Comments on: Open Letter to my ISP http://www.zachbeauvais.com/archives/open-letter-to-my-isp/ Blogging Perspective Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:03:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: mauvedeity http://www.zachbeauvais.com/archives/open-letter-to-my-isp/comment-page-1/#comment-1854 mauvedeity Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:25:05 +0000 http://www.zachbeauvais.com/?p=255#comment-1854 Well, I'm quite happy with Virgin cable. I've just done a speed test, and I get 2056 kb/s down, and 237 kb/s up. I've never noticed any kind of slowdown, and we regularly use it quite a lot. I've got to say that it's died altogether a few times, but when it works, it works, whether my neighbours are downloading from iPlayer or not. Oh, and the different ISP thing? That's from it checking who owns the netblock your IP address comes from. Mine says 'Telewest Broadband', which doesn't even exist any more! Good luck with it all. Well, I’m quite happy with Virgin cable. I’ve just done a speed test, and I get 2056 kb/s down, and 237 kb/s up. I’ve never noticed any kind of slowdown, and we regularly use it quite a lot. I’ve got to say that it’s died altogether a few times, but when it works, it works, whether my neighbours are downloading from iPlayer or not.

Oh, and the different ISP thing? That’s from it checking who owns the netblock your IP address comes from. Mine says ‘Telewest Broadband’, which doesn’t even exist any more!

Good luck with it all.

]]> By: Zach http://www.zachbeauvais.com/archives/open-letter-to-my-isp/comment-page-1/#comment-1853 Zach Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:22:41 +0000 http://www.zachbeauvais.com/?p=255#comment-1853 I'll have to remember that, though so far it's all been emails, which are easier to collate. I'm sure it's more to do with the shite coverage our area gets from BT than it is to do with the ISP itself (they're just re-sellers anyway, I assume). We're not covered by cable, unbundled ADSL, or fibre-optic, so all we can hope for is the normal broadband, degrading every time someone else watches iPlayer after work. At 10 this morning my speeds were nice and zippy <a href="http://www.speedtest.net" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.speedtest.net/result/410125316.png"></a>Last evening they were barely 1MB. (NB, that shows a different ISP to the one I signed up for... maybe they're in it together?) I’ll have to remember that, though so far it’s all been emails, which are easier to collate. I’m sure it’s more to do with the shite coverage our area gets from BT than it is to do with the ISP itself (they’re just re-sellers anyway, I assume). We’re not covered by cable, unbundled ADSL, or fibre-optic, so all we can hope for is the normal broadband, degrading every time someone else watches iPlayer after work.

At 10 this morning my speeds were nice and zippy Last evening they were barely 1MB. (NB, that shows a different ISP to the one I signed up for… maybe they’re in it together?)

]]> By: Wil http://www.zachbeauvais.com/archives/open-letter-to-my-isp/comment-page-1/#comment-1852 Wil Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:57:33 +0000 http://www.zachbeauvais.com/?p=255#comment-1852 I was with BT at home and whilst I was running my old business. Even though they were entirely different contracts and departments they still managed to simultaneously knock out both services (some happy 'coincidence'. Imagine a professional web developer, running a web design firm with no Internet at home or at work: they crippled us for about 2 weeks. Part of this palaver was when an engineer, sent to install our service damaged the local exchange and knocked out a few postcodes in the process, when they restored the service it was at a severley diminished speed. After meticulously logging every conversation and call I made to BT, I finally threatened them with legal action and only then did they offer to transfer me to an English complaints resolution team. Bear in mind that this is about 4 months down the line with no Internet at home, the resolution team got an engineer out to the exchange who resolved the problem in within 2 days. Apparently there was some switches and gizmos that weren't quite right and some dongle needed upgrading in there too. I then got a credit note for a years free line rental and broadband both at home and at work. Log your calls, and try and get your case escalated at every opportunity and eventually you'll probably meet someone with the authority to do more than just read a script. Also don't use any BT equipment, it's absolute garbage don't even try and sell it: you'll get nothing for it and it's morally wrong. Now with Sky, and I get about <a href="http://www.speedtest.net/result/410116793.png" rel="nofollow">75% of the "up to" speed</a> which I think is well above average and we've never had a single problem with the service or the equipment. Still considering Virgin though.... I was with BT at home and whilst I was running my old business. Even though they were entirely different contracts and departments they still managed to simultaneously knock out both services (some happy ‘coincidence’. Imagine a professional web developer, running a web design firm with no Internet at home or at work: they crippled us for about 2 weeks.

Part of this palaver was when an engineer, sent to install our service damaged the local exchange and knocked out a few postcodes in the process, when they restored the service it was at a severley diminished speed.

After meticulously logging every conversation and call I made to BT, I finally threatened them with legal action and only then did they offer to transfer me to an English complaints resolution team. Bear in mind that this is about 4 months down the line with no Internet at home, the resolution team got an engineer out to the exchange who resolved the problem in within 2 days. Apparently there was some switches and gizmos that weren’t quite right and some dongle needed upgrading in there too.

I then got a credit note for a years free line rental and broadband both at home and at work.

Log your calls, and try and get your case escalated at every opportunity and eventually you’ll probably meet someone with the authority to do more than just read a script. Also don’t use any BT equipment, it’s absolute garbage don’t even try and sell it: you’ll get nothing for it and it’s morally wrong.

Now with Sky, and I get about 75% of the “up to” speed which I think is well above average and we’ve never had a single problem with the service or the equipment. Still considering Virgin though….

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