Comcast's Xfinity Internet Service Is Down Across the US [Update] (theverge.com) 104
Readers share a report: Comcast's internet service, Xfinity, appears to be suffering an outage across the country. DownDetector.com shows it being down around the United States, including in large cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. So far, online reports don't suggest that TV service or home phones are affected. On Twitter, Comcast confirmed the outage. Adding, "Some customers are having issues with their XFINITY Internet service. We apologize & appreciate your patience while we work to fix." The company tweeted moments ago, "Our teams continue to monitor an external network issue. We apologize for the inconvenience -- will provide updates as we learn more." In another tweet, Comcast said the issue is nationwide.
Update: At 20:39 GMT on Monday, Comcast said it had resolved the issue.
Update: At 20:39 GMT on Monday, Comcast said it had resolved the issue.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
It could be an outbound issue, like a DNS server. That would also explain why the outage covers multiple regions.
Re: (Score:1)
Which is one of the reasons I don't exclusively use my local ISP's DNS services... Well, that and the tracking information it gives them...
Re: (Score:2)
It could be an outbound issue, like a DNS server. That would also explain why the outage covers multiple regions.
I can confirm. I changed my DNS settings and all is good again. GO use OpenDNS it is free and you can google it for home or small business use.
Re: (Score:2)
https://pi-hole.net/ [pi-hole.net]
Re: (Score:3)
If their DNS isn't working, telling them to use "OpenDNS" won't be of much help.
https://146.112.62.105/ [146.112.62.105]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: No, it isn't (Score:1)
Just add Google as a tertiary so it will fail over automatically. No need to switch. It won't use google unless the first two fail (unless your DNS client is set to retarded mode & round robins)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
It could be an outbound issue, like a DNS server. That would also explain why the outage covers multiple regions.
It was only certain sites. Sites that had their own CDN's like Facebook and Steam were fine. It may have been a Level 3 issue. There were two interesting things reported via twitter:
Comcast indicating "external network issue": https://twitter.com/comcastcar... [twitter.com]
Level 3 indicating "our network experienced a disruption affecting some IP customers due to a configuration error": https://twitter.com/Level3NOC/... [twitter.com]
Further evidence of outage, outage statistics from DownDetector:
http://downdetector.com/stat [downdetector.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Caching servers probably have extremely long DNS TTL values - it is one more factor in latency.
Re: (Score:2)
Great catch here! It looks very much like someone at Level 3 screwed up the BGP tables introducing a much more specific /15 CIDR where a less specific /12 was already in place, which encapsulated a huge portion of Comcasts regional traffic and re-routed it through Level 3, which could not handle the load. Bonus points if anyone has the footage of the Level 3 tech getting flogged in the Noc ;)
Re: (Score:2)
Comcast-provided DNS wasn't the problem for us. We don't use Comcast DNS, we use OpenDNS. We were not getting packets routed reliably or promptly to numeric IP addresses. Not a DNS issue at all, from our location near San Francisco.
Maybe a coastal thing? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I am in Houston and noticed websites took awhile to respond until I changed the DNS settings.
Re: (Score:2)
I connected to a VPN with the exit in Texas I think, and it seemed to run faster while my wife's was still running slow.
We didn't do side-by-side tests. It doesn't SOUND like something that would make sense, so maybe it was random.
Not all Comcast Internet is Xfinity (Score:2)
I'm on non-Xfinity internet from Comcast and I am here wasting time and posting on /.
I almost feel compelled to do a "carrier lost" joke, but that would take way from pointing out the above.
Re:Not all Comcast Internet is Xfinity (Score:5, Funny)
What the hell is a "carrier lost" joke supposed t{#`%${%&`+'${`%&NO CARRIER
Re: (Score:2)
I feel compelled to comment on this. "Xfinity" is a residential brand name, a marketing gimmick. If you have residential service you have Xfintiy there is no special technology or package or anything else its just a name to reimage the company from the residential point a view.
So in summary of my comment, there is no such thing as non-Xfinity comcast unless your a business class customer and only then because marketing for business takes a different approach.
Re: (Score:2)
Comcast Outage Seattle (Score:1)
Very slow in Seattle from about 10:00 AM to noon. Back to normal now. My biggest problem with Comcast has been unannounced (but obviously scheduled) outages between midnight and 2AM. I had AT&T in Dallas for three years and never had an outage.
Re: (Score:2)
I also noticed some lag spikes in the greater Seattle area this morning as well.
Normal pings were ~13 ms.
Lag spikes ~2600 ms - ~5500 ms around 10:58 am through 11:01 am (inclusive.) Minor one at 11:06
Re:Comcast Outage Seattle (Score:5, Funny)
Damn fools! Why can't they learn! Never make anything rouge! Use vert or bleu instead!
Re: (Score:3)
Very slow in Seattle from about 10:00 AM to noon. Back to normal now.
I call shenanigans. I have it on Good Slashdot Authority that people in Seattle only have access to dialup.
Re: (Score:2)
Same unannounced outages have been happening with Centurylink here in Auburn, WA for about 3 months... exact same times.
Re: (Score:2)
So it's just slow?
Re: (Score:2)
Very slow you say? So situation normal?
Back when I had Comcast that was normal.
The "unannounced (but obviously scheduled)" remark strikes me as funny because one time they told me my internet was out due to a "planned outage". I think the customer (dis)service representative was just trying to get rid of me but after repeatedly telling me there were no reported outages in my area (except the one I was reporting) they said it was a "planned outage".
And then I started ranting about Service Level Agreement
Re: (Score:2)
Big DDOS attack going on (Score:5, Informative)
There's a big global DDOS attack going on right now.
Our whole shop is down and can't access Azure or TFS
http://www.digitalattackmap.com/#anim=1&color=0&country=ALL&list=0&time=17475&view=map
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Look's like Belgium is being attacked by aliens when I looked.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They're British when they win. When they lose they're Scottish.
Re:Big DDOS attack going on (Score:5, Insightful)
That map doesn't show live data, nor does it show an unusual attack happening now or recently.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Right. Well clearly, all these are wrong then:
http://map.norsecorp.com/#/ [norsecorp.com]
http://attackmap.ddos-protecti... [ddos-protection.org]
http://downdetector.com/ [downdetector.com]
https://twitter.com/search?q=d... [twitter.com]
Re: (Score:2)
My statement ... is completely correct.
LOL - I bow down to your superior ability to be "technically" correct AND utterly useless at the same time! Impressive, *I* have to try really hard to say useless things in anger! Clearly posting a link in haste is a capital offence! I should be executed! Call the firing squad!
This is from YOUR OWN FUCKING LINK in your other post:
Ha! CAPS *and* profanity for something utterly trivial! What are you? 12? Psychotic?
RETARD!
Well, there's one of us in this convo that *clearly* has mental issues!
Look, if you have nothing interesting to add to this other that little baby-lik
Re: (Score:2)
It's kind of boggling that ALL of these people are wrong, but I guess "sexconker" IS the DDOS expert...
Re: (Score:2)
Meanwhile, Level 3 — a major ISP — told Mashable that a "configuration error" caused a 90 minute service disruption.
"On Monday, Nov. 6, our network experienced a service disruption affecting some customers with IP-based services," wrote the spokesperson via email. "The disruption was caused by a configuration error. We know how important these services are to our customers. Our technicians were able to restore service within approximately 90 minutes."
Not DDOS - COD:WWII Players Raging (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
DNS issues (Score:2)
I noticed some websites took awhile to respond.
I changed my DNS settings on my router to openDNS and that helped.
Same here (Score:1)
Lots of stuff was slow or would not come up, then I shifted to a Level3 DNS and removed Comcast, seems mostly OK after that.
Re: (Score:2)
I always have 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 (Google DNS) as a backup for when my local ISP DNS goes down.
Level3 (Score:2, Informative)
This looks like it was actually a Level3 outage. Level3 carries a lot of the nationwide internet traffic (including traffic to/from Comcast), and the outage there caused various ripple effects (you can't get there from here, or can only get there very slowly across this (now) overloaded path).
Re: (Score:2)
I was on vacation last week, but I happened to see a news article at the airport, and it looked as if Level3 had been sold. Though from the financial page to fumbling the packets on the raised floor would probably take longer than this, so I doubt it's related.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Down This Morning. (Score:2)
Had to Power cycle everything and it came back.
Botched patch?
I don't use Comcast DNS I use OpenDNS.
Re: (Score:2)
It's supposedly fixed now; so perhaps Jenn Barber power cycled The Internet.
Level 3 (Score:1)
Comcast is fine. Level 3 is the issue. It's been having issues since around 1PM ET. This is right around the time that Centurylink was tweeting the Level 3 is now Centurylink.
Re: (Score:1)
Too Many Paperclips (Score:2)
It's everyone playing this new paperclip game:
http://www.decisionproblem.com... [decisionproblem.com]
And crashing the internet...
( :) )
Re: (Score:2)
I just made my first Von Neumann probe launch.. I'm ready to give up now actually, since it doesn't seem to really be doing anything anymore. It's been a few hours and I'm still at "0.000000000000% of universe explored"... :/
Re: (Score:2)
I'm never going to get rich being a paperclip tycoon.
I played for about 2 minutes and I only made about $10. That game sucks.
Up in the Southeast US (Score:2)
Looks like I have DNS troubles (Score:2)
DNS outage (Score:2)
No, that websites data bubbles suck. (Score:2)
Intermittent issues in San Jose, Ca (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Yes, there are.
First, never trust a provider to own up to its own outage.
Second, use sources that check general network traffic at specified hubs.
Third, check international links the Net uses for flooding.
Getting ready for the end of net neutrality (Score:2)
Now that they have an industry lobbyist in the FCC, they're installing the internet toll booths so they can start charging you extra for Netflix.
I wish I was joking.
Not to Worry (Score:2)
They're just testing the post net neutrality internet, citizen.
Comcast Customer Support suggests ... (Score:2)
This has happened before w/ Comcast (Score:2)
It's not frequent, though. (At least I don't hear about it often.) Last Fall there was a fairly sizable Comcast outage and the project I was working on lost contact with the segment of our team located in TX. They were all using Comcast as their ISP and it took the better part of a day for them to resume work by driving around to various coffee shops until they found one not using Comcast. (That outage hit our area, too, as well but I wasn't using Comcast.)
Human error in BGP (Score:3)
No surprise, it appears to be human error in Border Gateway Protocol information sharing. Again.
Whether deliberate or unintentional, human-introduced errors in BGP routing (typo or espionage?) have happened before, and from reports I've seen, happened again this morning. This isn't something easily bypassed, like using numeric IP addresses instead of DNS lookups. It's fundamental to the resiliency of the Internet by design. Too bad such a fundamental part of the Internet architecture is still so dependent on trust.
yawn... (Score:2)