Intermittent Internet driving us crazy

There's been a problem with local Internet service for many people using a range of ISPs due to part of the SEACOM cable being damaged.   Very frustrating not to know when you will be able to send/receive messages or reach your own or other websites.

Anyone reading this and who may have be suffering from this issue, may want to read the stories here (from Moneyweb) and various items on My Broadband , especially this one.  There is also this informative article by my friend  Christopher Szabo.
This is what my own ISP,  MWEB is saying today:

"We would like to give you an update with regard to the recent failure on our international bandwidth links. As of 10:00am this morning:
•  there is no confirmed date or time yet from Seacom to repair the failure

•  we have access to some capacity on the SAT3 cable, which we are using primarily to route e-mail traffic

•  we have been able to access some surplus capacity on the TENET network. This service has proven to be extremely unpredictable due to the fact that it too is running on the damaged Seacom cable, and it is unlikely that we will make any further use of it

•  we have finally secured access to an alternative international cable. While this does not meet our full demand it is sufficient to cater for normal browsing to international sites including G-Mail, Google, Yahoo etc. Peer-2-Peer traffic remains heavily shaped for now.

•  about 30% of our ADSL customers are connecting via the SAIX Wholesale network. They have full internet access. Unfortunately Telkom will not allow us to move more customers onto this network because of their commitments to FIFA for the duration of the Soccer World Cup.

•access to local sites, internet banking and e-mail is working as per normal, as has been the case since the start of the failure on our international links. We will continue to source the remaining capacity needed to meet our full requirements and this will remain our most immediate and urgent priority."




However, my own e-mail activity has been down or very slow or delayed and a lot of "normal browsing" has been virtually impossible - even for local sites.  I've been able to get on to Facebook fairly easily (with parts missing and a lot of functionality not there) but even some SA sites have been unavailable - probably because they are hosted in total or in part elsewhere.


Arghh!!