TalkTalk, UK2 sitting in a tree, not T-A-L-K-I-N-G: Hosting biz cut off after ISP broadband upgrade

Updated ISP TalkTalk is no longer on speaking terms with Brit hosting provider UK2.net – as far as networking their customers over the internet is concerned.

A Register reader noted that things went south in the early hours of this morning, and a glance at UK2.net’s status page confirms subscribers of TalkTalk – the ISP that wears the “Worst Customer Service” crown – are unable to reach UK2's systems.

UK2.net, offloaded by Lloyds to The Hut Group last year, provides e-commerce site services as well as email and WordPress hosting. As such, having the four million or so customers from the UK’s 4th biggest ISP potentially unable to access its servers is not a great place to be.

The hosting company confirmed on its status page at 0922 UK time its techies were seeing a loss of connectivity, although no further details were publicly available by time of publication.

After spending 20 minutes listening to a rendition to the spring movement of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, The Register was able to speak to a charming fellow at UK2.net's tech support desk who confirmed that, yes, there was a glitch. He then stated the obvious: “It’s some sort of networking issue between our system and TalkTalk, we're not sure where the problem is.”

Did he have any idea of when there would more information? “This usually takes four or five hours and we'll get some kind of update at that point.”

After confirming that it was indeed only TalkTalk customers hit by the problem, the operative finished optimistically with: “I would be very surprised if it was for the rest of the day, but we don't know for sure right now.”

TalkTalk, which made some “routine updates” to some of its exchanges overnight, told El Reg it was aware of the downtime, and was working on it with UK2.net.

Have have some routine updates in some of our exchanges from 1AM to 6AM tomorrow morning, to make improvements to your service. During this time, there will be a loss of broadband, TV and phone services. More info and a list of exchanges can be found here: https://t.co/Thsln3xY8I

— TalkTalk (@TalkTalk) July 4, 2018

While we wait for more information, may we suggest a delicious chilled lunchtime beer – or at least a decent cup of tea – is in order for those affected. ®

Updated to add at 1740 UTC

UK2.net has said the loss of connectivity is not in any way its fault, and believes the problem lies at TalkTalk's end. As far as the hosting biz is concerned, TalkTalk upgraded part of its network, and accidentally cut off TalkTalk subscribers from UK2.net's public IP address range. At 5pm today, UK2.net updated its status page to read: