4 Aug 2008

I just got off the phone with my ISP after contacting them regarding the "strange issues" I'm having with my Internet connection.

Initially, I thought it was because there was a fault on my telephone line. But BT fixed that and the issues remained.

Today, I bought a new router (a new Belkin N) to rule out the router. The issues remained.

So what are these issues?

  • Random errors when deploying to Google App Engine (I can get about one in three or four deploys to work)
  • Really horrible stuttering in YouTube videos (think of the worse dial-up connection you can remember and that's how it's like to watch them on my connection.)

Also, I wasn't seeing any of these issues on my T-Mobile 3G connection. Google App Engine deployments work without a hitch and YouTube videos play back perfectly.

So I called my ISP to ask them to run some tests but after I told them the symptoms above, they told me that they were seeing some "very interesting" routing of traffic coming out of Google ("things being routed from Japan, etc.") They told me that they were aware of the problem and asked me to try some non-Google sites. Lo and behold, the other sites work perfectly well. I tried a video on Yahoo! and it played back without issues.

My ISP informed me that these changes implemented by Google were only affecting traffic from some ISPs.

Are you experiencing any issues reaching Google-owned services? Leave me a comment and let me know which ISP you're with (I'm with fast.co.uk).

So there's apparently something is amiss with some Google traffic in the UK. I do hope that they get to the bottom of it. And, in the meanwhile, I guess I'll be surfing on my T-Mobile 3G stick.

This has also made me aware of how much of my Internet experience is actually on Google properties. Is "the Internet is down" actually going to mean "Google is down" one day?

Creative Commons LicenseThe Something’s wrong with Google traffic in the UK article by Aral Balkan, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK: England License.

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Something’s wrong with Google traffic in the UK

7 Comments »

  1. Hey Aral,

    I’m with BT, and although they suck, I’m having no problems accessing Google related sites through them. Maybe it’s also locational? I’m in Bristol, so that could mean I’m routed around the problem area’s… Perhaps…

    Lee McColl Sylvester

  2. Aral, BT in NE London, No problems here.

    John Cotterell

  3. Hi Aral, I’m with TalkTalk, all Google services working fine for me.

    Skial

  4. Hey Aral,

    Zen Internet at home and at the office here and no problems.

    We’ve been with Zen since we started (nearly 5 years now) and have never had any problems. You pay more than the mainstream but the reliability and support is definitely worth it. Although they don’t offer 24/7 support which would be an arse if we’d ever needed it (which we haven’t).

    Hope all is cool with u dude :)

    DannyT

  5. Hi there,

    I’m with NTL/Virgin and no special problem so far.

    Good luck!

    Zarate

  6. Hmm, so it feels like only _my_ ISP has issues?

    Aral

  7. I’m with plus.net connected near Cambridge and everything appears to be working fine (Google Reader, Analytics and Adsense).

    Jason