[HN Gopher] T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T phone calls are failing a...
___________________________________________________________________
T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T phone calls are failing across the US
Author : keyi
Score : 183 points
Date : 2020-06-15 20:27 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theverge.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theverge.com)
| blhack wrote:
| What could cause all major cell phone providers to experience
| outages that began at the same time in the same day?
|
| A solar flare seems unlikely, since WiFi does not seem to be
| effected (for me at least).
|
| Routing issue maybe?
|
| One possibility: it's all just T-Mobile, but people are bad at
| reporting. For instance: if a non technical person tries to call
| a t-mobile number from their Verizon phone, and experiences an
| "outage", they may report this as a problem with their own phone
| rather than understanding that it was on the receiving end (and
| knowing to try to call other carriers).
|
| This could also explain problems with Facebook messenger (if the
| T-Mobile outage is effecting data). It's not a problem with
| messenger etc. it's just that messenger is the service that some
| T-Mobile customers are trying to use and having it not work. So
| they report it as a problem with the black box they know as their
| phone.
|
| That or we are getting hacked. And if that's the case then buckle
| in and charge up your ham radios.
| atlgator wrote:
| Because they all run off a backbone operated by Level 3
| Communications...
| adrianpike wrote:
| Easy: someone fat-fingered SS7 the same way someone fat-
| fingered BGP.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_System_No._7
| https://blog.cloudflare.com/how-verizon-and-a-bgp-optimizer-...
| [deleted]
| Throwaway641a wrote:
| The cynic in me: "system upgrades" related to Barr's memo a few
| weeks back designating Antifa a domestic terror group.
|
| https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-william-p-ba...
| gamblor956 wrote:
| It's not TMobile. Messenger had issues too, even when accessed
| through the website.
| StanislavPetrov wrote:
| Could be something with 4g. My 3g flip phone is working fine
| (AT&T subscription plan - not prepaid). I can even receive
| calls from people on T-mobile who aren't able to call each
| other or other people (although they don't receive my incoming
| calls).
|
| Another bonus for avoiding the spy phone.
| ortusdux wrote:
| Reports of a DDoS in progress:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23533350
| Shank wrote:
| There is no proof of a denial of service attack. Attack maps
| like the one you've linked to sinkhole traffic from botnets
| to known honeypots. The only way a DDoS can be identified is
| if you're sitting on the transit links themselves or you have
| insight into the very private networks that the carriers
| have. Attack maps do not have this.
| ankurkwv wrote:
| https://downdetector.com/ looks pretty wild right now.
| parsimo2010 wrote:
| The live outage maps are basically just this:
| https://xkcd.com/1138/
| dleslie wrote:
| Definitely screenshot worthy for posterity.
| Shank wrote:
| This is a good case of causation and correlation being
| conflated. Of course T-Mobile users will report problems with
| YouTube even if it's just their carrier. Any localized ISP
| problem will show up in outage reports for top websites because
| that's what everyone uses.
| sjg007 wrote:
| I mean, the thing is.. they can all get to downdetector.. so
| :)
| JCBird1012 wrote:
| There were early reports that Level 3 was having some routing
| issues earlier today, but it's been confirmed that they're not
| having any problems whatsoever (for anyone who may have been
| suspecting that)
|
| https://twitter.com/zackwhittaker/status/1272648878639255553...
| jeffbee wrote:
| Can't call from landline to t-mobile iphone, just dead air, not
| even busy/fast-busy/three-tone call fail.
| Multicomp wrote:
| Same. AT&T to T-Mobile line. Dead air, insta hang up.
|
| Signal messages appear to be unaffected so far, so one more
| anecdote that data works, but IDK if they were delivered to my
| group warning them about this via cellular data or wifi.
| sbierwagen wrote:
| Called from ringcentral voip to t-mobile phone on UMA. Rang
| once, then dead air. Disabled wifi to shut off UMA for a second
| try, rang a few times then went to busy tone.
| ohhhwell wrote:
| Google Fi from iPhone to Android worked after a long delay.
| Failed the other direction :|
| SSLy wrote:
| Facebook is experiencing issues regarding chat (including on
| Instagram) in Europe too. Might be related?
| jaden wrote:
| Several other networks are showing up on downdetector.com too,
| including Sprint, U.S. Cellular and Consumer Cellular.
| PascLeRasc wrote:
| Oh, so that's why no one at my work can get on our VPN now. We
| need to do away with SMS 2FA immediately.
| vmception wrote:
| Why are _you_ using SMS 2FA?
| glitcher wrote:
| Can confirm in AZ. My wife and I are on T-Mobile and are unable
| to call each other, with both of us at home.
| mech422 wrote:
| Wierd...I'm in mesa and just got a call from San Tan on my
| Cricket phone.
| atlgator wrote:
| I know this is the digital age but you could just try speaking
| to her directly. /s
| glitcher wrote:
| Then how would she ever find her phone? ;)
| joezydeco wrote:
| TMO down in IL for voice but data is working.
| binarymax wrote:
| Same issue in NY. Can't get in touch with my wife, but she's
| out. Voice and Text not working. Can't get through to her at
| all.
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| jedberg wrote:
| It's a good thing there are only three wireless providers so this
| was easy to track down. /s
| DebtDeflation wrote:
| I'm on T-Mobile and can confirm that I have been unable to make
| or receive calls for the past hour. Also, my home Comcast
| internet seems to be operating at dial-up speed and with insane
| latency. Something big is going on.
| monadic2 wrote:
| Oddly I have both tmobile and comcast and was chatting on the
| phone around the same time--maybe it's region specific?
| ngngngng wrote:
| How about texts? My wife and I couldn't send or receive texts
| for a while earlier today.
| edoceo wrote:
| Three hour delay on texts from Twilio to T-Mobile. No voice
| connect from Twilio to Verizon, delayed and too.
| novaRom wrote:
| Are people still working from home in US?
| monadic2 wrote:
| Depends who you ask.
| DebtDeflation wrote:
| Yes.
| coronadisaster wrote:
| The NSA implemented a new system?
| jdofaz wrote:
| I called my t-mobile number and got a busy signal, haven't heard
| that in a while.
| AznHisoka wrote:
| DDOS is trending on Twitter now. Could it be an attack?
| vsareto wrote:
| That doesn't seem credible yet
|
| https://twitter.com/MalwareTechBlog/status/12726471098339409...
| adrianpike wrote:
| Unlikely that an attack would manifest itself in this way. I
| think it's an SS7 screwup since it seems that signaling is
| mostly what's gone pear shaped.
| LinuxBender wrote:
| SS7 would not affect website uptime. All the carrier websites
| are having issues.
|
| [edit] As others have pointed out, if b-number routing is
| failing, then their support sites would be flooded with
| people checking their account. So maybe the subscribers are
| in effect overloading the sites. That would make sense.
| londons_explore wrote:
| As soon as there is a service outage, all the users go to
| the carrier website to try to complain or log in to check
| if they've paid their bill, etc.
|
| A website designed for most users to visit once per year
| when their contract expires likely won't scale to everyone
| visiting in an hour...
| LinuxBender wrote:
| It's a sound theory. Hopefully one of the carriers owns
| up to their site not having capacity and/or b-number
| routing flub.
| Rebelgecko wrote:
| Couldn't that just be the result of tens of millions of
| people simultaneously trying to contact support?
| LinuxBender wrote:
| Could be. With SS7 outages, first things you would see is
| b-number analysis failing (call routing) and SMS text
| messages failing.
| wybiral wrote:
| People are fearmongering and sharing pictures of DDoS activity
| out of context. There are always attacks like that going on in
| the background, it doesn't mean that's the cause.
| krustyburger wrote:
| A friend's phone has been non-functional for hours now. With the
| size of the T-Mobile user base, this outage almost certainly has
| already had real human costs in the form of an inability to
| summon emergency services.
| zamadatix wrote:
| Depending what is causing the outage 911 may still function. Or
| it may not. Just spreading to not assume 911 is unavailable
| because normal calls don't work/your plan expired/whatever else
| is going on as 911 gets a few special technical perks that make
| it available more often than normal calls.
| jaywalk wrote:
| Exactly right. 911 calls are handled differently at almost
| every step of the process, starting with the handset and
| carrying all the way through to the 911 call center.
| mlacks wrote:
| Looks to be a tech issue related to the Sprint merger.
|
| That is the current suggestion: (reposted from elsewhere in this
| thread:
| https://puck.nether.net/pipermail/outages/2020-June/013124.h...
|
| This is because of an update in the systems from the Sprint side
| to help merge with T Mobile. That happened from 12am-6am EST and
| Sprint's systems clashed with T Mobile's. I'm glad I have off
| today.
| eatbitseveryday wrote:
| Please try to not quote using code formatting:
|
| > This is because of an update in the systems from the Sprint
| side to help merge with T Mobile. That happened from 12am-6am
| EST and Sprint's systems clashed with T Mobile's. I'm glad I
| have off today.
|
| Or
|
| "This is because of an update in the systems from the Sprint
| side to help merge with T Mobile. That happened from 12am-6am
| EST and Sprint's systems clashed with T Mobile's. I'm glad I
| have off today."
|
| Or
|
| _This is because of an update in the systems from the Sprint
| side to help merge with T Mobile. That happened from 12am-6am
| EST and Sprint 's systems clashed with T Mobile's. I'm glad I
| have off today._
| zymhan wrote:
| Why?
| jpollock wrote:
| It's fixed line length, and results in a large portion of
| the comment being hidden off the right hand side on a
| mobile device.
| ksec wrote:
| Doesn't work very well on mobile.
| mlacks wrote:
| Ok thanks. Sorry about that
| Dirlewanger wrote:
| And Verizon's reason?
| kelnos wrote:
| Do we have confirmation that Verizon is actually having
| issues, or are people on Verizon trying to call T-Mobile
| customers, failing, and are blaming their own carrier,
| Verizon?
| sjg007 wrote:
| I have a Tmobile MVNO and I can call Verizon users but not
| vice versa. I can also not call any Tmobile number. My wife
| has Verizon and can't call me but can call others except
| for Tmobile #s.
| leesalminen wrote:
| It sounds like the parent knows how to troubleshoot
| accurately :).
| zwily wrote:
| Exact same symptoms here.
| Throwaway641a wrote:
| Right. From the link quoted in the grandparent comment:
|
| > That's not going to esplain [sic] the other carriers'
| problems, of course, but...
| A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote:
| If true that would be interesting. Is the merger approval
| signed, sealed and irreversible?
| bingdig wrote:
| Not irreversible (but the DOJ rarely breaks up already merged
| companies due to the difficulty of "unscrambling the eggs")!
|
| This event could create a reason to block the merger ex post,
| especially given last week's news that DISH may not buy Boost
| Mobile from T-Mobile, which was a key provision of the merger
| to reduce its anti-competitive effects.
| supernova87a wrote:
| Just to be clear, this is only happening to POTS (?) dialing
| phone numbers, is that right?
|
| It shouldn't (or doesn't) affect
| Skype/Whatsapp/iMessage/Facetime/etc types of data calls does it?
|
| Or is it T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T _subscribers_ and their phones,
| cellular phones + data connections?
| guerrilla wrote:
| It seems to be effecting other things?
| https://downdetector.com/
| jabedude wrote:
| > It shouldn't (or doesn't) affect
| Skype/Whatsapp/iMessage/Facetime/etc types of data calls does
| it?
|
| Anecdotally, this is correct. I was unable to place a normal
| call today, but was able to Facetime the other device.
| koolba wrote:
| Fun fact: If you're 2FA method is based on SMS then you can't log
| in until this is resolved.
| zarmin wrote:
| Whatever is the source, I really hope it's not malicious. The US
| is vulnerable.
| partiallypro wrote:
| Based on how it has unfolded, I'm betting it's a cascading
| failure. Data seems to be unaffected, it is only voice.
| lallysingh wrote:
| My guess is it's some technical issue related to the Sprint
| merger. I have no data to back this up.
| dogecoinbase wrote:
| That is the current suggestion: https://puck.nether.net/piper
| mail/outages/2020-June/013124.h... This is
| because of an update in the systems from the Sprint side to
| help merge with T Mobile. That happened from
| 12am-6am EST and Sprint's systems clashed with T
| Mobile's. I'm glad I have off today.
| Someone1234 wrote:
| Considering it is impacting other non-celluar services (like
| Facebook), I'm guessing it is an internet backbone issue (e.g.
| bad BGP routing was broadcast?).
|
| PS - This doesn't mean it is unrelated to the Spring/T-Mobile
| merger, they themselves could be the ones who screwed up
| routing.
| DebtDeflation wrote:
| Uh oh.
|
| https://www.digitalattackmap.com/
|
| US and Brazil both under a massive DDOS attack right now.
| t3rabytes wrote:
| FWIW, that isn't showing live data -- it says June 14 at the
| top.
| kelnos wrote:
| If you run it back, it looks like that's been the case for at
| least a couple weeks now. I guess that's unrelated to what's
| going on today?
| newman8r wrote:
| Perhaps incidents like these will increase the popularity of
| amateur radio. I'm curious if there's any studies on the
| potential impacts of the US carriers begin down for a day or a
| week or more.
| Multicomp wrote:
| My hope is for someone to complete a smartphone-based ad hoc
| mesh network that can use bluetooth, wifi to pass messages
| along, up to 6 hops or similar.
|
| Currently, the closest thing I'm aware of for that is cwtch
| which is a ricochet.im rewrite
| pixelface wrote:
| this already exists in some forms [1] on top of the fact that
| amateur radio in general is quite capable of moving data
| whether by packet radio [2] (including packet radio BBS [3],
| things like hinternet [4], bbs over amateur radio, or plain
| old teletype (RTTY) as a means to operate access a console on
| a remote machine. there's a ton of interesting creative work
| being done in the space even though it isn't particularly
| mainstream-popular.
|
| [1] http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/ [2]
| http://www.choisser.com/packet/ [3] https://www.scc-ares-
| races.org/data/packet/index.html [4]
| https://www.kqed.org/quest/8440/ham-radio-helping-to-
| build-a...
| jbj wrote:
| I heard of a few, but havent tried them:
|
| disaster.radio
|
| serval mesh
|
| meshtastic
|
| a different and cool project worth mentioning, more for
| distibuting teaching materials as I understand:
|
| othernet.is
| WrtCdEvrydy wrote:
| There was one out there for Android that worked great.
|
| I wanted to build my own for emergency services and we
| figured out how to do some of the mesh routing but it didn't
| go far... WiFi Direct unfortunately only allows you to pair
| to one phone at a time (while bluetooth allows endless
| pairing outside of BLE)
| elliekelly wrote:
| I have no idea what it's called but when I was in Cuba 5 or 6
| years ago they used something like this on their mobile
| phones. They basically had an "internet" via bluetooth but
| without needing to connect to the "real" internet which was
| very expensive and monitored by the government.
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| I'm curious how many other people share my ambivalence toward
| amateur radio? I want to be interested in it, but since
| encryption is forbidden I can't think of very many things I'd
| really want to use it for, what w/ being unable to trust the
| authenticity of transmissions and having no confidentiality.
|
| I enjoy _listening_ to stuff w / my RTL-SDR rig. I also find
| the emergency communication capability that radio amateurs
| provide a Good Thing(tm). I just can't see what, personally, it
| could possibly be useful for.
| csommers wrote:
| Doubtful, considering you need a license, equipment, knowledge,
| etc.
|
| Chad and Karen don't give two shits about it.
| pixelface wrote:
| feeling pretty good about the fact that some friends and i
| decided to get our licenses early into quarantine via remote
| online testing. highly recommend it if you're interested, some
| people are not aware of the fact that morse code requirements
| were dropped long ago and the question pool is available from a
| number of excellent study help sites (hamstudy.org is what I
| used).
| reaperducer wrote:
| No need to study anything more than a newspaper archive. Look
| at the local papers every time a hurricane hits the United
| States, or there is another major natural disaster over the
| last 80 years.
|
| Ham operators are always a communication lifeline in times of
| crisis.
| kilroy123 wrote:
| Or Satellite communicators/phones. Iridium bypasses ground
| gateways when you commuicate from one communicator to another.
| rabuse wrote:
| Just got a couple Baofeng's the other week to dabble in that
| world a bit.
| jaywalk wrote:
| Are you aware that it's illegal to "dabble" in that world
| without a license?
| lozaning wrote:
| For definitions of dabble that don't include transmitting,
| its most certainly not.
|
| One of the best ways to get ready to take the Technician
| test is to buy a cheap handheld and figure out how to
| listen in on the local repeater. Being able to apply what
| you're reading in books to real world stuff is a fantastic
| learning opportunity.
| rabuse wrote:
| Not transmitting; just listening and figuring things out
| before taking the next step. I'm well aware.
| thebean11 wrote:
| Oh interesting, I couldn't get a verification code from Chase
| earlier today. Just tried sending a text to myself; I can send
| but not receive texts. That's pretty wild, it's been like that
| for >4 hours for me it seems.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2020-06-15 23:00 UTC)