espaeth
Digital Plumber
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
 ·Embarq Now Century..
 ·VoiceStick
·Vitelity VOIP
 ·Comcast
·Comcast Workplace
·callwithus
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
·ViaTalk
| reply to xsiddalx
Re: Level 3 Issue
said by xsiddalx  :Depending on one provider? Isn't this the internet? Nope. It's the legacy public switched telephone network with SS7 gateways. |
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Russell_
join:2006-04-06
| reply to CyberSultan
said by CyberSultan :Brendan indicated this was an issue with their primary incoming carrier in the following post: » Re: CS Number DisconnectedTheir primary carrier is L3. They use a couple smaller carriers as well, but L3 is the primary. If you're looking for something more specific from VT other than what he said in his post, perhaps a VT rep will provide that (I always find asking nicely helps). In any case, as for the incoming calls, they were not even reaching the VT network from L3 (I asked nicely about this).  I did not inquire as to issues with some people's outgoing calls. Hope this info helps. Yes, I saw that post. Nothing in there says the issue is at Level 3's end and not ViaTalk's end. Your first message in this thread "Hopefully L3 gets their act together!" gives one the impression that this was a Level 3 issue. Hence my question as to what was the basis for that statement. Unless, there's a clear official statement from ViaTalk attributing the outage to problems at then Level 3 end, there's no basis to lay the blame on Level 3. Also, VT claimed that all had been fixed several HOURS before I and many others had phone service restored.
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Russell |
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espaeth
Digital Plumber
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
·Embarq Now Century..
·VoiceStick
·Vitelity VOIP
·Comcast
·Comcast Workplace
·callwithus
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
·ViaTalk
| reply to S_engineer
Re: Opps
said by S_engineer :My POTS is up 100% of the time. Good for you. Clearly that's not always the case though -- this fall all northern suburbs of Minneapolis were without phone service for 4 hours. »www.startribune.com/local/11588811.html
This is all technology invented by man; failure is a matter of when, not if. People get educated on this fact every single day, eventually it will be your turn. |
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espaeth
Digital Plumber
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
·Embarq Now Century..
·VoiceStick
·Vitelity VOIP
·Comcast
·Comcast Workplace
·callwithus
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
·ViaTalk
1 edit | reply to AnonProxy
Re: It is ENTIRELY VT's fault
said by AnonProxy :No redundancy, no second point of access for customers...shame on them! In the event of an outage of your budget Internet phone service, which relies on a public best-effort IP network with no SLAs:
1) Pick up your mobile phone
2) Dial number
3) Press talk
Problem: solved.
If this solution is not agreeable, feel free to sign up with your Local Exchange Carrier for standard plain old telephone service for a higher monthly fee. Be aware, however, that even LECs are not immune to the occasional outage. |
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kyler13
Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD
| reply to dsldude08
Re: Opps
I hate to burst your bubble, but I have Verizon's FTTH which means even POTS service for me (not really POTS anymore since it's over fiber) will go out with the power and is only good a few hours on battery backup. FTTH is the future so your always-on phone service is headed for extinction. |
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kyler13
Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD
| reply to stridr69
said by stridr69 :At least it works. My VoIP works, and the reliability has been near that of landline at 15% the cost. May not be that way for everyone, I'll agree, but at least I'm not wasting my money needlessly. |
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SquareSlinky
Premium
join:2004-05-25
Tampa, FL
 ·Verizon FIOS
·ViaTalk
| reply to CylonRed
Maybe you have been lucky, although that number is a slight exageration. My pots line had a short in it, it was beyond the box and somewhere in the house. I used to lose my line for days at a time whenever moisture was in the air. Days and days without a phone. The phone company told me it was my responsibility to repair because it was on the other side of the box. After many repairs, one of the more helpful techs noticed an exposed wire about 4 inches above the box where a rodent bit the line. VOIP has its issues, sure. It is also a lot cheaper and I have a cell phone for backup. |
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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
| reply to espaeth
Re: It is ENTIRELY VT's fault
said by espaeth :said by AnonProxy :No redundancy, no second point of access for customers...shame on them! In the event of an outage of your budget Internet phone service, which relies on a public best-effort IP network with no SLAs... What, you mean my telephone service that I pay $8.33/month for two years doesn't guarantee five 9's uptime? Say it ain't so.  |
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esc0
@swbell.net | reply to koam
Re: Level 3 Issue
I am glad I left VT when the influx of ex-SR users came over. From that day service started to go down. I have been happy with my new provider. |
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jay_rm
join:2002-04-12
Netville | reply to cdru
Re: It is ENTIRELY VT's fault
Hah ! This is one of the most intelligent posts in this thread !! |
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bloodx
join:2002-08-25
North Myrtle Beach, SC | ?
It's amazing how people complain about a lower cost service not performing like a premium $ one. Viatalk is a
great product for people who don't need 100% up time. If you need that then you are an idiot for using them. |
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dsldude08
Premium,VIP
join:2008-01-03
La Crosse, WI
·CenturyLink
| reply to kyler13
Re: Opps
You are right about that part, but I'm not on fiber, and even then, I can still choose to get copper if I wish, it's far from obsolete. Sometimes newer just isn't the way to go, you kind of have to weigh your options out, nothing is perfect, but some things are better than others.
--
"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
- Abraham Lincoln |
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dsldude08
Premium,VIP
join:2008-01-03
La Crosse, WI
·CenturyLink
| reply to SquareSlinky
Cell phones are convenient, that's it. I hope you realize that cell phones tend to be less reliable than a land line or cable phone or VOIP, even though it seems most people are canceling their land line to go to just cell phone.
Downsides to cell phone only:
In most counties/parishes they do not have the technology to physically locate a person when they dial 911. The GPS built into a cell phone is essentially useless in this case. I know of ONE county in my area that has it and it's not the one I live in. Even then, it's not guranteed.
Cell phone batteries are short lived, so if you have no way to charge it, you are SOL.
Call quality on a cell phone is deeply degraded when it is compared to other phone services.
There are more, but it is important to point this out to those who are on cell phone only...»www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories200···pot.html
Pretty scary stuff.
--
"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
- Abraham Lincoln |
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CyberSultan
Premium
join:2006-07-20
1 edit | reply to Russell_
Re: Level 3 Issue
As I don't post my PMs publicly, hopefully VT will give you the "official" answer you are looking for. |
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Russell_
join:2006-04-06
| said by CyberSultan :As I don't post my PMs publicly, hopefully VT will give you the "official" answer you are looking for. I understand your not wanting to post PMs publicly. However, do note you've publicly said, "Hopefully L3 gets their act together!" thereby implying that L3 is responsible for this outage. Surely, if L3 was at fault, it would be in ViaTalk's best interest to state this and the very fact that they've not stated it leads me to believe that L3 is not the culprit here. Quite honestly VT's credibility is low (assuming your source is from VT) - VT claimed that all had been fixed hours before I and many others had phone service restored. I've always been impressed with your postings and helpfulness, sbradshaw (do note I do not use your first name publicly), but in this case your credibility is at stake.
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Russell |
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CyberSultan
Premium
join:2006-07-20
| VT did officially state in this forum that this was a problem caused by their primary upstream provider. That's what I'm telling you. I know that their primary upstream provider is L3, and I was also told that it was L3 in this case.
So, I guess it no longer pays for me to share what I learn as my credibility is now at stake.  |
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prestonlewis
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-13
Sacramento, CA
·VoiceStick
| reply to bloodx
Re: ?
Every VoIP carrier has had their bad days/weeks/months. P8, Vonage, etc. It's common sense that VT would have their bad period of time as well, especially since the influx of SR customers has strained their system. I tried VT for a while but wasn't happy and have stuck with Vonage but I'd still argue that ALL VoIP companies have difficult periods of time. Give VT a few weeks and see what happens before you consider dumping them, if prior service has been OK for you.
As for the POTS vs. VoIP argument, VoIP does not make the promise of the five nines that telcos do (99.999% up time). That's one reason why telcos must charge you more (they do promise or usually promise the five nines). VoIP can fail for a number of reasons not even related to the VoIP carrier and are not subject to any % of up time.
Personally, I keep a $10 AT&T/SBC line (no features just a plain old unlimited local line) and Vonage. The kids have cell phones. Paying $10/month for telco reliability and $15/month for Vonage local/long distance calling with features is reasonable, in my opinion. |
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Russell_
join:2006-04-06
1 edit | reply to CyberSultan
Re: Level 3 Issue
said by CyberSultan :VT did officially state in this forum that this was a problem caused by their primary upstream provider. That's what I'm telling you. I know that their primary upstream provider is L3, and I was also told that it was L3 in this case. So, I guess it no longer pays for me to share what I learn as my credibility is now at stake. Apologies, sbradshaw, for questioning your credibility. I didn't mean to "go after" you.
I was going strictly by ViaTalk's statement, which is the only official one (afaik):
"We are currently experiencing an upstream network wide issue effecting inbound calling. Network administrators are aware of this issue and are working to restore service as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you."
The first sentence can be interpreted in various ways (e.g. the piece of equipment /network which interfaces with an upstream provider has crapped out) and based on this official statement I couldn't see how one could conclude that it was L3's "fault" - hence my queries about the basis for your statements.
If the issue is indeed someone else's (please note I understand you genuinely believe so and your post reflects that) it's in VT's best interest to post (both in that very long DSLR thread and via the usual email mechanism) some kind of explanation in which the "blame" for the failure is clearly assigned. You appear to have a connection with certain people at VT - I'd encourage you to pass this feedback. In yesterday's case, the VT announcement that the issue was fixed was posted well before I (and many others) could receive incoming calls. Once again please pass feedback that such premature announcements do not enhance the credibility of their announcements.
Once again, apologies. You are indeed a genuinely helpful person on the VT forum and many of us have benefited from your expertise.
--
Russell |
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ
·Optimum Online
| reply to TexasPlus
said by TexasPlus :However outbound was out also. The CEO said it was related but should have been routed around. Don't these folks ever do a review of their system, or is ViaTalk still just one big Beta test? I tried them awhile ago. I wanted them to not suck since I do really like the features they offer over Vonage.
But after trying for a month or so I cancelled. They put their gateways on random half-ass providers that have connectivity that's not well-suited to voip. There doesn't really seem to be much tech/network talent there. It's also quite puzzling that they are owned by a hosting company yet choose to put all their servers outside of their own facilities.
Bizarre. |
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ
·Optimum Online
| reply to CyberSultan
said by CyberSultan :I'm now curious as to what backup plan would you suggest they have? VT primarily gets their numbers from L3. It's not as easy as saying "L3 is currently experiencing issues, so let's move all those numbers over to carrier Y". L3 is a major player. VT would not be the only provider using them. So odd that the two folks I deal with for VoIP both use L3 yet they had no problems. |
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