Re: Webcall.ca cookbook (and concerns)

Tony Arkles wrote:
> Although considering it further, I'm not even sure if Sasktel's pub
> key is necessary. If Sasktel is the only entity that has a copy of
> the box's public key, then it's not really a big deal to have two sets
> of pub/priv key pairs.
>
None of this public key/private key stuff is necessary.

Just to clarify the whole process... there is no installer with a stack
of ATAs in her van. The account _is_ tied to that specific box. (MAC
address, specifically) This is different from a DSL box, where the
account is tied to the piece of copper that you connect the DSL box to.

How it worked:
After I signed up, they couriered me the ATA. I followed the
instructions... I ran the enclosed CD which had me authenticate with the
username/password I had set up when I signed up. (different from the SIP
account info) I presume at this point it communicated with the
provisioning servers to get some account info. Then, it had me
disconnect the computer from my network, and wire it directly into the
ATA. The software reconfigured my network to a 192.168.0.x address
(IIRC) and proceeded to configure the ATA. Once that was done, I was to
connect the ATA to my internet connection. (The ATA also contains a NAT
device, so they wanted me to leave the computer on the LAN side of the
ATA. I, of course, plugged my computer back into my network and
reconfigured the networking back to it's original settings.)

Now, I'm only guessing, but it's possible what the setup software does
is run a TFTP server on my computer, and have the ATA get it's config
files from there. Most SIP devices can hold several sets of
configuration settings, with certain sets having priority over others.
If the Username and Password were configured into the device on this
initial setup, and NOT included in the CFG files TFTPd across the
internet on each powerup, the whole thing should work just as well, and
there doesn't need to be any cleartext passwords anywhere other than my
6' ethernet cable between my computer and the ATA during initial setup.

btw, I got a message from Sasktel marketing on my cell... I'll call them
back today. It seems like I got someone's attention. (Why marketing,
though? is this more of a PR issue than a technical issue to them?)

I found this and thought it was hilarious:
http://www.navigata.ca/en/products-services/internet/internet-security/

ttyl
srw
Received on Fri Dec 15 09:02:36 2006