intended to override the default one, then I think that they should be written differently.

I'm guessing that those two sites map to local addresses (ones that belong on a LAN), and you have to go through them to get to websites? If so, then probably what you want is to change your default SYSTEM rule to:

Code: Select all

Site LOCAL
Accept from LOCAL securelogin.arubanetworks.com nmd.phillyiap.philapa.wayport.net
Deny

ok thanks i replaced the text i'll see what happens next week!

[Thrawn]

ok thanks i replaced the text i'll see what happens next week!

I hope it helps .
It's also a good idea, when the problem occurs, to check Tools - Error Console for any messages that might be related, and post them here. Often they make the problem & solution obvious (especially to Giorgio).

[Tom T.]

(and I know that NS often plays a role in connectivity.)

May I ask where you got that idea?

Connectivity to the (wireless) Internet access point is dependent on a sufficiently strong signal and the ability to receive it. (and the permission of the access point). NoScript has nothing to do with any of this. By your own quote,

I know Amtrak says the service is still "spotty" but it seems like at certain times I can connect well, but other trips it's just a mess

If it were a NS issue, it wouldn't be variable like that. They're practically telling you not to expect 100% service reliability.

*Once you are connected*, NS protections may block certain potentially-dangerous things for you, which is why you got it, right?

But until there's a working Internet connection, and a request from you to load a site, NoScript doesn't have anything more to do than if the machine were shut off.

I can park outside my local library and connect to their Internet access. Doesn't matter if it's their LAN. The purpose of ABE is to prevent sites from invading *your* LAN.

Go to NS Options > Notifications. If ABE isn't checked, check it. > OK.

Now, if you don't see an ABE message bar displayed when the problem happens, ABE is not an issue. Same as what Thrawn said about the Error Console (Ctrl+Shift+J, or Firefox Tools > Web Developer > Error Console), but right on the screen.

Why do you have "Accept" rules without restrictions? They do nothing that would be done if you had no ABE rule at all.

Incidentally, I can wardrive on my neighbor's unsecured wireless network (LAN) without involving ABE in the slightest.

This topic should probably be moved to Web Tech, but will leave it here for now in case new information surfaces that does have something to do with NS or ABE.

[Tom T.]

Can't help with your main problem, sorry, since I'm in Australia.

Of course you can!
I'm not in that area either, but this info is available globally.

Traceroute:

Code: Select all

IP address: 12.177.253.250
Host name: nmd.phillyiap.philapa.wayport.net

Alias:
nmd.phillyiap.philapa.wayport.net
12.177.253.250 is from United States(US) in region North America

Code: Select all

C:\WINDOWS\system32>ping 12.177.253.250

Pinging 12.177.253.250 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 12.177.253.250: bytes=32 time=72ms TTL=43
Reply from 12.177.253.250: bytes=32 time=74ms TTL=43
Reply from 12.177.253.250: bytes=32 time=73ms TTL=43
Reply from 12.177.253.250: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=43

Ping statistics for 12.177.253.250:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 70ms, Maximum = 74ms, Average = 72ms

I probably couldn't log in, but if I can ping it, it's not local. (I can ping my *own* local router, of course.)

Code: Select all

C:\WINDOWS\system32>ping https://securelogin.arubanetworks.com

Pinging https://securelogin.arubanetworks.com [92.242.140.1] with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 92.242.140.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

Neither of those blocks, 92. or 12., are listed as reserved, non-publicly-routable addresses.

Interesting result that was new to me, though: *all* HTTPS sites (my online banks, secure Google, secure Startpage) that I tried to ping resolved to that identical 92. address. Very curious. Perhaps secure sites refuse to answer pings, for security and to prevent flooding attacks, and they resolve all ping requests to that (throw-away?) address.

IP address: 92.242.140.1
Host name: unallocated.barefruit.co.uk
92.242.140.1 is from United Kingdom(UK) in region Western Europe

TraceRoute to 92.242.140.1 [unallocated.barefruit.co.uk]

Hop (ms) (ms) (ms) IP Address Host name
1 0 0 0 8.9.232.73 xe-5-3-0.edge3.dallas1.level3.net

2 1 0 0 4.69.145.254 vlan90.csw4.dallas1.level3.net
3 0 0 0 4.69.151.170 ae-93-93.ebr3.dallas1.level3.net
4 20 20 20 4.69.134.22 ae-7-7.ebr3.atlanta2.level3.net
5 30 24 24 4.69.148.254 ae-73-73.ebr2.atlanta2.level3.net
6 20 20 25 4.69.150.79 ae-2-52.edge1.atlanta4.level3.net
7 20 20 32 4.53.234.6 mzima-netwo.edge1.atlanta4.level3.net
8 20 20 20 69.174.121.2 -
9 20 20 20 208.84.49.26 -
10 Timed out Timed out Timed out -
11 Timed out Timed out Timed out -
12 Timed out Timed out Timed out -
13 Timed out Timed out Timed out -

Trace aborted.

Retrieving DNS records for unallocated.barefruit.co.uk...
Attempt to get a DNS server for unallocated.barefruit.co.uk failed: unallocated.barefruit.co.uk does not exist in the DNS

Whois query for barefruit.co.uk...

Results returned from whois.nic.uk:
Domain name:
barefruit.co.uk

Registrant:
Barefruit Ltd

Registrant type:
UK Limited Company, (Company number: 5161745)

Registrant's address:
17 Orpington Road
Winchmore Hill
London
N21 3PD
United Kingdom

Registrar:
TUCOWS Inc [Tag = TUCOWS-CA]
URL: http://domainhelp.tucows.com

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 08-Dec-2004
Expiry date: 08-Dec-2012
Last updated: 15-Feb-2011

Registration status:
Registered until expiry date.

Name servers:
ns1.eu.barefruit.co.uk 92.242.128.254
ns2.eu.barefruit.co.uk 92.242.141.254
ns3.eu.barefruit.co.uk 195.191.210.100

Network IP address lookup:
Whois query for 92.242.140.1...

Results returned from whois.arin.net:

NetRange: 92.0.0.0 - 92.255.255.255
CIDR: 92.0.0.0/8
OriginAS:
NetName: 92-RIPE
NetHandle: NET-92-0-0-0-1
Parent:
NetType: Allocated to RIPE NCC
Comment: These addresses have been further assigned to users in
Comment: the RIPE NCC region. Contact information can be found in
Comment: the RIPE database at http://www.ripe.net/whois
RegDate: 2007-03-27
Updated: 2009-05-18
Ref: http://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-92-0-0-0-1

OrgName: RIPE Network Coordination Centre
OrgId: RIPE
Address: P.O. Box 10096
City: Amsterdam
StateProv:
PostalCode: 1001EB
Country: NL
RegDate:
Updated: 2011-09-24
Ref: http://whois.arin.net/rest/org/RIPE

ReferralServer: whois://whois.ripe.net:43

Looks like I might have made a lucky guess about HTTPS pings. Does anyone know the full story?

[Oliver L.]

(and I know that NS often plays a role in connectivity.)

May I ask where you got that idea?

Connectivity to the (wireless) Internet access point is dependent on a sufficiently strong signal and the ability to receive it. (and the permission of the access point). NoScript has nothing to do with any of this. By your own quote,

I know Amtrak says the service is still "spotty" but it seems like at certain times I can connect well, but other trips it's just a mess

If it were a NS issue, it wouldn't be variable like that. They're practically telling you not to expect 100% service reliability.

*Once you are connected*, NS protections may block certain potentially-dangerous things for you, which is why you got it, right?

But until there's a working Internet connection, and a request from you to load a site, NoScript doesn't have anything more to do than if the machine were shut off.

I can park outside my local library and connect to their Internet access. Doesn't matter if it's their LAN. The purpose of ABE is to prevent sites from invading *your* LAN.

Go to NS Options > Notifications. If ABE isn't checked, check it. > OK.

Now, if you don't see an ABE message bar displayed when the problem happens, ABE is not an issue. Same as what Thrawn said about the Error Console (Ctrl+Shift+J, or Firefox Tools > Web Developer > Error Console), but right on the screen.

Why do you have "Accept" rules without restrictions? They do nothing that would be done if you had no ABE rule at all.

Incidentally, I can wardrive on my neighbor's unsecured wireless network (LAN) without involving ABE in the slightest.

This topic should probably be moved to Web Tech, but will leave it here for now in case new information surfaces that does have something to do with NS or ABE.

You have a point I think I subconsciously mixed up connecting to specific websites with connecting to the Internet itself.

[Tom T.]

(and I know that NS often plays a role in connectivity.)

May I ask where you got that idea?

You have a point I think I subconsciously mixed up connecting to specific websites with connecting to the Internet itself.

Then if it's OK with you, I'll move this to Forum Extras > Web Tech, where perhaps someone who rides the trains there may be able to offer some advice.
OP will be marked as "Unrelated" (to NoScript.)

I hope someone can help. Have you tried contacting the service providers, or perhaps a tech support for Amtrack?
Good luck.