AT&T down in Central Mississippi

[CompuTamer]

So, i got to school today, and tried to send a text over WiFi from my iPod. It failed. Tried again, failed again. Tried to load google, also failed.

Let the IT guy know the internet was being odd. He said he was aware of the problems and looking into it... about a half hour later, they made an announcement that all of the schools in Rankin County were out of internet due to a downed line somewhere in Brandon. AT&T internet is apparently down in this area of the state... as of the time i left school, it's still down, and the downed line still hasn't been located.

My phone is flat dead after 8 hours of tethering to my iPod so i'd have some form of communication with the world... How is it AT&T's wired service is dead, yet the Wireless is working great?

Sigh. I hate AT&T.

 

[petteyg359]

How is it AT&T's wired service is dead, yet the Wireless is working great?

Because instead of having all the infrastructure owned/operated by one entity, we have a bunch of private companies, with different services from different companies going through different lines owned by different companies in different places, so nobody knows where the heck a problem actually is without unprofitable (and therefore unimportant) meetings between themselves to figure out who has to fix the problem, and then who has to pay for it.

The wireless tower might be connected to some wires that go off in another direction, so they didn't get cut, or it might have been more convenient to rent a connection to somebody else's wires at the time the tower was built.

 

[CompuTamer]

Because instead of having all the infrastructure owned/operated by one entity, we have a bunch of private companies, with different services from different companies going through different lines owned by different companies in different places, so nobody knows where the heck a problem actually is without unprofitable (and therefore unimportant) meetings between themselves to figure out who has to fix the problem, and then who has to pay for it.

The wireless tower might be connected to some wires that go off in another direction, so they didn't get cut, or it might have been more convenient to rent a connection to somebody else's wires at the time the tower was built.

Sadly, that makes perfect sense. The cheapest and quickest way out is always the one that's chosen.... it's cheap and quick until something like this happens anyway.

 

[DreamerBrian]

It's the ugly truth that many companies nowadays will do whatever they can to cut costs to increase their bottom line for themselves. What ever happened to customer satisfaction? I fully believe that the ISP's have a monopoly in certain areas. In a decade or two when other ISP's infrastructures have been expanded to the point where multiple ISP's can be chosen most everywhere around the states - that's when we will see competitive quality to accompany the "competitive prices" they are boasting now.

Kisses,
Brian