| Index | Recent Threads | Unanswered Threads | Who's Active | Guidelines | Search |
 |
World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: BOINC Agent Support
Thread: My ISP Appears to be Interfering With My Download of BOINC Agent |
| No member browsing this thread |
|
Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 8
|
|
| Author |
|
|
we4qcphi8
Cruncher Joined: Jul 28, 2016 Post Count: 26 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
I just want to give a heads up to people, since others may encounter this issue. I have reason to believe that my residential Internet Service Provider in Chicago (Comcast/Xfinity) is interfering with the download of the BOINC agent from worldcommunitygrid.org.
----------------------------------------I downloaded the software from my employer's network (at the office), and had no trouble; the MD5 hash verified when I checked it. I then tried to download the software over my home network on no less than three different machines. The MD5 hash did not match, no matter how many times I tried. It would always be a different MD5 result, actually. Sometimes it would not download at all. Other times the .exe would download completely, but not have the little icon (Windows). Sometimes it would download with the icon. But it would never verify after downloading over my residential network. Then, when I used a VPN to connect (from home) to my employer's network, the software downloaded and verified with no problem. So I have the software working - that's not the issue. I just wanted to make people aware of the potential issue they may have in downloading it. I read somewhere that the underlying technology of the BOINC software is the same technology used in botnets. That may be why this software is flagged by my ISP, I don't know. Also, I did contact my ISP and have a chat session with them about it, which, as one might expect, was an utter waste of time. [Edit 1 times, last edit by we4qcphi8 at Aug 3, 2016 1:05:00 AM] |
||
|
|
SekeRob
Master Cruncher Joined: Jan 7, 2013 Post Count: 2741 Status: Offline |
"I read somewhere that the underlying technology of the BOINC software is the same technology used in botnets." first I heard... link please.
Your ISP, if they do, is nuts, would be my thinking. |
||
|
|
we4qcphi8
Cruncher Joined: Jul 28, 2016 Post Count: 26 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOINC_client%E2%80%93server_technology - See "A BOINC network is similar to a hacker/spammers botnet."
I wouldn't put anything past my ISP. Here's today's headline on them: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switc...to-sell-your-web-history/ |
||
|
|
armstrdj
Former World Community Grid Tech Joined: Oct 21, 2004 Post Count: 695 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
We have made some changes to try and help prevent this. Can you try and download again and respond back if you still have issues.
Thanks, armstrdj |
||
|
|
cjslman
Master Cruncher Mexico Joined: Nov 23, 2004 Post Count: 2082 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOINC_client%E2%80%93server_technology - See "A BOINC network is similar to a hacker/spammers botnet." Is it known if the BOINC team has confirmed/santioned everything in this wiki article? If not, then it is in the best interest of BOINC (and WCG) to verify this information. The part that states "A BOINC network is similar to a hacker/spammers botnet. In BOINC's case, however, it is hoped that the software is installed and operated with the consent of the computer's owner ." needs to be clarified or challenged or reworded, because that will scare off a LOT of people ("AAARRRGGG... I've installed a hacker's tool on my machine... AAARRRGGG !!!! Panic in the streets !!!"). I for one, don't think it's a valid statement, and probably shouldn't be in that wiki article. CJSL World Community Grid: the final frontier. These are the adventures of the grid WCG. Its never-ending mission: to explore strange new methods, to seek out new cures and new solutions, to boldly crunch where no man has crunched before. |
||
|
|
we4qcphi8
Cruncher Joined: Jul 28, 2016 Post Count: 26 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
Well I don't know what change you made on your end, but now it works perfectly. Windows/Linux/Apple-Mac all verify when downloaded over my residential ISP. That wasn't the case over the last five days. This is great, because I am now going to spread the word and try to get more people involved. Thank you!
----------------------------------------Also, I too am curious to know what others think about the wiki article. [Edit 1 times, last edit by we4qcphi8 at Aug 4, 2016 12:41:17 AM] |
||
|
|
we4qcphi8
Cruncher Joined: Jul 28, 2016 Post Count: 26 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
By the way, I know that http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php is a different entity than worldcommunitygrid.org, but I think it is bad form on their part that they do not provide checksum information for their downloads. The experience I had here shows the value of checksums (and again, thank you for straightening it out). I had thought about downloading the 64-bit client berkeley offers, but I won't do so without a checksum.
|
||
|
|
SekeRob
Master Cruncher Joined: Jan 7, 2013 Post Count: 2741 Status: Offline |
Well I don't know what change you made on your end, but now it works perfectly. Windows/Linux/Apple-Mac all verify when downloaded over my residential ISP. That wasn't the case over the last five days. This is great, because I am now going to spread the word and try to get more people involved. Thank you! Also, I too am curious to know what others think about the wiki article. At top is says in bold "This article has multiple issues.", which is as an understatement. |
||
|
|
|