PDA

View Full Version : Longest 12 months ever...

mmm
05-12-2003, 23:06
Despite only just paying for my 64k CM in advance for December (I'm still on introductory 12 month offer of 5 quid a month after 30 months!) - I have just found that my cable modem has upgraded itself to 'Bronze' from 'Copper' and I am now on 150k.

How long before the billing system catches up?

The postcode checker stil doesn't think I live in a cabled area, I wonder if this is why my 64K has lasted so long?
Maggy
05-12-2003, 23:20
Despite only just paying for my 64k CM in advance for December (I'm still on introductory 12 month offer of 5 quid a month after 30 months!) - I have just found that my cable modem has upgraded itself to 'Bronze' from 'Copper' and I am now on 150k.

How long before the billing system catches up?

The postcode checker stil doesn't think I live in a cabled area, I wonder if this is why my 64K has lasted so long?

Haven't you had any emails about this?No post?

Or is a bill the only warning one gets?Surely that would be illegal.you should be given the chance to either agree or refuse to accept and leave NTL.
mmm
05-12-2003, 23:40
Haven't you had any emails about this?No post?

Or is a bill the only warning one gets?Surely that would be illegal.you should be given the chance to either agree or refuse to accept and leave NTL.

'years ago I kept being sent the link (to random email accounts not the main)where I could upgrade - but never did. Hope its not the kids playing...

When I looked at my signal levels with Doscsdiag this eve, I was still on 64k, but after reboooting modem to clear error counters the modem has upgraded itself.

It is a significant speed increase, by the way, just never wanted to lose such a good deal... (cable modem for less than a second phone line!)
Paul
06-12-2003, 15:41
64k CM ?

I didn't know there was such a thing .....
Sociable
06-12-2003, 15:56
64k CM ?

I didn't know there was such a thing .....

Despite not now being an option available it used to be the entry level offering.

The system used by NTL can usually only allow three levels of service which is part of why adding 2 meg would mean dropping one of the lower levels I think.

In addition to this 64K is also the default setting for the modems until they are set up with a specific "package". You can test that by watching the speed the modem uses while setting up a 1 meg account as the modem is restricted to talking to the registration site only at that point and with a speed limitation of 64k. The higher speed kicks in after the modem is registered with a specific service level.

I do seem to recall NTL did send out information about all 64k users being set to auto upgrade about the same time as all the 512 customers were upgraded to 600k, but can't remember the details. I would assume all changes were set to take place at the end of any special "deals" for those this applied to.
mmm
06-12-2003, 18:02
Haven't you had any emails about this?No post?

Got a letter today, so it is official.
I get 2 months of 150K for the price of 64k before the price goes up in February.
So I could cancel the cable modem, order a second phone line and go back to 56k...., or go back to BT and ADSL!
JohnM
10-12-2003, 13:10
The system used by NTL can usually only allow three levels of service which is part of why adding 2 meg would mean dropping one of the lower levels I think.

You're wrong here, its perfectly vapable of handling more than 3 service levels, it handled 64k, 150k, 600k, 1mb for quite some time - although the 64k option was not strictly available to new customers, it could have been.
Sociable
10-12-2003, 13:19
You're wrong here, its perfectly vapable of handling more than 3 service levels, it handled 64k, 150k, 600k, 1mb for quite some time - although the 64k option was not strictly available to new customers, it could have been.

Yes this was clarified in another thread and I fully accepted the explanation.

Try reading the other thread on the same issue rather than drag up an old post that has long since been corrected by later threads.

SEE: http://forum.nthellworld.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4954
bob_builder
10-12-2003, 13:29
Got a letter today, so it is official.
I get 2 months of 150K for the price of 64k before the price goes up in February.
So I could cancel the cable modem, order a second phone line and go back to 56k...., or go back to BT and ADSL!
But a second phone line and anytime internet at 56k would cost you £7.50 + £10 = £17.50 it would definately be worth paying the extra 49p to have 150k broadband.
Lord Nikon
19-12-2003, 05:36
But a second phone line and anytime internet at 56k would cost you £7.50 + £10 = £17.50 it would definately be worth paying the extra 49p to have 150k broadband.


Even more so if you happen to receive via STB since the STB 150k is ACTUALLY 256k lol
Neil
19-12-2003, 08:15
Even more so if you happen to receive via STB since the STB 150k is ACTUALLY 256k lol

Not quite. ;)

You only get 256 if you are downloading from multiple sources (I.E P2P), but for normal web browsing you will get what ou pay for (150k)
Dooby
20-12-2003, 10:04
Not quite. ;)

You only get 256 if you are downloading from multiple sources (I.E P2P), but for normal web browsing you will get what ou pay for (150k)
well, actually even during normal browsing most browsers will use multiple connections to fetch information, admittedly they can only get, for example, a single html file on one connection, but they tend to use a second ( or more ) connection(s) to retrieve images etc, if it is a frameset or similar then each page in the frameset can use a differnet connection.
mmm
23-02-2004, 21:06
Got a letter today, so it is official.
I get 2 months of 150K for the price of 64k before the price goes up in February.
So I could cancel the cable modem, order a second phone line and go back to 56k...., or go back to BT and ADSL!

Well February's bill came and I've had 150k for the price of 64k for feb as well.

Just received March bill and yet again I'm charged for 64k, but what's this another bill, another account no and a demand to pay 17.99 for 150k as well!

new 150k account doesn't use existing DD, oh no NTL billing at their worst - it took umpteen phone calls and letters over 3 months to sort out DD first time. Is it really so difficult to change the right bill?

Have emailed ntl billing (no way am I going to try to phone) via ntlhome.com, 4 days have passed and all I get is an automated response. Well done ntl!
30th_November
01-04-2004, 15:51
"Have emailed ntl billing (no way am I going to try to phone) via ntlhome.com, 4 days have passed and all I get is an automated response. Well done ntl!"

Have there been any further developments on this?

I too have been on 64K since Aug 2002, at £14-99 a month plus telephone call charges. Due to restrictions in the billing platform, this was listed as 2 telephone lines.
With the recent introduction of a new improved (:td: ) billing system, I now have 2 separate bills for much more then this, showing a telephone service rental and the other showing cable modem 150K.

I don't recall receiving any documentation telling me that 64K was going to end. How do I tell if my speed has been upgraded, especially since the service does not appear any faster?

What is the lowest priced internet access that can be obtained on top of a single telephone line?
Graham F
01-04-2004, 16:45
You would of got a letter back at the start of December abt this, you can tell how fast your connection is by doing the follwoing speed test
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/speedtest.html

The cheapest internet access you can get is dial up access at £10pm or pay as you go at 1ppm. The cheapest always on connection that you can get from ntl is the 150k @£17.99 which ntl put you onto.

HTH if you get any more questions post away and I am sure someone will answer them for you.

Welcome to the site :wavey: please stick around and post in some other areas :)
mmm
01-04-2004, 21:10
Well my billing is hopefully nearly sorted out, I did get a credit for 14.99 for March, but a rebill of 9.50 for the phone. For some crazy reason I now have to have 2 bills (which arrive in separate envelopes at the same time! I have just received a letter confirming that DD is now set-up on the CM account - but the letter was sent to wrong address! So nothing has changed at ntl - this takes me back 3 years to my first nt hell experience... because my postcode is not listed as having ntl the install was booked under the wrong postcode and manually changed. The cable was installed OK, but guess where the modem was sent! And it took 3 months and 3 DD forms to get DD set-up...
30th_November
03-04-2004, 22:42
My results from the speedtest at 10:30 on a Saturday evening are

Sat, 3 Apr 2004 21:33:22 UTC
1st 128K took 8180 ms = 16023 Bytes/sec = approx 133 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 7580 ms = 17292 Bytes/sec = approx 144 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 7910 ms = 16570 Bytes/sec = approx 138 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 7910 ms = 16570 Bytes/sec = approx 138 kbits/sec


Can someone intepret this as good, bad, 64K, 150K or what?

Thanks in anticipation,
Graham F
03-04-2004, 22:45
From the what little I do know it seems to be a little slow for 150k, but definatly 150k not 64k
paulyoung666
04-04-2004, 11:35
My results from the speedtest at 10:30 on a Saturday evening are

Sat, 3 Apr 2004 21:33:22 UTC
1st 128K took 8180 ms = 16023 Bytes/sec = approx 133 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 7580 ms = 17292 Bytes/sec = approx 144 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 7910 ms = 16570 Bytes/sec = approx 138 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 7910 ms = 16570 Bytes/sec = approx 138 kbits/sec


Can someone intepret this as good, bad, 64K, 150K or what?

Thanks in anticipation,


a slightly slowish 150k connection , usb or ethernet ????????????