Interesting that Charter apparently doesn't know why but ChinaTopix does.

http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/7791/20140824/charter-internet-outage-across-us-could-be-due-to-massive-dns-hacking.htm

Charter Internet Outage Across US Could be Due to Massive DNS Hacking

Charter Communications isn't giving a detailed explanation on what caused the widespread Internet outage that affected its subscribers across the U.S. but several customers are now pointing to a massive hacking of its DNS servers as a likely reason.

… Charter spokeswoman Kim Haas said they were aware of the Internet outage and were working round-the-clock to restore the service, but declined to give further details.

… Several Charter customers confirmed that shifting to the Google DNS restored their Internet connection, bolstering the suspicion floated by technical experts that Charter may be experiencing a massive DNS attack that could take some time to fix.

(Related) Interesting site.

http://downdetector.com/status/charter-communications

Downdetector.com

Think of it as a Cable TV company offering Cable TV without the TV – or the Cable. (and we wonder why students can't learn)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2463814,00.asp

Comcast Debuts 'Xfinity On Campus' for College Kids

… Comcast today announced a new service, dubbed "Xfinity On campus," which is pretty similar to a number of other "watch TV in college" models. In this case, the Wi-Fi-based TV setup allows students to log in to their campus networks, authenticate, and view approximately 80 live channels or so on tablets, laptops, and smartphones.

On-demand capabilities also allow students to tune in to a variety of other shows and movies. Those who temporarily find themselves off campus can use their university credentials to view programming via other websites or apps—like WatchESPN, for example.

… The catch? Since the service is "included with room and board" and designed for students with on-campus housing, those living off campus are out of luck.