Phrooti

Dotmobi Domains Registration

akmercer — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:06:07 +0000

Phrooti has registered their first 3 .mobi domains. Possibly the first .mobi registrations for South Africa. The domains we registered are currently parked but point your mobile browser to etms.mobi to see what it is all about. If you would like more information about the .mobi tld or would like to register a .mobi domain please feel free to contact us.

As you may know .mobi web sites need to conform to a set of guidelines published by mTLD. Phrooti look forward to bringing you some of the first fully fledged, built for mobile web sites in South Africa.

Previous .mobi article.

DSL Management Console

akmercer — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:14:25 +0000

Worried you might be running out of bandwidth? With the DSL Management Console you can monitor your own ADSL usage online. In addition to monitoring usage this tool also allows you to create sms alerts, change your ADSL password, check for unauthorised logins or lock your account to one physical ADSL line.

Now that you are monitoring it you may notice extraneous or unexplainable usage and there are a number of causes of unwanted traffic:

Causes

Network chatter
Up to 10mb per day of random packets caused by portscans, dns, router update checks, remote pings etc. This will occur even if your PC’s are switched off if you have a router as opposed to a USB based ADSL modem.

Skype
The new Skype client generates traffic even if not in use. This is because Skype can turn any PC into a 3rd party router for assisting in its P2P telephony functioning. In other words your PC is the exchange for somebody else’s call:o.

Stolen username
There are known exploits and hackers actively scan insecure routers to obtain usernames and passwords. These are then used to steal bandwidth from the account.

Wireless hijacking
If your router is wireless enabled, hackers in the nearby vicinity may be using your bandwidth for their own purposes, even if WEP or WPA is enabled.

Spyware,malware,viruses,trojans, rootkits
Any of the PC”s connected may be infected with the above causing your machine to become a zombie for sending spam or an instrument in sending denial of service attacks. New evidence suggests rootkit technology is now being employed to avoid detection by most Antivirus programs.

Solutions

Network chatter
Turn of your router to avoid any traffic charges. Alternatively put the router in “stealth mode” - this makes it appear to be offline to the outside world and reduces the small amount of daily wastage.

Skype
Log out of Skype when not in use. Use a different client, eg MSN Messenger or other SIP based voice services.

Stolen username
1) Change all passwords - ADSL password, router password, client service area password etc…
2) Enable Phrooti’s DSLSecure technology - this allows you to lock your account to your own physical ADSL line preventing it from being used elsewhere.

Wireless hijacking
Enable WPA-PSK encryption using a 12+ character random password. Do not use known words, product names, labels or anything else. Do not use WEP encryption as this can be cracked within minutes giving a false sense of security.

Spyware,malware,viruses,trojans, rootkits
Run multiple virus and anti spyware scans on your system, there are various tools available to do this via the web:
Trendmicro Housecall
Panda Active Scan

Article compiled from source at WebAfrica.

Neotel Launch

akmercer — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 14:48:09 +0000

At last Telkom has competition. Today saw the official launch of the second national fixed line operator in South Africa - Neotel. Some of their services are already live, including the provision of international wholesale bandwidth to over ten large clients. These clients are existing fixed and mobile operators, as well as Internet Solutions and MWEB. Neotel plan to start rolling out other services to large companies in December.

According to their website “Neotel aims to reduce the cost of doing business in South Africa, and to extend communications to the second economy. We are focused and flexible, intent on understanding your requirements and delivering services suited to your specific needs. Gradually, our service portfolio will grow to include basic voice, data, internet, virtual private networks, network management and hosting services, although we currently offer international voice and data transit services for other telecoms providers. We intend to become the preferred provider of leading-edge telecoms services in South Africa.”

This additional competition can only be good news and while not one of the initial “ten large clients” be assured that Phrooti are monitoring the situation and will continue to purchase the most cost effective services for their subscribers.

.mobi is coming!

akmercer — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 08:16:21 +0000

No it’s not a whale or a bald musician! dotMobi (.mobi) is a new Internet namespace specifically for the mobile market. With 4 mobile phones sold for every PC this is an under serviced market from an Internet viewpoint.

Why is dotMobi special? Well, dotMobi - Internet Made Mobile, says it all. If you have ever tried browsing the Internet using your mobile device you will know finding mobile friendly sites is not that easy. dotMobi is the first – and only – top level domain dedicated to delivering the Internet to mobile devices. dotMobi will revolutionise the use of the Internet on mobile devices. dotMobi is designed to guide mobile users to made-for-mobile Internet content and services that can be accessed with confidence.

If you have a product or brand that you would like to sell to millions of mobile Internet users then you need to reserve your dotMobi Internet real estate. Currently Phrooti are accepting registrations for the Landrush phase of the name allocation. This requires a R275 deposit and costs R500 for a 2 year registration.

Don’t be left out of the next Internet boom.

For more information visit the home of dotMobi or to check whether your preferred name is available whois.

The .mobi logo and “Internet Made Mobile” tag line are registered trademarks of dotMobi (mTLD Mobile Top Level Domain, Ltd.). They’re based in Dublin, Ireland.

Petrel Computer Consultants

akmercer — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 10:36:30 +0000

Phrooti have formed a strategic alliance with Petrel Computer Consultants. A well known and leading supply of Pastel Accounting and Microsoft networking infrastructure to the SME market in the Gauteng region.

Through this alliance Petrel Computer Consultants clients can now benefit from the additional services offered by phrooti while phrooti has access to a pool of competent and trained technicians for field support. Between the two organisations we now truly offer a one-stop technology shop for all your IT and communication requirements.

Further information on Petrel Computer Consultants‘ products and services to follow.

Open Phor Business

akmercer — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 11:29:14 +0000

Phrooti is phinally open phor business. We offer (bet your glad I didn’t type ophpher) dialup, ADSL, domain registration, web design and web hosting infact anything you can imagine regarding the internet and communication. Fax2Email, Email2Fax, SMS, dynamic dns want to pick up your emails remotely or online? Phrooti can manage it. Contact us and let’s discuss your needs.