[135737] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Connectivity status for Egypt
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Marshall Eubanks)
Fri Jan 28 10:16:11 2011
From: Marshall Eubanks <tme@americafree.tv>
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimPmL0aKSFZL1Z6vat=o8zkPejEn6o9FmiDdWSj@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:15:19 -0500
To: "Danny O'Brien" <danny@spesh.com>
Cc: NANOG Operators' Group <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
Al Arabiya is reporting (via twitter) that the Internet has been shut of =
in Syria (where I have not heard of reports of protests).
I have no confirmation of this as yet.
Regards
Marshall
On Jan 27, 2011, at 9:47 PM, Danny O'Brien wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 6:07 PM, Roy <r.engehausen@gmail.com> wrote:
>=20
>> On 1/27/2011 3:47 PM, Danny O'Brien wrote:
>>=20
>>> Around 2236 UCT, we lost all Internet connectivity with our contacts =
in
>>> Egypt, and I'm hearing reports of (in declining order of =
confirmability):
>>>=20
>>> 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
>>>=20
>>> 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.
>>>=20
>>> 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 )
>>>=20
>>> Thank you,
>>>=20
>>> I suggest that you confine your information to the press on what you =
know
>> rather than speculation on the cause.
>>=20
>> "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by
>> stupidity, but don't rule out malice"
>>=20
>> https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor
>>=20
>>=20
> 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.
>=20
> Right now, I think that http://bgpmon.net/blog/?p=3D450 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 .
>=20
> 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.
>=20
> 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).
>=20
> 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.
>=20
> Thanks for checking this out,
>=20
> d.
>=20
