Ive been with Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange way back since the freeserve package of a penny a minute.
As times changed I upgraded accordingly, now having the 8 meg Broadband unlimited package, This was done around two years ago as I wanted my wife to be able to go online with a wirelsee connection, whilst my home pc was still wired direct.
At first it was OK, basicly the same as the old broadband package, except that due to now having a router, I could no longer host a server for the online racing that I take part in, as I couldnt figure out how to set ports etc, still not a real problem.
However, for the last 12 months, or just under, when I go to race online, I find that what was once a great connection, has now turned into complete junk. At first the warp/lag was just noticable but as time has gone on, it has gotten so bad that I can now no-longer race due to the extremely poor and almost useless service. Infact it is so bad, I cannot view any You-tube videos or use basic games on sites like facebook as it is so slow.
I thought it was my internal phone lines, so spent a weekend ripping everything out and installing brand new, only to find I had the same problem.
When running speed test one afternoon after the new wiring installation I found that my connection was down slightly on the advertised 8 meg, the best I could raise was 6.75 download speed, which I thought was pretty dam good, BUT, when running the same test, in the evenings when I race, the results where complete pish!
Running the tests from 7.30 pm to 9.00 pm in the evenings, the best I could get was 3.65b download, but the main average was around the 1.79 download mark
Im tied into an 18 month contract, of which I have about 12/13 months left to run so would like to know where I stand.
Can I cancel my contract as I dont recive the 8 meg as advertised and at times have to endure a rather pathetic and lowly service of around 1.79, at the time I realy want to use the poxy thing, or would Orange consider uncapping my service?
As I said, Ive been with Orange in one form or another for years and this is a pretty poor service to give what I would consider a very loyal customer.
All broadband services are advertised as being upto a certain speed, your distance from the exchange will affect what your maximum speed is, amongst other factors, even the weather!
On an ADSL connection you are pretty much gauranteed to suffer at peak times, which explains why you are seeing drops in speed. It's to be expected on a legacy network really. After all you are relying on a 50+ year old bunch of copper wires to deliver the internet to your doorstep, hardly cutting edge...
...Try Virgin Media if you're after a reliable connection.
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Download Speed
4506 Kbps
0 Kbps 7150 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed
Download speedachieved during the test was - 4506 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :8096 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 7000 Kbps
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Download Speed
4506 Kbps
0 Kbps 7150 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed
Download speedachieved during the test was - 4506 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :8096 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 7000 Kbps
Yes that confirms your IP Profile matches your sync speed but that congestion at the exchange or "controlled manipulation" by Orange is restricting your throughput speed.
If you can email your landline number/broadband account number and best contact number to customer.services@orange.co.uk, I'll give you a ring to discuss.
So I can pick up your mail quickly, please add 'Jonathan Orange Response' in the first line.
Well Orange emailed back and asked me to run and record BT speed test results at Three different periods of the day, morning, mid day and evenings, as well as supplying my router stats, which I did.
Their reply was that it was due to a capacity problem at the local exchange.
I then emailed back and asked what the next course of action would be, I.E contact BT and the responce was
"Unfortunately the issue is related to capacity at the exchange. Our system checks indicate that the performance problem is not in BT's network or the EU LAN/PC(your equipment). The issue is probably caused by congestion on the internet. What this means is that a high number of users are logging on to the BT exchange in your area. Unfortunately contacting BT wont resolve anything. We apolgise for any inconvienience caused."
Is it just me or does that basicly sum up a " Tough Sh#t!" responce?
Congestion occurs at peak times....say, 5pm to 11pm. Outside those approx. hours you shouldn't notice any effect.
So what did the <a href="http://btbb.at/theside?LID=21">BT</a> speedtestet results indicate ?
The results where what I already knew, during peak time, my net access is fecking useless.
Problem is that its during the peak time I need access, not at stupid O'clock in the morning when theres no-one online.
Modern technology, pfffft, I had just as well go back to two youghurt pots and alongh piece of string.
OK, Ive had an email back from Jonathan
"From notes on your account, relating to the connection speed investigation,our technical support team has advised this is something that we are unableto assist with. It is an issue, as you have also mentioned in your email,with congestion at the exchange at peak times and until this capacity isincreased we are unable to improve the connection at this time. Unfortunatelyincreasing capacity is out of our control. I am sorry I can not offer any further assistance."
Ive just read up on the Kitz site where it says this
" As mentioned above we are customers of our ISP, who are in turn customers of BTWholesale, therefore if we run into problems with our adsl connection. BTWholesale will not talk to the end user for fault reporting."
So by my reckoning, Orange should be badgering BT Wholesale in order for them to sort out their sh***y local exchange, not fobbing me off with a " weve done all we can, its not our problem that we charge you for a service which BT cock up, sorry but thanks for paying us anyway!"
My responce to the previous email:
Thank you for the reply.
However, I have been reading up the information on the very handy and informative Kitz website and to quote them a few times:
"
we are customers of our ISP, who are in turn customers of BTWholesale, therefore if we run into problems with our adsl connection. BTWholesale will not talk to the end user for fault reporting."
" If you have a speed issue that is related to congestion at the local exchange, changing your ISP will not remedy the problem. When you switch between IPStream ISPs this is controlled at the RAS by something called Service Selection Barring (SSB). Migration between IPStream adsl providers involves BTw setting the SSB to your new ISP. In the vast majority of instances the equipment at the exchange will never be touched and you will remain on the same VP, therefore with exactly the same issues."
Seeing that Im your customer and am recieving a substandard service because of BT's fault ( bad congestion at THEIR exchange) then surely shouldnt you be contacting BT on my behalf and demanding that they sort it out?
After all, I pay you for the service, then should you not be badgering BT to sort out their service if its them at fault?
Surely, if I do not get the full benefit of the service I pay for, then should I not recieve some form of compensation from BT for their lack of service?
I do apologise if I seem to be carrying on about this, but as I have previously stated, I need the fullest amount of my service at peak times, anyother times of the day are not important. If I cant have as much of my allocated meg allowance as possible at peak times on certain nights ( Monday, Tuesday and Thursday between 7.45 till around 10.45) then its not worth me having up to a 7 meg service available at any time as I dont need it other than at the stated times.
"
The reply was not what I wanted, or expected
" Dear Mr Carew, Thank you for your email. I appreciate your comments about this affecting your usage, however as Iadvised in my previous email, increasing capacity, or indeed asking this tobe increased is out of our control. Unfortunately we are unable to help youany further with this case. Yours sincerely".
I have responded with this
" I find this rather strange as I have a friend who was suffering from exactly the same problem, just with a different ISP. My friends ISP bartered with BT on his behalf and managed to get BT to address the problem.
Maybe I should consider cancelling my contract with yourselves and switching to his provider?
I would look forward to your responce to this.
Yours Sincerely, "
As my last reply above, A friend of mine had the exact same problem. He contacted his ISP and THEY contacted BT, who in the end sorted the problem at the exchange.
Is it a case that Orange can not contact BT on their customers behalf, or is it more a case of thet they can not be bothered to?
The crappy saga continues, whilst I still pay for a service which is not what I was offered, agreed to sign up for and now is crapper than my old DIAL UP ever was, what a flipping joke!
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
