Downloading Coursework for Initiates

Whyte Horse wrote: Why not throw up a few torrents on the server and he can let them download for a few days, read/watch them after they complete. Torrents rock because they can auto-resume and be left running all night, etc.

I agree with the torrent idea, in general, but I don't know necessarily that it would be helpful to the OP in his current situation. Hi, btw, Kromtor! Welcome.

Can he/she run a bittorrent client? If so, that's what I did when in Indonesia. We had dial-up speeds but I would just leave it downloading overnight and get like 750MB movies over the course of 1-2 days.

Whyte Horse wrote: Can he/she run a bittorrent client? If so, that's what I did when in Indonesia. We had dial-up speeds but I would just leave it downloading overnight and get like 750MB movies over the course of 1-2 days.

I just assumed with that sort of bandwidth and the nature of the work that they would be limited in their ability to tie up said line for extended periods, out of respect for the others who might like to use it.

Until recently we were able to download torrents, but just last week or so, they started blocking all torrent ports for our networks here. The internet in our rooms here on this base is almost like old 24.4k dial up modems, and every 4 hours it drops us off and makes us log back into the network. Funny thing is the best time to download is at night when everyone is sleeping, but then you have to wake yourself up every 4 hours to login again. Not sure how many people here remember 24.4k modems, but it was slow as slow can be. But I do thank you for the ideas, you are right that would be the fastest way to go.

Unfortunately, services like torrents are frequently blocked to our deployers for the very reason steamboat mentioned. It's either the bandwidth is extremely limited, or even sometimes they can only be using the internet when they're actively logged into and using the computer in question. Unreliable is also extremely true, as the internet out there frequently drops out, sometimes for hours at a time. Larger bases might have a wifi set up, for access on a personal computer. But even that frequently crashes. And then there's the internet black outs...

Even if he were to be able to leave a connection open, where it might take him 3-4 days to download a single document, he'll get the dvd/USB within a week of someone sending it. So while a torrent does sound like a good idea, it simply isn't practical for a deployer.

Sounds like you've been here before Avalon?

I was in a one-cow-town in Indonesia and I could get 128kB/s over 3G. Sadly, when I came back to the US I couldn't get 3G internet and the local internet was slower than 128k. And this proves, once and for all, that the USA is #1. YEAH!

Kromtor wrote: Sounds like you've been here before Avalon?

No. But I am acting as the PoA for my brother, who's currently over there. And unfortunately, no one seems to understand that he doesn't have steady internet service...And he's at one of the bigger bases.

There's also the issue of network security on base....or at least on the comms base I was on (we weren't allowed internet access in the dorms, on base housing, or workplaces with a few exceptions)...one of my many co-lateral duties was taso(terminal area security officer) and i'd have to spend at least one day a week running to the few computers with internet access and searching for unauthorized data rated higher than classified... it was a hassle cracking passwords and searching drives for hours at a time....

Now if anyone is needing/missing ip material I have all of it on my laptop, a flash drive, and some on google drive/docs...for brothers(or sisters) in arms i'd be more than willing to help out....

All that being said, if the trouble of starting it up wouldn't be too much, I am fully in support of a torrent-able version of many of these materials.