Heads up for @Home users... (DC related)

[Engineer]

As many of you know, @Home may be ordered to shut down on Friday, 11/30/2001. I know there are several companies working to keep this from happening, but I'm not sure whether they will survive or not....anyway, for all DC users, try to stock up on a few extra blocks/WU/or whatever unit your DC project is. I'm adjusting my home Queue up a few days as well as the work Queue...

Insight sent me the e-mail today (as have many other cable companies to their customers) about the possible situations....

Also, If I'm not mistaken, Orange Kid's SETIQueue is run from @Home.....

Let's all hope for the best...

Good Luck



Update: Thanks Michael.....

 

[Michael]

@Home hasn't been ordered to be shut down. It simply is a possibility. The judge will decide on Friday.

Michael

 

[Sukhoi]

Ack, I hadn't thought about Orange Kid! :Q Do we have any other locations we could run a big SETIQ at if he does loose internet access for an extended period of time?

 

[DarkMajiq]

I suspect that many cable ISPs have made alternate arrangements or set up their own networks, I know that the 2 biggest cable companies here in Canada, Shaw and Rogers, have been gradually doing that and dissassociating themselves from @Home, and Shaw even has their own complete infrastructure, including e-mail addresses, set up., so I'm not worried, although if OK's does go down, I'll have to start connecting to Berkeley again...

 

[IsOs]

TACUBE SETI Q is open for public.

 

[ViRGE]

The problem with the local companies using their own infastructure is that it's probably not as fast/stable/efficent as @home's. Granted, some people have had problems anyways with @home, but those are local, "last mile" problems. What I'm afraid of if the new networks are activated, is that we'll watch our pings skyrocket, and our download/upload/uptime levels plumit.

 

[Rendus]

<< The problem with the local companies using their own infastructure is that it's probably not as fast/stable/efficent as @home's. Granted, some people have had problems anyways with @home, but those are local, "last mile" problems. What I'm afraid of if the new networks are activated, is that we'll watch our pings skyrocket, and our download/upload/uptime levels plumit. >>


Or maybe we'll finally have reliable services for customers. The Phoenix @Home news server was down for at least a week, the mail server DNS names seem to change at random(to the point I've given up and started giving out the IP address of the server instead), DHCP servers seem to be intermittently not responding to customers, and so on. The @Home "network" is more like a series of networks interconnected on a private LAN. The network itself is decent, the services such as mail and news are horrid though. (I can't remember the last time we considered the proxy servers "stable")

Yet Las Vegas, another market I support that has been independant since day one 6 years ago, only breaks when we decide it needs to break. (Maintenance, etc). Customers have fairly steady download speeds ranging from 100 to 200kbytes/sec, cheaper rates (especially for multiple IP addresses), more options (static IP addresses, up to 8 IPs on an account, allowed to run servers, VPN, etc), and in general better service (the mail server only handles Las Vegas, instead of being a mirror for all the @Home markets (try it sometime - Phoenix customers have no problem getting their mail off the Texas mail servers)).

In my opinion, the fall of @Home is a good thing.

 

[Choralone]

I'm just hoping that Mediacom here made arrangements to keep things going. It's going to be a pain in the rear to go out to all the machines I don't have onsite that report hack to my D.net Pproxy here if my IP changes. Although I think I might be spared here. Just after the news came up yesterday that Friday could be the end, @home for the QC Metro Area (about 350K people here) went down for almost 6 hours. When it came back up things were "different". Hopefully Mediacom made some arrangements to keep things going.

 

[bot2600]

Anybody gave DanC or Russ a call to make sure they stock up on a few extra wu's in the TACUBE setiq, just incase?

Bot

 

[Engineer]

<< Anybody gave DanC or Russ a call to make sure they stock up on a few extra wu's in the TACUBE setiq, just incase?

Bot >>



I just fired an e-mail to Russ....

 

[Viztech]

This could be an interesting weekend for the Internet, with thousands of servers running on cable and many more subscribers looking for alternatives.

Mediacom AT&T sent out an email with a URL to use in case the changeover occurs. I really wonder if it will work with the number of hits it will be getting.

viz

 

[DanC]

Russ is on DSL - therefore, no problem.

It's those of us who live out in the boondocks that have to deal with cable. :Q

 

[ViRGE]

Rendus, @home in NorthWest Oregon is excelent. I kid you not, the network uptime in the last year has been greater than 99%(there has been less than 24 hours worth of outages in the last year). I hit download rates greater than 300KB/sec, and the local mail server has been stable since the beginning of the year. As I see it, there's only 1 way to go from here, down.:|

 

[Michael]

DanC - I'm not in the boondocks, but still too far from the central office. Pacific Bell is working on it, but my @Home service has been excelent for the 2 years I've been using it. I use AT&T's digital phone service also, the phone line doesn't even connect to my house anymore, just the cable line.

Michael

 

[CurtOien]

From the e-mail AT&T sent me, it seems OK and I will not loose our internet connections.
(We have the same thing.)
This is the E-mail I recieved from them.



Dear Valued Customer


As you may be aware, Excite@Home, our service provider, recently filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. In order to continue providing you the quality and reliable high-speed cable Internet service that you expect, AT&T has submitted a proposal to purchase the Excite@Home network. If AT&T is able to purchase and manage the Excite@Home network, there will be no immediate change to your current service. If the network purchase is approved, we will notify you via your AT&T Broadband email account as soon as possible.

As a precautionary measure, AT&T Broadband also has been developing alternative home page content in the event that AT&T is unable to purchase the Excite@Home network. If the network purchase proposal is not approved, your current homepage, http://home.excite.com may be temporarily unavailable, but you still will have access to your email and the Internet.

In the event of any content changes, AT&T Broadband will post updates on your current home page, http://home.excite.com. Please continue to check your email and homepage frequently for up-to-the-date information.

Whether AT&T purchases the Excite@Home network or changes your content, your Subscriber Agreement, which outlines the general Terms and Conditions of your service will change. You will be able to view the amended and restated Subscriber Agreement that will apply to the AT&T Broadband Internet service at http://help.broadband.att.com/. Your continued use of the service will constitute your acceptance of the amended and restated AT&T Broadband Internet Subscriber Agreement.

If you need assistance, visit us online at http://help.broadband.att.com/ to chat with a customer care specialist.

While we realize these potential changes may cause some inconvenience, we are working hard to provide you with the best high-speed cable Internet service possible. We appreciate your patience and your business.

Sincerely,

Susan K. Marshall
Senior Vice President
Advanced Broadband Services

 

[networkman]

Well, hopefully the worst does not occur, but at least now I've got my SetiQueue back up and running with approximately 150 work units cached.

 

[Orange Kid]

What Curt said

I have not recieved anything that said I would lose Internet connectivity.

 

[BigFatCow]

woohoo DSL

 

[Shuxclams]

I have DSL and a queue as well if needed, would only take a little to configure individual queues.









SHUX

 

[narzy]

the likelyhood that the judge would shut down @home is slim, at the moment, however possible. in that event if your in the salem/portland area, have no fears, the new network is in place and has been tested on the users a few times already without their knowlage and without speed impact...so ViRGE have no fear, narzy is here

 

[Jac59]

The news reported that at 12:00 pacific Excite will pull the plug. 4 million users will be out of service. @home is trying to keep things going with a counter suit. Guess we will see what happens, I will be 1 of 4 million at a loss. No DSL here any more:disgust:

 

[networkman]

My service is thru AT&T@home so I may lose the connection too.

However, I've been sucking down the SETI work units, so my previous number of 150 is inaccurate - it's now closer to 260. :Q

 

[Engineer]

<< My service is thru AT&T@home so I may lose the connection too.

However, I've been sucking down the SETI work units, so my previous number of 150 is inaccurate - it's now closer to 260. :Q >>



I bet you're not the only one who sucked a few extra WU's down

Well....a new day and still here......but as Tom Hanks said on Castaway....."Who knows what tomorrow brings?"

for now....

 

[imported_CyberWire]

well i'm still alive

 

[Orange Kid]

This is from the ATT web site
The important thing is the last sentence-------this is where I fall in this mess





<< Announcements & Updates Previous
Announcements
11/30/2001

AT&T Statement Regarding Excite@Home's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing

Judge Thomas E. Carlson of U.S. bankruptcy court today canceled the Master Distribution Agreements between the At Home Corporation and the cable companies to which it provides high-speed Internet service, including AT&T.

AT&T has not been told whether or not the At Home Corporation intends to shut down its service. However, AT&T representatives are scheduled to meet with executives of At Home to discuss the matter. AT&T is prepared to take appropriate steps to protect service to its customers, including, if necessary, moving its customers to a new high-speed Internet network immediately.

The company said that individual customers could be moved to the new network in one to 14 days if necessary. The company will automatically issue credits to all customers who experience an interruption of service at the rate of two days free service for every day of interruption.

The company noted that former MediaOne customers, who are served by the AT&T Broadband network are not affected by today's action. Nor are customers of AT&T Broadband's video or telephony services. >>