It can be tricky complaining to your ISP about abuse from other subscribers on their network. As one Road Runner customer found out recently, it's all too easy for them to decide that if you're the squeaky wheel, you must be the problem. "I just tried to get Road Runner's security people to stop the attempts from several of their subscribers to hack into my network," the reader wrote. "Since I'm a Road Runner su It can be tricky complaining to your ISP about abuse from other subscribers on their network. As one Road Runner customer found out recently, it’s all too easy for them to decide that if you’re the squeaky wheel, you must be the problem.“I just tried to get Road Runner’s security people to stop the attempts from several of their subscribers to hack into my network,” the reader wrote. “Since I’m a Road Runner subscriber myself, I thought that they might actually do something, so I sent excerpts from my router’s log to them at abuse@rr.com. They did something all right — they shut down MY access!”The reader showed me some samples of the logs that he had sent Road Runner, which made it clear that his IP was the one under attack from other sources within the Road Runner IP address blocks. “I had to call customer service to get my access turned back on. The person at customer service insisted that it couldn’t be a mistake. The note attached to my account indicated that port scans were originating from my home network. I told her that: I was an IT professional and that I just sent in several complaints that other Road Runner subscribers were running port scans against my network. She did turn my access back on, but informed me that a second ‘quarantine’ would last a mandatory two weeks, and that a third infraction would result in permanent quarantine. There doesn’t appear to be any way to appeal and they don’t provide any proof.” Just to be sure, the reader spent the better part of a day scanning all the PCs on his PCs for malware. “Of course, I didn’t find anything. It sure would be nice if Road Runner’s security staff could actually read a router log correctly. By the way, the same IP addresses I complained about are still banging away at me, so obviously Road Runner didn’t quarantine them. Needless to say, I won’t bother complaining again.”The whole incident has left the reader considering his broadband alternatives. “I also just found on the Road Runner website that they their own security team is doing port scans. They listed the address and said not be concerned, that it was just their attempt to identify compromised PC’s or illegal servers. I suspect they are really just looking for illegal servers, as their usage terms forbid servers. I have one, but it’s for my own training purposes and I’ve blocked all incoming access to it. I have to admit, Verizon DSL is looking better all the time. My clients that use it never seem to complain, but my clients that use RR or ChoiceOne have problems regularly, either slow connections or DNS problems.”Of course, the reader probably should consider himself lucky that he at least has the choice of DSL or cable, since many have fewer broadband choices than that. If your local broadband monopolist is abusing you, write me at Foster@gripe2ed.com or phone the Gripe Line voice mail at 1 888 875-7916. Read and post comments about this story here. Technology Industry