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July 10, 2013 – 8:30 am – We have noticed that Google.com is unresponsive from several locations which we have used to test.  Other services being affected include Gmail.com and news.google.com and Youtube.  Testing from phones seems to work though.  The Google interface on our home page (bottom right) is also not working.

Note: Our website is slow because it is using fonts.googleapis.com which also seems to be down.  This is causing a timeout on our page.  This is also affecting MANY WordPress-based sites.

Update: 9:00 am – This is not a completely global issue.  We have found some people for which Google (and Youtube) work.  They are located in Birmingham and Atlanta.  However, we have contacts in Arizona and Mississippi who are also having trouble with Google services.  We can also confirm that all Comcast and AT&T customers in the Gadsden area are having issues.

We are working to find out what is going on and will post updates as quickly as possible. Please note that this issue is NOT caused by any problems on the Network Solutions, Inc. network.  Google.com is also not accessible from networks completely outside our control.

Update: 9:08am – Looks like Google is back online for many.  It is working for some AT&T customers.   Many Comcast customers are still having trouble, however.

Update: 9:34am –  CNN has posted a story about the outage. They say it is primarily a Southeastern US issue.  http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/tech/web/google-down

Update: 9:43am – Comcast customers in the Gadsden area are now able to get to Google services. Our contacts in other areas are also indicating that the issue has been resolved for them as well.

If you have any quesions or concerns about this issue, please contact us at support@internetpro.net.

July 8, 2013 – 5:15pm -Network Solutions, Inc. is experiencing an internet outage for two providers which is affecting most customers.   We have contacted both providers and have been issued trouble tickets.  However, there is no current Estimated Time to Repair (ETR) or explanation of the issue.  We are working on rerouting traffic and will be posting updates as we have them.

Update: 5:55pm  – Looks like someone cut some fiber while doing a building demolition.   This fiber is close to our datacenter so is affecting our providers.  We are escalating the ticket, but still have no ETR.

Update: 905pm.  – Everything has come back online. We still have not gotten a definitive answer as to the cause, but we are still going to be in contact with AT&T to try to get some answers.  We will continue to update as we get more information.

We didn’t really get any definitive answers from AT&T except that they indicated it was NOT a fiber cut, but rather equipment failure in the central office feeding our datacenter.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue, please contact us at support@internetpro.net or 256-547-6817.

We’re happy to release a new desktop sync client for our NetSol Cloud product.  This version is a real improvement and addresses several features such as conflict file creation and support for large files (over 512MB).  As always, the new clients can be download from our Desktop Sync Clients page.

Highlights of the changes in this version:

• Upload/Download of big files is now supported
• Upload/Download of files can be resumed   (Woohoo!)
• No more conflict files when a file is locked
• No more conflict files when a time stamps differ but content is identical
• Legitimate conflict files are only created on the client
• Proxy support has been significantly improved
• SOCKS5 support has been added
• Logging options have been improved

We recommend that everyone using the NetSol Cloud service sync client upgrade to this version as soon as possible.  If you need assistance or have questions please contact us at 256-547-6817 or email support@internetpro.net.

We have just completed updating the WordPress based sites which we host and maintain to the new 3.5.2 version.  This version is a maintenance release which fixes 12 bugs including 7 security fixes. It also introduces some security hardening.  The full WordPress announcement can be found here.  If you have a WordPress site, please check over it to insure proper functionality.

If you are not taking advantage of our managed updates of your WordPress based site, please contact us at support@internetpro.net so we can start handling updates for you to insure they are installed in a timely manner.

If you have any questions, or if you find an issue with your site, please contact us at support@internetpro.net  or call 256-547-6817.

We have released an update to our NetSol Cloud product.  This update is mostly bugfixes and security enhancements.  Below is a list of some of the improvements:

• Fix navigation hover effect
• Fix renaming of shared files
• Several layout fixes
• Dropbox mounting fixes
• Texteditor fixes
• Order images in Gallery
• Several performance improvements of file handling
• Internet Explorer fixes
• Trashbin fixes for Safari
• Several smaller fixrd
• Several security fixes

We have also updated the sync client with some minor bugfixes.  You can get the client on our Desktop Clients Page.  Below is a list of changes:

• Fixed wording in GUI
• Safer approach for detecting duplicate sync runs
• Better logging
• Several “behind the scenes” fixes

Update to the new desktop client is recommended if you are using it.   If you have any questions, please contact us at support@internetpro.net.

Update: 6/18/2014  – A regression has been found in this version.  It is no longer possible to change your account password.  We will be releasing a new version which will fix this bug shortly.  If  you need to change your password in the meantime, please contact our support personnel and we can do it for you manually.

We just applied a minor update to our webmail interface.  The new update includes several fixes and enhancements.

• Internet Explorer compatibility fixes
• Added separate From and To columns apart from smart From/To? column
• Add vCard import from multiple files at once
• Add mail attachments using drag & drop on HTML5 enabled browsers
• Added “Undeleted” option to messages list filter
• Add option to enable HTML editor on forwarding
• Add option to disable saving sent mail in Sent folder – no_save_sent_messages
• Add user settings to open message view and compose form in new windows
• Support contacts import from CSV file
• Add Compose button on message view page
• Display PGP/MIME signature attachments as “Digital Signature”
• Add search box to compose address book widget
• Many security fixes
• Many other usability fixes

If you have any questions or issues, please contact us at support@internetpro.net.

We are going to be implementing important upgrades on one of our NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems which handles some virtual machines.  This maintenance will be performed during our maintenance window of 12:00am – 3:00am on May 25, 2013.  During this time, some customer websites and hosted VPS (virtual private servers) will be unavailable.   We will be taking advantage of the downtime to implement updates requiring reboots such as kernel upgrades.

These upgrades will significantly increase disk speed on virtual machines, and will also improve reliability of the system.

If there are any questions regarding this maintenance, please contact us at support@internetpro.net or call 256-547-6817.\

Update: This maintenance has been completed ahead of schedule.  All customer services are functioning nominally.

We just finished getting the newest edition to our fleet wrapped and ready to go!   It is a new Fiat 500 and we think it adds a new and distinct look to our fleet.  We designed the wrap to look much like our current Ford Transit  Connect vans.  Much of the time, our technicians don’t need a full van to bring the equipment they need onsite, so the smaller car gives us the option of improved gas mileage and efficiency to help reduce our costs which help us keep down our customers’ costs.

So, keep an eye out for us on the road and keep us in mind for all of your computer needs!

Comcast has a node outage in downtown Gadsden.  The outage is affecting about 300-500 of their customers. It is also affecting our phone system so our support lines are down.  However, our failover system is still functional so messages left on the system will receive be received by our technicians. As of 3:30pm Comcast’s estimated  time to repair (ETR) is 7:00pm.

We will continue to post updates online here as we receive them. Our support staff can also be reached by emailing us at support@internetpro.net.

UPDATE May 12, 2013 4:00PM – The issue seems to have been resolved for now. We will post additional updates as we receive them from Comcast

We have had several questions about an increase in spam in customer’s mailboxes.   There has been a LARGE increase in spam messages on the internet lately.  According to Cisco, the average daily volume of spam in January 2013 was 77.4 billion messages.  As of yesterday, the volume was 165.6 billion messages.  Spam now constitutes 86.7% of all email sent on the internet.

Although our spam tagging system is in great working order, the fact is that a certain percentage of spam does get through.  This is unfortunately an issue that is difficult to change because the more strict we make the filters, the more likely it will be that we will catch legitimate email (false positives).   We believe that we have a good balance of blocked, tagged, and delivered email now.  We are blocking or tagging about 98% of the email that comes into our system.   However, if the volume coming into the system doubles, so will the number of spams that get through.

We take spam very seriously and do our best to limit our customer’s exposure to it.  We just wanted to update you on the current state of spam delivery and blocking.  We hope that you can understand that no email system (at least as currently designed) can block 100% of spam with 100% accuracy, but we do our best to get as close to that goal as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at support@internetpro.net.