Allied Telesis @ Yokota Rocks/Sucks

For everyone who was having problems logging onto the AF Portal, here is the link to the updated software:

HomeUseSoftware.zip

Air Force Middleware to Use CACs from Home

Published: 2010-03-04 13:14:24.0

Attachments

• Use of Common Access Cards From Home on Windows 7 without Middleware.pdf
  

External Links

• HomeUseSoftware.zip

Download the HOMEUSESOFTWARE.ZIP file, under "External Links" on the right, to get started. Detailed step-by-step instructions are in the HOME USE MW README.DOC document included in the .ZIP file.

About the Home Use Middleware Package

Department of Defense (DoD) and Air Force (AF) personnel can leverage the capability, security and access of their Common Access Cards (CACs) to conduct official AF business, outside of the office, with the latest AF release of ActivClient (AC) 6.2. AC 6.2 AF Release (AFR) is the newest baseline middleware available that enables interface between a computer and the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates on CACs. These PKI certificates are required to access critical AF information gateways, including Outlook Web Access (OWA) for email, the AF Portal, AF networks and systems, and DoD Web sites. To enable a personal or non-government computer to access these official resources, read further for information on downloading the "Home Use" middleware package.

Installation

The AC 6.2 AFR "Home Use" middleware package is approximately 34MB in size, meaning it can be easily downloaded to an ordinary CD in the office, and transported home. If users are already able to access the AF Portal from home, they may download the middleware package directly to their hard drive.

Note: Obtaining or purchasing CAC reader hardware remains the responsibility of the home user. In some cases, local or MAJCOM policy may contain additional provisions.

Installation instructions for the AC 6.2 AFR "Home Use" middleware package are conveniently included in the download. At the onset of the installation, the user must acknowledge a User Agreement in order to proceed with the installation. The installation will abort if the user does not accept the User Agreement.

After accepting the User Agreement, the program checks the home workstation to verify it meets the system requirements for the middleware. The following system requirements apply:

- Windows XP (32-bit Professional or Home version), Windows Vista (32-bit version or 64-bit version); Windows 7 (32-bit version or 64-bit version). 
-  Internet Explorer 6 or greater

If the system meets requirements, the installation continues and provides a notification when finished. If the system does not meet the minimum system requirements, the program notifies the user and aborts the installation. The program advises the user of which requirements must be remedied to allow installation. 

Users are responsible for upgrading their own systems to meet the minimum system requirements. The AF will not purchase or provide any products for personal computers, with the exception of the middleware package.

Once installed, plug in a smart card reader for the CAC and the system is capable of supporting sites that require PKI authentication (i.e., OWA, DoD Web sites, and the AF Portal). The middleware will only work with OWA if the user’s organization supports and allows OWA. OWA access requires certain network architectures; using a CAC does not in itself provide access. For more information concerning OWA, please contact your local computer support personnel. The user will still not be able to access .mil restricted web sites. 

Users should also be aware of risks associated with using the CAC from home. The CAC with the AC 6.2 AFR "Home Use" middleware package allows users secure access to certain sites. However, this does not provide any additional protection for home computers. Users should take steps to secure their home computers, to include maintaining up-to-date anti-virus software. Additionally, users should never leave their CACs in the smart card reader when it is not actively in use.

Upgrade to Home Use Middleware

Home users with the previous AC 6.1 AFR Home Use software should upgrade to AC 6.2 to prevent potential problems with the newest CAC types. AC 6.1 does not need to be uninstalled before running the new installation package; the new installation package will automatically process the upgrade.

Home Use Middleware Package Support

The AF Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) System Program Office (SPO) prepares and maintains the "Home Use" middleware package of AC 6.2 AFR to enable Air Force personnel to accomplish the Air Force mission.   The SPO does not offer technical support for installation, configuration, or troubleshooting on unmanaged home computers. Each Major Command (MAJCOM), Agency, or Direct Reporting Unit (DRU) determines its policy for CAC-PKI home use and how its home users receive technical support. Users should contact their computer support personnel for local policy guidance.  

Other Home Use Options

Microsoft Windows 7 includes a built-in capability to read and use the newest CAC-based PKI certificates without installing smart card middleware like ActivClient (AC). Users with fully compliant Personal Identity Verification (PIV) II CACs, may be able to use their CACs on Windows 7 home machines to access Web sites without installing middleware. Visit the AF PKI SPO web site from a .mil domain for additional information on this subject. Click here for additional information. 

ActivClient 6.2 is not compatible with Macintosh systems. ActivClient was offered for the "Tiger" release (MAC OS X 10.4.9) and is not compatible with Leopard or Snow Leopard (the current release of MAC OS X (10.6.1)). The commercial version of ActivClient is available for purchase from the manufacturer, but is not available for download from the DoD. The use of middleware is also NOT required for Macintosh systems, including Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard. Visit the AF PKI SPO web site from a .mil domain for additional information on this subject. Click here to learn more about configuring Macintosh systems to work with a CAC reader.

After spending a fair amount of time researching the differences of services from US based companies vs. those being provided to the customers of Yokota Air Base we have come to the conclusion that Allied Telesis’s services are sub par and VERY VERY OVER PRICED.  Starting off with the basics, do you remember what clear television looked like?  Some of us have been stationed overseas so long that we forgot what a clear image looks like.  While we can most certainly agree that we did not expect a clear image from Armed Forces Network channels, you could almost agree to a “T” that we expect that our $50 a month service provide us the clearest picture possible.  I mean, we just don’t over pay for the luxury of watching FOX channels owned entertainment channels all day long, yes and I grouped FOX news into that category as well as I can’t seem to see it being anything more than an talk show to begin with.  That Glen Beck guy is nuts if you ask me.  Next thing you know, he’ll be publishing a pop-up-book as he treats his viewers like children.  Come on now visual aides and a chalk board, have we really reached that low for FOX News followers?  Better get back on topic huh?

So the picture is sub par, but what about the phone and internet services?  Well, the phone service for when it works is fairly decent though we have had better luck through Vonage and Skype for making long distance calls.  Their Premium Phone Plan for $50 a month and gives you 100 free calling minutes anywhere in the world is a complete joke.  If you signed up for the service, make sure you check the rates to ensure that you are not being fleeced.  I knew a guy who had a huge phone bill to one region and the GM suggested moving over to the Premium plan even though the person would have actually paid more per minute for those free 100 minutes than having just kept the basic plan.  Quite hilarious if you ask me.

Looking at the internet services, they are not a bad deal over all, though there are some worrisome aspects of the overall plan vs. user agreement and what it could mean to their customers should another service take off. 

• Basic Data – $24.95 monthly USD
  Speeds up to 256 Kbps with one e-mail account with 2 GB of storage. Great for checking email and chatting.
• Plus Data – $39.95 monthly USD
  Speeds up to 1.5 Mbps with (2) email accounts featuring up to 2 GB of storage per account. Great for reservations or doing research, and just the right tool for kids in school.
• Premium Data – $55.95 monthly USD
  Speeds up to 3 Mbps with (2) email accounts featuring up to 2 GB of storage per account. Perfect for viewing graphic-intense websites, sending and receiving pictures, shopping online, and catching up on news, sports and music without the wait.
• Premium Plus – $74.95 monthly USD
  Speeds up to 10 Mbps with (2) email accounts featuring up to 2 GB of storage per account. With 10 Mbps, there’s no lag time. Great for on-line gaming and bandwidth-intense video and audio applications.
• Ultra 15 – $74.95 monthly USD
  The ultimate in high speed! Speeds up to 15 Mbps with (2) email accounts featuring up to 2 GB of storage per account. Requires subscription to PlusTV Package.

If you look at Premium Plus, they promise no lag time for downloads and is suggested as a great package for bandwidth intensive users such as gamers, internet video watchers, etc.  Looking back at the user agreement when you first sign up Allied Telesis set an arbitrary bandwidth consumption (upload and download) of 30GB a month.  Well, for those bandwidth aware customers, you already know that you can blow through your 30GB’s in as little as 4 days if you are watching internet TV, downloading iTunes content, and more.  To boot, Allied Telesis only offers a 1Mbps upload rate meaning that should you decide to sign up for a service such as Mozy, a popular and affordable computer backup company, it could take you up to 60 days to backup that brand new computer you purchased with a 500GB hard drive.  Most companies offer equal download to upload ratios to their customers and it rumored that many of the new AAFES request for purchases at other installations require equal upload and download rates reaching speeds as high as 25Mbps.

Overall, Allied Telesis and AAFES are not offering any real advantage to their captive customer base aside from the fact they are the only show in town.  From the way it has been described to us, AAFES more or less pulled out all the stops to accomplish that feat.  It is not surprising though that their pricing is higher than most services available back in the states.  After all, AAFES is widely known to sell last years models for this years prices with alarming frequency and only adjust the price at the counter when you call them on it.

Once the GEM of the AAFES information services, AAFES has shifted its attention to other installations such as Misawa and Kadena now that there has been sufficient numbers of PCS’s which rid the serivce of their original angry and outspoken customer base with a customer base that is more flexible to a lower standard of service, after all, we are overseas as the saying goes.

Changing channels: Who will switch on to mobile TV?

By Nicolai Hartvig, for CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Mobile TV service set to launch in the U.S.
• South Korea has had mobile TV since 2005 but has not been commercial success
• Phone makers LG and Samsung are leading players in hardware
• More commercial nature of U.S. broadcasting leads many to believe it will be a success there

(CNN) — It was a record-breaking performance that slowed taxi traffic across Seoul on Wednesday when figure-skating darling Kim Yu-na took to the ice in Vancouver at the Winter Olympic Games.

The South Korean capital’s cab drivers have for days been glued to their dashboard mobile TV screens, following the nation’s athletes at the Winter Olympics.

Since free terrestrial mobile TV, or t-DMB, was launched in South Korea in 2005, million of commuters on buses and subway trains have also watched game shows, sports, news and dramas on antenna-fitted cell phones with tilting screens or pocket-sized TV sets.

Broadcasters in the U.S. are hoping for a similar trend as they roll out the new mobile television standard ATSC-M/H. It will allow TV stations to put their live broadcasts on mobile devices with relatively little investment.

Yet in South Korea, terrestrial mobile TV has not lived up to its promise and while handset makers make money, broadcasters have yet to turn a profit.

Mobile TV is "not a failure but more of an ethnographic study" in a very mature mobile market, says Yunho Chung, the founder of the Seoul-based Veyond Partners media consultancy, who has been tracking the market for the past four-and-a-half years.

In penetration and geographic reach, mobile TV is more of a success, Chung told CNN. But it has been less successful economically, in part because the dominating terrestrial TV players didn’t invest enough.

"They were not expecting something great," said Chung, adding it was seen as merely another platform for their usual channels in a country where broadcasting was traditionally regarded more as a public utility than a profit-making business.

South Korea’s government sees mobile TV as an investment. It put its research capability at the service of DMB and is now exporting the technology to countries interested in trying mobile TV — recently striking deals with Vietnam and Cambodia.

"Going abroad is the only solution," said Chung.

The new American standard has a strong South Korean link, combining two systems developed by leading cell phone manufacturers Samsung and LG. The perennial rivals are now launching the first ATSC-M/H receivers in the U.S., getting a quick start in the hardware sales that are the cash cow of mobile TV.

South Koreans had bought 20 million handsets by the second quarter of 2009, double the number from the first quarter of 2008 and eleven times the number of handsets sold when mobile TV was first launched.

Without subscription fees, those numbers are the closest the country comes to counting its terrestrial users — and as the price of mobile TV technology has dropped in recent years, the feature has become more standard in cell phones, making it more difficult to gauge actual viewership.

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) in 2008 estimated it at 1.6 percent.

Advertisers shrugged, buying mobile airtime worth just $6.2 million in 2008, with prime-time-commute advertising costing about 20 times less than its traditional television equivalent.

Tight control by the Korea Broadcast Advertising Association, which sells TV advertising time on behalf of broadcasters, has also kept prices low.

"Advertisers did not believe that mobile TV would be an effective medium," Chung said, because mobile TV lacked a fixed environment to keep the viewers’ eyes trained on the sales pitch.

Contrast that with a study by BIA Financial for the National Association of Broadcasters, which predicts that mobile digital television advertising will provide an extra $2 billion annually for U.S. broadcasters by 2012.

The Open Mobile Video Coalition, which has worked to develop the ATSC-M/H standard and lobbied for mobile digital TV in the U.S., now counts more than 800 member stations.

Thirty stations will consumer-test the new standard in April after taking on the new technology for about $75,000 to $150,000 and a longer-term expense of "a few hundred thousand dollars," says Dennis Wharton, the NAB’s Executive Vice President of Media Relations.

"It’s not like making the transition from analog to digital television which cost a minimum of about $2 million per station," Wharton told CNN.

Unlike South Korea, where free mobile TV is mostly simulcasts from the country’s largest TV stations, the U.S. rollout is local programming. Wharton predicts this will draw in both viewers and advertisers, citing the "once-in-a-century" snowstorm that blanketed Washington D.C. earlier this month.

"People wanted to know whether their kids were going to school, whether their work was going to be closed," Wharton said. "That’s the type of intensely local programming that only broadcasters can provide on these sorts of handheld devices. We’ve got a great franchise there."

Local and premium seem to be the two business models to follow.

The 2006 Football World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympics were hits on South Korean mobile TV, hinting that must-see-live programming could be lucrative.

U.S. West Coast viewers are furious with NBC’s coverage of this year’s Winter Olympics because they must watch the contests with long delays — hours after news outlets have reported the results.

The premium content has so far been the core of Qualcomm’s subscription-based FLO, which delivers shows from major networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, along with specialized channels like ESPN and Disney.

Mazen Chmaytelli, a Senior Director for Business Development for MediaFLO, sees the new ATSC-M/H service as a way to get mass viewership and introduce more people to mobile TV, noting that cable TV was first driven by local channels in set-top boxes.

"When they started offering that, customers started demanding premium content," Mazen told CNN. Qualcomm is positioning FLO as a complementary hybrid specifically designed for a mobile TV experience.

"Every phone has a camera right now but a lot of people still own their own digital camera to complement it," Mazen said.

Online viewing, video downloads and peer-to-peer file sharing remain mobile TV’s toughest competitors. In a 2009 survey by the Korea Communications Council, 70 percent of respondents said they watched re-runs of shows on the TV stations’ Web sites, a field in which Hulu and TV.com are U.S. leaders.

Only 6.9 percent said they used their cell phones to download or stream video.

South Korean broadcaster MBC announced in January it would make all its content available for free peer-to-peer sharing after a small download fee per show, expecting gains from better exposure to the mostly young peer-to-peer users.

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