BT network still in the mire

Users of BT's email services are still suffering disruption two days after Tuesday's disastrous network failure.

According to the customer helpline at BT Connect, mail servers are still groaning under two days' worth of undelivered mail.

One silicon.com reader wrote: "The worst part was that emails were not being queued for later delivery - they were returned as undeliverable - and I have the documents to prove it.

"Businesses like mine can have no idea how many emails they have lost and indeed how many customers who might not try to send mail again."

The days of network chaos have provoked an unprecedented response from silicon.com readers - who have been unable to work while the crisis goes on - losing money and irritating clients.

The details of Tuesday's farrago are emerging slowly. It appears that the network initially went down shortly before 10:00. By 12:25, BT claimed that the network was back up, but was still afflicted with some 'residual problems'.

BT's supplier, Cisco, then suggested a software upgrade to sort out those problems. But it didn't produce the necessary results, and had to be reverted, all of which kept the network out of action until 18:35.

BT's press office told us that the network was "stabilised" by 18.35, whatever stabilised means. We're not sure.

An email sent by BT to ISPs obtained by silicon.com told a different story: "[The removal of the upgrade] was completed by 18.35 and the service to customers began to return to normal. By 22:00 the network had been stabilised."