Freephoneline webpage not availble during internet outage

[Erft]

Yesterday Cogeco had a 20 hours-long system-wide outage that affected all service areas. As a result my VoIP phone was down. I went to a nearby unaffected wifi hub so I could go to freephoneline.ca to get my calls forwarded to my cell. I found that I couldn't do that because the freephoneline website remained uncontactable.

Was the freephoneline site down because of the Cogeco outage? Does Fongo/Freephoneline not have an alternative or a plan for when there are big outages like this?

Or was I simply unable to access the website because my freephoneline was down (which doesn't make any sense)?

Are there any options to simply waiting patiently, the next time?

Thanks.

[Liptonbrisk]

Was the freephoneline site down because of the Cogeco outage?

Next time try https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ and https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/freephoneline.ca.html

For what it's worth, https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/freephoneline.ca.html indicates the website wasn't down yesterday. History indicates the website hasn't been down for over a week. I'm not sure how reliable the website status history is.

Also, you can try the WinMTR test you did earlier (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20423&p=79990#p79968), except with http://www.freephoneline.ca instead to see where the problem occurs along the path between you and the webpage when the site becomes unreachable for you. Possibly, using a VPN service may have helped you to route around an affected hop, if one existed.


I was able to reach FPL's website yesterday. I don't know whether I tried during the Cogeco outage that affected you.


I don't notice anything mentioning the website having been down at https://status.fongo.com/

Services generally aren't responsible for anything other than ensuring a server is connected and online. Anything else is an ISP, DNS, or browser issue.

Does Fongo/Freephoneline not have an alternative

As far as I know the answer is no (I highly doubt it).

[Erft]

Thanks for the reply, Liptonbrisk.

I can't do a WinMTR test over my phone at the wifi hub (local supermarket). All I know is that I connected with wifi and was able to reach every website I tried, except for freephoneline.ca. Blank page with the message that I couldn't connect to the website, and to check the URL. I always have multiple tabs open on Chrome for Android, one of those being Freephoneline so I can forward of unforward calls if I've left home after forgetting to do so. At first I just tried to login with that tab and when I got the Can't Connect message, I tried on a new tab with the same result.

I called my ISP (Teksavvy, a Cogeco reseller) and verified that there were multiple reports of of Cogeco outages.

I admit I was pretty panicked (like most other people in the neighbourhood) and wasn't thinking clearly, or I would have tried checking for isitdownrightnow and similar sites.

[Liptonbrisk]

I can't do a WinMTR test over my phone at the wifi hub (local supermarket)

You can look for an Android app that runs traceroute (repeatedly or for x number of times), which would be the same thing as WinMTR.

I use PingPlotter on iOS, but that app doesn't exist on Android.

Plenty of Android apps offer traceroute functionality, such as Network Analyzer Pro. However, many apps may not offer the capacity to run traceroute in a loop. I don't believe Network Analyzer Pro does.
Anyway, that app and similar ones should be sufficient for at least running traceroute once on command (stop, then run traceroute again, and compare).

I'm sure something similar to WinMTR exists on Android.

[Erft]

I'd like to add an additional bit of information that the second Cogeco agent got back to me with today: A large part of my city's Cogeco service was out because of vandalism.
Since the first agent I spoke to said there were no outages listed for that time, I guess lack of service due to vandalism isn't reported the same way as service interruption for repairs etc???

I've looked at Network Analyzer Pro in the Google Play Store. Which aspects of the app am I most concerned with? If I know that, I will be better equipped to look at alternatives to that particular apps and find something I like more (or maybe not).

Thanks.

[Liptonbrisk]

Which aspects of the app am I most concerned with? If I know that, I will be better equipped to look at alternatives to that particular apps and find something I like more (or maybe not).

Traceroute

In the app, it’s called “route”.

WinMTR basically runs traceroute over and over again for whatever number of times the user specifies, pinging each hop along the path.

That’s essentially the same thing as pathping.
https://lazyadmin.nl/it/pathping-command/

I’m more interested in anything similar to pathping.

The problem with running traceroute once (which is what Net Analyzer Pro, PingTools, and other apps can do), is that a running traceroute once may not catch an intermittent issue.

PingPlotter app is effective for iOS. I’m not sure what an alternative app would be on Android, but it’s difficult for me to believe one doesn’t exist. I’m probably not looking hard enough.