To the extent that it is permitted. Connectivity on the Internet today is governed by a series of private contracts between large telcos. Routers will be configured in a manner consistent with these contracts. If an alternative path is available the routers will indeed use it.
To read more on how routers do this google BGP (Border Gateway Protocol). In this case a cable has been cut and routers are indeed sending traffic via alternative paths. Unfortunately those paths have limited capacity, hence the problems. Cheers, Rob On Fri, 2 Oct 2015, Roger Clarke wrote: > Cut submarine cable cripples Apple services for Telstra customers > Break in SEA-ME-WE cable [a week ago] behind slow speeds. > Allie Coyne > itNews > 2 Oct 2015, 10:35AM > http://www.itnews.com.au/news/cut-submarine-cable-cripples-apple-services-for-telstra-customers-410006 > > The Internet routes around broken links and congestion? > > _______________________________________________ Link mailing list Link@mailman.anu.edu.au http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
