[[[ Excite@Home HAS gone dark !!! ]]] -- CableModem customers stranded!

12/01/2001 | Lazamataz

[Lazamataz]

I'm an @home customer, AT&T to be exact. At 8:15 CST, I no longer could access any pages. Not google.com, not cnn.com, none of the old standbys that ALWAYS work.

I've heard a lot about the poaaibility of @Home pulling the plug on 4.1 million customers. Did it happen? The only reason I can connect at all is that my lovely and gracious fiance also has a dialup account for when she is on the road, and I am calling in here using that. I am presently on hold on the AT&T@Home help line. I'll have more information.

Technically, the light is on but no pages are being connected. My Cable Modem is up and connected but nothing loads.

[Lazamataz]

FLASH! During the creation of this post, a representative came on. @HOME HAS PULLED THE PLUG! 4.1 million customers ARE STRANDED as we speak. She guestimates a retrun to service of no later than Monday or Tuesday.

Neat. If *I* screw up I get fired. When *THEY* screw up we get billed.

[Lazamataz]

[b4its2late]

Not good. Hope you're back on the cable connection soon. Dial up sucks.

[moneyrunner]

Cox@home still connected.

[Slicksadick]

Comcast@Home still up also.

[The Real Deal]

I'm using AT&T dsl. It's working fine. Good luck.

[Lazamataz]

We will theoretically be "switched over to AT&T broadband service by Monday". Translation from CorporateSpeak "In about 3 weeks you might be able to expect to have a connection, and we will bill you double for it".

[imperator2]

My MSN dial up is as fast as my @Home modem was. I disconnected my cable too. Saves me a lot of money.

[Lazamataz]

Cox@home still connected.

Expect the bad news soon. USE THIS TIME WISELY! Go shopping for a dialup connection NOW! I suspect AT&T was the first one hit...

[Cyber Liberty]

cox@home in Phoenix still up. Maybe AT&T are being a bunch of jerks? Or maybe they're mad at YOU Laz. What'd you do this time?

[MoralSense]

A year ago, when I moved to NJ, I got @home through Comcast, the local cable provider. Comcast is a TERRIBLE company -- bad products, bad service. I quit the cable modem service after 10 days, having never spoken to a real person. They had a recorded telephone announcement devoted to nothing but service outages.

I have since gone to AT&T DSL, and it has worked just fine. There was a bump a few weeks back when AT&T had to readjust service because some single-line users were reselling the services to LANS of various sorts, but there's always personal help, and the amount of software on your computer is minimal.

[drc43]

Out in Michigan. Went down about 9:20 AM EST. Using old dial up.

I just signed up..just got this working. Worked for a week, then went dead a week ago...Discovered a cable company tech cut my line so the Apt upstairs could have cable. Never bothered to see if mine was active. Took a week for them to fix and now THIS!!! And I only went with this because of the near impossibility to get DSL connected.

These people behave as though they despised their high speed customers.

[Freedom2specul8]

Hi Lazzers... As of this afternoon, a Bankruptcy Court Judge ruled that Excite@Home has the right to end its contracts with its cable partners. This does not necessarily mean that Excite@Home will turn off the service and, at this time, we are not aware of any planned interruptions. In fact, we are continuing discussions with Excite and the other cable affiliates and creditors to do everything possible to avoid an outage.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Comcast doing to resolve this situation?
  Comcast is currently working with Excite@Home to insure that your service remains uninterrupted. In addition, we also have been working to develop a Comcast-managed network that will provide you the always-on cable-powered, high-speed Internet service you’ve come to enjoy. We will make this new service available as quickly as possible and will provide you with more details in future correspondence.
  Five years ago, Comcast became one of the first cable companies to offer customers high-speed Internet service. We remain committed to providing you with high quality service both now and in the future and thank you for choosing Comcast.
  
  
• How can I connect to the Internet if my service is interrupted?
  We recommend that you take advantage of Comcast's Connection Backup Program provided by NetZero and Juno to obtain free dial-up and e-mail service as a temporary alternative. At this time, Juno and NetZero may be experiencing unusual traffic on their web site. If you have some difficulty downloading the software, you may want to wait a few minutes and try again. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience. Click on the link below to obtain service. (This service requires that you have a phone modem.)
  Comcast's Connection Backup Program - click here
  
  Comcast’s Connection Backup Program is meant to be a temporary alternative to provide email and connectivity. The free service offers ten hours per month, which should be sufficient to get you through any short-term outages. This service does not currently support MAC, Windows 2000 or XP. Please remember Comcast is currently working with Excite@Home to avoid any service interruption. If your area is not listed as having a free local access number, please visit http://dl.www.juno.com/get/juno_comcast as a potential alternative.
  
  
• What will happen to my personal Web page?
  As a safety precaution, you should always backup your personal Web page to a CD or hard drive.
  
  
• What should I be doing right now?
  1. Back up your personal Web space.
  2. Check your @Home e-mail daily. Opened messages will be saved automatically to your hard drive.
  3. Take advantage of Comcast's Connection Backup Program.
  
  
• What will happen to any e-mail sent to me if my service is interrupted? We are hopeful that Excite@Home would store and hold your @Home e-mail until the service is restored. However, we cannot guarantee that this will happen as Excite@Home controls the e-mail servers.
  
  
• What should I do with my Comcast cable modem?
  In the unlikely event of a service interruption, you should leave your modem connected to your computer until service is restored. If you lease your modem from Comcast, we would automatically issue a credit for both service and equipment rental during any service interruption.
  
  
• What should I do if there is a temporary service interruption?
  1. Call the Comcast toll-free hotline at 1-888-433-6963 for regular status updates.
  2. Connect to the Web through Comcast's Connection Backup Program and visit this web page frequently.
  
  
• Why should I stay with Comcast @Home, given the current situation?
  Before you decide to make a switch, we ask that you remember that your service has not been interrupted at this time. In addition, switching to another provider such as DSL could leave you with:
  - Slower speeds
  - Higher Monthly Fees
  - Long-Term Contracts

[Lazamataz]

Comcast@Home still up also.

Don't assume the best. Assume the worst. There is little likelihood of you retaining a connection if we went down.

[prisoner6]

This is what I got back when I used my back up dial-up account to confirm.

This Message was undeliverable due to the following reason:

The user(s) account is disabled.

Please reply to Postmaster@mail.carneg1.pa.home.com
if you feel this message to be in error.

Reporting-MTA: dns; femail34.home.com
Arrival-Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2001 06:52:00 -0800
Received-From-MTA: dns; mh3-va.mail.home.com (65.14.223.40)

Final-Recipient: RFC822;

Action: failed
Status: 5.2.1

The cable modem sent down at 9:15 AM eastern. I recieved the mesage back about 45 minutes later.

NUTZ

prisoner6

[Give Piece A Chance]

My @Home service through Comcast in the Philly suburbs is still working fine; in fact, my up/down speeds are about 10% over normal.

The Excite@Home thread at Slashdot is reporting similar results.

[Freedom2specul8]

So far, mine is still working..I'm going to go make a phone call about this FREE 3 MONTH service they gave me.

[Lazamataz]

Maybe your provider managed to work with Exite@Home, but ours -- AT&T -- apparantly did not. Our link was cut.

Use this time wisely. Make sure you have a backup plan.

[StarFan]

I received an e-mail earlier today from racebannon indicating his service will terminate shortly. Good grief.

[Chris_Patrick]

No problems here in Yorktown, Virginia with Cox Communications.