News and Updates

Scam Alert

October 19, 2011 – We’ve had several reports from our users who have gotten calls from people posing as tech support. At least one said they were from Microsoft. These callers are telling people that their computers are infected with spyware and viruses. For proof, they ask you to go to the event viewer in Windows and point out a bunch of errors in the logs. These are SCAMMERS! It is quite normal for Windows to generate errors as it boots up. The reason for this is that some services depend on other services and sometimes start before the ones they depend on. These scammers will then direct the victim to their web page to download “utilities” to remove the spyware. These “utilities” are actually spyware that can log your keystrokes, pages you visit and allow the scammers to control your computer. If someone calls you to inform you that your computer is infected, please call us before downloading anything! We will be glad to assist you to verify that your computer is OK. Our number is 256-547-6817 or 877-886-6868.

tnolen2011-10-24T16:39:10-05:00October 20, 2011|News and Updates|Comments Off

Spam Tagging

October, 10, 2011 – Over the last week or so, we’ve been noticing a higher incidence of “false positives” on our spam tagging system. The system is partially based on a Bayesian probability system which “learns” what spam looks like. It seems that the Bayesian part of the spam filtering system has decided that just about everything is spam, so each email is getting a higher spam rating than it normally would. This morning, we made the decision to clear our Bayesian database to eliminate this issue. A side effect of this is that we may now have more spam getting through until the system re-learns for a bit. We will also be “teaching” the database with some collected spam that we have. Hopefully, within the next couple of days, the spam filter should be back to normal.

October 17, 2011 – Our changes seemed to have worked for a bit, but the filter started getting too aggressive again. We have cleared out the learning database and are attempting to “teach” it with HAM (email that is not SPAM). Hopefully, we’ll get the filter working correctly shortly.

Update – October, 20, 2011 – We have identified an issue with our filter that is contributing to this issue. It seems that our filter thinks that the Subject and Date are missing on many email and that is contributing to the points acquired by the email. After 5.0 points, our system considers the email spam. The lack of subject and date contributes 3.2 points, so that goes a long way toward getting emails classified incorrectly.

If you have any emails that are continuing to get tagged with *****SPAM*****, please forward the sender’s address to support@internetpro.net and we will add the address to our whitelist so it no longer gets tagged.

tnolen2011-10-24T16:46:47-05:00October 10, 2011|Internet, News and Updates|Comments Off

Network Outage

Sept. 29, 2011 10:52 – We are experiencing a network outage which seems to be upstream. We are looking into the issue and will provide updates shortly.

Phones were out briefly as well, but we have gotten them back online.

12:00pm – We have been informed that the issue with AT&T is affecting a large number of trunks. They are aware of the issue, but have not provided us with an ETR (Estimated Time for Repair) yet.

2:30pm – The issue is a fiber cut outside Birmingham that is the root of the problem. AT&T repair teams are onsite and the ETR is now 5:00pm.

6:15pm – Even though the initial ETR has passed, the circuit is still down. We have called to get a new ETR, but they have none, so we are expecting resolution soon.

8:30pm – We checked on the status of the repair, and half an hour ago, technicians reported that they were having trouble splicing the cables together. There is not a new ETR. 🙁

11:45pm – New ETR is 12:30am. We’ll see…

Sept 30, 2011 2:45am – AT&T is reporting the fiber cut is fixed, but we are still not seeing service. We are working on this now.

3:20 am – We’re up! The last issue was a routing problem which has been resolved. All services are functioning normally now. We appreciate your understanding and are sorry for the inconvenience.

Update 6:00pm – We just received word that the outage was caused by a construction crew between Birmingham and Childersberg. The crew is building a new Alabama Power substation.

tnolen2011-10-24T21:37:41-05:00September 29, 2011|Internet, News and Updates|Comments Off

Comcast Outage

Sept. 5, 2011 – Labor Day – Comcast is experiencing some system issues again today in the Gadsden area. This outage started at approximately 4:55pm. The good news is that they seem to pick good days (non business days) to have trouble. So far, we do not know what the issue is, but we are assuming it is related to the inclement weather. We will post updates as we get them.

Update: 5:47pm – The current estimated time to repair (ETR) is 7:04pm today.

Update: 7:08pm. – ETR time has passed and they are still down.

Update: 8:51pm – Still down and we are not able to reach their tech support for an updated ETR.

Update: Sept 6 6:55am – We’ve been informed that the ETR is 7:04am. We are not sure if this was actually the original ETR or not, but are waiting for a resolution as the service is still down.

Update: Sept. 6 7:15am – Looks like the new ETR was pretty close, as Comcast has come back online in the Gadsden area as of 7:13am. Glad to see they got it back up before start of business for most companies!

tnolen2011-10-24T16:47:59-05:00September 6, 2011|News and Updates|Comments Off

Phone Line Issues

Aug 24, 2011 – 10:00am — We are experiencing sporadic issues with our phone lines. We are having trouble calling out and customers are also having issues calling us. You may get a busy signal, a recording, or it may just not go through. The phone company is aware of the issue and are working to correct it. You can email us at support@internetpro.net for assistance if you cannot get us on the phone.

tnolen2011-10-25T19:49:33-05:00August 24, 2011|News and Updates|Comments Off

NAS Issue

July 19, 2011 – 10:30pm – A NAS (Network Attached Storage) housing virtual server drives has stopped responding and is causing some latency in virtual servers. We are investigating the issue.

Update – 11:00pm. – Looks like the issue was actually caused by a failed UPS (battery backup system). We are in the process of brining several servers back online. This did affect some virtual machines as well as some of our offsite backup servers.

Update – 11:25pm – Almost all services restored. We still have 2 virtual machines having trouble due to disk corruption. We are working to resolve this.

Update – July 20, 2011 – All services are working normally. Please report any issues to support@internetpro.net or 256-547-6817.

tnolen2011-10-25T19:49:40-05:00July 20, 2011|News and Updates|Comments Off

Comcast Outage

July 2, 2011 9:00am – Comcast is experiencing a system outage in the Gadsden and north Alabama area. Internally, their system is online, but routing outside the Comcast system is down. We are attempting to find details on the cause and estimated time of repair. The outage started at approximately 8:45am. We will post updates as we have them.

Update 9:50am – We’ve been informed that the service should be back online by 11:00am this morning. We still have not been told the nature of the outage, but at least we have an ETR. Please note: This outage should not affect any of our customers except those using Comcast for access. This is not an outage we have control of. We are only providing these updates as an informational service to you.

Update 11:01am – Well, they aren’t online yet. We contacted Comcast to get an update and they say they have two fiber cuts on Bakers Chapel Road in Guntersville that are causing the issue. They have removed the original ETR and now do not have an estimated time of repair. We will continue to monitor the situation and update you as we get more information.

Update 1:15pm – Comcast has updated their estimated time to repair (ETR) to 3:00pm.

Update 4:20pm – Well, they didn’t make their original ETR or their second ETR, but it looks like they have gotten the internet back up as of 4:20pm. Woohoo!

tnolen2011-10-25T19:49:47-05:00July 2, 2011|News and Updates|Comments Off

Virtual Private Server Issues

June 20, 2011 – 8:25pm – One of our virtual server hosts has had issue and is causing some of our VPS machines to be unavailable. Our technicians are aware of the problem and are working to resolve the problem. We will post updates as information becomes available.

We’ve confirmed a hardware failure on the host with the issue. We are attempting to fix the issue on the host. If that does not work, we will redeploy the VPS machines on other hosts.

9:45pm – All servers are back online. We will be working to find the root cause of the issue so we can prevent a recurrence.

tnolen2011-10-25T19:49:54-05:00June 20, 2011|News and Updates|Comments Off

Planned Maintenance

AT&T Network Engineers will be performing a planned maintenance on
Birmingham-Alabama Gigabit Access Router 1.
The work will be performed on 6/29/2011, during the maintenance window
of 12:00AM-6:00AM, CDT. AT&T's goal is to successfully complete the task
and restore service within the stated time frame. 

Although we expect the downtime to be minimal, we ask that you plan
accordingly due to possible unforeseen occurrences during the maintenance.

We apologize for any inconvenience that you may experience.
Please be assured all AT&T authorized maintenance activities are to ensure
optimal performance of their network facilities and equipment.

AT&T Network Engineers will be performing a circuit roll. 

If you have any questions regarding this maintenance, please call us
at 256-547-6817 or email support@internetpro.net.

tnolen2011-10-25T19:50:03-05:00June 14, 2011|News and Updates|Comments Off

Emergency Maintenance

May 21, 2011 – We are going to have to perform some emergency maintenance tonight on a couple of systems. The maintenance will start at midnight Saturday and may take a few hours into Sunday morning. The maintenance window is 12:00am – 3:00am on May 22, 2011. During this time, some backups may not be available for restoration as the web interface for one backup server will be unavailable. Also, we will be performing updates on a NAS and a virtual server host which will result in some virtual private servers being unavailable during the maintenance. The emergency maintenance is required to replace failed hard drives in two RAID arrays on different machines which did not rebuild properly when the drives were originally replaced. Because of the redundant nature of the arrays, no data loss is expected, but the hardware must be reset for the repairs to take place.

Update: This maintenance is contingent on the rapture not happening tonight at 6:00pm. If the rapture does occur, we will reevaluate the availability of our technical staff and may reschedule the maintenance window.

Update 2: May 22, 2011 – 12:43am. The maintenance has been completed without incident and ahead of schedule. All servers and virtual servers are reporting no errors. We are also happy to report that the end of the world seems to have not come and we look forward to providing you with quality internet services until it does!

tnolen2011-10-25T19:50:15-05:00May 21, 2011|News and Updates|Comments Off