Goodbye Path Network!
It’s time to say goodbye to Path Network. Since June 2023, we have been using Path Network in our network for pre-filtering volume attacks, as well as for customers who requested Path-only filtering. With Path, we were able to significantly improve our network in the first few months. Many filtering problems were resolved by the pre-filtering, and we were able to easily withstand large attacks exceeding 1.6 Tbit/s. Our initial collaboration with Path was very pleasant and professional. We even developed a new dashboard for you, allowing you to set firewall rules or filters directly for your servers with the Path addon. However, it turned out that all that glitters is not gold; it was merely the surface that gradually wore off.
What happened?
The initial problems arose quite quickly; unfortunately, there were sporadic network outages with Path. While such issues can occur at any time regardless of redundancy, we could foresee them to some extent. After the first incidents, we had no major issues until December. In December, there was an increasing number of outages and significant packet losses. We often had to reroute traffic through our other upstream providers to avoid packet loss. This problem persisted until Path was shut down. Unfortunately, communication between Path and us also decreased significantly over the months. In cases where a quick solution was necessary, we had to wait a long time for a response, despite the response time being clearly defined in the SLA. Due to these problems and Path’s failure to meet the SLA, we requested compensation several times, as we naturally compensated you as well. Path provided compensation once in December, but subsequent compensation requests were ignored. At the beginning of the new year, Path changed its approach towards us, becoming less professional and more casual, failing to take our concerns seriously. Moreover, when asked about issues and actions taken to resolve them, only vague descriptions were provided, offering no real answers to our questions. Due to such incidents and Path’s publicly known financial troubles, we decided several weeks ago to remove Path from our network in the coming months and build a new solution. Fortunately, we have already begun implementing transitional solutions to be prepared. However, we did not expect Path to disappear from our network so suddenly; we anticipated its removal within the next 2 to 3 months.
What was the decisive factor?
We were directly connected to Path Network via the DE-CIX in Frankfurt since a GRE solution was not suitable for us. Unfortunately, Path ceased to be a DE-CIX member as of March 13, 2024. Path was shut down at the DE-CIX locations in Frankfurt, Dallas, Phoenix, and New York at 11:46 AM German time. We inquired with Path if any issues were known, as our BGP sessions were no longer possible, and there was no clear fault indication on the status page. Path responded that there were technical issues at the DE-CIX and immediately offered to create a GRE tunnel since the problem was expected to persist. We declined this offer as it was not a permanent solution for us and would incur additional costs, which Path historically did not compensate. We also requested more details, but there was no response for several hours. Path later informed us that there were negotiations between DE-CIX and Path due to what Path claimed were excessively high costs. When we asked why the DE-CIX uplink was down in this case, there was no response. Later that day, we learned through the DE-CIX member portal that Path was no longer listed as a member at the mentioned locations. We asked Path for a statement regarding this but did not receive a response. It became clear to us that Path had not been truthful with us before. The next day, we had several organizational phone calls and received firsthand information that such incidents do not happen during negotiations at DE-CIX and are observed for a long time before uplinks are shut down. We informed Path of this and asked for a statement again. Path then suggested that we were dissatisfied with a GRE solution and offered immediate termination. With this step, we parted ways with Path Network.
There are now publicly circulating reports that Path Network has outstanding invoices at the DE-CIX. We had suspected this based on our information. With this and previous findings, it was clear to us that we could no longer work with Path Network. We need a reliable and honest partner with whom we can collaborate. This was no longer the case with Path Network, which is why Path has not been present in our network since March 13 and will not return.
What happens now?
Since we have been planning a restructuring of our network regarding DDoS filtering for several weeks, we will continue these plans. Currently, our network is operating with our backup solutions, but we will make further changes as soon as possible to be prepared for the final network expansion. Unfortunately, we do not want to disclose too much information at the moment, but we can assure you that your satisfaction and protection against DDoS attacks remain important to us and will be further enhanced in the future.
All customers who have purchased the Path addon from us will be compensated accordingly, and the addon will be removed from our website. We apologize for the problems and this sudden change and hope for your understanding and support!
Thank you for your trust in us,
Your Unesty Team
