For local residents of Podunk, connecting to the wired world has been and still is a rather tedious experience these past few days.
The city's Internet portal to the world CityWest has been moving at rather glacial speeds the last few days, a situation that hasn't gone un-noticed among the chat boards at htmf, the local bulletin board.
When these service slowdowns occur, we're generally left with only the rumour mill to answer the questions that many might have regarding their speed of the Internet service and the price we pay for the service that we seemingly don't always get.
Some say that Telus is at fault, others that it's a CityWest problem, but generally those thoughts are generated without anything resembling official information.
If one was to look for guidance on Citywest's own website, you would be rather disappointed.
Not surprisingly any details of service slowdowns don't make it to the web page offered up by the telecommunication provider for the Podunk area. It probably wouldn't make for a great sales tool to have a page dedicated to explaining why service is so slow and what is being done to rectify it, but it would at least provide some answers to the folks paying the bills.
But it would be corporately responsible. The locals pay some pretty good coin for their Internet connection and with little to no competition they get frustrated when things don't seem to be working and no reasons are provided, nor rebates promised.
If it's a CityWest problem they should let us know what it is and what they are doing to solve it. If it's a problem with Telus, then again that should be made public as well as what options we have to get around them if need be. If for no other reason than to take the heat off of the local provider.
It would quite beneficial for all if CityWest would use this page:
http://www.citywest.ca/
to tell us why this service:
http://www.citywest.ca/SWAPPID/94
isn't working!
But then again, considering the state of the slow speed of late, it would probably take too long to load the pages anyways.
Showing posts with label Internet services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet services. Show all posts
Friday, January 19, 2007
Thursday, December 28, 2006
In Asia the internet is broken
While we're used to the occasional disruption in service of our Internet connections in the Northwest, in the wired world of Asia losing service is akin to a national disaster.
Boxing Day's 7.1 earthquake off of Taiwan has resulted in some huge headaches in Internet and phone service to a number of countries around the Asian basin. From Korea to Japan and China service has slowed to a crawl or just not happened at all.
The situation is causing much in the way of trouble to almost anyone in any nation, from financial executives at Asian trading houses, to banks and insurance companies, to folks at home trying to Google up a recipe, post a blog item or send an e mail. The underwater links to the world have apparently been scrambled, with repairs expected to take possibly up to six or seven weeks.
It's but a small indication of the reliance we now have on the technology and the havoc that can occur when things go wrong. It will be interesting to watch the affect that the service disruption has on the Asian economies and how they cope with the crisis.
Boxing Day's 7.1 earthquake off of Taiwan has resulted in some huge headaches in Internet and phone service to a number of countries around the Asian basin. From Korea to Japan and China service has slowed to a crawl or just not happened at all.
The situation is causing much in the way of trouble to almost anyone in any nation, from financial executives at Asian trading houses, to banks and insurance companies, to folks at home trying to Google up a recipe, post a blog item or send an e mail. The underwater links to the world have apparently been scrambled, with repairs expected to take possibly up to six or seven weeks.
It's but a small indication of the reliance we now have on the technology and the havoc that can occur when things go wrong. It will be interesting to watch the affect that the service disruption has on the Asian economies and how they cope with the crisis.
Friday, November 17, 2006
And we're back...
Well that was certainly an unwelcome vacation from blogging, the local Internet service here in Podunk went kerplooey last night at around 11:30 or so, ending our fanciful tales of life in Podunk and beyond.
The local telco in town is pointing the finger at their service provider and some problems further inland as the cause of our distress and restriction in surfing.
Today has been a mish mash of troubles locally, some banks couldn't access outside lines, and their bank machines were shut down. Some telephone connections as well at the banks were disrupted.
Interestingly enough, the local lotto retailer I frequent had no problem running my tickets through, I assume this is a sign from the lottery Gods that I will be the big winner of the Super Seven tonight...
Our enforced Internet band lasted until 1 pm today, and as of 1 pm we have contact with the outside world again and shall endeavour to get back to the grindstone...
Update: Saturday morning, it would appear that the lottery Gods were merely toying with me. I'm still unburdened by wealth much to my dismay!
The local telco in town is pointing the finger at their service provider and some problems further inland as the cause of our distress and restriction in surfing.
Today has been a mish mash of troubles locally, some banks couldn't access outside lines, and their bank machines were shut down. Some telephone connections as well at the banks were disrupted.
Interestingly enough, the local lotto retailer I frequent had no problem running my tickets through, I assume this is a sign from the lottery Gods that I will be the big winner of the Super Seven tonight...
Our enforced Internet band lasted until 1 pm today, and as of 1 pm we have contact with the outside world again and shall endeavour to get back to the grindstone...
Update: Saturday morning, it would appear that the lottery Gods were merely toying with me. I'm still unburdened by wealth much to my dismay!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Port Edward on the fast track to high speed
Citywest is running a fibre network line into Port Edward, bringing the District a step closer to high speed internet access. Next up is an upgrade to the cable television lines into Port Ed that will enable the local plant there to process high speed data traffic. The third and final phase will be the installation of a state of the art Cable Modem Termination System at the Prince Rupert office that will run the high speed internet network.
Still a bit off yet, but perhaps not as far off it seems, as Citywest is accepting pre-orders for those who wish to access the service in Port Edward, the first 150 of which will receive free installation as well as a cable modem rental free for one year.
The Daily News featured all of the high speed plans in its Thursday paper.
PORT ED WIRED ABOUT SPEEDY HOOK-UPS
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Page One
CityWest has begun work that will one day see Port Edward fully integrated into the high-speed internet revolution.
“(We’ve) been fielding questions about when the residents can sign up for this service, so this announcement is welcome news,” said Mayor Dave MacDonald. “We would encourage all residents to sign up as soon as possible to take advantage of the free installation and cable modem.”
The first phase of the expansion plans is to run fibre-optic lines into Port Edward, On Sept. 25, CityWest began trying into their existing fibre network along Highway 16 and running a line into Port Edward. The second phase of the expansion plan is to upgrade the cable television lines in Port Edward in order to enable the local plant to carry high-speed data traffic. The final phase of the project will see the installation of a state-of-the-art Cable Modem Termination System in Prince Rupert that would run the high-speed cable internet network. Although no firm date has been set for the availability of service, CityWest is currently taking pre-orders from Port Ed residents who want to be among the first to access the service.
“High-speed internet over cable is an extremely fast internet service, perfect for downloading large files quickly or watching streaming video over the internet,” said Rob Brown, CityWest’s general manager. “CityWest’s general manager. “CityWest’s service offering in Port Edward will be the same as what they offer to cable internet customers in other communities.”
In July 2006, the District of Port Edward announced that they had awarded an infrastructure grant for $20,000 to CityWest for the purpose of bringing high-speed internet services to the town. CityWest and the District of Port Edward agreed that the grant would get dispersed back to Port Edward residents in the form of credits for those who signed up for High Speed Internet service. As a result, the first 150 customers who sign up for CityWest High-Speed internet in Port Edward will receive a free installation plus a cable modem rental free for one-year.
Still a bit off yet, but perhaps not as far off it seems, as Citywest is accepting pre-orders for those who wish to access the service in Port Edward, the first 150 of which will receive free installation as well as a cable modem rental free for one year.
The Daily News featured all of the high speed plans in its Thursday paper.
PORT ED WIRED ABOUT SPEEDY HOOK-UPS
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Page One
CityWest has begun work that will one day see Port Edward fully integrated into the high-speed internet revolution.
“(We’ve) been fielding questions about when the residents can sign up for this service, so this announcement is welcome news,” said Mayor Dave MacDonald. “We would encourage all residents to sign up as soon as possible to take advantage of the free installation and cable modem.”
The first phase of the expansion plans is to run fibre-optic lines into Port Edward, On Sept. 25, CityWest began trying into their existing fibre network along Highway 16 and running a line into Port Edward. The second phase of the expansion plan is to upgrade the cable television lines in Port Edward in order to enable the local plant to carry high-speed data traffic. The final phase of the project will see the installation of a state-of-the-art Cable Modem Termination System in Prince Rupert that would run the high-speed cable internet network. Although no firm date has been set for the availability of service, CityWest is currently taking pre-orders from Port Ed residents who want to be among the first to access the service.
“High-speed internet over cable is an extremely fast internet service, perfect for downloading large files quickly or watching streaming video over the internet,” said Rob Brown, CityWest’s general manager. “CityWest’s general manager. “CityWest’s service offering in Port Edward will be the same as what they offer to cable internet customers in other communities.”
In July 2006, the District of Port Edward announced that they had awarded an infrastructure grant for $20,000 to CityWest for the purpose of bringing high-speed internet services to the town. CityWest and the District of Port Edward agreed that the grant would get dispersed back to Port Edward residents in the form of credits for those who signed up for High Speed Internet service. As a result, the first 150 customers who sign up for CityWest High-Speed internet in Port Edward will receive a free installation plus a cable modem rental free for one-year.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Google Gobbles Up You Tube
Google’s quest for wired (an unwired) world domination continued over the weekend, with the news of the massive computer portals purchase of the YouTube phenomenon.
The price of potential world domination checks in at 1.65 billion dollars in stock, the amount of the transaction that Google will put in the pockets of YouTube founders, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen , the pair who founded the on line video portal from a garage in California. As part of the deal the two will keep their jobs at the newly Google-ized YouTube, as will their staff.
The purchase brings yet another emerging form of communication under the Google umbrella, the ubiquitous search engine company earlier had purchased Blogger, the forum in which many of the world’s blogging community (including Podunk here) uses to post their thoughts into the World Wide Web. YouTube receives 65,000 new submissions daily and sends out an estimated 100 million clips of something a day, good, bad and truly horrid.
The founders posted their own giddy message on the YouTube site, which didn't exactly endear them to the world wide community of YouTube dwellers. Google itself was a little more reserved (neither kicking of heels, nor giggling for Google!) over their interpretation of the events of the day, with a business like blurb on their website hidden amongst other items in their Press Center.
The announcement from Chen and Hurley has not met with universal approval with some of the YouTubers, who probably are the early pioneers of the service back in the day when they were swapping their own mini cinematic masterpieces to a crowd of thousands rather than the millions of today.
Little did they know at the time, that their little act of social networking would make two guys in California very, very rich, in very little time.
The price of potential world domination checks in at 1.65 billion dollars in stock, the amount of the transaction that Google will put in the pockets of YouTube founders, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen , the pair who founded the on line video portal from a garage in California. As part of the deal the two will keep their jobs at the newly Google-ized YouTube, as will their staff.
The purchase brings yet another emerging form of communication under the Google umbrella, the ubiquitous search engine company earlier had purchased Blogger, the forum in which many of the world’s blogging community (including Podunk here) uses to post their thoughts into the World Wide Web. YouTube receives 65,000 new submissions daily and sends out an estimated 100 million clips of something a day, good, bad and truly horrid.
The founders posted their own giddy message on the YouTube site, which didn't exactly endear them to the world wide community of YouTube dwellers. Google itself was a little more reserved (neither kicking of heels, nor giggling for Google!) over their interpretation of the events of the day, with a business like blurb on their website hidden amongst other items in their Press Center.
The announcement from Chen and Hurley has not met with universal approval with some of the YouTubers, who probably are the early pioneers of the service back in the day when they were swapping their own mini cinematic masterpieces to a crowd of thousands rather than the millions of today.
Little did they know at the time, that their little act of social networking would make two guys in California very, very rich, in very little time.
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