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Multiple Apple Services Experiencing Widespread Outage [Updated]

Calm down people! Systems can go down sometimes. It happens. The world is not going to end if iCloud doesn't work for five minutes.

Geeesh
 
JimmyHook said:
There is no technical reason why an apple server issue would affect your ability to use your home wifi
Click to expand...

Oh good answer! Some folks automatically think there's a problem with their Apple device when in actuality it's something 3rd party.
 
eac25 said:
Not to bicker with Tier2@Apple, but a lot of Apple's servers don't reply to pings. I suggest the next time you deal with them ask them to supply you with an IP address (rather than a DNS name, which you already have, or a new DNS resolver) for the server and try to ping that IP directly. The primary reason I suggest this is that in the ping sample you gave above, gs.apple.com resolves to gs.apple.com.akadns.net. - which indicates the Akamai CDN, which would make it NOT Apple's server.

BTW, I'd also be curious about the DNS info they gave you...
Click to expand...

IP address for gs.apple.com is: 17.111.103.15

This is what I have been using for pinging in addition to gs.apple.com

DNS server is a combination. I am using Google + TWC: "8.8.8.8,209.18.47.61"

Apple specifically gave me the DNS for TWC to test it to rule out other variables. Like I said, using this I get 1/5 pings to complete, with one or the other, or without either I get 0/5 pings to complete.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
IP address for gs.apple.com is: 17.111.103.15

This is what I have been using for pinging in addition to gs.apple.com

DNS server is a combination. I am using Google + TWC: "8.8.8.8,209.18.47.61"

Apple specifically gave me the DNS for TWC to test it to rule out other variables. Like I said, using this I get 1/5 pings to complete, with one or the other, or without either I get 0/5 pings to complete.
Click to expand...

So you cannot ping 17.111.103.15 either, by address? I *can* ping that. If I ping gs.apple.com (by name) it continues to time out. Again, gs.apple.com is resolving to gs.apple.com.akadns.net at 17.171.36.30, which is a different address than the IP you gave (but the same as in the ping sample you supplied in an earlier post in this thread). Here's my terminal output:

$ ping 17.111.103.15
PING 17.111.103.15 (17.111.103.15): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 17.111.103.15: icmp_seq=0 ttl=46 time=87.699 ms
64 bytes from 17.111.103.15: icmp_seq=1 ttl=46 time=85.692 ms
64 bytes from 17.111.103.15: icmp_seq=2 ttl=46 time=94.841 ms
^C
--- 17.111.103.15 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 85.692/88.552/94.841/3.298 ms

$ ping gs.apple.com
PING gs.apple.com.akadns.net (17.171.36.30): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
^C
--- gs.apple.com.akadns.net ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss

I get the exact same results wired, wifi and LTE (on AT&T).
 
Mlrollin91 said:
IP address for gs.apple.com is: 17.111.103.15

This is what I have been using for pinging in addition to gs.apple.com

DNS server is a combination. I am using Google + TWC: "8.8.8.8,209.18.47.61"

Apple specifically gave me the DNS for TWC to test it to rule out other variables. Like I said, using this I get 1/5 pings to complete, with one or the other, or without either I get 0/5 pings to complete.
Click to expand...

Huh. Curious.

I pinged that server with comcast's dns servers, and it always times out. With Google's 8.8.8.8, it always returns reliably between 20-25 ms.

This seems to suggest a DNS problem somewhere between my comcast and this particular apple server, or apple is just blocking the comcast DNS but accepting the Google DNS.
 
eac25 said:
BTW - 17.111.103.15 does *not* serve a webpage on HTTP nor HTTPS in Safari. Clearly "gs.apple.com" and 17.111.103.15 are different things.
Click to expand...

I gave you the wrong IP address. Thats why you were getting a ping result back. Its really
17.151.36.30. I copied the wrong one. I have an email full of IP addresses from Apple.

Try pinging 17.151.36.30, should return timed out.
 
sessamoid said:
Huh. Curious.

I pinged that server with comcast's dns servers, and it always times out. With Google's 8.8.8.8, it always returns reliably between 20-25 ms.

This seems to suggest a DNS problem somewhere between my comcast and this particular apple server, or apple is just blocking the comcast DNS but accepting the Google DNS.
Click to expand...

It may be DNS, but I don't think so - Comcast and Google seem to be resolving to the same IP:

$ nslookup gs.apple.com
Server: 75.75.75.75
Address: 75.75.75.75#53

Non-authoritative answer:
gs.apple.com canonical name = gs.apple.com.akadns.net.
Name: gs.apple.com.akadns.net
Address: 17.171.36.30

$ nslookup gs.apple.com 8.8.8.8
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53

Non-authoritative answer:
gs.apple.com canonical name = gs.apple.com.akadns.net.
Name: gs.apple.com.akadns.net
Address: 17.171.36.30


Instead, what I think is happening is that the Akamai CDN is delivering differently depending on how you try to access it, and one (or more) of the real servers behind that virtual IP is behaving errantly. Just a suspicion...
 
Mlrollin91 said:
Can you download from Mac App Store/App Store/iTunes at normal download speeds via WiFi? Normal I mean in as fast as your ISP.

For the last 6 days, I have been experiencing 56K downloads on my 200Mbps connection, but everything else on the computer works perfectly at 200Mbps.
Click to expand...
I'm on the same boat. Time warner cable 200 down in LA area going at 56k speeds. If I use a VPN it works great or my cellular connection. Weird
 
Mlrollin91 said:
Can you download from Mac App Store/App Store/iTunes at normal download speeds via WiFi? Normal I mean in as fast as your ISP.

For the last 6 days, I have been experiencing 56K downloads on my 200Mbps connection, but everything else on the computer works perfectly at 200Mbps.
Click to expand...
Service is back, downloads as slow as they have been for the last few days. No fix.
 
eac25 said:
Okay - yet another IP address. Do you want to check that second octet again, just to be sure...?
Click to expand...
I am positive because its the same IP address you posted above. So you already have pinged it and it returned timed out.
 
iLoveMyApple said:
We just had a small earthquake here in Southern California. The end is near, but at least all of my Apple online services are working again. Lol. ;)
Click to expand...
The earthquake must have been lower than a mag 4.0, otherwise I would have received an email from the USGS. From my location in SoCal, I didn't feel it.
 
Fact, there is something screwed up for the last week- super slow App Store downloads on both my iOS devices, and slow iTunes Match downloads on my Mac. I am having this at 2x separate network locations. Both with time warner cable. In Los Angeles.

As User Mlrollin91 has discussed, this issue is happening to a lot of people.

Frustrating.
 
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R3k said:
Fact, there is something screwed up for the last week- super slow App Store downloads on both my iOS devices, and slow iTunes Match downloads on my Mac. I am having this at 2x separate network locations. Both with time warner cable. In Los Angeles.

As User Mlrollin91 has discussed, this issue is happening to a lot of people.

Frustrating.
Click to expand...
add me to the list. When I VPN to work I download fine. When I use my TWC connection it's super slow. I've tried changing DNS to google and open dns with no luck.
 
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Mlrollin91 said:
I am positive because its the same IP address you posted above. So you already have pinged it and it returned timed out.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but you're not being careful here. The address I've been reciting consistently is 17.171.36.30 but the address you just gave is 17.151.36.30 - the second octet differs between these two addresses. Just humor me and check that e-mail again...

I've tried pinging both 17.171.36.30 and 17.151.36.30 and both time out. I've also tried accessing both addresses with HTTP in Safari and they both return a page (a placeholder page, but a page nonetheless). My DNS resolves to the 17.171.36.30 address. What does your DNS resolve to?
 
R3k said:
Fact, there is something screwed up for the last week- super slow App Store downloads on both my iOS devices, and slow iTunes Match downloads on my Mac. I am having this at 2x separate network locations. Both with time warner cable. In Los Angeles.

As User Mlrollin91 has discussed, this issue is happening to a lot of people.

Frustrating.
Click to expand...
ejrizo said:
add me to the list. When I VPN to work I download fine. When I use my TWC connection it's super slow. I've tried changing DNS to google and open dns with no luck.
Click to expand...
I'm beginning to believe that the common denominator here is TWC and their connectivity to Akamai's CDN...
 
Last edited:
eac25 said:
I'm beginning to believe that the common denominator here is TWC and their connectivity to Akamai's CDN...
Click to expand...
It seems to be a common thread, not sure if 100% of users reporting this problem ar on TWC though.

I was reading somewhere that someone contacted Time Warner about it. They denied throttling anything, said the issue wasn't on their end and to contact apple.
 
eac25 said:
Sorry, but you're not being careful here. The address I've been reciting consistently is 17.171.36.30 but the address you just gave is 17.151.36.30 - the second octet differs between these two addresses. Just humor me and check that e-mail again...

I've tried pinging both 17.171.36.30 and 17.151.36.30 and both time out. I've also tried accessing both addresses with HTTP in Safari and they both return a page (a placeholder page, but a page nonetheless). My DNS resolves to the 17.171.36.30 address. What does your DNS resolve to?
Click to expand...

Both 17.171 and 17.151 are gs.apple.com - I just confirmed it with Tier 2. They both take you to the same placeholder website, meaning they both route you to the same server. I'm assuming if one is overloaded, but what do I know. My email does in fact say 151, but again they lead to the same spot.


eac25 said:
I'm beginning to believe that the common denominator here is TWC and their connectivity to Akamai's CDN...
Click to expand...

Thats what I thought too, but its not TWC. Same issue with Fios, Comcast and U-Verse. So that eliminates that variable.
 
R3k said:
It seems to be a common thread, not sure if 100% of users reporting this problem ar on TWC though.

I was reading somewhere that someone contacted Time Warner about it. They denied throttling anything, said the issue wasn't on their end and to contact apple.
Click to expand...
Yeah, and I trust *that* assessment (from TWC [or any other carrier, for that matter]).............not. Plus that's thirdhand info.

I agree that it may not be TWC-only, and it probably has nothing to do with throttling. My guess is that there's some bad IP routing somewhere in TWC's connectivity to Akamai, or at least for portions of it. Seems like it might be time to start breaking out traceroute... but until the IP address is 100% confirmed that may be pointless.
 
Check out the reply I got back from TWC

image.jpeg
 
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