We suspect that Internet service providers are usually tightlipped about network outages and such, but we've had a first-hand experience with that in the past few days. Our Midwest contingent experienced numerous connectivity issues, and called Time Warner's Road Runner tech support. After a series of useless troubleshooting, they insisted the problem was ours, saying there was something wrong with one of the network interface cards on one of our PCs, even though none of our PCs on the network could connect to the Internet.

Mysteriously, the next day, after no modification whatsoever of our network equipment, the problem seemed to be fixed. This is the second time this has happened in the past week. So we put this question to you, readers: are ISPs such as Road Runner concealing problems with their networks, blaming it on the users' equipment, and then furtively attempting a fix later? Are they throttling your connection? Any insiders have info for us? Let's find the truth. Let us know in Tips. – Charlie White

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