Midcoast Internet Solutions News

Midcoast Internet Solutions

System
News & Notices

September 1998

Sept 29, 1998 11:00pm. This new equipment is at 596-2410 right now. It supports v90, k56flex, v34, and on downwards. It does not like some Sportster modems, so people with Sportsters should continue dialing from our lengthy choice of other numbers. We've reported the sportster problem to Lucent tech support and await an answer.
Please, please let MIS know how 596-2410 performs for you. Be sure to specify your modem brand and model. Having the very newest modem code will insure good results as well. If this works well, we will hook this equipment up to the Camden number!!! Your feedback will make help us make it the best it can be.
This new equipment will allow us to unplug potentially faulty equipment from our X2 hunt groups, take it into the shop, reprogram it, send it back to USR if necessary, etc.. without a reduction of number of lines available on our end.
Sept 29, 1998 New equipment will arrive Wednesday (tomorrow) which will replace the ailing USR X2 equipment. This will support V90 right out of the box. We appreciate both your constructive comments AND patience during this frustrating situation which will be ended sometime Wednesday.
Sept 28, 1998 10:00pm. The v90 upgrade did nothing for the problems plaguing the X2 equipment. We contacted USR, and they didnt know which service contract to sell us (not really interested in buying, but I don't have a choice.) A service contract is required before they will even talk. Even for fairly new equipment still under warranty. Henceforth, we will no longer be recommending USR modem products. I'll probably be ordering an Adtran Atlas 800 and a Portmaster-3 to replace the USR stuff. (This is $20k worth of gear, and I'm perfectly willing to do it, if that's what it takes to make the modems completely reliable.)
Sept 28, 1998 6:30pm. Tonight we will be trying new v90 code in some of the X2 equipment. If this goes well, it will fix the connection trouble of recent, as well as provide v90 compatibility. X2 will continue to be supported.
Sept 28, 1998 11:50am. Mike replaced the modems in Belfast. They had been having random trouble for the past several days, and the storm finished them off.
Sept 24, 1998 On Monday, some of the X2 modems will be out of service to be reflashed (reinstalled). This should NOT cause any trouble getting on during this upgrade, and hopefully after.
Sept 24, 1998 On Monday, ALL static IP dialup customers are going to receive new static IPs. The hostname will stay the same. If you use your static IP in conjunction with a third-party firewall (not from or with MIS), your firewall administrator should be notified. The new static IPs will be faster.
Sept 24, 1998 A problem with the Belfast number should be repaired by morning.
Sept 21, 1998 A problem with x2 lines malfunctioning was corrected.
Sept 20, 1998 The new 130' tower in Owls Head is operational. This is our second site providing wireless internet access. The other is in downtown Rockland. This newly completed Owls Head site will act as a central hub, feeding repeater sites in other areas where there is excellent interest. It is connected directly to our multi-T1 routers and network with fiber-optic cable, and also has uninteruptable power supplies and generator backup. People in Owls Head, parts of Rockland, and parts of South Thomaston can also access the internet via this newly completed tower.
Sept 19, 1998 The Mailspinner software on midcoast.com was restarted.
Sept 18, 1998 The time machine was not updating properly for the new billing period. We have fixed this now.
Sept 16, 1998 Wakefulness is scheduled to be rebooted at midnight. This will affect some users on 596-2430 for about 2 minutes.
Sept 14, 1998 The virtual web server, Juanvaldez, locked up this AM. A reboot and file system check was performed and it is up running again.
Sept 13, 1998 A power strip in the Dama NOC fried at about 10:30am, letting out a nice cloud of smoke and tripping all the circuits in the room. This knocked out service for one set of 8 modems and some other dedicated connections. A repair was effected immediately and an Electrician was on site within 30 minutes to verify the condition of other circuits. The entire system was converted to the generator for about 45 mintues while the electrical systems were verified.
Sept 8, 1998 A couple malfunctioning X2 lines were disabled which had been causing people trouble.
Sept 8, 1998 Noon. An incorrect security setting on free.midcoast.com was causing some people to ocassionaly not be able to check email on that server. This did not prevent email from coming in to midcoast, it just posed some problems with checking it. This was corrected today.

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Tuesday, 13-Oct-1998 21:38:20 GMT-4