On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 6:07 PM, Roy <r.engehausen@gmail.com> wrote:
On 1/27/2011 3:47 PM, Danny O'Brien wrote:
Around 2236 UCT, we lost all Internet connectivity with our contacts in Egypt, and I'm hearing reports of (in declining order of confirmability):
1) Internet connectivity loss on major (broadband) ISPs 2) No SMS 4) Intermittent connectivity with smaller (dialup?) ISPs 5) No mobile service in major cities -- Cairo, Alexandria
The working assumption here is that the Egyptian government has made the decision to shut down all external, and perhaps internal electronic communication as a reaction to the ongoing protests in that country.
If anyone can provide more details as to what they're seeing, the extent, plus times and dates, it would be very useful. In moments like this there are often many unconfirmed rumors: I'm seeking concrete reliable confirmation which I can pass onto the press and those working to bring some communications back up (if you have a ham radio license, there is some very early work to provide emergency connectivity. Info at: http://pastebin.com/fHHBqZ7Q )
Thank you,
I suggest that you confine your information to the press on what you know rather than speculation on the cause.
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice"
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
That is indeed one of the reasons why I'm seeking corroboration of the pattern of behaviour; at least to isolate and eliminate any alternative explanations. It would certainly be of operational interest (and certainly not unknown in the annals of historical "stupidity") if, say, a single fiber-cut or network upgrade was disrupting all of these different forms of communication simultaneously. On the other hand, there's only a finite number of imaginary backhoes you can conjure up before other explanations begin to trump Hanlon's razor. Right now, I think that http://bgpmon.net/blog/?p=450 explains (or at least illustrates) why we were getting reports of widespread but not universal Internet interruption. See also http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml . I don't have a good explanation for the SMS problems, but lots of independent reports; I've yet to have any real confirmation of no mobile service, and lots of denials, so right now I'm going to assume that's untrue. If anyone can get explanations from their peers in the region, please pass them on (however incomplete or informal -- mail me directly if you'd rather not contribute to rumors or non-operational NANOG discussions). It's late at night in Egypt, and the biggest protests are planned for tomorrow. A great deal of life-critical systems will be under a great deal of stress during that time, and the interruptions in network connectivity would be extremely worrying. Thanks for checking this out, d.