Yahoo: Considering the Seven layers of the OSI Model

I chose doing an evaluation of the Yahoo! Application because it is the one where I keep most of my email addresses housed. Hardly having any issues most of the time, I generally like Yahoo! performance when it comes to inbox capability and usage. However, for the last few months, there have been several issues, not only with my account, but with others as well (I found some notes via online chats about them). So, thanks to this course, I understand a little bit better what is happening “behind the scenes”.

My first issue comes about when logging in to one of my accounts through my iPhone (it occasionally happens on my laptop too). Initially I thought it was a glitch, and it would eventually go away, but a month passed by, and the issue is still there. Once I input my username and password, the inbox takes a very long time to open up. And I need to point out that half of the time, it does not open at all, which is very annoying. Based on my OSI model study, I believe that the issue could be either in the Transport or the Session layers of application use. Somehow, Yahoo! is not able to establish a connection, nor authenticate my IP address. This only happens with Yahoo!, not with anything else (I have another account with Google).

The second issue comes about regarding Yahoo's new system. When you are in process of login in, it brings you to a sequence of screens. It recommends the user to change username, password, and to provide a phone number. Even if I do not opt for changing anything (which I do not), the path does not recognized my IP address. Every time I log in, I have to go through the same questions again. I recognize the fact they are trying to create a more secure experience, but somehow between the Physical Layer, Data Link and Network, it appears their system fails to remember the user MAC or IP address. Again, based on the internet chats I have seen, it has been happening to a lot of people.

Going back to my Yahoo! & OSI Model chart that I created, my intention however, was to depict an “ideal” session, like what I used to experience before. I was able to login into my account effortlessly, and have my email message pass through all the layers without any issues. The connection was reliable, making the entire session experience reliable and successful. I truly hope that Yahoo! IT department works in fixing these issues soon. I have seen a lot of complaints over the Internet from people experiencing theses issues around the world.

Bruce, thank you for your time and dedication in making this online class a great learning environment!
Cheers!
Jaqueline Langer
RISD – Web Architecture/ Summer 2014 class