Has Anyone Noticed A Slow Up with Internet connections today?

[tropo]

I run 2 ISP's at home (TT&T and CAT) and I'm having trouble accessing US sites with both. The problems started early this morning. When I use the ThaiVisa Speed Test I'm still getting high figures (1,700/600).

I'm only guessing, but I'm suspecting that the high number of tourists in Pattaya right now migt be overloading the Internet gateway.

Has anyone else noticed a problem today?

Edited December 27, 2006 by tropo

[Phil Conners]

Yes, I see it too, unable to get to any US site. Problem is a CAT router is down and probably all the staff is on xmas holidays, TIT

7 45 ms 43 ms 45 ms 58.147.0.46

8 72 ms 73 ms 73 ms 202.47.254.161

9 72 ms 73 ms 73 ms 202.47.253.134

10 * * * Request timed out.

Thaivisa is hosted in Singapore so uses another gateway.

Edited December 27, 2006 by Phil Conners

[Jai Dee]

Our IT Department just notified us of the following:

"Please be informed that we are experiencing some Internet slow due to CSLox international link broken from earthquake last night.

Our vendors are working on the problem, please try not to use Internet for a while. Thank you very much for your patience & understanding."

/Edit - Topic moved to General Forum.

Edited December 27, 2006 by Jai Dee
Topic moved to enable wider viewing coverage

[Phil Conners]

Interesting, it worked after the earthquake, in fact I was reading about it on the Internet. Wonder how it could have been broken after...

(EDIT) Actually, based on the mails in my inbox it worked until about 8.30 this morning, Thai time - and I'm not using CSLOX so I think there must be more to it than just that. (/EDIT)

Anyway, thanks for the update, hope they get it fixed soon.

Edited December 27, 2006 by Phil Conners

[tropo]

Our IT Department just notified us of the following:

"Please be informed that we are experiencing some Internet slow due to CSLox international link broken from earthquake last night.

Our vendors are working on the problem, please try not to use Internet for a while. Thank you very much for your patience & understanding."

/Edit - Topic moved to General Forum.

Thanks for the info. Where was this earthquake and at what time?

[Jai Dee]

Our IT Department just notified us of the following:

"Please be informed that we are experiencing some Internet slow due to CSLox international link broken from earthquake last night.

Our vendors are working on the problem, please try not to use Internet for a while. Thank you very much for your patience & understanding."

/Edit - Topic moved to General Forum.

Thanks for the info. Where was this earthquake and at what time?

I heard it was a 7.x Richter scale quake off Taiwan.

Unconfirmed report.

[Simmo]

Taiwan earthquake cuts of communication links.

Communications cut off after powerful earthquake strikes southern Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan: Taiwan's telephone communications with neighboring Asian countries were cut off Wednesday, hours after a powerful earthquake struck the southern part of the island, killing two and triggering a regional tsunami alert.

Chunghwa Telecom said an undersea cable off the southern coast had been damaged, interrupting communications with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Communications with China were also cut off, because calls to the mainland from Taiwan are routed through Hong Kong.

The quake, which hit late Tuesday just offshore from the Pingtung County township of Hengchun, came on the second anniversary of the devastating tsunami that took more than 200,000 lives in southern Asia.

A total of 42 people were injured in southern Taiwan, the fire agency said. Three houses collapsed, and 12 fires broke out.

The power supply to 3,000 homes was disrupted, but was later restored, according to the agency.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, which hit at 8:26 p.m. (1226 GMT), registered magnitude 7.1, while Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau measured it at 6.7. It was followed eight minutes later by an aftershock registering 7.0, the USGS said.

Early Wednesday another aftershock, measuring 5.9, was registered in the area, the Central Weather Bureau said.

Japan's Meteorological Bureau said a one-meter (3.3-foot) tsunami might be headed toward the eastern coast of the Philippines, but later lifted the warning.

"The expected waves did not materialize ... the danger has passed," said Hiroshi Koide of the agency's earthquake section. "We predicted a tsunami based on the depth and magnitude of the earthquake. But ultimately, it appears no large tsunami was triggered."

Philippine police said coastal areas had been alerted.

The warning underscored the higher level of caution about tsunami waves in the region since a massive earthquake off Indonesia exactly two years earlier triggered a powerful tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Tuesday's quake was felt throughout Taiwan. It swayed buildings and knocked objects off the shelves in the capital, Taipei, in the northern part of the island.

Several high-rise hotels swayed violently in the southern city of Kaohsiung, the CTI Cable News reported.

Liao Ching-ling, a manager at the city's Ambassador Hotel, said the quake was the strongest she had ever felt.

"The building swayed so badly that many guests panicked and ran out of their rooms and into the streets," she said.

The tremor was centered at sea about 23 kilometers (13 miles) southwest of Hengchun on Taiwan's southern tip, the bureau said. Hengchun is about 450 kilometers (260 miles) south of Taipei.

Quakes frequently shake Taiwan, which is part of the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Most are minor and cause little or no damage. However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/27/...aiwan_Quake.php

[Jai Dee]

Taiwan earthquake cuts of communication links.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/27/...aiwan_Quake.php

Thanks for the link Simmo.

From the above report:

"Chunghwa Telecom said an undersea cable off the southern coast had been damaged, interrupting communications with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong."

[baabaabobo]

Can't get onto Google this morning - unusual.

[doctormann]

Yes, a bit like an arthritic snail here in Pattaya this morning. I only have a TOT/CSLOX dial up but it's much slower than normal.

DM

[Tywais]

Same here at Chiangmai University with a 68Mpbs link to Bangkok, everything at a crawl. The google ads on TV are timing out which come from (probably) outside the TV Singapore net. That explains why TV has slowed down.

[qualtrough]

Whatever the reason this seems par for the course for me. I think I have about 3-4 days a month where there is a slowdown or complete halt. I depend on the Internet for work and sales, so losing time like that hurts.

Not sure if it is related, but I have not been able to place two long distance calls to the US. I get busy signals, although these are business lines that normally are not busy and are staffed 24/7. Hmmm...

[Lite Beer]

In Samui and only have GPRS connection. This morning almost impossible to get anything from Thai Visa. Now at 11.30 am all ok again.

[Tywais]

Just ran a traceroute to TV and latencies are normal. However doing the same to bangkokpost.com and it is fine until Hong Kong, after that more then 1 second delays. Same with google, which doens't respond for me now. Started last night shortly after the earthquake (Taiwan).

[astral]

That explains a lot.

I can access the forum in Singapore, but the rest of the world is missing.

[Jamie]

Is this also affecting mobile phones?

[rainman]

The question is, when is it going to be back up.

[lopburi3]

I tried to use a credit card at about 10:30 and could not get transaction approved in two tries - paid cash after that. After getting home tried to contact Chase and not able to do so (part loads) and a software update of 4 mgs was estimating several hours to download before it quite. Now I find the reason. I also note the TRUE direct line to Korea is also listed as out. And peak of tourist season.

[md3v]

FYI:

Subject: Multiple fiber cuts on FNAL : CASE93043 / CASE 93094 - Update 1

Dear Customer,

The Taiwanese earthquake has taken down both our Hong Kong to Korea

(FWACS) and our Hong Kong to Taiwan (NACS) sub sea cables. Both cables are

damaged in the same general location as the earthquake occurred and the

later outage on NACS was probably caused by an aftershock. We now only

have connectivity from Japan to Taiwan, and Korea to Japan on our FNAL

network.

Hong Kong is effectively isolated on the FLAG FNAL network eastwards and

we are now escalating with ASN to try and bring forward the repairs as

quickly as we can with the Cable Ship Lodbrog based at Keelung in Taiwan.

ASN are trying to get a "special dispensation" permit which will allow

them to depart in the next 12+ hours, however this will depend on the

Taiwanese

Authorities. The ASN priority for repair will be Hong Kong to Korea

(FWACS) and then Hong Kong to Taiwan (NACS) sub sea cables.

At this moment, restoration options are not available as both the legs of

the ring out of Hongkong are affected.

We would be updating you on the progress of the repair activity, as and

when we have a significant event.

This message has been sent from the FLAG Telecom GNOC. Telephone +44 ()

Email: ()

===========================================================================

Regards,

()

SingTel Pulic IP

Global Technical Assistance Centre-2 <GTAC 2>

Corporate Customer Services & Operations <CCSO>

[Krub]

I am in Japan and cannot get into the SCB website

[JimsKnight]

FYI:

Subject: Multiple fiber cuts on FNAL : CASE93043 / CASE 93094 - Update 1

Dear Customer,

The Taiwanese earthquake has taken down both our Hong Kong to Korea

(FWACS) and our Hong Kong to Taiwan (NACS) sub sea cables. Both cables are

damaged in the same general location as the earthquake occurred and the

later outage on NACS was probably caused by an aftershock. We now only

have connectivity from Japan to Taiwan, and Korea to Japan on our FNAL

network.

Hong Kong is effectively isolated on the FLAG FNAL network eastwards and

we are now escalating with ASN to try and bring forward the repairs as

quickly as we can with the Cable Ship Lodbrog based at Keelung in Taiwan.

ASN are trying to get a "special dispensation" permit which will allow

them to depart in the next 12+ hours, however this will depend on the

Taiwanese

Authorities. The ASN priority for repair will be Hong Kong to Korea

(FWACS) and then Hong Kong to Taiwan (NACS) sub sea cables.

At this moment, restoration options are not available as both the legs of

the ring out of Hongkong are affected.

We would be updating you on the progress of the repair activity, as and

when we have a significant event.

This message has been sent from the FLAG Telecom GNOC. Telephone +44 ()

Email: ()

===========================================================================

Regards,

()

SingTel Pulic IP

Global Technical Assistance Centre-2 <GTAC 2>

Corporate Customer Services & Operations <CCSO>

Big Bucks for the Lodbrog and crew! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Those cables cost a fortune to fix and replace!

[Foggy Bottom]

Sounds to me like over-zealous use of Least-Cost-Routing (LCR) by the Thai Telco's and ISPs - LCR is loved by budget concious accountants and does exactly what it says. It's also popular with telco's and ISP's who are more profit-orientated than service orientated, and is implemented very carefully and sparingly in the west - it can be catastrophic to service quality if done wrong.

The internet is referred to as the "Web" because the hard-cabling is supposed to operate just like a spider's web - i.e. breaking one or two strands/cables does not collapse the entire infrastructure.

If the techies were half awake, they'd switch OFF all least-cost-routing rules during the period until the cable is repaired, and this would allow IP calls to be routed WESTWARDS instead of relying on the Hong Kong interlinks.

Why, for example, is the Singapore-Calcutta spine not taking up the workload of the cut connection? That, afterall, is exactly the function of the multiple connection methodology of the Internet.

Logging into TOT's website 30 minutes ago, there was a pop-up to say they were carrying out maintenance from 4am to 8am this morning on thier servers - but from around 10am I was getting regular "DNS server not located" type of errors - the IP addresses displayed referred to TOT's DNS servers, NOT those overseas. TOT DNS servers pull thier DNS tables from CAT's servers, which in turn update from servers around the world. Update, not replace - note.

(DNS servers are the translators between user-friendly FQDN web addresses (e.g. www.thaivisa.com) and the Internet Protocol numerical address (eg - 192.150.33.240) identifying the server (and sometimes directory) where the website or document is housed. No DNS server = no internet access, regardless of connection status.

Ergo - the problem is not with the broken cables - although they contribute to SPEED, they do not contribute to access - e.g. to access a Taiwanese site this morning, the request could bounce as follows -

Thailand - Singapore - India - Saudi - Italy - UK - US - Japan - Taiwan

It would be slower than normal but would be accessible.

My problem up here in Chiangmai is unavailability of many sites outside of Thailand, not speed of access (which is slower than normal). Discussions with TOT technical reveal they've been pissing around with thier DNS servers again - i.e. they've buggered the LAT and RAT (Local & Remote Address Table stores) on the server. Basically, they've given thier servers Altzheimer's.

Nice one TOT - just what you should NOT be playing around with when international backbones are broken.

Gaz

[george]

Update:

Singapore Telecom, PCCW Say Internet Disrupted by Taiwan Quakes

SINGAPORE: -- Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. Southeast Asia's largest telephone company, and Hong Kong's PCCW Ltd. said Internet service in Asia slowed down after three earthquakes hit southern Taiwan yesterday.

``The Taiwan earthquake has affected several submarine cable systems in Asia, causing cable cuts near Taiwan late last night,'' Singapore Telecom spokesman Chia Boon Chong said by telephone today. ``Some customers might experience a slowdown in data or Internet access. Traffic diversion and restoration works are currently in progress.''

Taiwan was jolted by three earthquakes yesterday, killing two people and injuring 42 others, the island's National Fire Agency said. The tremors damaged undersea cables, causing a disruption to Internet traffic and some telephone calls in the region for customers including Singapore Telecom, PCCW, Chunghwa Telecom Co., Taiwan's biggest telephone operator, and KDDI Corp., Japan's second-largest telephone carrier.

PCCW, Hong Kong's largest phone company, said data capacity on its networks was reduced to 50 percent due to the quake.

``Data service to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the U.S. were affected,'' said Hans Leung, a spokesman in Hong Kong.

Two of Chunghwa Telecom's cables were damaged by the earthquake, resulting in ``near zero'' capacity for voice calls to Southeast Asia, apart from Vietnam, said Leng Tai-feng, the company's vice president of international business.

``The repairs could take two to three weeks,'' Leng said. ``We're doing our best to coordinate with other operators in the region to resolve the problem.''

Southern Taiwan

The first earthquake, which was magnitude 6.7, occurred at 8:26 p.m. local time yesterday off Taiwan's south coast, the island's Central Weather Bureau said on its Web site. The second, magnitude 6.4, happened at 8:34 p.m. and the third, magnitude 5.2, occurred at 8:40 p.m. All three were centered in the same area, the bureau said.

On Dec. 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra unleashed waves that destroyed coastal villages on the Indian Ocean from Indonesia to Sri Lanka, killing more than 220,000 people. Some of the areas have yet to recover.

KDDI said its fiber-optic undersea cable in Taiwan was damaged, affecting fixed-line services to Southeast Asia. The company is re-routing phone calls to go through the U.S. and Europe and may take several weeks to two months to repair cables that are damaged, KDDI's Tokyo-based spokesman Haruhiko Maede said.

KT Corp., South Korea's largest provider of fixed-line phone and Internet access service, said the outages affected overseas connections of the foreign ministry and Reuters, which use leased lines, said Kim Cheol Kee, a spokesman for Seongnam-based KT.

KT is in discussions with foreign phone companies to redirect traffic elsewhere, Kim says.

--Bloomberg 2006-12-28

[pumpuiman]

Took forever to get to Thaivisa from U.S. Hope those cable guys are quick.....who knows what it looks like down there after the quake. I wouldn't want to be diving in a quake zone!! Good luck to them.

[aqua4]

Could someone explain the following? I cannot get on Google, yet my P2P program is still downloading at 15kb/s from all across the world.

[rainman]

I think the techies are awake, but they have no clue what a DNS server or even a router is. I called TRUE a little while ago and after being transferred from one "technician" to another, the last one finally told me "sorry this is only line out of Thailand" when i asked why they wouldn't use a different route if the Taiwan link was down.

[george]

Update:

Asia quakes damage cables; Internet, banks, stockmarkets affected

SINGAPORE: -- Telecommunications around Asia were severely disrupted on Wednesday after earthquakes off Taiwan damaged undersea cables, slowing Internet services and hindering financial transactions, particularly in the currency market.

Banks and businesses across the region reported problems with communications, with some telephone lines cut and Internet access slowing to a crawl.

South Korea's top fixed-line and broadband service provider, KT Corp (030200.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), said in a statement that six submarine cables were knocked out by Tuesday night's earthquakes.

Photo

The top news, photos, and videos of 2006. Full Coverage

"Twenty-seven of our customers were hit, including banks and churches," a KT spokesman said. "It is not known yet when we can fully restore the services."

Banks in Seoul said foreign exchange trading had been affected.

"Trading of the Korean won has mostly halted due to the communication problem," said a dealer at one domestic bank.

Some disruption was also reported in the important Tokyo currency market but the EBS system that handles much dollar/yen trading appeared to be working.

--Reuters 2006-12-28

[rainman]

Could someone explain the following? I cannot get on Google, yet my P2P program is still downloading at 15kb/s from all across the world.

Same thing here. I'm downloading a torrent file of several GB's with speeds of 100k+ from dozens of sources all around the world, including locations i'm unable to access websites from. That means Thai ISP's are probably just cutting off the most common ports (web, email, ftp, etc) for whatever reason.

[rainman]

The company is re-routing phone calls to go through the U.S. and Europe and may take several weeks to two months to repair cables that are damaged, KDDI's Tokyo-based spokesman Haruhiko Maede said.

[castelleone]

I can get most of the sites in Europe, but quite slowly and I have to print the headers directly. Google still not reachable here in Thailand