Networking

Another day, another major internet outage. This time around, Google reported that it had experienced a global issue with its Google Cloud Platform (GCP) networking at 12:53 PM US Eastern time. The result? Many of us have seen 404 errors when trying to get to some of our favorite web pages, such as Spotify, Facebook, and ZDNet. Indeed, according to DownDectector, there appears to be more major sites having problems than not. According to internet managers on the Outages mailing list, the specific problem seems to be with the GCP load balancers. These, working with Google’s Cloud Delivery Network (CDN), provide high availability web servers. This is designed to stop website failures and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks by putting your website behind a single anycast IP and then scaling your resources up or down with intelligent autoscaling. But, with a global problem, Google was unable to keep the sites up.While at times your website may come back up, since it’s only the load balancers and CDN that’s having trouble as this is written, 1:42 PM Eastern, Google is still reporting, “We do not have an ETA for full resolution at this point.”However, by 1:59 PM, Google stated, “The issue with Cloud Run has been resolved for all affected users.” Users, however, are still reporting some website outages. More

According to a survey of 294 UK estate agents, carried out by Omdia and commissioned by networking company Huawei, one in three said owners of houses with broadband speeds of at least 300Mbps could expect their homes to be valued at £5,000 more than if it didn’t have high-speed broadband. Broadband quality was considered by 20% of estate agents as the single most important factor to homebuyers, just behind the size of a property, which 23% of agents said was the key factor. Indeed, estate agents thought broadband was more important than the number of bedrooms, the age of a property, and access to transport. The relative importance of fast broadband may have gone up since the pandemic began almost two years ago, with people working, learning, meeting and viewing entertainment at home on the same network, often at the same time. “Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, 69% of agents have witnessed an increase in queries about the quality of the broadband connection at a property they are marketing,” said Huawei. Of agents that said an existing 300Mbps broadband added value to a property, 9% estimate such speeds would increase the value by over £10,000.Estate agents reported that they’d had more queries about the broadband quality since the pandemic began, most of which concerned the availability of full fibre connectivity. Some 90% of estate agents said their clients wanted properties with speeds over 100 Mbps, while 34% were looking for speeds above 300Mbps. 

The findings aren’t particularly surprising and line up with other parts of the world, including the US, that discovered the need for faster broadband during the pandemic.Quite a few homes in the UK do have at least 300 Mbps. As the BBC notes, recent Ofcom research puts that figure at 62% or roughly 18.2 million homes in the UK. Ofcom in December reported that 96% of homes had at least 30 Mbps speeds, but that only 60% of premises (or 11 million) had taken up this level of service. Perhaps attitudes have changed since then though after a year more of remote working.  The UK last year announced plans to bring gigabit speeds to all households by 2025 but later wound that back to 85% covered by 2025.  

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Basslink announced on Friday that it has entered into voluntary administration and appointed EY to oversee it. The company said the move was a result of ongoing disputes with Hydro Tasmania, and an unsuccessful sale. CEO Malcolm Eccles said administration was the “best way to effect change while protecting all stakeholders”. “Regrettably, against the backdrop of many issues and having exhausted options, Basslink needed to take proactive action to put Basslink in the best possible position to navigate forward through these challenges,” he said. “We know this is a challenging time for our small team and their wellbeing will continue to be at the front of our minds throughout the voluntary administration process.” Last month, the Tasmanian government kicked off legal action to have Basslink pay AU$70 million it was owed for outages that occurred to its Bass Strait cable in 2015 and 2016. In December 2020, the arbitrator between the government and Basslink said the December 2015 outage was not a force majeure event, and hit Basslink with AU$38.5 million in damages.

In March 2018, the Tasmanian government sought AU$122 million in compensation due to the Basslink cable to the mainland, which carries electricity and data, being down for six months. The outage began in December 2015, with Basslink finally completing its cable jointing repairs in June 2016 following months-long delays due to excess water damage and inclement weather. The outage lasted so long that the Tasmanian government got involved, with then-Minister for Information Technology and Innovation Michael Ferguson also reprimanding TPG for not buying additional capacity on Telstra’s alternate cables during the outage. Basslink and the government then engaged in a war of duelling reports, with the government-owned Hydro Tasmania saying the outage was caused by the operating limits of the cable being exceeded, while a Basslink report put forward dismissed the claim was a result of a force majeure event. “The Basslink Interconnector continues to operate efficiently and reliably, connecting Tasmania to the national electricity market. We continue to serve the communities of Tasmania and Victoria, providing a reliable and sustainable source of energy,” Eccles added on Friday. KPMG has been appointed as receivers and managers by Basslink’s lenders Previous Coverage More

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I think it’s fair to say that most Facebook users have a love/hate relationship with the social network. Facebook makes it incredibly easy to stay in touch with old friends and family members around the world while making new friends with complete strangers in Facebook Groups. But the giant network has made some serious mistakes over the past few years, prompting some to swear off (and probably at) the social network for good. But before you dive into your account settings and delete your account, there are a few housekeeping items you need to do to ensure things like retaining a copy of your personal data, such as pictures you’ve shared on the network, or moving away from Facebook’s login service for apps and websites. It’s also important to note that deactivating your Facebook account doesn’t actually delete it. Also: Why I will never use Zuckerberg’s metaverseThe differences between deactivating and deletingSometimes you just need a break from Facebook. In those instances, deactivating your account is a better option than completely deleting it. Before taking either approach, let’s take a quick look at the differences.Deactivating your Facebook account means you can reactivate it in the future, restoring your account exactly as it was. People won’t be able to search for you, or see your Facebook timeline, while your account is deactivated. Any Facebook Pages you’re in control of will also be deactivated, so make sure you assign admin rights to someone else if it’s critical the Page remains active. A deactivated account will still allow you to access Facebook Messenger. 

Deleting your Facebook account is a permanent option. Your account and all associated data will be removed from Facebook’s servers within 90 days. If you log back into your account in the first 30 days following your deletion request, however, the request will be canceled and your account will be fully restored. But after that 30-day period, there’s no way to reverse your deletion request; your account and all information will be lost. Deleting your account also removes your access to Facebook Messenger.One more important note: Until Facebook transitions its Oculus platforms away from requiring a Facebook login, deactivating or deleting your account will prevent you from using your Oculus headset. What to do before you delete your Facebook account
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/ZDNet
If you’re set on deleting your Facebook account, take a few minutes to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible. Facebook has become so intertwined with our online lives that losing your account can lead to some issues. For example, if you use Facebook’s Login service to sign in to apps or services, such as Spotify, you’ll need to edit your login settings to prepare for no longer having access to your Facebook account. In addition to account logins, you’ll want to download a copy of all of the personal data linked to your Facebook account. Start by signing into your Facebook account on a computer and going to your account Settings. Find that by clicking on the down arrow in the top-right corner > Settings & Privacy  > Settings. Using the menu on the left side of the screen, find and select Apps and Websites. You’ll see a list of apps and services that you’ve linked to your Facebook account. If you’re struggling to figure out how to move away from a Facebook login for a specific account, I suggest reaching out to the company’s support department for further instructions. Next, request and download a copy of your Facebook account data. You can do that by visiting this page or manually navigating there by clicking on the arrow at the top of the website followed by Settings & Privacy  > Settings  > Your Facebook Information find the Download Your Information option and click View.Also: Facebook whistleblower: ‘Morally bankrupt’ social giant will have to ‘hook kids’ to growThe next page will present you with a calendar to select the date range of your request. There is an option for All Time if you want all the data associated with your account from the day it was created until the present day. Leave the media quality option set to High, and I suggest leaving the format as HTML. Below the calendar, there will be a list of the various types of information you can request. All of the categories are selected by default — again, I suggest leaving this section as is. Finally, click Create File to send the request to Facebook. Facebook doesn’t provide an estimate on how long it takes to process your request, but I imagine it can take a day or two, depending on how much data you’ve requested. I’m basing that off of my experience when requesting similar information for an old Google account. Once your information is ready, you’ll receive an alert from Facebook telling you know how to download it. You’ll only have a few days to complete the download. Another step you’ll want to take a few days before you delete your account is to let people know you’re leaving Facebook. You can either create a post for your friends to see, or reach out privately to some of your Facebook friends, and let them know of an alternative way to stay in touch with you. Remember, once you delete your account, you’ll also lose access to Facebook Messenger. How to delete your Facebook account
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/ZDNet
Once you’ve received a copy of your information and feel comfortable with your loved ones knowing you’re leaving the site, it’s time to actually do the deed.Visit this page on your computer and login to your Facebook account. Facebook will present you with a list of stuff you need to know. Such as suggesting you deactivate your account instead of deleting it in order to retain access to Messenger, and a reminder to download your information — as well as a list of any Facebook Pages that will also be deleted if you delete your account. Take just a few extra seconds to read through all of that to double-check, and then click on the Delete Account button when you’re ready and enter your password when prompted. Remember, you have 30 days to change your mind. Just login to your account and click on the Cancel Deletion button to restore your account. After 30 days, your account is gone forever.

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Meta outlined its next-generation network hardware and said its data centers have migrated to the Open Compute Project (OCP) Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI). The move was announced at the Open Compute Project’s annual conference. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, outlined the following on its open networking gear advances. Wedge 400/400C top-of-rack switches. Meta collaborated with Broadcom and Cisco to deploy two top-of-rack switches called Wedge 400 and 400C. The Wedge 400 uses Broadcom’s Tomahawk 3 ASIC and 400C uses Cisco’s Silicon One. Celestica makes the networking equipment for Meta. Key points:Both switches have more front panel port density for AI and machine learning applications.The systems have 12.8 Tbps switching capacity, four times the capacity of the Wedge 100S. Both switches have a field replaceable CPU system.Meta’s FBOSS network operating system for its network switches now is using OCP’s SAI at scale. The move will allow Meta to work with more chip vendors. Also see:200Gbps/400Gbps data center fabrics. Meta has deployed 200G optics in its data centers and plans to deploy 400G in the future. Meta developed two next-gen 200G fabric switches with the Minipack2, a modular network switch, and the Arista 7388X5 with Arista Networks.Meta’s Minipack2 modular switch. Overall, Meta is making the argument that its open compute data center improvements will advance its plans to build out AI and its metaverse in a disaggregated model.

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Comcast Xfinity customers across the US are reporting widespread outages, with internet, phone and TV services reportedly down. 

Both DownDetector and Netblocks reported massive outages across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Subscribers in Indiana, Rhode Island and South Carolina also reported issues with internet and TV services. Of the 54,000 reports of issues, DownDetector found total blackouts for 64% of those reporting issues and 24% affected by landline issues. In a statement to ZDNet, a Comcast spokesperson said, “Earlier, some customers experienced intermittent service disruptions as a result of a network issue.””We have addressed the issue, and service is now restoring for impacted customers as we continue to investigate the root cause. We apologize to those who were affected,” the spokesperson added. 
DownDetector
On Twitter, Comcast Xfinity also responded to a message asking about the outages. “Thank you for reaching out! I do apologize you are experiencing a service interruption in your area. We are currently having connection concerns around the nation; our network team is working hard toward a resolution. Thank you for your patience!” a spokesperson said. 

In New Jersey, multiple outlets are reporting outages with phone services at police departments and local governments. By 9 am, some police departments said their 911 services were back, but others are still struggling to recover. Around midnight on Tuesday, users began reporting issues with their internet, phone and TV services across the Bay Area, and Netblocks said that since then, there have been “at least two distinct outage episodes observable at national scale.”
NetBlocks
Some news outlets have reported that Comcast is telling customers specific times for when services will be restored. For parts of the Bay Area, customers have been told service will return around 11:10 pm. For some, accessing the company’s service outage page has been a struggle as well. 

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nbnNBN has laid out the areas that will be available for the testing of its fibre-to-the-node (FttN) upgrades ahead of its general release and users being able to place orders with ISPs in March. Released today, Castle Hill in Sydney, and Salisbury, Golden Grove, and Osborne in northern Adelaide are the initial service areas for upgrades of FttN to full fibre connections. Additional areas in Castle Hill will be made available at the end of November, before Elizabeth in Adelaide, Holsworthy and Liverpool in Sydney, and Lyndhurst in Melbourne are added on January 27. In February, Berwick South in Melbourne is set to be added, as well as Gepps Cross and Croydon in Adelaide. The final batch pencilled in for 20 February 2022 are service areas in Cannington and Girrawheen in Perth. For fibre to the curb (FttC), a single batch of service areas is due to be available for testing on March 14. In Adelaide, this will be Elizabeth and Croydon; Kogarah, Springwood, and Revesby in Sydney; as well as Seaford and Coburg in Melbourne. Testing for FttN will run until March 21 next year, with the last order able to be placed on March 14, and until 9 May 2022 for FttC, with last orders called on April 28. NBN said it wouldl not be accepting test orders over the holiday period between December 20 and January 10. The test agreement [PDF] states that a limited number of spots are available under it. “For reference, NBN presently expects that the maximum aggregate number of test orders that will available under this test that must be shared by all participating RSPs will be: For the FTTN Network: 500; for the FTTC Network: 25,” the agreement says.

NBN later clarified it kicked off its testing in September with a small number of retailers, and would allow retailers to place an order to connect 6,000 premises in November, with around 25,000 to be eligible in total throughout the trial. It added that it has completed deploying new fibre to 17,000 premises in New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia, with another 325,000 premises around Australia having construction of local fibre extensions started.The company said it has so far rolled out 3,100 kilometres of new fibre.While FttN users need to order a plan faster than 100Mbps to receive an upgrade, FttC users need to place an order for a plan over 250Mbps to get a full fibre connection. On Monday, NBN announced the next 200,000 premises that would be able to upgrade from FttN, leaving only 400,000 premises remaining to be announced to complete the company’s two million premises able to upgrade target. “We are on track to achieve our goal of enabling around 8 million premises or up to 75 per cent of homes and businesses on the fixed line network to access NBN’s highest wholesale speed tiers, on demand, by the end of 2023,” NBN COO Kathrine Dyer said on Monday. Updated at 17:36pm AEDT, 9 November 2021: Additional information from NBN.Related Coverage More

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Viasat announced on Monday it will acquire the UK-based Inmarsat in a $7.3 billion transaction, which is comprised of assuming $3.4 billion of debt from Inmarsat, parting with $3.1 billion or almost 46.4 million shares in Viasat stock, and paying $850 million in cash. Expected to close in the latter half of 2022, Viasat said it would expand its board to 10 seats, with the current Inmarsat chair to take one spot, and Inmarsat shareholders to select the other. Inmarsat shareholders will own 37.5% of Viasat when the deal is closed. The combined entity would have a fleet of 19 satellites in service with another 10 under construction, a global Ka-band footprint and L-band assets and licences for all-weather narrowband and IoT connectivity. Viasat added it would introduce its beamforming, end-user terminal, and payload technologies to “unlock greater value” in Inmarsat’s L-band space assets. Joint revenue would be $4.1 billion, with 45% of that coming from governments, and $1.4 billion in EBITDA posted. The combined company would have over 8,000 workers at more than 90 offices around the world. “The combined company intends to integrate the spectrum, satellite and terrestrial assets of both companies into a global high-capacity hybrid space and terrestrial network, capable of delivering superior services in fast-growing commercial and government sectors,” Viasat said. “This advanced architecture will create a framework incorporating the most favorable characteristics of multi-band, multi-orbit satellites and terrestrial air-to-ground systems that can deliver higher speeds, more bandwidth, greater density of bandwidth at high demand locations like airport and shipping hubs, and lower latency at lower cost than either company could provide alone.” In July, Inmarsat took the wraps off a network it claimed would be able to combine 5G, low orbit, and geostationary satellites. Dubbed Orchestra, the company said it would need to invest in the order of $100 million over five years to get the network off the ground, as well as launch a constellation of 150-175 low-Earth orbit satellites. Work would also begin on a terrestrial network.

One benefit of the system would be the ability to mesh connectivity at terminals, with the example put forward being a ship connected to a 5G tower forwarding capacity to other vessels “beyond terrestrial reach”. “Joining with Viasat is the right combination for Inmarsat at the right time,” CEO of Inmarsat Rajeev Suri said. “Viasat is a terrific innovator and Inmarsat brings some powerful additions: Global reach, a broad distribution channel, robust business momentum and a presence in highly attractive global mobility segments. “The industrial logic is compelling and ensures that the UK has a strong and sustainable presence in the critical space sector for the long term.” Viasat said following the deal, the combined revenue would be “more diverse, resilient and global” and there was a fully funded part to positive free cash flow. Related Coverage More