System Outage

Jan 8

Not something you want to write about, but that's what's happening. It seems my ISP is currently experiencing outages in Denver, Chicago, Seattle, Salt Lake City and up and down the east coast. Calls to them reveal nothing as no one there is willing to even guess what's going on or when, if ever, it's apt to get fixed. The best info is that they're working on it.

Jan 10

I can get e-mail using my tablet and my neighbor's wi-fi but that's rather a slow link. D'wife is ready to chuck the current ISP and switch to a cable based one although I suspect that that will result in the old ISP solving the problem about the same day we get the new modem up and working. It also appears that all the available alternatives are significantly more expensive than the current provider, but I suppose you get what you pay for.

Jan 12

A friend recommends I get the “triple play” package from the cable company which includes the TV which we already get, ISP, and even telephone all over one wire. The cost is reputedly less that we pay right now for all 3 services from 3 different providers. The current ISP now says that the outage problem is being addressed and without saying when even approximately, suggests that it will be dealt with “soon”. If total down time for this ends up at less than a week, I'll be pleasantly surprised. D'wife says the cable service out here in the boondocks is not without interruptions although these typically don't last over ½ hour max.

Jan 13

D'wife says I don't want to know what we're paying for all 3 services since if I did I'd probably cancel all 3 once I got out of the coronary care unit. This is patently nonsense as she watches the TV all day and when I'm not working, I play on the internet. As to the phone, we both have cell phones and frankly far too many people named “Unavailable” seem to have my land line number so maybe I wouldn't miss that one much.

OK it's back some time around noon. Still no idea what caused it. Probably the Norks. No one was killed or eaten so all's well that ends well.