For some, the loss of internet service is an inconvenience. For others, it means work almost stops.

“Our business is entirely internet-based,” Jennifer Palmer of Palmer and Sons said.

“So when the internet goes down we can’t do anything but manual work.”

That was the case for many local businesses when Mediacom experienced about a five-hour interruption in service in a three-state area.

Palmer said that without internet connection they can’t write estimates, can’t order parts or print things from their wireless printers.

“I had to put a sign up on my door that I can’t do any office work until Mediacom got the internet back up,” she said. “It’s just that detrimental to our business. The internet is such an important part of what we do. Now we will be behind one day.”

Many local restaurants and retailers posted signs announcing they could do business by cash or check only.

“Most of my transactions cannot be processed because most people don’t carry cash,” Jennifer Ambrester, owner of the Surly Mermaid, said.

“I had to let my employee go home because we haven’t had any customers. My food for the day will go to waste.”

For online students, internet service can literally mean pass or fail.

“It’s hard to deal with these kind of things as a college student,” Morgan Barlow, a marketing and public relations student at AUM, said.

Barlow said that there have been times when her internet service went out during a test or turning in an assignment.

“Especially when professors do not accept late work,” she said.

In her specific education field, Barlow said that she relies on the internet.

“It requires a lot of online research and article readings.”

For hospitals and those in the medical profession, it was hard to function Tuesday because most patient records are stored online.

Some records also were not accessible in the Covington County Courthouse.