Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

If you get no reply from the Midlands MD, try Aizad Hussain, and, failing him, Simon Duffy.

Hussain doesn't seem too great at replying to people, but should still be the next port of call after your regional MD.

Simon Duffy seems OK. e.g. he took the time to reply to Mick's emails about the email problems. So if you have no luck with any of his underlings, maybe he'll be better.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

You might squeeze compensation out of them for the service (e.g. months rental or something like that), but there's no way in hell they'll compensate for wasting your time unfortunately (I've tried many times and been told firmly and in no uncertain terms that they never compensate for time wasted/off-work/etc) :(

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Frustrated here in Poole...

Had a call from the engineer on Friday to say that they had now completed the maintenance in our area, and to ask me whether my connection was any better.

So I said, no, right now it is still not working properly.

However, I pointed out that earlier in the week when the engineers were working on the green cabinet my modem connects to (which is only a couple of houses away), the upload problem mysteriously resolved itself for 15 minutes or so. Engineer couldn't understand why that was the case, but asked if I could monitor the situation over the weekend. Said that I would, but that there was little point because I could tell him right now that the problem was still there.

I asked if there was a number I could call to contact the local office of NTL directly, but was told no because they only have mobiles and don't like giving out the numbers :( Although I can understand that, I wonder why (being a telecoms company!) they don't have some kind of local contact number for customers, even if it's only an answer phone.

In my mind, the green cabinet must be where the problem is (it's too much of a coincidence that the problem, which has blighted my connection since May, would by some fluke suddenly vanish when the engineer happened to be working on the cabinet).

With this in mind, and following the detailed information I gave them (and the fact I spent the week running scripts to carefully monitor packet loss), I was expecting that something would happen on Monday to finally sort it out once and for all. Maybe someone would call, or someone would come out and look at the cabinet again. After all, I've had the problem for 5 months... Surely that would make it a priority?

However, everything has now gone quiet again. No calls from NTL, no improvement in service, and as far as I've noticed, no-one has come out to check the cabinet again.

I really am now getting fed up with it all. Tried to upload a few images to my NTL webspace last night, and it took ages (slower than modem speeds).

Any tips on how to get it sorted? (other than dumping NTL and signing up for ADSL instead - although at the moment having a ceremonial burning of the cable modem would be nice).

Steve.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Hi guys, just a quick update!

Just got off the phone to NTL Faults, they've given me a month free service, but no resolution :( as I was told to ring BB Support!

Spoke to a nice bloke in Swansea on BB Support who told me I really needed to speak to 'Faults'! He put me through to 'Faults' as he couldn't do much and admitted I knew more about the problem than he did!! He wasn't allowed to call Engineers either to trace existing faults like mine.

So, after 45 mins on the phone waiting to get through to their faults dept, I'm told I need to ring BB Support? Told the guy no way am I being fobbed off with that charade! He then phoned Tech Support as a chap called Lyndon Pritchard (I think that's his name) was dealing with the problem in my area. Was told they've nearly found the problem, a 'card' in a router or something the chap said but still no ETA on a fix other than 'pretty soon'!!

He did ask if other people in my area (Sutton in Ashfield) who have the upstream problem to report it, as that would help them as well!

So, it seems they are getting close (but no cigar as they say!!). And I was on the phone that long the battery started going and the phone started bleeping :eek:

What a carry on eh?

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Any ideas where I go now? For the second week in a row the NTL engineer failed to turn up and not even the courtesy of a phone call.
A week ago I emailed the M.D. for my region and got zero response which is pretty much the response I expected and so I have decided upon a drastic response. The only details I can give is to say that I know where and when an installation engineer will be next week.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

I expect they get lots of e-mails from dissatisfied customers, not receiving a reply suggests not enough time in the day to read them all I guess!

I gather you've been throwing your weight around regarding the fact you know when/where the Engineer will be next week, shame he can't actually do anything other than see the problem and report it. Another week of waiting then!

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

No, I haven't gotten around to throwing my weight around just yet! A near neighbour is having NTL installed on a free trial next Weds, but I'm very close to talking him out of it, but if not I'm seriously considering blocking the engineer's van in until I get some action.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Right! I understand what you mean now by 'drastic response' ;) When you ring up next, ring faults as it's an 0800 free number and press them for some compensation. I only got 1 month and was urged to press for 2 when I tackle them again!

At least we have the name of the chap who's dealing with it, so you can tell them his name, that should help them get straight to the right person, that's if you've not taken the Engineer hostage and demand NTL fix the problem before you release him :eek:

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Send them a recorded delivery letter saying the service is unacceptible and they are in breach of contract thus you are cancelling (or if you're out of minimum contract period don't mention the breach of contract bit).

See what they do then.

Though all I got was an appologetic response from their nice sounding woman in the complaints dept, but they couldn't do anything about my problems or offer compensation for all the wasted time I'd had. They admitted everything was their fault, but offered no solution.

Why on earth I stuck with them for an extra year I don't know though.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

I've just rung NTL but the waiting time is over 1 hour and, as I'm working and need the phone at present, it will have to wait.
The bad news is that I have to be in Birmingham next WQeds so I cannot do what I originally planned to do.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

If you ARE on a 12 month minimum contract DO NOT CANCEL!! as you will be in breach of contract and possibly liable for the whole 12 months!! This happened to friend who signed up for Bulldog ADSL, the connection was so unstable and disconnections at night frequent he just cancelled as they hadn't fixed it after a month, leaving him with a £300+ bill!! So be warned!!

A better way would be to withold payment to them until you receive the service you are paying for. If they then cancel your contract you shouldn't (someone correct me if I'm wrong) be liable for the whole 12 months, just the ammount up until your service became unacceptable.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

I've been on with NTL well past 12 months so that won't be an issue.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

At last, someone at NTL has listened. I received this email today from Azaid Hussain.

Quote:

I just picked up this email, the no show of appointments is unacceptable. I am copying my colleauge Mark Upton who can have this seen to immediately. Many Thanks Aizad

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

I had this problem for ages, got fed up and eventually just paid £15 per year for a SMTP AUTH service. It now gives me a server that works like lightning every time, and is worth the money IMHO just to be free of the aggravation, without having to get a BT line reinstalled. It might be worth thinking about if it seems there's no light at the end of the tunnel...

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

@Ashover: Well, you got a repsonse at least :/ Pity you have to go to such lengths to get anything done. Being a bit bored last night I tried uploading some files, it took me 1.5 hours to upload seven files of about 500k each to my Yahoo Briefcase :eek:

@pastaman: I think that solution is only for e-mail and will still be subject to network errors (which is the problem here) between your PC, NTL and whoever is providing the SMTP AUTH service, so you will still hit upload problems with large e-mail attachments until NTL fix their network.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Good news. My email to Aizad Hussain seems to have paid dividends and I have been in touch with a senior figure who is aware of the problem, is on the case and I will keep you posted.
Maybe the end is nigh!

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Glad to hear that you are making some progress.

With my upload problem, I have more or less worked out it's not an area fault. My sister-in-law lives in the next street to us (literally, 100 metres away). I'm pretty sure therefore that she is on the same UBR and same segment of the network to us. The only difference is that she has a 300k STB service, where as we have 750k SACM. She gets absolutely no packet loss at all (went round there yesterday and had a good old test on her PC, and couldn't see a single dropped packet).

I am still bashing my head against a brick wall with regards to getting someone from the local faults department to talk to me.

The lady I have been dealing with in customer services (who has been helpful) is on holiday, but she gave me the details of another lady I could contact in the meantime. So I called last week, and they promised someone would call be back (this was Thursday or Friday last week). No call received. Phoned same lady again this morning who apologised and said someone was supposed to call me back, but obviously hadn't. Took my number and promised someone would call me today. 16h00 at the moment, and no-one has called back :(

This is so frustrating. I so don't want to have to cancel and get ADSL. It's going to cost me a lot of money to buy a wireless ADSL router and pay activation fees and what not. But I need it sorted :( Why is it so hard to get someone to do what they should be doing? Grrrr!

Steve.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

The NTL engineer has just been and is obviously aware of the problems, so it seems to be fairly official now.

He told me that they are resetting the system tonight which will hopefully cure it, but if not, hardware will have to be replaced. Thiis info coupled with the other info I've gleaned makes me fairly confident that the situation is close to being resolved - watch this space!

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Have you already got a wireless router? If so you can probably just get a standalone Ethernet ADSL modem for less than £40 and plug it into that.

Activation fees can be free depending on who you go with.

As for how much hassle it all is, I'll find out soon as my BT line is up and running now so the next step is an ADSL application (probably PlusNet).

P.S. Have you looked at ADSL prices recently in comparison to NTL? !! :shocked:



Ashover - Good luck, but the kind of answers you're getting sound like the usual runaround I've had for years. Even when they know there's a problem doesn't mean it'll get fixed.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Well done Ashover, it's more or less what I gleaned from them a few days ago so at least they're singing from the same hymn sheet so to speak and is confirmation enough they know of the problem! I was told it was a 'card' in a router somewhere and would be fixed pretty soon, so it maybe a hardware fault and so warrants replacement!

We shall see in the next few days ;)

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Well, whatever they did last night has made no difference!

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

I concur to a point, it still pauses a lot during the upload, but i'm seeing more data actually being uploaded. I did manage to upload a 1mb test file to both my Webmail and Briefcase just now, but a 5mb file still won't upload.

I also believe this better upload happened BEFORE they did anything last night as yesterday afternoon I was able to upload a 1mb file to my Briefcase first go, whereas Sunday I couldn't even upload a 0.5mb file unless I tried about 5-6 times.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Well, well! I know its just after 3 in the morning when this post was made, but my upload is back to normal (for how long I don't know). Just uploaded a 5mb file, twice, to my briefcase and no problem, apart from a few pauses but the upload completed!

Also tried a 3 file multiple upload (1mb, 2.5mb and 1.2mb) via Yahoo briefcase and those too uploaded :eek:

Damn! If they've fixed the problem, who we gonna bitch at now? And does it only work early in the morning?

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Well, it's now 12:42 and the upload is still working, but it's more sporadic now (lot's more people using the bandwidth?). Some pauses of 10+ seconds while uploading a 5mb file to my Yahoo briefcase adding about another minute onto the upload time over the time it took early this morning and one upload just stopped and never completed, my briefcase was empty.

Test ftp upload of the same 5mb file to my NTL homepage was far worse, hell of a lot of pauses making the file stop at 62% and cause Error: 451, deleting the file and trying again produced a similar result stopping at 26% this time, Error: 451 again. I know NTL have 'resume' enabled and I could have just started where it failed, but this shouldn't be needed within NTL's own network. Same thing trying a 1mb file! The fact I couldn't upload the file in one go indicates a dysmal failure of NTL's ftp upload!

Looks like some piece of hardware is being overloaded during the day or if they just reset the router or whatever, it still needs tweaking?

Things are definitely moving in the right direction, although the pessimist in me thinks this may be as good as it gets!

Ashover, are things any better for you and THE RIFLE?

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

No, nothing has changed. I'll email a contact to see if I can find out what is happening.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Sorry to hear that Ashover :( That may mean they just haven't yet fixed the part of the network you're connected to? Let's hope they DO fix it!!

I'm keeping an eye on my upload just in case it goes belly up again. Good luck with the e-mail.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Any news on your connection Ashover?

My upload is still working and has stabilised now. Have successfully uploaded files to Yahoo, Hotmail, NTL webmail, NTL FTP and Usenet, so it looks like the problem has been fixed, at least for me! Well done NTL! Just hope it's been fixed for everyone else in my area.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Still have my localised problem down in Poole. Complained and complained at all levels last week. Engineer came out Friday, admitted they had seen loads of problems in our area recently, and that NTL's upstream was poor (don't know whether he was refering to our area, or the whole country). He said I'm certainly not the only one with this complaint.

Said he would go and tweak something in the cabinet and then ring me *next week* to see how things were going. In fact, unless I misunderstood him, he was more or less saying he would wait 7 days before doing anything else :( I'm not quite sure why this is... had he come back to see me after tweaking the cabinet, I could have told him within 30 seconds that it still wasn't working.

NTL need to remember that you can have self-install ADSL ordered and working within 7 days...

Steve.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Indeed, looks like that's how long mine's taking. Should be activated by Wednesday :tu:

However, getting a BT line is not so simple. It took a month to get mine reconnected :(. Though it was BT's reconnection delay that was the reason I went with NTL (then CableTel) in the first place. They quoted 3 weeks when I moved into a new house, so I said "stuff it I'll go with CableTel instead"...

*biggest* mistake of my life.

It may take a while for a BT appointment but they do a proper job. The shoddy work of the NTL installer when I moved house was a major cause of all the hassles I've had.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Thinking that NTL might not ever get round to fixing my problem, I had already changed back to BT analogue line a couple of months ago. So that bit is all sorted.

Probably going to sign up for ADSL tomorrow. I'm on the 750k NTL cable modem service. Thinking of going 512k down/256k up on ADSL. So far as I can see, if I don't mind dropping the download speed a bit, I actually get twice as much upload as NTL. Any other negatives or positives associated with changing from cable modem to ADSL?

Steve.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Want to give me an IP address Steve so can investigate, unless you are leaving whichever way in which case don't worry about it.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Yeah, 256 up on 512 is a big bonus. So much cheaper than paying £38 for 1.5mbps with NTL just to get 256 up !!!

Downsides are contention at peak times (though there are often slow-down times with NTL too), limits due to line length or quality, and that you have to buy your own modem (though with NTL you are paying for it in rental effectively, even long after you've basically paid for it).

On the plus-side... flexibility, better package with some ISPs (static IPs, web space with PHP/CGI/MySQL support, unlimited download options, no transparent proxies etc), price, speed (if you have a good line, but especially the upstream), choice, and above all else customer service.

Potentially you also have reliability as far as the line itself goes. Once BT have okayed it, you shouldn't really have any signal level issues, at least not on the scale you get with NTL, and one complaint to BT and they'll be out almost next day and fix it (especially if you say your phone isn't working).

The major problem with NTL (beyond CS) is they don't test the lines they install. I would be happier if they just tested it and admitted they can't deliver cable to my house, in the same way that BT do. At least then I could have looked elsewhere instead of suffer problems all the time I've had it.


Also, ADSL is evolving. There's ADSL2/2+ round the corner, and even NTL are expanding their coverage by using ADSL rather than rolling out new cable networks (the latter of which they admit is more expensive). Cable is stagnant.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

OK, have done. I need to make a decision on it this week some time, but if you can do anything to help, it would be much appreciated.

Steve.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

If I change, I'm going for Zen. They are slightly more pricey than other providers, but my experience of them has been excellent. We have set up two remote sites at work with 512k and 1Mbit connections (the standard home account, not the lower contention business service). Never have any problems, and never seen any drop off in performance. 3 of my colleagues at work who use them for their home internet connections have had the same good experience.

Like you say, also get a static IP which will be useful.

Steve.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Hi Web-Junkie, sorry for the delay in replying, just back from a long weekend in Barcelona. Things seem to be OK now, but rest assured I will be keeping a close eye on it.

Re: Can't send attachments - V poor upload problem
 

Ah! You been chasing the little SeÃÃâ€*’±oritas Ashover? Hope you didn't get 'El Puerco'!!

Connection has been fine for me since last Wednesday, I think Perry Mason can take a holiday now, we don't need to threaten NTL with him :)

I know where to look if there's a problem though ;) Glad you got sorted eventually.