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View Full Version : Massive Gripe *rawrr*


purp
22-07-2008, 20:43
Alrighty.. first time here - so Hi! Hope you're all having a lovely Tuesday... :dozey:

Down to business.

RG12

99% of Bracknell is cabled, I know this because I've lived here for 4 years. Now, I've moved into a building which houses 6 flats and according to VM's site we are not serviceable by Cable. So I take out Plan 2. ADSL 'up to' 8MB. Now, here are the problems.

Cable
After speaking to an engineer in the area (in person) he said he'd look into why I can't get cable into this building as he's literally just installed it 2 doors up. He came back to me about a week later saying that the original cable laid into the building is 'old analogue' NTL cable which wasn't replaced during upgrades. The only way we could get the Virgin Broadband Cable, we all know and love, is for him to submit a business case to his management -- with the expected costs to be in the region of £2,000 he said that it is very likely to be turned down. Fan-tastic.... Oh, and I've not heard back from him in 2 weeks.

ADSL
Now - I live around 2 miles (as the birdy files) from the exchange, which from what I'm aware shouldn't be too much of a problem. But my maximum speed, clocked at 3am on a random Tuesday morning, is 700k down and 400k up. My average ping to my lovely phat 100mb server in Telehouse is averaging at around 110ms. Last few years I've been getting 15ms from Virgin/NTL cable. I have noticed that in my traceroute I go via the UBR in Northampton or something - it's certainly not a local one to Bracknell... is this causing the bad connection? This is certainly nowhere near 8mb.... they're damn right on the "up to" part, aren't they?

Here are the appendices to my whine and request for advice.

1. My server ping results.

Ping statistics for My Beast in London:
Packets: Sent = 200, Received = 197, Lost = 3 (1% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 82ms, Maximum = 261ms, Average = 106ms

2. My server trace route.

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 86 ms 96 ms 86 ms nrth-t3core-1a-ge-111-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.106.255.61]
4 100 ms 91 ms 91 ms nth-bb-a-so-210-0.network.virginmedia.net [212.43.162.237]
5 85 ms 83 ms 87 ms nth-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.185.118]
6 93 ms 97 ms 98 ms tele-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.184.2]
7 192 ms 214 ms 115 ms the-door-to-my-server [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx]
8 89 ms 91 ms 104 ms woot-my-server [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx]

3. BBC trace route.

1 1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 88 ms 76 ms 87 ms nrth-t3core-1a-ge-111-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.106.255.61]
4 91 ms 92 ms 102 ms nth-bb-a-so-210-0.network.virginmedia.net [212.43.162.237]
5 102 ms 99 ms 91 ms nth-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.185.118]
6 84 ms 95 ms 91 ms tele-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.184.2]
7 101 ms 111 ms 99 ms pos6-1.rt0.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.237]
8 78 ms 95 ms 95 ms 212.58.238.129
9 111 ms 95 ms 91 ms 212.58.239.58
10 104 ms 103 ms 91 ms www-vip.telhc.bbc.co.uk [212.58.251.195]

4. BBC Ping

Ping statistics for 212.58.253.67:
Packets: Sent = 100, Received = 100, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 90ms, Maximum = 115ms, Average = 101ms

homealone
22-07-2008, 22:26
Hi :welcome:

I'm very surprised that the various ISP don't offer a 'cheap & cheerful' survey of individual cases - charging a fee deductible from any future contract, for example.

If that fee was realistic it might be worth paying to have a decent assessment of the actual potential of connection at a given location, rather than relying on an agent consulting a potentially outdated database during a phone call ?

purp
22-07-2008, 22:51
Well, that aside, I have just spoken to the eighth person over at Virgin (they're kinda like them aren't they..?) who has run a line test on my lovely BT line and informed me that not only is Digital Cable not expected to be installed here but the old old old old BT line running into the house is only capable of 1/2 a meg!!

I'm beginning to think this house is not for anyone who wishes to 'use' the internet.

saabmania2
23-07-2008, 07:38
Perhaps you could move house again !!! lol

Paul K
23-07-2008, 09:25
2 miles from the exchange as the crow flies is bad enough but by road (which is more accurate) it could be even worst. Can you get to the stats on your router and post your attenuation?
Or even better check here for a clue as to what speed your line may handle if its in perfect condition etc:
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php
It's not really VMs fault you have no exchange closer by or their fault it's so expensive to re-lay cable again so if you are that far from your closest exchange you will always have issues with ADSL until something changes (fibre to the home etc).