INTERNET users across the northeast U.S. experienced widespread outages for several hours Tuesday, interrupting work and school because of an unspecified Verizon network issue.
“An internet issue impacting the quality of our Fios service throughout the Northeast has been resolved," said spokesman Jim Greer in an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon.
He said service levels “are returning to normal" and the company is investigating what happened.
The service interruptions were unrelated to a cut fiber in Brooklyn, New York, which caused problems for people in the area.
There are about 6.5 million Fios internet customers.
People posting on Twitter reported having issues connecting with various online services in the region stretching from Washington to Boston. That densely populated area includes key U.S. government services as well as major financial companies such as Fidelity Investments.
Disruptions to internet services are always a hassle, but have become even more excruciating as the pandemic forces millions of people to work from home and students to attend school remotely.
Diana Gaspar's daughter in New York couldn't connect to her online classroom because their home internet was spotty for a couple of hours in the afternoon, although her daughter was able to log in with Gaspar's phone.
“We didn't see it as a major issue," Gaspar said. “The only inconvenience was me not having my phone.”
For the Fairfax County Public Schools in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, teachers and students found workarounds, such as switching to another instruction platform if one wasn't working, said spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell.
At Galvin Middle School in Wakefield, Massachusetts, a suburb north of Boston, teachers sent students pen-and-paper assignments if there were internet problems, said Trish Dellanno, reached at the school by phone. “Teachers have been able to keep on moving. They’re going old school.”
The outage affected internet and cloud providers as well as major sites such as Google and Facebook. Amazon, whose web services division powers a wide ranges of online services, indicated its network wasn't the cause of the problem and that connectivity issues for its Amazon Web Services customers were resolved around 12:45 p.m., after an hour and a half. Google said it also had not found issues with its own services and was investigating.
The East Coast outages began at 11:25 a.m. local time and recovery began at 12:37 p.m, according to Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik, a network monitoring company. He reported a 12% drop in traffic volume to Verizon.
Madory said he did not yet know if other carriers were impacted. Comcast, another major internet service provider, said it had not observed problems with its network Tuesday. AT&T did not immediately reply to questions.
Cary Wiedemann, a network engineer who had connectivity problems at his home in Northern Virginia, said that some online services could have been disrupted even if your home internet still worked, if the issue was with the backbone of Verizon's network.
“If Outlook works but YouTube doesn’t, whose fault is it? Verizon’s fault. But that’s not obvious from the onset,” he said.
AP Newsroom
Tue Jan 26 2021
The problem appears to extend from Washington to Boston, and is affecting internet and cloud providers as well as a number of Google services, Facebook and other major sites. - AP Photo
Green Electricity Tariff programme to continue in 2025 - Petra
The Green Electricity Tariff (GET) programme will continue in 2025, says PETRA.
Telegram, Tencent begin licensing process to operate in Malaysia - MCMC
Service providers Telegram and Tencent (WeChat) have initiated the process of obtaining the required licence for operating their platforms in Malaysia, said MCMC
PM Anwar wants tourism products to promote more local history, legends and legendary sites
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hopes initiatives to promote tourism products related to legendary sites, history, local legends and myths can be enhanced to attract tourists to the country.
No Malaysians affected by unrest in Mozambique, says Wisma Putra
No Malaysians in Mozambique have been affected by the ongoing unrest, which has predominantly impacted urban areas, including the capital Maputo, said Malaysia's Foreign Ministry, Wisma Putra.
Sri Lankan President expresses interest in joining BRICS in letter to Putin
Sri Lankan President Anura Dissanayake expressed interest in joining BRICS in a letter sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin in October.
Raub fully recovers from floods
The flood situation in Pahang has shown improvements, with a decrease in the number of evacuees after the temporary relief centre (PPS) in Raub closed this morning.
Govt to organise Economic Forum on Jan 9
The government is set to organise the Malaysian Economic Forum (FEM2025) on Jan 9, 2025, to chart Malaysia's priorities and policies for 2025.
Immediate reform needed in social media regulations to protect children - Syerleena
The government's move to licence social media services to overcome various problems on the Internet, including digital predation on children is apt, said Bukit Bendera MP
MACC to focus on eradicating grand corruption, returning misappropriated national assets, money in 2025
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) aims to focus on eradicating corruption in procurement, enforcement and grand corruption to help the country's economy.
Perspective: 20 years on, lessons learned and unlearned from 2004 tsunami
Reflections on the devastating tsunami 20 years ago
Tesla's Shanghai mega factory to complete construction by end of year
US carmaker Tesla's mega factory in Shanghai is expected to finish construction by the end of this year, according to Tesla China, reported Xinhua.
Japan to ease visas for Chinese visitors, boosting ties and tourism
Japan will ease visa requirements for Chinese visitors, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya announced Wednesday, aiming to boost tourism and business ties between the neighbouring countries.
Hamas says Gaza ceasefire deal delayed due to new Israeli conditions
Palestinian group Hamas said Wednesday that a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap has been delayed due to new Israeli conditions, Anadolu Agency reported.
Govt suggested to integrate AI, IoT as smart solution for flood disaster management
The government should integrate AI & IoT technology as a solution for flood disaster management, says the Malaysian IoT Association
State commission convenes to investigate Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash causes
The commission addressed several urgent issues, including providing necessary assistance to those injured in the accident.
Continuous rain warning across three states from Dec 28 - MetMalaysia
Continuous rain at the alert level is expected to occur in several parts of Sabah for three days, starting this Saturday (Dec 28), according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).
Ringgit opens slightly higher vs greenback
The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar on Thursday, supported by the yuan's stabilisation after the People's Bank of China decided against cutting rates earlier this week
FAM Executive Committee candidates for 2025-2029 term to be announced by late January
The list of candidates contesting in the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Executive Committee election for the 2025-2029 term will be announced by the end of January.
Govt will fully cooperate if MH370 search yields results - PM
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has assured that the MADANI Government will provide full cooperation if efforts to locate Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 yield results.
Team LZJ names Yeoh Kay Bin as new head coach
Lee Zii Jia's Team LZJ today has announced former national shuttler Yeoh Kay Bin as the team's new head coach.