I signed up for 0.5 meg "Freeserve" broadband a long long time ago. It came with a "Copperjet" USB ADSL modem. Very pretty. I have worked in the IT industry for well over a decade and Mr Copperjet went straight in the shed and got replaced with a nice ADSL router, coupled with a Unix based firewall. I know my lemons from my cherrys.
For a NUMBER OF YEARS my half meg ADSL connection worked flawlessly. Granted in the first couple of months I had to move heaven and earth to get BT to replace my obviously flawed (would dissolve into utter static on voice whenever a lorry passed the house) cable back to the exchange but once re-cabled, my problems were over. The connection never, ever dropped.
Freeserve sold out to Wanadoo. Things got slightly worse. Sometimes the broadband would drop. One day during some sort of brain aberation I wondered if an "upgrade" would sort it and traded my "unlimited" download capability in favour of a 2Mb link.
Things got noticably worse. Yes, the odd site would load faster, but disconnects started to become a weekly occurance.
Recently I dispensed with my trusted router in favour of the old copperjet. At the end of my tether, I retired my trusty router and returned to an "as original" config so I could get some support. I actually came to to erroneous conclusion that my router must be knackered rather than the connection.
Imagine my suprise to discover that for between 3 and 8 hours EVERY DAY I get no service at all now. Not just a bad, unreliable service - No carrier. Those copperjet utilities come in handy after all as they tell you just when there is no signal. Nothing. I don't know where it goes. Off on holiday somewhere? In the words of Asda, "when it is gone, it is gone". Perhaps it is like water rationing and some lucky soul is getting a few hours of broadband, but when it is gone it is gone to be sure.
Well, I have been ready to move ISP for a while now, and I can guarantee that I am going, but the Wolston (Coventry) exchange is currently full of asbestos apparently and no one is getting any new broadband or change of ISP until the men in the white suits with the big decontamination truck have been along. They are expected just before the return of Christ.
Dial up has never seemed more attractive. I could save £20 a month to stop using something that seldom works - at least seldom works at the times when I want it. If I lost broadband now would I really notice ? It is a miracle it is working now to allow me to send this. £20 worth ? Not really. I could have sent this from work for free.
My wife might miss broadband a bit, but frankly, over the last month or so she has found it so hard to check the sites she used to enjoy going to (time outs, etc) that she has almost given up. Even hotmail has become unreliable. I think they must be routing most of their American traffic through a 56K modem in someones back bedroom.
I have work in IT for a long time. I maintain servers, manage large scale workstation rollouts, maintain firewalls, routers, bridges, protocols. I know what I am doing and what I am going to do is abandon Orange, Wanadoo & Freeserve as soon as is humanly possible.
The only trouble is........which company is any better? BT? Demon? Don't make me laugh...!
Site AdminJoined: 07 Apr 2006Posts: 784Location: United Kingdom
Quote:
The only trouble is........which company is any better? BT? Demon? Don't make me laugh...!
This is the million-dollar... sorry Euro... What did I say.. POUND question!
BT does seem attractive, Carphone Warehouse (though I think there is a waiting list - but at least they're honest about that), Pipex, NTL... Who knows?!!!
There are ads on OrangeProblems.co.uk which offer to compare the available providers in your area (hint hint click click!) but... to be honest, you are best off talking to people who live locally to you and see what they say.
Orange, despite what they say, appear to be having a lot of problems, hence OrangeProblems.co.uk
There was a programme tonight on BBC2 - the Money Programme posted here which should receive feedback from OrangeProblems.co.uk members... See what they say... I watched it and to be honest, Orange got a 10second mention and the potential broadband customer rejected Orange point-blank!
Choose carefully, a deal of research into your new ISP will save you your money & sanity. I did a thorough check and contact with my prospective ISPs for about 3 weeks before I chose mine. Consider these options and not just price;
Satisfied customers and ratings as shown in ADSLguide
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/is...ompare.asp
UK call centres if you don't want to phone abroad; local rate or free call charge for tech support; user forum run by ISP where accountability is present; monthly rolling contract or tied down for 12/18 months; a smaller business concern so the indiviual customer is more important to the whole than you are with the big boys.
Way all these options up along with your price and then go for your best possible choice to suit you.
I have been warned off Carphone Warehouse and " Talk Talk" by several people now who have been there, tried to do that.....but struggled with the language barrier, indian call centres and loss of all services for months on end.
In my previous job as a field engineer I was often impressed by Demon and even once by Virgin....only once 'though !!!!!
I was once even suprised by a BT engineer who managed to fix a very complicated problem with a BT supplied business router ( a "twin wire" or something, I really can't remember the type. It turned out it was stuffed as BT had "pushed" a router firmware update to it which had knackered it and required a firmware re-install from original cd. Startling really as the customer had bought this box from BT. It was working until BT "modified" it without the customers knowledge or consent. Perhaps BT arent that hot after all, just because they could managed to talk a savvy caller into fixing something they had sold and subsequently broke...needless to say the customer paid both my company and a BT premium rate line to put it all right
Pipex I also came across. Not for me. Life is way too short.
NTL have come out well overall, but sadly no cable on my road.
I emailed Orange just now for a MAC code. If they cut me off for asking as appears to be the random 1 in 5 response, do I care ? Or will I even notice? As long as they stop charging me over 20 quid a month for almost nothing, I will be happy. As long as I can either use the MAC code or turn it into a "cease and desist" order (oh, how I would love to get an ASBO against Orange) I will be happy.
I work in Higher Education now and frankly my immediate bosses doesnt know or care what I do with my Internet connection at work. I dont think the unions even allow them to ask . Maybe it is time for a broadband holiday at home. I can invest the saved money towards a family holiday and rejoin the broadband generation when all this crap is sorted out, sometime around 2012 I expect.
If I were to re-join the home broadband generation soon, I suspect it will be with demon, although that view may change tomorrow.............
I too had the usual problems and excuses with Orange, all too familar from this joke of an ISP.
I eventually managed to get out and moved to Idnet - www.idnet.net
This company is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC -
100% reliable connection
Free customer support from knowledgable, friendly, English speak staff who work there not in call centres in India
1 month contracts
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. Maybe it is time for a broadband holiday at home. I can invest the saved money towards a family holiday and rejoin the broadband generation when all this crap is sorted out, sometime around 2012 I expect.
