How to use ISP Outages

KelAuth

How to Use ISP Outages

How Does It Work?

Our system continuously monitors internet connectivity through distributed agents, automatically detecting and reporting outages.
Here’s how the process works:

1. Monitoring & Data Collection

Outage reports are received from monitoring agents as soon as connectivity is restored.
Key outage details are captured, including:
- ISP Name (e.g., Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum)
- Affected Locations (Cities, Postal Codes)
- Network Hop Failures (Where the outage is occurring)
- Time of Occurrence (Start, duration, resolution status)

2. Outage Grouping & Reporting

Outages are grouped by ISP and network locations.
R - Titles with R in front mean single locations monitoring repeated problems.
M - Titles with M in front mean multiple locations monitored the same problem.

This method ensures that each post represents a distinct service disruption, avoiding duplicate reports.

3. Automated Forum Posts

New Outage – A post is created with detailed outage information.
Ongoing Issue? – The post is updated as information comes in for up to 24hrs.
Resolved Outages? – Older posts remain for reference and analysis and eventually removed or archived.

4. Search and Interpretation

Use the search function to find outages in your area by street, ZIP code, city, or other relevant details in post titles.

Multiple outages – If you notice multiple outages for the same locations around the same times, it means that different network locations with the same ISP are experiencing issues.
Postal codes – When you see only the first part of a postal code, this indicates a general area rather than a more specific one.

Public vs. Private Hops: What Do They Mean?

When monitoring internet outages, you might see references to public hops and private hops in our reports. These terms describe different parts of an ISP’s network where an issue may occur.

What is a Public Hop?

A public hop is a network connection within an ISP that is visible beyond their internal network. These hops are typically used to route traffic between different parts of the ISP’s infrastructure or towards external networks. Public hops help move data through an ISP’s backbone and often connect different service regions.

Example of a Public Hop Issue:

A problem occurs on a major routing point inside the ISP’s network.
Customers in multiple cities or regions using the same ISP may experience disruptions.
The issue is visible in our monitoring because it affects multiple locations, making it easier to confirm.

What is a Private Hop?

A private hop is an internal part of an ISP’s network that is not normally visible to the public. These hops are used for routing traffic within local areas, neighborhood networks, or smaller sections of an ISP’s infrastructure.

Example of a Private Hop Issue:

A failure happens on a private hop inside the ISP’s network that serves a particular neighborhood or group of customers.
The issue may not be as widespread, but it can still affect many users in that area.
Because the hop is private, detecting the issue depends on monitoring multiple locations within that ISP.

Why Does This Matter?

If a public hop has an issue, it may impact many customers across different regions within the same ISP.
If a private hop has an issue, the impact is usually more localized but can still affect many people within a specific area.

Both public and private hop outages can impact many users. However, identifying where the problem occurs helps users understand whether an issue is widespread across multiple regions or more localized to a specific part of their ISP’s network.

Since ISP Outages monitors up to the ISP level only, our reports focus on whether an issue is happening inside your ISP’s infrastructure, not beyond it.

What You’ll Find in Each Post

Every forum post includes:

ISP Name & Affected Region
Start & End Time of the Outage
Outage Duration
Number of Reports & Agent Locations
Structured Data Tables for Clarity

To learn more about ISP Outages, check our About ISP Outages post.