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1 edit | Maintenance period -> No warning! Excessively Long! Dear TekSavvy Customer,
TekSavvy is growing its network! As a result of significant network upgrades please be aware of the following maintenence windows.
Monday, April 8th 1AM to 6AM
Tuesday, April 9th 1AM to 6AM
Wednesday, April 10th 1AM to 6AM
Thursday, April 11th 1AM to 6AM
After the times shown above you will be able to use the Internet as normal. For more information please read the FAQ's below.
I'm an IT admin, and I work nights! I have emergency pages, it is PART OF MY WORK!
I understand you need to do maintenance, but there are two extremely important boneheaded things here.
1) GIVE NOTICE. Notice, is not 2 days before you start maintenance!! Is this an ABSOLUTE EMERGENCY? No? NOT AN EMERGENCY? Then give me TIME to make ALTERNATE ARRANGEMENTS when you DISCONNECT ME DAY AFTER DAY, FOR HOURS AT A TIME!
Good grief! I get this notice on Saturday morning! The work starts Monday morning! I don't even have an opportunity to speak to anyone at work about this?
There isn't even any indication of how far reaching this maintenance is. Should people expect downtime during all of the above windows? For how long? Will it be sporadic connectivity, or just solid downtime for hours at a time?
This sort of notice smacks of "Hmm, we'd better mention this, or we'll get lots of call ins to our support line", which is solely designed to help Teksavvy! Hello? Customer service, please!
Give me useful notice, so that I can plan around such a MASSIVE and LARGE maintenance window period!!
This is simply boneheaded!
2) I have *never* seen, in my entire life, an ISP require so much downtime -- for anything. And, I'm talking all the way back to 1996 dialup internet days.
Hell, I'm talking all the way back to Compuserve / Datapac days!!
------
Why, Teksavvy? Why?! | |
| said by bbarnett:I'm an IT admin, and I work nights! I have emergency pages, it is PART OF MY WORK!
Then part of your work should also be to have some form of backup connection for this exact reason. If your stuff is important/critical, that's part of your job.
I'm an IT admin, and the sysadmin of an ISP. Rule number 1 is always have a backup connection. Treat any connection like it could go down for days, and have an independent backup in place just for that reason... and I do... and I sleep well at night.
------------------
THAT SAID, I do agree though that this is wicked short notice guys. Could have been more notice given on this one for sure, especially with the Saturday notice and Monday start thing. I would cringe on the Monday notice and Wednesday start, but at least I've have a chance to get my ducks in line. But with a weekend between it all, not too good.
I'm hoping some more specific data does come out in regards to the window and exactly what it will be reaching. (I didn't get this notice myself, but from the work that needs to be done, I'm assuming it affects my fiber line).
A tad more communication would be nice 
Thanks guys. | |
 TSI PaulEscalations, Error and RecoveryPremium
join:2009-09-28
Chatham, ON
kudos:4 | Marc talked a little about what is going on in the maintenance in this thread
»[DSL] Network Maintenance | | |
|
| reply to voxframe
said by voxframe:said by bbarnett:I'm an IT admin, and I work nights! I have emergency pages, it is PART OF MY WORK!
Then part of your work should also be to have some form of backup connection for this exact reason. If your stuff is important/critical, that's part of your job. I'm an IT admin, and the sysadmin of an ISP. Rule number 1 is always have a backup connection. Treat any connection like it could go down for days, and have an independent backup in place just for that reason... and I do... and I sleep well at night. I'm on call, on a rotational basis.
This means that a co-worker, that perhaps had plans this week, is now screwed. I can't take this on-call shift. Too unreliable. I'll also have to find someone at the start of work Monday, to take on call duty Monday. Wheee!
I'm sure my co-worker(s) will love that, if it repeats. I'm also sure that when I they ask why, and I explain about Teksavvy's crazy short notice, they'll keep that in mind.
In terms of backup? Keep your own ducks in a line, leave mine out of it. :P My backup consists of other co-workers. If the boss wants to pay for a second Internet connection, then that backup methodology can change. Perhaps you feel like paying for something your work should, but I'm not paying for TWO Internet connections, just so that my employer can get more reliability!
That said, if I'm going to get uber-short notice like this, and coupled with extremely long maintenance periods, my employer might be of a notion that I should switch away from cartoon-land style Internet access. While an Internet connection is pretty much a requirement for my type of a job, certainly the responsilbilty for staying with an unreliable provider sits in my lap!
Teksavvy -- please smarten up! | |
shaded
join:2010-10-02
Ottawa, ON Reviews:
 ·Start Communicat..
| reply to TSI Paul
i think you're missing his entire point. | |
| | |
 TSI AndreGot TekSavvy?Premium,VIP
join:2008-06-03
Chatham, ON
kudos:7 | reply to bbarnett
There is often maintenance needed because we are contineously in need up upgrading ourselves do to large and rapid growth.
Some of this maintenance is desperately needed so the first possible chance we have to do it we do it. I agree with you that this notice is really short however this is much needed upgrades.
I know this may be frustrating and we certainly apologize for the inconveniences however in the end, this is to provide a better ongoing service | |
| reply to shaded
said by shaded:i think you're missing his entire point. I believe they are too.
It's all about customer service, and that requires communication.
Not short notice communication, without a lot of detail. But real communication.
I'm going to take a side-trip here, to highlight something...
When I signed up to Teksavvy's phone service about 18 months ago, I received a bill. That bill didn't indicate when the service period was. It only indicated the due-by date.
This means that I have no idea what date the phone service I'm paying for, is being applied to. I don't know anyone else that does that -- and worse, it isn't even apparent *what* the date is for on the bill.
When I first received the bill, I had to call in. I had to ask why I was being billed for a different date. Did Teksavvy have the date on the bill wrong? Were they billing me, by accident, for days of service I did not use, before I was connected?
I mentioned this to a customer service rep, and even sent in an email to that effect... hoping that the very simple change of putting the service period on the billing line would be done some time soon.
18 months later, and my newly acquired Teksavvy Internet has the same problem. Worse, it had been 18 months since I thought about this, AND when I signed up my initial connection date was the 6th. So, when I received a bill stating a due-date of the 6th, I had to wonder...
Did Teksavvy mistakenly start to bill from the missed activation date, instead of the real activation date?
So, I emailed, and received this:
"Our services are all billed out 5 days in advance. Your activation date was
the 11th therefore on the 6th of the month you are paying for the 11th of that month to the 10 of the next month."
Why does it simply not say this on the bill? In the last 18 months, Teksavvy was able to change the bill in many ways, but apparently not provide that simple bit of information.
Again, lack of communication on Teksavvy's part, wasting my time, and their customer service reps time.
So, again, back to this notice. Why not simply provide more info in the maintenance window? Why tell people with such short notice, so that they are unable to plan?
Again, it all comes back to a massive failure at communication. It's the little things that often make the difference. | |
TypeS
join:2012-12-17
London, ON | reply to bbarnett
How many other ISPs even bother to mention they're going to conduct maintenance?
You're blowing this out of proportion. | |
| reply to TSI Andre
said by TSI Andre:There is often maintenance needed because we are contineously in need up upgrading ourselves do to large and rapid growth.
Some of this maintenance is desperately needed so the first possible chance we have to do it we do it. I agree with you that this notice is really short however this is much needed upgrades.
I know this may be frustrating and we certainly apologize for the inconveniences however in the end, this is to provide a better ongoing service
There should be no "however" after "I agree with you that this notice is really short". It's a short notice period, full stop. There is absolutely no reason, aside from horrible disorganization, why better notice could not be given.
There is *absolutely* no connection between "better ongoing service" and "we needed to give a short notice period". In fact, the two are diametrically opposed.
The above said, you could provide more clarity in the notice, as well. EG
"You may experience brief periods of disconnectivity, but there should be no other impact"
OR
"Expect to be down for much of these maintenance periods"
Communicate! | |
| reply to TypeS
In my 10+ years with Videotron, I've had one 2 hour outage, and one 30 minute period of downtime.
Outside of that, and downed lines due to storms, etc?
Just a few blips here and there, every few months. 5 minutes this quarter, 3 minutes the next, etc.
I ping various IPs on a regular basis, so I know how good that uptime is.
So, Videotron doesn't need to give me notice. Why? Because they know how to do maintenance, without bringing the whole house down.
Maybe Teksavvy is the same way? Of course, if Teksavvy would communicate what is meant by a maintenance period, I'd know whether or not I should expect my connection to be down for 4 nights, 5 hours each, or if I should probably just experience a blip! | |
 AkFubarAdmittedly, A Teksavvy Fan
join:2005-02-28
Toronto CAN. | reply to bbarnett
hmmmm I didn't receive any notification on this  | |
| said by AkFubar:hmmmm I didn't receive any notification on this
That's because you suck.
(sorry, couldn't resist) 
Look, long and short?
Giving notice is great. But, such a wide open maintenance period, with no real idea of how much downtime there is?
Arg! | |
 nitzguyPremium
join:2002-07-11
Sudbury, ON
·TekSavvy DSL
| reply to bbarnett
said by bbarnett:said by voxframe:said by bbarnett:I'm an IT admin, and I work nights! I have emergency pages, it is PART OF MY WORK!
Then part of your work should also be to have some form of backup connection for this exact reason. If your stuff is important/critical, that's part of your job. I'm an IT admin, and the sysadmin of an ISP. Rule number 1 is always have a backup connection. Treat any connection like it could go down for days, and have an independent backup in place just for that reason... and I do... and I sleep well at night. I'm on call, on a rotational basis. This means that a co-worker, that perhaps had plans this week, is now screwed. I can't take this on-call shift. Too unreliable. I'll also have to find someone at the start of work Monday, to take on call duty Monday. Wheee! I'm sure my co-worker(s) will love that, if it repeats. I'm also sure that when I they ask why, and I explain about Teksavvy's crazy short notice, they'll keep that in mind. In terms of backup? Keep your own ducks in a line, leave mine out of it. :P My backup consists of other co-workers. If the boss wants to pay for a second Internet connection, then that backup methodology can change. Perhaps you feel like paying for something your work should, but I'm not paying for TWO Internet connections, just so that my employer can get more reliability! That said, if I'm going to get uber-short notice like this, and coupled with extremely long maintenance periods, my employer might be of a notion that I should switch away from cartoon-land style Internet access. While an Internet connection is pretty much a requirement for my type of a job, certainly the responsilbilty for staying with an unreliable provider sits in my lap! Teksavvy -- please smarten up! I would say then that your employer is perhaps a 2 bit company out of Shanghai?
I was on call on a rotational basis....we had this thing...back in 2009...it was called a "Turbo stick"...
Company paid...therefore if for whatever reason my internet at home didn't work where it was convenient, I still had the option of the company laptop and their internet access.
So, definitely if you're on call, speak to your supervisor/manager about this amazing piece of technology that would allow you to continue to be on call.
Was Internet access paid by you a requirement of your employment with this company? If so, please tell your employer to fill out a T2200 form so that you can claim it as a business expense and be properly reimbursed for it. This would allow you this backup internet connection which would
then be paid for by your employer...whether through you or through them directly.
Sounds like some sour grapes to me. I'm sure if you read the TSI Terms of Service they are probably not bound by any sort of SLA since it is deemed to be a Residential type service and could go down for any reason at any time.
What if your physical wires got cut and it took Bell/Rogers/whoever provides your internet a couple of days to restring and reconnect those cables? Would you be mad at TSI then as well?
Things can happen....backups are important, in anything computer related, data, internet connectivity..
What if your hard drive suddenly failed? Would you be on the manufacturer for not giving you notice that the HDD was going to fail?
Seriously....they're smart, they could have just said nothing and did it and hoped for the best. At least they gave you some notice. I don't mind maintenance windows...they are the nature of the beast....
So keep up the good work TSI! | |
| So, your entire response is that ISPs are unreliable, therefore, I should not be concerned when ISPs give short notice, with little info, about extended periods of downtime?
Sorry, that's a non-starter.
If an ISP does that too often -- I switch ISPs.
You know, here's an example of an informative maintenance period notice. It should be noted that this notice was sent on the Friday before. Not a lot of notice, but then again, there isn't a week's worth of maintenance planned either. Further, there are three business day's worth of notice involved.
----
Hello,
In a continuing effort to improve our systems, we are planning a series of
upgrades/changes over the next 4 to 6 weeks. These changes are to increase
the capacity of our network as well as add additional redundancy and
security. For this first maintenance window, on Tuesday May 22, 2007,
starting at 12:00 AM up to 6:00AM Eastern Standard Time, we anticipate
possible disruptions in service of one to two hours.
During this time, all services may be affected including but not limited
to:
Dial up, DSL, co-location, hosting, and dedicated connection clients.
----------
Guess who sent this?
That's right, Teksavvy.
What do I see above?
Well, I am informed as to what I should expect during the maintenance period. What the expected outcome is. What services will be affected.
In the current notice, it simply says "4 nights, 1 to 6am, afterwards you should have normal usage".
I know you want to defend Teksavvy... but, they aren't your tribe. They don't protect you while you sleep, from bears and wolves, and they don't sing songs with you around campfires. | |
 fatnesssubtleJanitor
join:2000-11-17
fishing
kudos:14 | reply to bbarnett
(topic move) Maintenance period -> No warning! Excessively Lon Moderator Action
The post that was here, has been moved offline permanently. | |
| reply to bbarnett
Re: Maintenance period -> No warning! Excessively Long! Your employment relies on having 100% uptime with NO fallback plan? You *really* need a plan B to deal with power outages/equipment failures. I'm surprised that your company doesn't provide you with anything. Seems a bit amateur/fly-by-night. | |
 Txbronx cheers from cheap seatsPremium
join:2008-11-19
kudos:3
 ·FreePhoneLine
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
·TekSavvy DSL
| reply to TypeS
said by TypeS:How many other ISPs even bother to mention they're going to conduct maintenance?
You're blowing this out of proportion.
Absolutely agree. Unless it's a business account. Then i'd have expected much more notice.
My data center gives us a 2 week heads up and expected downtime. They are constantly upgrading the network but i have a business relationship with them so i expect that kind of notice.
Residential lines, lucky for 2 days. At least they said something. Business? I cannot confirm if they gave more notice to their business side. | |
Txbronx cheers from cheap seatsPremium
join:2008-11-19
kudos:3 Reviews:
·FreePhoneLine
·Rogers Hi-Speed
·TekSavvy DSL
| reply to BarterFrost
said by BarterFrost:Your employment relies on having 100% uptime with NO fallback plan? You *really* need a plan B to deal with power outages/equipment failures. I'm surprised that your company doesn't provide you with anything. Seems a bit amateur/fly-by-night.
That is what i was thinking. It's not the employee's issue if all the employer provides is 1 basic res-DSL connection. Unfortunately that onus is on the company who hired the admin. You want better redundancy, then give your netadmins more options | |
 TSI MarcPremium,VIP
join:2006-06-23
Chatham, ON
kudos:13 | I think it's Monday night. Not Sunday night. I'll confirm to make sure though.
--
Marc - CEO/TekSavvy | |
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