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Archive for the 'TWC status report' Tag

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Time Warner Cable adding new HD sports channel, plus 2 more

March 17th, 2010, 5:45 pm by

No, the NFL channel isn’t coming to Time Warner Cable. Now that that’s out of the way, there is a new HD sports channel just around the corner for Orange County and Los Angeles customers.

Called iN Demand Sports HD, the new sports channel will feature baseball and hockey games and be part of the existing MLB Extra Inning pacakge and NHL Center Ice package. iN Demand calls the channel GAME2 and for Time Warner customers, it will be available on channel 731 beginning April 19.

iN Demand is a network owned by several cable companies, including Time Warner and Cox.

“iN Demand calls it GAME2. This channel will be added to our lineup in order to further expand the HD game offerings as part of NHL CENTER ICE and MLB EXTRA INNINGS. This will bring a significant increase to the number of HD games available in these packages,” said Time Warner spokesman Darryl Ryan.

The addition of the HD sports channel brings the number to 4 HD channels that Time Warner offers from iN Demand. The others include HD PPV on channel 431, and seasonal sports packages on 732 and 733.

Time Warner also announced that two foreign-language channels, plus two radio channels will be added to the lineup beginning April 19. Those are: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 20 Comments »

Hackers quiet on Time Warner Cable’s domain

March 6th, 2009, 5:13 pm by

All’s quiet today for Time Warner Cable Internet customers, who spent a frustrating week dealing with Web sites failing to load properly.

Since I’ve been out all week, I felt an update was due.

Hackers, the company said last week, targeted Time Warner’s Domain Name System so unless users knew a Web site’s numerical IP address, they intermittingly got a “Page cannot be displayed” error. (Read “Hackers attack Time Warner Cable’s Internet service.”)

Time Warner suspected that someone had set up a network of zombie computers to barrage Time Warner’s system with requests. The resulting denial of service attack left many users unable to pull up Web sites. The company has since installed new hardware and software to prevent attacks, said Darryl Ryan, a Time Warner Cable spokesman. 

“Our engineers are going to continue to monitor the situation closely and make any adjustments necessary,” Ryan said.

Internet users should not be having Web-browsing issues. If you are, call customer service at 888-TWCABLE. 

No attacks have occurred since Tuesday, he added, but that doesn’t mean they won’t occur again.

The hackers have not been identified but Time Warner is working with law enforcement to find them. Ryan said that some Internet subscribers let Time Warner engineers into their homes to study computers “in their native environment.”  These may have been used in the attack, unknown to the owner.

“We want to stop these guys in their tracks and prevent them from doing it again,” Ryan said.

Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services. Also, read recent Time Warner Cable news:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • | 2 Comments »

Time Warner’s official e-mail on hacker-caused outage

February 27th, 2009, 9:30 am by

Time Warner Cable customers have spent a frustrating week dealing with sporadic Internet outages. While some of us just thought it was just typical Time Warner, the company has actually been attacked by (likely) a group of Zombie computers. 

Reached this morning, Jeff Simmermon, the company’s director of digital communications, says Time Warner is still working on the issues and will offer an update as he learns something new.

Customers also started getting the official e-mail about the attack — the first notification Time Warner has offered to customers, to the dismay of some. I myself, a Time Warner customer, have not received this. But one reader sent in his e-mail, which ironically got caught in his spam filter. Here is Time Warner’s official message: 

During the past week, hackers have launched a series of attacks on Time Warner Cable’s servers. Time Warner Cable is working with law enforcement agencies to resolve these crimes. 

As a result of these attacks, you may have experienced a temporary “outage” when attempting to surf the Web, including an intermittent “page cannot be displayed” error message. The outages did not result in services being 100% unavailable; and were limited to sporadic timeouts which appeared to be random events. Some users may have experienced a total disconnect. These types of attacks are not uncommon, especially for a network as large as ours. We suspect that the attackers are using “zombie computers,” or hijacking unsuspecting subscribers’ machines to perpetrate the attack without its owner’s knowledge. 

All of us at Time Warner Cable take these attacks extremely seriously. As previously mentioned, we are working with the appropriate law enforcement agencies that specialize in investigating these types of crimes. We will pursue prosecution of all perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law. We apologize for the inconvenience that these attacks may have caused and encourage you to report any suspicious activity. Instructions for reporting security abuse are located at http://help.rr.com.

Sincerely,

Time Warner Cable Customer Service

UPDATE: As mentioned previously and after a reader reminder, customers can switch to OpenDNS.com so their Internet DNS service is independent of Time Warner’s system currently under attack.

Recent Time Warner Cable news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services. Latest TV services headlines:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

Hackers attack Time Warner Cable’s Internet service

February 26th, 2009, 9:15 am by

I’ve been receiving complaints from readers who are Time Warner customers and, apparently, this is serious stuff.

Jeff Simmermon, Time Warner’s director of digital communications, said its DNS servers (the system that matches easy-to-remember web addresses to the corresponding numbers — such as ocregister.com instead of numbers) have targeted by ”denial of service” attacks for seven days. Without these translations functioning, web browsers are unable to locate their destinations.

In a message, Simmermon said “hackers have launched a series of DOS attacks on Time Warner Cable’s DNS servers, affecting customer experience in our Southern California and National regions.”

It ain’t pretty, he said. Customers are being affected and getting intermittent error notices like “page cannot be displayed” when looking up a site online.

Reached this morning, Simmermon said that Time Warner isn’t going to ignore this.

“This is a crime that is being perpetrated on us. It’s a big deal and it’s affecting a lot of our customers. We will prosecute,” he said.

Customers should be getting an e-mail on this later today, he said.

Here is the rest of his earlier message:

These attacks are not uncommon, especially for a network as large as ours. However, this particular series of attacks has been larger and more difficult to contain than similar attacks in the past. We suspect that the attackers are using “zombie computers,” or hijacking unsuspecting subscribers’ machines to perpetuate the attack without its owner’s knowledge.

As of 6PM EST on Feb. 24th, we have amplified and expanded early detection and response to this sort of problem.

Customers who want to prevent their computers from being used in this sort of attack should make sure that their anti-virus and firewall software are up to date.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please know that we are currently working with the help of law enforcement to bring these attackers to justice.

All TWC customers can avoid the issue by using an alternative DNS technology, such as OpenDNS. Switching is pretty self-explanatory.

Also, to get it on the record, I recommend calling customer service and complaining: (888)-TWCABLE. You can also communicate with Simmermon directly by following him on Twitter at twitter.com/jeffTWC

Stay tuned…

Recent Time Warner Cable news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services. Latest TV services headlines:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 32 Comments »

Time Warner Cable status report: ‘No outages’

January 5th, 2009, 2:07 pm by

Four weeks after Time Warner Cable customers experienced a massive Internet outage, I still hear about service issues but complaints are down to a trickle. The latest came in over the weekend.

Related to last month’s outage or not, I’ll continue to check in with company officials weekly until service improves and I can report just that.  Here is today’s status report:

“Following up with you, there have been no outages to report,” confirms Darryl Ryan, Time Warner Cable’s director of media relations.  

The most recent complaints I received were about Internet outages. It sounds like many folks are still experiencing Domain Name System (DNS) issues, which was blamed during the original outage. One fix: Use an alternative DNS service, like OpenDNS.com. 

And even though Time Warner’s Southern California operation no longer uses its own online status site to help  consumers figure out if there are area outages, the page still works. This is not an officially sanctioned Time Warner interpretation but a quick scan shows several “red” areas in Time Warner regions in Los Angeles for days later this week. The explanation for January 8, 2009 (view screen shot of outages): 

Road Runner is currently experiencing issues with the cable network. Subscribers in the affected area(s) may experience a loss of connectivity, usually indicated by flashing modem lights and/or a loss of video service. Our engineers are working quickly to resolve this issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

If Time Warner customers have any Internet, telephone or video outages, please call the company’s customer support line to get help. The number is 1-888-TWCABLE (888-892-2253).

Time Warner officials are reading the comments, and even commenting from time to time. So help me keep track — good and bad — and e-mail me or comment below so I can track when service returns to normal.

Earlier: 

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 28 Comments »

Time Warner’s O.C. phone outage felt in Hawaii

December 23rd, 2008, 3:33 pm by

Special update to yesterday’s first status report on issues with Time Warner Cable.

Intermittent telephone service among local Time Warner Cable customers for the past week has been fixed, spokesman Darryl Ryan said today. 

The outage was due to a router rebooting three times. The cause is still under investigation. 

Ryan said the issue was unrelated to the massive Internet outage two weeks ago. 

But it wasn’t just Orange County customers who felt the pain. Time Warner’s digital phone service operations are based in Orange County and serve San Diego, Hawaii and the desert cities. The telephone outage in Hawaii spurred a report today by FierceTelecom.com, a mobile news site:

“Oceanic Time Warner Cable doesn’t know how many of its 65,000 digital phone customers are affected and the severity of the problem, but it said intermittent phone service started about a week ago in California. Outages can run anywhere from one to 20 minutes at a time.”

Ryan disagreed that the outage affected 65,000 people. That’s the total number of digital phone customers in Hawaii, he said. Not everyone was on the phone during the outage. And people who were in mid-conversation were not affected. However, people making a call may have experienced issues.

“The system has been stable since we found a problem,” Ryan said. “There have been no reports of instability with that router.”

Ryan encouraged customers who have any sort of technical issue with Time Warner service to call the support number, at 1-888-TWCABLE (888-892-2253). Based on your calling area, a recorded message will tell you if there are any current outages. You can also speak to a customer service representative to get a technician sent to your home.

Since Monday, I have heard from a handful of readers with Internet issues and not nearly as many as I did two weeks ago when Time Warner had a massive Internet outage.

Thanks for e-mailing me or commenting so we can keep track. If complaints subside, this could be the last report. I also welcome any information on whether service is running swimmingly.

Related posts:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 1 Comment »

The weekly Time Warner Cable status report

December 22nd, 2008, 5:25 pm by

I continue to get reports from local Time Warner Cable readers who experienced an outage more than a week after the the cable company said everything was fixed. Since complaints are still frequent, I’ve added a weekly status report until I no longer hear from readers about such issues.

Darryl Ryan, Time Warner’s local media spokesman, responded today with this:

There has been no outage and no reports of any outages.

For the few readers who are emailing you about service issues, please encourage them to call us and have a technician come out and fix the problem. 

After the massive outage two weeks ago, I advised users to switch to an alternative Domain Name System service like OpenDNS. DNS is the technology that lets us type in an easy-to-remember web site address,  (like ocregister.com) as opposed to numbers (69.25.233.228). The DNS resolves numbers into letters.  Without these translations functioning, web browsers are unable to locate their destinations. Time Warner’s outage was caused by the DNS not resolving correctly. 

I, myself, am a Time Warner Cable customer (Internet and TV). I switched to OpenDNS, but in order to feel the pain of the rest of you, I switched back. Working from home this morning, my Internet service stopped working three times due to the DNS issue. It was back within seconds, but that Internet hiccup made me lose connection and logged me off my office network. A big inconvenience. However, I’m glad I wasn’t in the middle of an online shopping transaction. My husband made us go back to OpenDNS.

I called customer service to lodge a complaint. The recorded message didn’t mention the Internet outage but did say Time Warner is aware that its telephone service was experiencing “intermittent dial tone.”

I encourage customers to call in and complain at  1-888-TWCABLE (888-892-2253). And e-mail me or comment below so we can keep track. Hopefully, this will be the last report on the TWC outage.

Don’t want to miss any posts on Time Warner Cable? Subscribe to my TWC newsletter, via Feedburner. Visit this page for more e-mail subscriptions.

Previously:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 7 Comments »

Is Time Warner Cable’s Internet outage really fixed?

December 16th, 2008, 4:28 pm by

**Update, 12/22/08**: I’m still getting reports from readers of Time Warner Cable Internet outages, so I’ve decided to offer a weekly update until the issue is fixed. Read the latest at “The weekly Time Warner Cable status report.”

Time Warner Cable

Last week’s massive Internet outage among local Time Warner Cable customers was resolved as of last Thursday, Dec. 11. At least that’s what Darryl Ryan, the company’s area media guy told me. 

Some readers disagreed.  I heard from many folks about the outage after Ryan told me it was over. Several let me know that their Internet still wasn’t working over the weekend. And this morning, one commenter said his Internet was still down and he had to resort to dial-up (ack!).

And the strange thing is that Time Warner’s Southern California web page no longer has a link to “network status,” which other Time Warner outlets still do (like Dallas). I found out about this after I called technical support to complain about my own Internet service last week. The service rep tried to direct me to that link, not knowing it was no longer there.

So, for all the frustrated readers, I called Time Warner again.

Everything is still fixed, Ryan responded. While there may be residual complaints stemming from the mass outage last week, any other outages are unrelated.

Occasionally, there are outages in service, he said. And if customers spot an issue, they need to call: 1-888-TWCABLE (888-892-2253). You enter your home phone number and a customized message will tell you whether cable in your area is having technical difficulties.

Ryan said that the ‘network status’ link on its customer help page was removed last month in favor of the phone-based support system. The status page was hard to understand with dates all over the place. But too bad Time Warner can’t figure out how to fix that so we can all check network status online without picking up the phone.

For everyone whose service was down, Ryan said Time Warner will credit your account for the lost days, time. Again, it’s pro-active — you have to call to get the credit. 

In the future, if service is ever down, I encourage customers to call Time Warner and get it on the record. Otherwise, they may think the issue only affects a handful of people. And while you’re at it, send me an e-mail  so I, too, can keep track of widespread outages. And please be specific with the issue. Thanks!

Related Time Warner stories:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 30 Comments »

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