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Service Status Updates - not updated on time

ITWorks
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Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Hi all
I have noticed a few times now that on the Service Status page;
http://www.plus.net/supportpages.html?a=2&?helpheader=servicestatus ,
updates are not happening when they should be .
For instance Network Capacity (ADSL/20CN) update should have been done on 17/11/2009 @ 18:00 . and still no update some 15 hrs later.
This is poor especially when PN set when the next update will be, and given this is a high priority issue.
Regards Mike

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bobpullen
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Mike, there will be an update later today. Apologies that it's a little late.
In a nutshell, the network is out of balance, we've a problem with another of the gateways (pcl-ag02) and we're still in Plan B operation. We have some engineering works scheduled in London over the coming days to make some network configuration changes aimed at alleviating the congestion being seen on parts of our core network.

Bob Pullen
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ITWorks
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Thanks for the update Bob
When do you anticipate the network moving back to Plan A operation.
Regards
Mike  

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bobpullen
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Quote from: ITWorks
When do you anticipate the network moving back to Plan A operation.

As soon as we've fixed the problems with pcl-ag02 and have the network back in balance. I'd envisage it will be over the next day or two but don't quote me on that.

Bob Pullen
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bobpullen
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Latest Service Status has just gone out:
[quote author="Service Status"]Broadband Network Capacity (285660) - UPDATE
Network Capacity (ADSL/20CN)
Posted on: Wednesday 18 November 2009, 15:48
This is an update to last week's post about the ongoing speed and performance problems some of our customers continue to suffer, especially during the evenings when the network is at its busiest.
Last Friday the network was performing notably better following some changes our engineers had made earlier in the week. Unfortunately there has been a degradation in performance since then, particularly due to some unforeseen problems we encountered over the weekend and towards the start of this week.
We mentioned in the last announcement that we expected the network to be very busy last Sunday and Monday evening - http://usertools.plus.net/status/archive/1258133233.htm
Due to this, and because of some of the problems that we're yet to fix, we switched into a 'Plan B' network configuration - http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/quality_broadband/load.shtml
The network was busy on Sunday but was actually a lot quieter than we anticipated. Despite this we had a problem late Saturday afternoon that caused all customers connected to pcl-ag03 to be disconnected from the Internet. Whilst these customers were able to reconnect almost immediately, anybody connecting back on to the same gateway would not have been able to browse web pages due to data transfer problems. We didn't become fully aware of this problem until Sunday afternoon at which point we took the decision to perform the following work which would have resulted in more disconnections - http://usertools.plus.net/status/archive/1258297848.htm
Unfortunately, despite our efforts, this only fixed things for some customers and by early Monday morning we were still receiving reports of problems. At this point we stopped any more customers from connecting to the broken gateway and carried out a software update - this fully resolved the problem but resulted in further disconnections for anybody connected to pcl-ag03 - http://usertools.plus.net/status/archive/1258384040.htm
pcl-ag03 is now fully working and is being brought back into balance with the rest of the network.
On Monday afternoon a slightly different problem was identified with another gateway on the network (pcl-ag02). No customers were disconnected this time round and there weren't any data transfer problems, however the gateway stopped accepting any new sessions causing it to drop out of balance as customers began to disconnect or 'churn' from it. We've put a temporary fix in place this afternoon and are continuing to work with our hardware vendor to identify the underlying cause.
Because of the above problems and the imbalance of the network, we remained in 'Plan B' operation last night and will continue to do so until further notice. This *will* result in degraded performance but should ensure that the quality of web browsing is not significantly affected. Some streaming services may be impacted by this dependent on the account type you are subscribed to.
We are aware that there are customers still reporting problems where web pages and other Internet resources fail to connect but are immediately accessible seconds later after trying again. We're still of the opinion that this is due to congestion on some of our core network links, and we have engineers en route to London to recable and reconfigure parts of the network. We will post further details about these changes nearer the time.
Thanks once more for your patience and sorry about the continued inconvenience, we'll provide another update before the end of the week.
Kind Regards,
Bob Pullen
Customer Support
The attached image should give you a visual interpretation of the problems we experienced over the weekend Sad

Bob Pullen
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Anonymous
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

In the above announcement it says -
Quote
... gateway on the network (pcl-ag02). No customers were disconnected this time round and there weren't any data transfer problems...

I have been on PCL-AG02 all day, and my speedtest results have collapsed from a consistent 6600Kbps before 09:00, down to 800Kbps now at 16:30 !!!.
As on previous evenings I am certain this will continue to fall down to 200Kbps, only to recover by the next morning.  Is this a data transfer problem ?
bobpullen
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Unlikely to be a data transfer issue but something I'm going to raise tomorrow as theoretically the gateway should be really quiet. You could try the 'Surf' tip that I mentioned here and go for a disconnect/reconnect if you're feeling brave?

Bob Pullen
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dave
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Quote from: purleigh

I have been on PCL-AG02 all day, and my speedtest results have collapsed from a consistent 6600Kbps before 09:00, down to 800Kbps now at 16:30 !!!.
As on previous evenings I am certain this will continue to fall down to 200Kbps, only to recover by the next morning.  Is this a data transfer problem ?

Just having a look at your account on our side and I can't see anything obvious wrong that would cause that much of a speed reduction at that time on that gateway. Your were connected to our 622 Plusnet14 (and still are) which is taking new sessions but did have spare bandwidth between about 5:30pm and 7:30pm yesterday. Did the problem get worse over the evening? Particularly between 5:30 and 7:30pm? Do you get the same on the BT Speedtester?
Dave Tomlinson
Enterprise Architect - Network & OSS
Plusnet Technology
ITWorks
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Seems like Service Status Updates are lagging behind again.
CGI Services  15/01/2010 @ 14:00
http://www.plus.net/supportpages.html?a=2&?helpheader=servicestatus
This is now 14 days overdue , i have noticed this happening quite often over the last couple of months regarding service updates.
To me this just looks sloppy and unprofessional on PN part. After all its PN who post the dates when the next update on a service is due.
Regards
Mike

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bobpullen
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Sorry about that, now updated. Once the copy for the blog etc. is signed off (next week) we'll update the Service Status thread with something a little more substantial.

Bob Pullen
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ITWorks
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Thanks for the update Bob, much appreciated.
Regards
Mike

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ITWorks
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Once again Service Status not updated.
CGI Services 03/02/2010 @ 18:00 , 7 days and counting since we should have had an update in this.
http://www.plus.net/supportpages.html?a=2&?helpheader=servicestatus
This is just not good enough.
It seems at the moment some areas of support is on a downward spiral
Regards Mike

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bobpullen
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Sorry about the lack of a timely update again, I accept full blame for that.
Mike, I've sent you a PM.
Everybody else, thanks for being patient. An update should be published before too long, it's just we were hoping to announce details about accessing the new platform rather than put out another interim announcement.
Also, I'm not sure whether or not having things still set to 'Amber' is appropriate? After all, shell access isn't going to be available on the new platform either (most definitely not to begin with, if at all). What do others think, should we set it back to 'Green'?

Bob Pullen
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ITWorks
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

Thanks for the updates and PM Bob.
Regards
Mike

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jelv
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Re: Service Status Updates - not updated on time

The point of the new servers is to bring things up to date (mainly PHP) not to fix problems and as you say there is no significant change with the new servers. On that basis I can't see any point in leaving the status at amber and you should make an announcement that ssh and telnet access has been permanently withdrawn due to security considerations.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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