[TelstraClear] Cable TV and internet network down in Kapiti/Greater Wellington area

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [TelstraClear] Cable TV and internet network down in Kapiti/Greater Wellington area

ljbade

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#8509 5-Jul-2006 18:54

Some time between 5 and 6pm the cable modem at the office went down. Turning the modem on and off would work as the receive light was flashing. That means that it can't pick up a frequency.

Rang TCl, and said that yes the network in Kapiti is down because of a land slide, and technicians are working to get it fixed. Estimated time was several hours. Went home and the TV aint working too, just random static. Unplugging and cold reseting our cable box proved it was down as the clock didn't update.

Checked networkstatus.telstraclear.co.nz (via dialup as phones are still good) and there is a major disruption with the CATV system, started at 5pm and finishing at 9pm. The page was last updated at 5.30pm.

So add here if you were affected, and youre location. Plus any additional tidbits like where the slip was.

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#40525 5-Jul-2006 18:57

I am currently preparing to speak at the UP event and I was going to use my Exchange Server (at home) for a demo... To my surprise it didn't work, so I have to improvise. Called TesltraClear and found about this problem.

Based in Johnsonville...

ljbade

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#40526 5-Jul-2006 19:38

When I rang TCL they asked what area I was in. He suggested Greytown before i said Kapiti, so I'm guessing it affects the Masterton area too. Looks like easily half of their Wellington customers are affected, as most clients South of Johnsonville will be business clients.

Also I'm trying to figure exactly where there is no service. I have TV tuned on so I can report when it comes back.

Might send an email.

EDIT: I sent an email to TCL, but their system said they are experiencing high volumes of support requests. So I guess people have given up with the telephone, and are now emailing their problems.

sbiddle

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#40535 5-Jul-2006 21:38

The outage was caused by the slip on SH2 south of Petone and affected all parts of the network apart from the Hutt Valley. There are about 6 power poles there carry fibre above ground from the Tardis (main TCL switch in Gracefield) next to SH2 before they head up the hill to Newlands. The same cable got taken out last year by the slip in the same place - so much for network redundancy!

freitasm

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#40536 5-Jul-2006 21:44

Got back home and the network is up again...

lchiu7

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#40568 6-Jul-2006 09:10

Out in Khandallah also. Tried to call CS when I got home and found out and interestingly 1) no IVR up and running and 2) when I was able to select faults, got a busy signal. Later called and this time got the message about the slip on SH2. Was surfing on the TV out of interest and noticed on channel 60(?) with no other signal available, a notice about the outage.

As somebody else notes, what about redundancy? TCL tout all their wonderful redundancy on their network but I guess that applies only to the main backbones, not to lower level feeds to customers

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ljbade

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#40572 6-Jul-2006 09:33

Channel 60... didn't check that channel, what is it normally?

And also heres a picture of the Saturn Cables:

Slip on SH2 showing Saturn cables

(source TV3 news)

I heard the slip occured at midday, but Saturn didn't fail till 5-6pm.

It came back between 8.45 - 9pm. I didn't see exactly when it came on as I was checking it during ad breaks.

Seems to me they should put the wires underground, or maybe move them to the train side of the road. Although a backup system should be available via another fibre link, or even a microwave or satalite link.

sbiddle

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#40578 6-Jul-2006 10:14

ljbade:

I heard the slip occured at midday, but Saturn didn't fail till 5-6pm.

It came back between 8.45 - 9pm. I didn't see exactly when it came on as I was checking it during ad breaks.

Seems to me they should put the wires underground, or maybe move them to the train side of the road. Although a backup system should be available via another fibre link, or even a microwave or satalite link.

The slip happened overnight however the cable had to be cut later on in the day so it could be restrung from the poles.

A microwave or sat link would be impossible and moving it on to the rail side isn't possible because it would need to then cross the motorway at some place still to head up to Newlands.

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ljbade

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#40579 6-Jul-2006 10:25

Hmm, well they could put it underground (well at least for that dodgy section).

antoniosk

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#40581 6-Jul-2006 10:59

Hmmmm. Cost of outage would be a no more than $25k per day if the entire wellington base is out - and you can't blame the weather on them.

Cost of digging up SH2, diverting traffic for 4 months, and hiding the HFC cable? Say $2m, assuming the rock can be cut. And a B*GGER of a problem if you have to dig it up again.

Underground is aesthetically pleasing and a little more resilient. But it costs a LOT of money and is disruptive - even for moneybags Telecom:

Telecom Refuses Underground Cables In Invercargill

NewsRoom.co.nz Agency Story at 7:38 AM, 06 Jul 2006

Some Invercargill residents are outraged Telecom is refusing to put cables underground on some streets.

The local council initiated the undergrounding programme in the 1960s to protect lines from weather storms and make the streets look nicer.

There are now only 6 streets with overhead lines.

Electricity Invercargill has put power lines underground, but Telecom is refusing to pay the last half-a-million dollars to put its cables in the trench.

It says their poles and plants are in good working order.

This has frustrated many residents, who have petitioned the company.

The Invercargill City Council says it will be approaching Telecom about the matter.

ljbade

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#40596 6-Jul-2006 16:37

Here is the email reply I got from TCL:
"The land slide was in Petone and it did not cause our network to go down, we were asked but the to switch it off while the work was carried out to ensure the safety of the work men.

If you have any further queries, check out our online help, or call us, toll free on 0508 888 800, we're available 8am-9pm 7 days a week."

So I guess the wire didn't break, they just cut it wouldn't get in the way of the diggers, etc.

lokinz

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#40614 7-Jul-2006 07:50

ljbade: When I rang TCL they asked what area I was in. He suggested Greytown before i said Kapiti, so I'm guessing it affects the Masterton area too...

Living in the Masterton area I find that very interesting, considering we have no cable service here. Mabey it was Newtown not Greytown?

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#40618 7-Jul-2006 09:04

The slip came back overnight and is much much bigger than the wednesday one, I don't think any power poles would of survived this one! Has cable been knocked out again?

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#40621 7-Jul-2006 10:18

Was going to post the same thing.

There was a minor slip last night ~4.30 so they blocked the left most lane as a safety precaution. I thought it was a bit of overkill but going past it this morning it's slipped again overnight 'ALOT'. Both lanes Northbound are completely blocked, and they've diverted one of the south bound lanes for northbound traffic. ie: 1 north, 1 south again. Took 45mins to move 3.5k's on the way in. Once past petone it's a clear run.

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sbiddle

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#40622 7-Jul-2006 10:27

DjShadow: The slip came back overnight and is much much bigger than the wednesday one, I don't think any power poles would of survived this one! Has cable been knocked out again?

I believe the cable has actually been replaced by some fibre running elsewhere so it is unaffected.

jpwise

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#40763 10-Jul-2006 20:04

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3725774a28,00.html

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