Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Admin on 19 January 2007, 23:27:52
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Well I have had enough with that bunch of drop kicks known as Orange! >:(
Had a problem for weeks where the exchange is clearly being overloaded causing my connection to drop out.
Had enough of excuses and then lies! Getting my migration code and off to try and find a comapny that can actually provide the service it claims!
Now I would like to know if someone can say something nice aout their ISP?
Note i am on a BT line and intend to stay on it.
Thanks :)
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Himself seems happy with Virgin.
Me...Im on ntl so service is either brilliant or non-existant depending on sunspot activity or the price of cheese
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I'm very happy with Madasafish. Up to 8Mb (my exchange can't manage that, though), free install & router, all for £11.99pm. Their customer service was very good when I started out with them about a year ago...haven't needed to contact them much since, which is good in itself. :y
Here's the link:
http://www.madasafish.com/
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I have to say my investigating is showing Zen internet to be very highly rated.
Pay a bit more (not a problem, cheapest is rarely a wise move), the package is good, and so it seems is the service :-/
Hardware is irrelevant as I have my own (Linksys) modem/wireless router.
Anyone on this?
Oh and also have to say I won't touch BT/AOL/Tiscali...
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I have to say my investigating is showing Zen internet to be very highly rated.
Pay a bit more (not a problem, cheapest is rarely a wise move), the package is good, and so it seems is the service :-/
Hardware is irrelevant as I have my own (Linksys) modem/wireless router.
Anyone on this?
Oh and also have to say I won't touch BT/AOL/Tiscali...
I used to be with AOL. Had a gutful of them! >:(
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I have a few customers on Zen, they are quite happy with it and when I called their support line I got through immediately and the person I spoke to was both in the UK and knowledgeable (which is a refreshing change...).
Only problem I ever had with them was one customer who also got the Router from them – they supplied a Draytek Vigor which was crap, but refused to admit there was anything wrong with it, finally on our advice the customer binned the Vigor and purchased a simple Dlink router which solved the problem – so not too brilliant service on this particular issue.
I am at home on HomeChoice – very very good reliability and good support – but for technical reasons I can’t recommend them to the general public (they provide a Managed service so you get a pre-configured router FOC – which is actually theirs so if it goes pop at any time they send an engineer out to sort it – but most home users will prefer to configure their own routers)
At the office I am with Easynet, good Managed connection with great service but business-only so too expensive for home users.
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On another note, most random disconnection problems are down to wires, not ISP – either the wires within the premises or the local loop i.e. the copper pair running from the local BT exchange to the premises.
BT have problems with rodents, floods, etc, and some lines are just better than others. If this is the case, then changing ISP will not help because they all rely on the same BT local loop.
Even unbundled line (LLU) ISPs will not help because LLU is only up to the exchange, the copper to the premises is still run by BT. The only real solution to these type of problem is to use different carrier altogether – e.g. cable (NTL, Telliwest, etc – or Wimax if you live in Milton Keynes …).
But it’s worth changing the ISP just to see if the problem is indeed wire-related.
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I would agree that there is a real likliehood that it could be a "wiring" problem.
At least with another company (and Zen having UK customer service is a real bonus!) I may have a chance of actually gettig an engineer out!
Thanks for the comments :)
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I have to say my investigating is showing Zen internet to be very highly rated.
Pay a bit more (not a problem, cheapest is rarely a wise move), the package is good, and so it seems is the service :-/
Hardware is irrelevant as I have my own (Linksys) modem/wireless router.
Anyone on this?
Errr, this forum.... ;)
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Himself seems happy with Virgin.
Me...Im on ntl so service is either brilliant or non-existant depending on sunspot activity or the price of cheese
NTL/Telewest are going to implement traffic shaping soon.
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I would agree that there is a real likliehood that it could be a "wiring" problem.
At least with another company (and Zen having UK customer service is a real bonus!) I may have a chance of actually gettig an engineer out!
Thanks for the comments :)
Downsides of Zen is that their support is not 24/7. Also the freebie website and email ain't the best feature wise....
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I would agree that there is a real likliehood that it could be a "wiring" problem.
At least with another company (and Zen having UK customer service is a real bonus!) I may have a chance of actually gettig an engineer out!
Thanks for the comments :)
I've binned AOL and switched to Virgin. It's ok as long as you avoid 4-8pm when it disconnects all the time. Had some flooding lately and lost use all day, but now it seems better than ever, so maybe they've replaced some wiring between me and the exchange?
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I would agree that there is a real likliehood that it could be a "wiring" problem.
At least with another company (and Zen having UK customer service is a real bonus!) I may have a chance of actually gettig an engineer out!
Thanks for the comments :)
I've binned AOL and switched to Virgin. It's ok as long as you avoid 4-8pm when it disconnects all the time. Had some flooding lately and lost use all day, but now it seems better than ever, so maybe they've replaced some wiring between me and the exchange?
disconnects are nothing to do with isp, that is purely Openreach.
Exchange contention may or may not be isp problem depending on product bought from Openreach
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Himself seems happy with Virgin.
Me...Im on ntl so service is either brilliant or non-existant depending on sunspot activity or the price of cheese
NTL/Telewest are going to implement traffic shaping soon.
I left a download going at Uni thats around 8.7 Gb ::)
Telewest have been good, its a reliable service. With good speeds, just get your self a decent router.
Btw NTL / Telewest are going to be re-branded Virgin Media this year i belive.... since Richard Branson owns around 90% of the stocks!
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I have to say my investigating is showing Zen internet to be very highly rated.
Pay a bit more (not a problem, cheapest is rarely a wise move), the package is good, and so it seems is the service :-/
Hardware is irrelevant as I have my own (Linksys) modem/wireless router.
Anyone on this?
Errr, this forum.... ;)
Good enough for me! :D
Yours is the one view I was really waiting for Jaime (no disrespect to the rest of you guys! :-[)
Right, will be switching to them post haste.
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It would have to be Telewest/NTL for me. I was with them for 4 years and had not 1 single problem. I have now moved to a non cable area and have tried Bt and talk talk, both of which are rubbish. Cable is so much more efficient than ADSL. Also most ADSL ISP's use port managing (as they call it) to restrict the use of P2P clients. Cable is the only pure unrestricted service. Also with Telewest and NTL certain modems are tweakable ;) For example you can pay the minimum 2MB service and tweak a modem to obtain 10MB at no extra cost.
I must say that this practice is illegal and is not recommended.
Cable technology as a whole is more advance and has more capabilities than ADSL. The modems can carry upto 32 users without having to invest in routers or hubs (wired networks only).
Also their TV and Phone packages are great. I used to pay £30 per month for TV, Phone and broadband, I now pay £60+ for BT and Sky.
Telewest win my vote everytime.
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I am with Nildram - again not the cheapest but NEVER had an issue with the service. Always rock steady.
As others have said, Zen are high regarded, but I have no direct experience with them.
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You can compare different service providers here
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html
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Also most ADSL ISP's use port managing (as they call it) to restrict the use of P2P clients. Cable is the only pure unrestricted service.
NTL:Telewest are trialling traffic shaping as we speak...
Several DSL providers, Zen included, do not use traffic shaping.
NTL:Telewest make extensive use of transparent proxies.
Virtually no DSL providers use proxies.
Therefore, DSL is closest to providing pure unrestricted service...
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been on aol (weird isp), ntl (not too bad connection but company bloody useless), virgin (good site good service) currently taking advantage of bt home hub bb.
i think isps vary on where you live and how far you are away from exchanges etc- i was told up to 8 mb bb but can only get max 1.6mb. tone.
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Zen here (and a draytek router) very happy
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You should know, all these ISP's use the same BT exchanges. If you are a fair distance from it, you will suffer from an unreliable and slower connection than most others. This is thanks to LLU (or local loop unbundling) which has opened a bandwagon that every company and their dogs are jumping on to. So no matter what ADSL provider you go with, in general you will get the same or similar service. The only difference being the customer support. Also remember this service is running through very old cabling in some areas, and old exchanges.
In short, ADSL is the worst of the 2 types of broadband available. If you want a broadband service AS ADVERTISED, you will need to go with ntl or Telewest (which are now the same company). They use cable/DOCSIS for their broadband services, and you will recieve the full line speed and reliability no matter where you are. Although it does mean uprooting driveways and drilling holes through houses to get it installed if you haven't got a hook up point already.
I have missed ntl and my 10mb connection from the day I moved out of my old flat. ADSL just isnt the same experience in any way shape or form. I have 8mb ADSL with virgin at the moment and hate it. Never get near 8mb - and I'm close to the ancient exchange we have in my town as I live in the town centre.
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You should know, all these ISP's use the same BT exchanges. If you are a fair distance from it, you will suffer from an unreliable and slower connection than most others. This is thanks to LLU (or local loop unbundling) which has opened a bandwagon that every company and their dogs are jumping on to. So no matter what ADSL provider you go with, in general you will get the same or similar service. The only difference being the customer support. Also remember this service is running through very old cabling in some areas, and old exchanges.
In short, ADSL is the worst of the 2 types of broadband available. If you want a broadband service AS ADVERTISED, you will need to go with ntl or Telewest (which are now the same company). They use cable/DOCSIS for their broadband services, and you will recieve the full line speed and reliability no matter where you are. Although it does mean uprooting driveways and drilling holes through houses to get it installed if you haven't got a hook up point already.
I have missed ntl and my 10mb connection from the day I moved out of my old flat. ADSL just isnt the same experience in any way shape or form. I have 8mb ADSL with virgin at the moment and hate it. Never get near 8mb - and I'm close to the ancient exchange we have in my town as I live in the town centre.
I do not completely agree. No ADSL service is advertised as 8Mb - those that tried it got slammed by ASA. So nobody is going to expect 8Mb (actually, maximum is around 7Mb).
I wonder whats wrong with your line (or ISP) if you get a poor sync rate (do you get poor sync?) - I am 3.5km line length from my exchange (about 2.5km road length), and sync at 6.3Mb normally. BRAS puts this as max 5.5Mb. Peak time performance isn't great (around 2Mbps download), but faster off peak. Although exchange congestion does exist in some places, its usually the loading on the Centrals that give the problem, and this is down to ISP...
As to quality of BT lines, well, ntl:Telewest ain't much better. An awful lot is still analogue, so knackered before start. Those lucky enough to be on digital can expect some real pain as traffic shaping is coming to cable. Traffic shaping a fast line is far worse than using a stable slower line. Traffic shaping was what effectively killed Plusnet (and made them ripe for takeover - which I believe BT have now/nearly completed).
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Also, I should state my Zen line - a legacy 2Mb line - will d/l solid all day at 230k/s, and has an amazing uptime of nearly 200 days... ...and hosts this forum...
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Also most ADSL ISP's use port managing (as they call it) to restrict the use of P2P clients. Cable is the only pure unrestricted service.
NTL:Telewest are trialling traffic shaping as we speak...
Several DSL providers, Zen included, do not use traffic shaping.
NTL:Telewest make extensive use of transparent proxies.
Virtually no DSL providers use proxies.
Therefore, DSL is closest to providing pure unrestricted service...
I have unlimited on tiscali.....however its subject to 'fair usage' policy.
They monitor your downloading......however ive never had a whinge from them even tho i use p2p.....but i dont abuse it.....this weekend ive been downloading about 20G but then i probably wont again for a month or so...
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Actually, it raises some interesting points...
I cannot think of a (legal) reason (currently) why a consumer would need more than a (unshaped/unmolested) 1 or 2Mb line. Theres not going to be much data transfer, gaming doesn't need huge bandwidth (but needs to be unshaped), VoIP similar.
The only thing I can think of is upcoming IPTV, though my understanding of many of the proposed services is similar to the new TopupTV - ie, not real time, but saved ready for later viewing...
Businesses are a different kettle of fish, but they are in the realms of SDSL/Leased lines...
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Also most ADSL ISP's use port managing (as they call it) to restrict the use of P2P clients. Cable is the only pure unrestricted service.
NTL:Telewest are trialling traffic shaping as we speak...
Several DSL providers, Zen included, do not use traffic shaping.
NTL:Telewest make extensive use of transparent proxies.
Virtually no DSL providers use proxies.
Therefore, DSL is closest to providing pure unrestricted service...
I have unlimited on tiscali.....however its subject to 'fair usage' policy.
They monitor your downloading......however ive never had a whinge from them even tho i use p2p.....but i dont abuse it.....this weekend ive been downloading about 20G but then i probably wont again for a month or so...
Its the piss takers that have ruined broadband, not just DSL but also cable. No wholesale provider, or ISP can swallow the costs of people who think it is their God given right to max out their lines 24/7 and download 400Gb per month (thats a maxed out 2Mb line)...
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My legacy Zen line is currently truely unlimited, always has been. No FUP etc. Although, even Zen are putting 100Gb download (not inc uploading) limit on me in March...
That suits me - I'd rather have a cap (I'll never hit 100Gb) than a shaped line...
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Sounds similar to my problems with Pipex Business Broad Band. Was thinking about BT Business.
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Traffic shaping/throttling seems very unpleasant!
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Have good experiences with BT/NTL i think BT just edge it though
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Traffic shaping/throttling seems very unpleasant!
It is. Plusnet got it all horribly wrong (as they do most things) and pretty much killed the company...
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I was with Pipex for years & they are very reliable but a little more expensive.
Just gone with Sky & had no problems with the line but the router froze up a couple of weeks ago, had to switch everything off for a few mins & all OK again.
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You should know, all these ISP's use the same BT exchanges. If you are a fair distance from it, you will suffer from an unreliable and slower connection than most others. This is thanks to LLU (or local loop unbundling) which has opened a bandwagon that every company and their dogs are jumping on to. So no matter what ADSL provider you go with, in general you will get the same or similar service. The only difference being the customer support. Also remember this service is running through very old cabling in some areas, and old exchanges.
In short, ADSL is the worst of the 2 types of broadband available. If you want a broadband service AS ADVERTISED, you will need to go with ntl or Telewest (which are now the same company). They use cable/DOCSIS for their broadband services, and you will recieve the full line speed and reliability no matter where you are. Although it does mean uprooting driveways and drilling holes through houses to get it installed if you haven't got a hook up point already.
I have missed ntl and my 10mb connection from the day I moved out of my old flat. ADSL just isnt the same experience in any way shape or form. I have 8mb ADSL with virgin at the moment and hate it. Never get near 8mb - and I'm close to the ancient exchange we have in my town as I live in the town centre.
I do not completely agree. No ADSL service is advertised as 8Mb - those that tried it got slammed by ASA. So nobody is going to expect 8Mb (actually, maximum is around 7Mb).
I wonder whats wrong with your line (or ISP) if you get a poor sync rate (do you get poor sync?) - I am 3.5km line length from my exchange (about 2.5km road length), and sync at 6.3Mb normally. BRAS puts this as max 5.5Mb. Peak time performance isn't great (around 2Mbps download), but faster off peak. Although exchange congestion does exist in some places, its usually the loading on the Centrals that give the problem, and this is down to ISP...
As to quality of BT lines, well, ntl:Telewest ain't much better. An awful lot is still analogue, so knackered before start. Those lucky enough to be on digital can expect some real pain as traffic shaping is coming to cable. Traffic shaping a fast line is far worse than using a stable slower line. Traffic shaping was what effectively killed Plusnet (and made them ripe for takeover - which I believe BT have now/nearly completed).
My gripe is this:
I pay £24.99 per month for an "UP TO 8MBPS" connection with Virgin ADSL.
I used to pay £34.99 per month for a constant true 10Mbps with NTL. Analogue or not, it was a shit load faster.
The latter of which never dropped out, never slowed down during peak times, always got a download speed of 1.15MBps (thats megabytes, not bits). My ADSL connection syncs at around 5-6Mbps, but I rarely see speeds like that unless on P2P networks. And peak times the sync speed drops to about 0.5-1Mbps. I'm seriously not happy with ADSL, and I'm desperate to get my 10Mb download speeds back again. When NTL upgrade to DOCSIS 3, and upgrade the remainder of the lines to digital (my area is all upgraded anyway) then they'll be doing 100mb connections - according to a press release on adslguide (ironically!).
I use my connection for a lot of downloading, and got spoiled by 10meg. I dislike all this waiting malarky i get on ADSL. And I can only play games at off peak times. The latency jumps up to about 200-300ms on peak, which is appauling. I've had quicker 56k dial up (no joke).
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You obviously have a poor ISP if you are getting sub 1Mb speeds at peak times (unless your exchange is known to have congestion). Ironically enough, weren't Virgin bought by ntl:Telewest?
ntl:Telewest, as I have said a number of times now, are trialling traffic shaping, and intend to roll out nationally very soon. They cannot sustain the data throughput.
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Traffic shaping/throttling seems very unpleasant!
It is. Plusnet got it all horribly wrong (as they do most things) and pretty much killed the company...
I'am with PlusNet on AdslMax - get a tad over 6meg - then cable wise not near the exchange
Me pesonally had no problems
Now sold out to BT - Plusnet part of BT now
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Now sold out to BT - Plusnet part of BT now
Not yet, has to go through Monopolies early Feb (6th iirc)
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Well I got my migration code today, so off to a decent provider (Zen) I go. :)
Now, I am just hoping Orange try to argue with me and want payment for the remainder of the contract (10months) ;)
Breach of contract? Oh please... go on and try it! :)
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Well I got my migration code today, so off to a decent provider (Zen) I go. :)
Now, I am just hoping Orange try to argue with me and want payment for the remainder of the contract (10months) ;)
Breach of contract? Oh please... go on and try it! :)
Zen only do monthly, so if it doesn't work out for any reason, easy to leave...
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Traffic shaping/throttling seems very unpleasant!
It is. Plusnet got it all horribly wrong (as they do most things) and pretty much killed the company...
I'am with PlusNet on AdslMax - get a tad over 6meg - then cable wise not near the exchange
Me pesonally had no problems
Now sold out to BT - Plusnet part of BT now
And now the rumour on the street is that BT are looking to buy Tiscali UK for half a billion :-?
Can't see monopolies allowing that, seeing as Tiscali have the only real LLU setup...
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ntl:Telewest, as I have said a number of times now, are trialling traffic shaping, and intend to roll out nationally very soon. They cannot sustain the data throughput.
Sad to hear, but I somewhat expected that at some point. AFAIK they are upgrading their exchanges everywhere, but not fast enough! I'm very suprised they got even this far considering the amount of strife NTL have been through as a company. Havent they gone into administration once or twice already?
Im gonna be making more complaints to Virgin, but its annoying as they wont do anything unless I wire up the crappy USB modem they sent me with the starter pack. Which means I have to unplug the router and go into the smelly pub office and set it up on the crappy pub PC (my PC is quite a way from the telephone line due to where my room is). The pub PC is way out of date and has no internet protection... but I really dont care if it contracts about 20 viruses, since no one uses it except me for troubleshooting :P
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ntl:Telewest, as I have said a number of times now, are trialling traffic shaping, and intend to roll out nationally very soon. They cannot sustain the data throughput.
Sad to hear, but I somewhat expected that at some point. AFAIK they are upgrading their exchanges everywhere, but not fast enough! I'm very suprised they got even this far considering the amount of strife NTL have been through as a company. Havent they gone into administration once or twice already?
Im gonna be making more complaints to Virgin, but its annoying as they wont do anything unless I wire up the crappy USB modem they sent me with the starter pack. Which means I have to unplug the router and go into the smelly pub office and set it up on the crappy pub PC (my PC is quite a way from the telephone line due to where my room is). The pub PC is way out of date and has no internet protection... but I really dont care if it contracts about 20 viruses, since no one uses it except me for troubleshooting :P
Welcome to cheap, crap ISPs!
I had a problem with my brother Zen line back last year. Rang them up, answered straight away, explained the problem (to me it looked like a username password thing). Spent about 10mins troubleshooting on phone, going through router settings (they did not supply the router, and I told them it was an ebay special), though all settings correct. He put me on told for about 5 mins whilst he spoke to 3rd line, came back saying the packets they were seeing weren't right, and my router was giving incorrect responses. So I put another router on and it fired into life, so problem with my router. Thats the kind of service I like and are prepared to pay for... ...at least they diagnosed that it was my router, rather than the normal 'must be your hardware' routine, and all in 15mins...