New Mexico resident links internet outage to stray arrow in telecom equipment
Updated
Updated · thenerdstash.com · May 3
New Mexico resident links internet outage to stray arrow in telecom equipment
2 articles · Updated · thenerdstash.com · May 3
The resident said the outage began after a neighbour practising archery apparently missed, and later found an arrow lodged near a telecommunications box in an alleyway.
A Reddit post about the incident drew more than 3,000 upvotes and 200 comments, while the resident said CenturyLink's automated support made it hard to report the unusual suspected cause.
The resident, who uses DSL, said ageing local infrastructure means the arrow may not be solely responsible, but commenters also raised safety concerns about backyard archery in residential areas.
When a backyard hobby knocks a home offline, who should bear the cost of our aging infrastructure's vulnerability?
Can a single stray arrow expose the surprising fragility of our essential digital infrastructure?
If an arrow can disable the internet, does it reveal a deeper flaw in our automated customer support systems?