Risks to under-sea cables? - NOT amateur radio

Much of our internet, banking and commercial traffic is carried on undersea cables and fibre. Apparently the military is worried by the vulnerability of such cables to rogue nations intent on disruptive warfare. The internet is a distributed system, so unless lots of lines are cut, it is unlikely to break completely, although traffic could be slowed.

I am not quite sure how you can protect these cables. It needs a nation with submarines to be a real threat.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42362500 .

Lack of internet - NOT amateur radio

We lost our Virgin Media broadband and TV yesterday and it has just come back. I rang up to complain, saying I was leaving to go to another provider, and was upgraded to a faster internet speed for free and my monthly bill was slashed. They will also compensate me for the loss of service. If you are not satisfied with your bill or service tell your service provider!

My internet saga continues - positive outcome on cable at new QTH

Yesterday I reported that at the new QTH our new home was the only one on the close that was unable to get fibre optic broadband, phone and TV services from the provider I currently have used for over 12 years: Virgin Media.

Well, today their field engineer surveyed the road and has confirmed that we WILL be able to get cable services at our new place after all. They were very quick checking this - I only asked yesterday - and it looks like everything will be ready for when we move mid-August.