- Thread starter robgil
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FamilyWiggs
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The parish council down in Cardiff - also known as Welsh Assembly Government or WAG (recently rebranded as The Welsh Government).
Lou - how does one access the £1000; given it is my taxes they're shelling out I wouldn't mind a bit of it. Stuck wit a max 1mb connection, and seriously consiering the dish-based scheme just set up in my part of Flintshire for an 8mb connection.
Lou - how does one access the £1000; given it is my taxes they're shelling out I wouldn't mind a bit of it. Stuck wit a max 1mb connection, and seriously consiering the dish-based scheme just set up in my part of Flintshire for an 8mb connection.
Penners
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I thought only footballers had WAGs.
Flyfisher
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. . . with the emphasis on the 'A'.
Flyfisher
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Anyone TalkTalk might want to carefully check their bills:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14569918
More info about complaints to Ofcom: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13156156
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14569918
More info about complaints to Ofcom: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13156156
Penners
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Hmmm - I think I'd be "disappointed" to be fined £3m, too!
If you're in the sticks and your exchange hasn't been "unbundled" then you're basically choosing between ISPs reselling a BT wholesale connection product. Their terms and costs will vary from package to package but there will be a base speed they can't improve on and the caps and limits will be based around the BT wholesale costs.
Personally having worked in Internet Performance Monitoring for big web site owners for many years then the standard up to 8mbps products are all going to work faster than the websites they're connected to.
I've never had a capped connection but again unless you're watching/downloading hours of HD video a day I doubt you'll need to go higher than 10GB.
If you're a big file downloader then faster connections are great, but even to watch BBC iPlayer in HD you only need 3.5mbps.
================================================================
FWIW I've been with Virgin Media on ADSL (Broadband down your phoneline) since we moved here in 2006 and for about 5 more days.
I've for the last 6 weeks experienced significant drop outs then the connection would fail.
My router logs show the problem is in the authentication at Virgin/BT is not responding to my routers (PADI) requests when the connection is re-established.
The DSL light stays on but the connection is stalled. I have to power cycle the modem to make it work again - very dull.
Many conversations with Virgin tech support all ended with "you're not using our router so we can't/won't help" at the end of £££ calls to their 0845 number on their call plan! Virgin won't investigate their end and I got "ooo I like your technical words" when I explained the problem was with PPoE negotiation
So I asked for the magic MAC code to allow me to go elsewhere and miraculously got put through to retentions who offered to send a new router free of charge without a new contract commitment. We went on holiday, router never arrived so I rang yesterday and told them they'd lost my business forever.
I used this price comparison service http://www.guardiandigitalcomparison.co.uk/?INTCMP=SRCH
And chose the PlusNet Value with Evening and Weekend calls - the broadband element is capped at 10GB per month which is plenty unless you're a video fan and another 10GB is only £5 if I use it.
The broadband element is half price for 12 months (the full contract) at £3.24 through that site, total cost with line rental and the call plan is £19 compared with about £28 I was paying to BT + Virgin combined.
I'm getting a new router for £4.99 P+P in case it should turn out to be an incompatibility introduced at the exchange end (which some investigation suggested might be the case).
=============================================================
As for TalkTalk my parents used them - when they Unbundled their Local Loop (silently) it broke a modem connection used to update their Tivo TV recorder. After much sweat and aggravation Dad finally got them to convince them that they had materially changed their service making it unsuitable for his use (the Tivo and his fax machine) and were in breach of contract.
They moved to BT and then got chased for the remainder of the contract costs by a debt collector until the debt collector saw their BT bill for the same period on the same line and the correspondence and conceded that TalkTalk were chasing a non existent debt.
This "your modem won't work" presumably means "we can't remotely mess with your modem without your knowledge". If you didn't have this condition with your original contract (which is the only one binding you) then you should be entitled to terminate the contract and get a MAC code and go to choose another provider without honouring the rest of the contract.
I wouldn't use TalKTalk or Virgin again.
====================================================
I use a Yahoo! email account and haven't used an ISP specific one for 10 years - I trust Yahoo! to back up my email more often than I would
I looked into personal domains but never really found a strong case to use one YMMV.
Personally having worked in Internet Performance Monitoring for big web site owners for many years then the standard up to 8mbps products are all going to work faster than the websites they're connected to.
I've never had a capped connection but again unless you're watching/downloading hours of HD video a day I doubt you'll need to go higher than 10GB.
If you're a big file downloader then faster connections are great, but even to watch BBC iPlayer in HD you only need 3.5mbps.
================================================================
FWIW I've been with Virgin Media on ADSL (Broadband down your phoneline) since we moved here in 2006 and for about 5 more days.
I've for the last 6 weeks experienced significant drop outs then the connection would fail.
My router logs show the problem is in the authentication at Virgin/BT is not responding to my routers (PADI) requests when the connection is re-established.
The DSL light stays on but the connection is stalled. I have to power cycle the modem to make it work again - very dull.
Many conversations with Virgin tech support all ended with "you're not using our router so we can't/won't help" at the end of £££ calls to their 0845 number on their call plan! Virgin won't investigate their end and I got "ooo I like your technical words" when I explained the problem was with PPoE negotiation
So I asked for the magic MAC code to allow me to go elsewhere and miraculously got put through to retentions who offered to send a new router free of charge without a new contract commitment. We went on holiday, router never arrived so I rang yesterday and told them they'd lost my business forever.
I used this price comparison service http://www.guardiandigitalcomparison.co.uk/?INTCMP=SRCH
And chose the PlusNet Value with Evening and Weekend calls - the broadband element is capped at 10GB per month which is plenty unless you're a video fan and another 10GB is only £5 if I use it.
The broadband element is half price for 12 months (the full contract) at £3.24 through that site, total cost with line rental and the call plan is £19 compared with about £28 I was paying to BT + Virgin combined.
I'm getting a new router for £4.99 P+P in case it should turn out to be an incompatibility introduced at the exchange end (which some investigation suggested might be the case).
=============================================================
As for TalkTalk my parents used them - when they Unbundled their Local Loop (silently) it broke a modem connection used to update their Tivo TV recorder. After much sweat and aggravation Dad finally got them to convince them that they had materially changed their service making it unsuitable for his use (the Tivo and his fax machine) and were in breach of contract.
They moved to BT and then got chased for the remainder of the contract costs by a debt collector until the debt collector saw their BT bill for the same period on the same line and the correspondence and conceded that TalkTalk were chasing a non existent debt.
This "your modem won't work" presumably means "we can't remotely mess with your modem without your knowledge". If you didn't have this condition with your original contract (which is the only one binding you) then you should be entitled to terminate the contract and get a MAC code and go to choose another provider without honouring the rest of the contract.
I wouldn't use TalKTalk or Virgin again.
====================================================
I use a Yahoo! email account and haven't used an ISP specific one for 10 years - I trust Yahoo! to back up my email more often than I would
I looked into personal domains but never really found a strong case to use one YMMV.
Keithj
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I agree with AMc. My experience is through sorting out friends (particularly churchwardens) who have been having problems. Avoid Virgin and TalkTalk if you possibly can.
Unless you are in a town or your exchange happens to have LLU, you're using BT kit regardless. It then comes down to how good your particular ISP is at getting BT (and Openreach, which is a different fish) to sort problems. PlusNet don't do badly. Andrews & Arnold are excellent - but you do pay more for their service.
The best source I know for impartial information about the different providers is this one.
Unless you are in a town or your exchange happens to have LLU, you're using BT kit regardless. It then comes down to how good your particular ISP is at getting BT (and Openreach, which is a different fish) to sort problems. PlusNet don't do badly. Andrews & Arnold are excellent - but you do pay more for their service.
The best source I know for impartial information about the different providers is this one.
Lime
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Keithj said:
Probably because PlusNet are owned by BT.
I am happy with my 60 GB limit PlusNet package too although I was VERY unhappy to discover who owned them.
Sky have useless customer relations. I hate them and will never deal with them again. All they want is more and more of your money. (very like BT)
Virgin lost my custom many years ago because the old Cable and Wireless service wasn't upgraded until recently.
Penners
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AMc, that's exactly the situation where we are - no unbundled local loop. How does one get that changed? If I understand it correctly, it's a monopoly situation, so how can it be allowed to persist?AMc said:
We can't get any of the really good deals that are offered by people like O2, Sky and so on, because of our non-ULL status.
The whole LLU process was very controversial when it was initially proposed but surprisingly has worked quite well for the consumer.
Initially BT dragged their heels and claimed that virtually no exchanges had spare space for 3rd party equipment and made it tortuous for a 3rd party to get access, install their backbone connections etc.
Eventually OFCOM (or might even have been OFTEL) got seriously on the case and threatened them with proposing a break up of the retail arm and the infrastructure to create a competitive retail market.
At that point BT made some aggressive cuts in their wholesale pricing, opened a number of exchanges and began separating into BT and Openreach (network).
I doubt that BT Openreach are blocking many exchanges being unbundled any more but the providers like O2 & Sky aren't likely to invest in infrastructure and installation for a percentage of a few hundred lines when realistically the speed limits on those connections will come from the long rural copper lines.
I suspect that the ultra cheap LLU bundled services are cheap because of economies in scale at the high density exchanges rather than simply cutting BT from the loop (pun intended). If you look at the recent news about the Highlands and Islands project you can see there is massive infrastructure investment in bringing any service at all to more distant communities and you're never going to recoup that investment with a £5 a month unlimited 20Gb connection.
I feel a bit foolish for waiting this long to review my phone and broadband - I've basically been paying over a £120 year more than I needed to simply because nothing had gone wrong. I might have felt that was worth while if I hadn't had such a shoddy experience when I needed help.
I reckon the deal I've just bought for £19 a month for broadband as fast as it goes here (about 6mbps) "free" evening and weekends calls and free technical support represents very good value for money.
You can get an interesting view on how European and UK broadband has been regulated into a much more competitive market than the USA here
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/why-is-european-broadband-faster-and-cheaper-blame-the-governme/
Initially BT dragged their heels and claimed that virtually no exchanges had spare space for 3rd party equipment and made it tortuous for a 3rd party to get access, install their backbone connections etc.
Eventually OFCOM (or might even have been OFTEL) got seriously on the case and threatened them with proposing a break up of the retail arm and the infrastructure to create a competitive retail market.
At that point BT made some aggressive cuts in their wholesale pricing, opened a number of exchanges and began separating into BT and Openreach (network).
I doubt that BT Openreach are blocking many exchanges being unbundled any more but the providers like O2 & Sky aren't likely to invest in infrastructure and installation for a percentage of a few hundred lines when realistically the speed limits on those connections will come from the long rural copper lines.
I suspect that the ultra cheap LLU bundled services are cheap because of economies in scale at the high density exchanges rather than simply cutting BT from the loop (pun intended). If you look at the recent news about the Highlands and Islands project you can see there is massive infrastructure investment in bringing any service at all to more distant communities and you're never going to recoup that investment with a £5 a month unlimited 20Gb connection.
I feel a bit foolish for waiting this long to review my phone and broadband - I've basically been paying over a £120 year more than I needed to simply because nothing had gone wrong. I might have felt that was worth while if I hadn't had such a shoddy experience when I needed help.
I reckon the deal I've just bought for £19 a month for broadband as fast as it goes here (about 6mbps) "free" evening and weekends calls and free technical support represents very good value for money.
You can get an interesting view on how European and UK broadband has been regulated into a much more competitive market than the USA here
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/why-is-european-broadband-faster-and-cheaper-blame-the-governme/
BT are forced by OFCOM to charge more in exchanges with no competition. The idea is that it makes it more attractive to other companies to put their kit in the exchange. Where there are other companies, they are allowed to charge less.Penners said:
This has probably helped get competition into exchanges that are marginal viable but it hasn't helped at all in those that are even less viable and has kept the prices high there also.
Your solution Penners, is to either move to an area with an exchange that is more popular or get your MP to subsidise your exchange even further (Suffolk is receiving £11M in help to upgrade which is more than most)
Penners
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Thanks for that information, AMc. I shall cross my fingers for my share of that £11m*!
*More in hope than expectation.
*More in hope than expectation.
By way of counter point - because BT are able to charge more where there is no competition in the exchange I think it probably helped to improve the overall spread of ADSL (512kbps) and then ADSL Max (upto 8mbps) because they knew they could recoup the cost of the hardware upgrades as the unbundling was unlikely to be profitable in the lifetime of the equipment. If BT were forced to charge a lowest common denominator price everywhere then some exchanges wouldn't have any broadband at all as the cost of the equipment and installation would outweigh the revenue and no other competitor would make the investment in an exchange BT deemed as uneconomic.
Like the postal service I think near universal coverage with some service is worth a higher price then low cost service in densely populated areas and no service elsewhere. I think the price point for broadband is low enough now and despite being a heavy Internet user I don't see any compelling reason for faster services until it becomes a universal way to receive TV.
When ADSL broadband first became available in London it was £150 for the installation and £50 a month for up to 512kbps downstream.
I was on £15 a month for unmetered dial up with BT (with 60min cut offs) and even as a home working web designer I couldn't justify the cost. I'm now paying less than a quarter of that for a massively faster connection.
Here is a story of one man's lone battle to get any broadband at all which makes for entertaining reading.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/03/not_spot_diary/
Like the postal service I think near universal coverage with some service is worth a higher price then low cost service in densely populated areas and no service elsewhere. I think the price point for broadband is low enough now and despite being a heavy Internet user I don't see any compelling reason for faster services until it becomes a universal way to receive TV.
When ADSL broadband first became available in London it was £150 for the installation and £50 a month for up to 512kbps downstream.
I was on £15 a month for unmetered dial up with BT (with 60min cut offs) and even as a home working web designer I couldn't justify the cost. I'm now paying less than a quarter of that for a massively faster connection.
Here is a story of one man's lone battle to get any broadband at all which makes for entertaining reading.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/03/not_spot_diary/
What hardware upgrades? My understand is that all of the 512kbps kit was capable of 8Mb when installed. It was artificially limited to 512kbps in firmware so that it was more likely to work initially and then kept that way for marketing reasons and because of limitations in the back haul. To upgrade, all they had to do was change the firmware, likely remotely, at zero cost. The more recent kit is also capable of 24Mb bit but a lot (like my exchange) is kept at 8Mb. The LLU operators on the other hand went straight to 24Mb.AMc said:
Penners
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I could tell you all about that, if I weren't so reluctant to talk about it.MdB said:
I was manly referring to installing ADSL equipment at all in areas with small numbers of lines and long distances.MdB said:
Whenever we fiddled with our data centres remotely or by going to visit the major cost was always the engineers time rather than the hardware. I thought ADSL max was a hardware upgrade but I'm not a network or telecoms engineer so you may be right.