Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I'll give it a bash. I don't want a connection that does it occasionally, rather than lots. I want a connection that doesn't do it at all. I didn't have these problems with DSL, and lots of other people don't have these problems with cable, so i expect it to not happen at all, not just not happen much.

happened again at 7:55am :)

I've been very thankful to those who've helped me, both here and on the phone. It's still not fixed yet though. :(

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Here is an idea - demand they re-lay all your cabling, and connect you to a different tap at the streetside cabinet?

Also, the problem with bittorrent/emule/p2p apps and the NTL modems is that the high amount of connections per second is too much for the modem's internal tcp/ip software, which then crashes. I got this also when Telewest issued me with a Webstar modem, when I demanded a Motorola Surfboard, the problem stopped. The problem is that the Ambit modem's NTL use are cheap, and rubbish. Sadly, you can no longer purchase your own Surfboard modem and have NTL connect it, as I would have done this long ago.

The SB modems also run a lot cooler, which is unusual considering they have the mains power supply built into them and not seperate as the Ambit modem does.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I'll get onto CS in the morning. I want a moon too. On a stick. :) I expect them to fix it, where reasonable, but if it'd cost them that much i'd expect them to tell me to put up with it or **** off. if there even IS room in the cab.

Thing is, as i've said before a bajillion times, it happens at idle. I can literally be sitting idling in irc, not even in a chan, and blethering on MSN messenger, and it'll disconnect me. It wouldn't surprise me if it's NTL's crappy hardware, but i had NTL 2 flats ago, and it wasn't nearly as bad as this. I do believe it broke on occasion (memory's hazy) but definitely not several times a day.

If it WAS the hardware though, why aren't more people getting problems? sure, there are a few threads here and at ntlhell, but not THAT many of us are having the problems.

Also, if it IS the hardware, why don't they give me a spanky new blue 250? Still made by ambit, but better?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

that would be a waste of time and money.... the problem is not with power levels or signal quality so a repull won't do anything to fix this.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Ummm .... I got my cable renewed at your suggestion. Was this a waste of time? It certainly hasn't improved things. I am still getting regular drop-outs when dl'ing from news.ntlworld.com.

Any other suggestions?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Losing connection all together or news download stuttering?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Drops completely for 10-30 secs.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

can't remember exactly what your situation was, but things would have led me to a cabling issue if a suggest that for you.

I can find no HFC issues with mrliprings connection, thus imo a repull would be pointless.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Just to give you the full picture:
CMX modem (so hard to do diags)
3mb service
Monkeybreath said that he could see my modem was going at full output amplification, so suspected that transient network issues made the modem reset; suggested that a new cable pulled through would sort me out.
Duly done, with no effect.
__________________

Sorry - BBKing (not Monkeybreath) told me my signal level was the issue.

Apologies.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

too busy to phone them and be stuck on hold for 30 minutes at the moment, but i'll get onto it later and let y'all know how i get on.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Ok, got off the phone to them there.

Incidentally, it broke again 10 minutes after my last post. Definitely not fixed. :) lol

Had some stuff to do, and called them again at 17:10. Got through maybe 15 minutes later, and had to explain EVERYTHING to the guy. Line was terrible too, couldn't make out what he was saying. Turn your headset up! Anyway, he made me go through everything again (read the notes on the account, ffs) and didn't quite seem to get it. He asked me what i wanted him to do.

I don't know, nothing else has worked yet. It's not my job to solve problems with it. The amount of time i've spent on the phone lately, it's beginning to FEEL like a job, but until i start getting a cheque for it, i'll assume it's his job. After much confusion over whether i was due another tech appointment, whether i wanted one, him generally not getting what i was saying (due to the bad line, i'm assuming), he popped me into the queue for appointments.

20 minutes later, the appointments guy answers... Tells me i need to talk to TS... I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this point.

Explain to him that i HAD just spoken to TS, and that it was TS that put me in the queue FOR appointments.

He made me one for tomorrow afternoon, but i fail to see what this technician will do that the others couldn't.

I can't really fault tech support (either by phone or on here) or the technicians, because they genuinely have tried a lot of things, and they seem as puzzled as me, but it's beginning to drag out now.

Right at this moment i'd be happy to be shot of NTL. My girlfriend would miss the music channels, but apart from that, there's nothing we get from the service that BT/DSL couldn't give, for less money and (fingers crossed) less head/wall interaction.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Not heard of sky i take it

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I think what you should do, is the following.

Ring cancellations.. tell them you want to cancel your ENTIRE package.

When they ask why and if you'd reconsider, say "Well unless you get a SENIOR ENGINEER out here who can make my setup WORK RELIABLY, then no, I'll get my services from Sky and BT"

This, I have found, works wonders.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I preferred you when you were Angel, he was less of a smart arse. :)

TBH mate i've only got Digital TV because it was part of the service, and i thought "why not". It's a rented flat, and a big old sandstone thing, so i wouldn't want to stick a sky dish on the side of it, and i'm fairly sure the landlord wouldn't allow it.

Personally, i rarely watch anything except BBC1,2,3 and channel 4. All channels i receive through freeview, and with better picture quality than NTL offers. Whether that's a decoding hardware problem or not, i don't know, but i'm beginning to meander.

Basically, i don't want a dish, and neither would my landlord.

I've got another engineer appointment for tomorrow afternoon, so i'll see how that goes. The thing that ****es me off the most is all the different stuff i've been told. Some people have said they haven't been able to see a problem with my line. Some say the power levels are borderline. Some say they tweaked something and it might be better now... I've been told there are local problems they're aware of and are getting fixed, but nobody else has been able to confirm it.

One straight answer as to what's going on would be great. If they don't know what's wrong, why not just admit it?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

yikes, still not fixed or even close to being fixed then...

im sorry to say that NTL are okay when things work, but they are a nightmare when they dont. It sometimes really feels like they dont even know their own network as it is such a nightmare to get these things fixed...

if they dont fix it or offer you major incentives, just dump them and move to someone who does have a clue...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I'm not naive enough to suggest that any other company would give better service. your average bod in the call centre treats it as a job. Some have actual knowlege of the field, but most are about as interested as they would be in a taxi callcentre, a phone banking service, or whatever else. They're also kept in the dark most of the time, and only know what they're told. If they're fed crap about it being a local problem, they'll tell us that.

Tomorrow will be the fourth engineer visit. If it's not fixed after tomorrow, they obviously don't know what's wrong, and don't care/can't fix it, so i'll be off elsewhere.

It's annoying, because i've had good speeds when it works, pings have been good for gaming, and all interaction with staff/engineers has been pleasant on the whole. Often staff have gone above and beyond, especially on here.

Glad that (being a hoarder) i still have my old ADSL modem i used at my last flat. I *nearly* gave it away to a friend.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I dunno, I use zen for the DSL connection in the office and on the very rare occasion ive called their tech support, ive always come away feeling like ive been talking to someone who really knows their stuff and its only ever been a one call thing.

probably more the small company Vs large company thing, but i know i would have zero qualms about dropping NTL and going to zen if i ever had problems like i did a couple of years back (no DSL back then, ntl was the only choice!).

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

yeah, i guess so. I don't imagine that Zen have a call centre in the same sense as NTL do.

ah well. A good few hours of Halo 2 there has cheered me up. Just wait until tomorrow evening. :D

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I agree with you there, the poor souls in TS may annoy the hell out of me but at the end of the day they are doing what they told, if they fob us of saying pc problem that is because the management have told them to do that, I think it would help tho if they recruited people who had some sort of knowledge of the net and computers in general. The emphasis seems to be on customer service skills rather then skills in the type of service.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

In an ideal world though, people who know about computers should be able to get better jobs than those in a call centre.

What's the going rate for call centre work? £6ph? That's about average in Glasgow. It's not a bad rate of pay for what is essentially unskilled, no qualification work, but if i was interested in getting IT qualifications i'd expect more than £6ph.

Bear in mind also, that while you or i might be good on a pc, try explaining, over the phone, to a foreigner what to do to fix something, in English, let alone another language. The Language barrier plays a big part in the bad service.

two people, both of whom don't speak the other's language very well, if at all, trying to fix what can often be fairly technical problems, compounded by the fact that often, one or both don't know a lot about the subject.

I HATE giving british friends tech support over the phone. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to give a foreigner tech support.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Ok, here's the latest...

Got a call from the tech who was on his way round, and after talking through the situation with him, he's decided it's pointless him coming round. Which is fair enough imo.

He's given me a phone number to call, Some guy called ***** *******, and the next time it dies i've to leave it, phone him, and he'll come round. *doublesigh*

I'm completely sick of NTL now. Not the tech's fault. Not ***** *******'s fault. Just the whole situation has me scunnered. It's hopeless and pathetic, and i'm amazed at the length of time it's gone unfixed, without SOME resolution at least.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Well I know it doesn't seem like it but maybe this guy is the senior engineer, and he will be able to get a better idea of whats wrong if it is already broke when he gets there. Maybe I'll see if I can find out who he is next time I am at work.Do you happen to stay near the Clockwork brewery at all?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Yep, round the corner from it. I've never been in though. Keep meaning to go and see what weird and wonderful beer they make, but i've never got round to it. *lazy* :)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Ok
Been following thisa post for about 1 week now. Your HFC network from you local dp back to the local node has been reconfigured both on the forward and the return path... I personally configured it... The network is absolutley sound and there has been not outage that would constantly caue your signal to drop.... I am not ruling out that there may still be a fault on your system..

PM me please if this carries on....

PS
Do james a favour and remove his name from the post pls...

Thx

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Can confirm both that network has been lined up and that it's sound.

Running the equivalent of a low level ping on the modem gives following:

Success rate is 99.40 percent (994/1000)

This is well within recommended level of 97% and excellent considering modem was maxed out at the time which can impede responsiveness to this test.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

PS
Lipring I tried to get you in about 4:40 today, bottom buzzer is that right.. Got no reply...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

So can you explain to my why India told me there was a known problem locally and it was being fixed at the time?

I appreciate that you think it might be a fault on my system, but why, then, does every other USB device work fine, and other things (mate's laptop, xbox) work fine via ethernet for days if not weeks at a time?

If it's a problem with the pc, why does restarting the pc not fix it, but restarting the modem does?

It doesn't take a genius to work out that if everything else works, and always has, it must be something new. The only new thing is NTL.

I've reinstalled three times, iirc, in the past few months, so I refuse to believe that it's anything to do with my pc.

After the service i've got from NTL i'm sick of it and i really want to leave. I'm sure i've been more bother to NTL than the average customer, and that they'd want me to leave too, mind you. :)
__________________

Buzzer's dodgy. Every other time, they phone before they come, or they phone to say they're outside.

Have i had contact with you personally outside this board?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Sorry
Didn't post correctly, what i meant was that there could be a fault on the catv system going into your house.
As for India, i have no comment to make on that because at the specific time you phoned there could have been a local fault..

All i can let you know just now is that senior techs are now dealing with this case, how senior would suprise you...
Again all i can say is, i have checked you local HFC back to fibre and it is good, we can expect some fluctuation with the levels during hot weather but it shouldn't be enough to cause a major problem.

Thx for removing the name...
__________________

Nope
Thought enough was enough when i saw your last post.....

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

ah, gotcha.

Don't thank me, someone beat me to it. :)


?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

The more i think about how scunnered i am with NTL, the more Bulldog's (up to) 8mbit service looks better.

As mentioned before, i rarely watch TV, so really wouldn't miss it, and i have at least the POTENTIAL for a better service. I'm not naive enough to think that BD will be a lot better than NTL, and i've had a quick google about to see and it appears that a lot of people have problems with the service, but the net connection/phone line will be a fair bit cheaper than with NTL, and without the TV i reckon it'll half my monthly bill. Not bad for (up to) nearly 3x the speed.

The only thing that could stop me would be the one year contract i'm tied into. I think it'd be cheek to ask me to honour that, given the trouble i've had, mind you. I'll have a look about the forum for people who've had success in breaking the contract due to terrible service and see what i come up with...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I am yet again amazed at the help people get at this forum, all these people trying to help I bet you wouldn't get that at Bulldog......Just a thought before you jump ship :)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Ta.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

thats what we get after all the help we have been offering, at least he is getting tech visits, my parents have had loads of trouble with their ADSL from BT cause the line is faulty, they visited once and charge for the pleasure and now won't come out again as they are sticking to 'its my dads PC' causing the ADSL to drop.

There are some really ungrateful people around.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

First off, what i say on other forums should stay on other forums. Especially private forums.

Importantly, though, i'm ****ed off with NTL as a whole, as an entity - not you personally, or any of the people who've tried to help. I'm ****ed off at the organisation. I'm ****ed off with the service.

While others have DBOX2s and cloned modems, i'm paying for a broken service. Where's the justice? The feeling of having a clear conscience? I believe i called NTL *******s on another forum. Going to quote that at me?

I'm not annoyed at Ignition, or Tommy the technician, or whoever else has tried to help (and there are a few!). They've tried to help to the best of their ability with the tools available to them. It's not their fault that it's not working. Nor is it anyone at the indian call centre's fault. Hence my good manners while communicating, despite the inner yearning to tell 'em all where they can stick the ambit. I restrain myself, however, because i'm angry at NTL. Not individuals. As i said before, i do customer services nonsense for a living. Were it applicable, you sure as hell wouldn't find me helping out after hours like you do. I'll do what i'm paid for, and i'll do it well, but when 5 o'clock comes, i'm gone. Unless i'm stuck on a call. Grr...

But yeah, the point is that you're a person. Tommy's a person. You're all doing a job. Some do it better than others. I'm not angry at some guy doing his job. I'm angry at the length of cable, the circuit board, whatever it is that's causing the problem. I'm angry at NTL.


I'm nothing but grateful for the help people have given me, but i'm also thoroughly fed up of phoning NTL every day, going through the same crap over and over again. I'm fed up of things not working like they should. This thread's about my internet not working. I could be going on about the STB being crap as well.

Knowing my luck the BD service would be crap as well, but BD at least offer a one-month contract. If people don't like it, they can vote with their feet. Whether that's a show of confidence in themselves or a marketing bluff i neither know nor care. It gives the end-user the same benefit.

Any big company will have problems. NTL's network is a patchwork one, and the whole operation, like any big company, is spread across the country (world, now) and fragmented. There will be problems, and some problems won't be fixable.

I can do without the hassle. I like to complain as much as the next guy, but when it's gone on this long, with me doing this much legwork (conservative guess is that i've spent 8 hours on the phone to NTL in the last few weeks, and sat around for as many hours waiting on engineer visits) i get fed up with it.

I'm sure you lot are fed up of hearing me moan too, but (a) it's a place for me to keep track of everything that's going on, (b) it's a place for others to see what's happening - perhaps they're having similar problems (and i know a few are) and lastly (c) it stops me from going postal. :D

Bottom line - don't take offence when i call the company names, and thanks for the therapy! :)
__________________

apologies if what i've posted just after you has cleared some of this up, and this edit is unnecessary, but the point is that i shouldn't NEED all this help. :) I've been constantly thankful, to both people on here and on the telephones, but in the last few days my patience has worn very thin.

It's so frustrating to have gone from a very stable ADSL connection in my old flat to this flakey connection. When it's working it's fast for downloading and the pings are great for gaming which is all i'm interested in, it just breaks more than i'd be happy with. More than is, imo, acceptable.

I planned on starting a small business (which has been put on hold for now for a bajillion reasons). i'd have needed a business line for that, and i most certainly would not have been happy had the service been as flaky as it is just now.

Had it been BT giving me the same trouble, I'd have been as noisy about it, trust me. I hope your parents are making a fuss.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

:eeek:

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

You're ex-forces and you've never heard bad language before? :)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I would say he was commenting on your problem not the language:erm:

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

it's hard to tell from one smilie. :)

I guess the fact that he's NTL staff helped me jump to the conclusion that whatever was implied by the smilie was negative towards me. I apologise, Bill.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

You sure you can't get another modem to try?

Ask for a Surfboard to try just for a laugh, they can only say no! Even after a lightning strike that took out the USB port on my SB4100 forcing a switch to Ethernet, mines been running great! It's been switched on for best part of 4 years now and is not even luke warm :)

I'm surprised those silver NTL modems still work after a few hours of being switched on, they get flippin hot!

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Plenty of people use the silver modems and it works for them. what are the chances of me getting 2 buggered ones?

It happened for ten minutes earlier, from 00:15 to 00:25-ish. I thought i'd better not phone the poor guy mentioned in this thread at that time. :D

I restarted it a few times, got browsing, and had to restart it again.

It had been sitting idle, with only firefox open. I was fiddling with the xbox. turned back to the pc, tried to open a webpage and it was dead.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Can you just confirm whether you are using Ethernet or USB?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I have a Surfboard 4100 in my possession which I have already spoken to J about. He will arrrange a time to install it if you wish, but If you are going to go to BD then I don't want to give it up and would rather keep it for anther emergency situation...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

A irq conflict could cause a problem with it dieing and it wouldnt go away on a pc format either.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

It was the referance to hacked kit. :mad:

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

USB when it crashed the last time, but it breaks with ethernet too.

What's wrong with talking about stuff like that? Why the jaw dropping/angry smilies?

probably, but then it wouldn't explain why everything else USB/Ethernet works, would it?

I've yet to thoroughly discuss it with my flatmate, but i'm definitely leaning towards BD.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

The problem is not USB, or anything like that, the problem is the firmware in the Ambit modem dies under certain circumstances, usually heavy load thats generated by P2P programs. I have only managed to alleviate it by placing a limit on this load via my FreeBSD gateway. I get the impression mrlipring likes his BitTorrent or eMule :)

I can bet my bottom dollar that if you hooked up an SB4100 to his line, it would work fine. You can get them on ebay (non hacked! perfectly legal) for about 40 quid, you just have to convince someone at NTL to register it's CPE MAC instead of the Ambit's. The Surfboard also has a better status log than the Ambit's which would be very useful for diagnosing any kind of line fault.

Just out of interest, what is the software and hardware version on your Ambit ? Mine says:

Software version : 2.67.1011 Hardware version : 1.15

You can get this from the modem status page at http://192.168.100.1 - if you can't get this page, reboot the modem (yes, after a while, the modems internal http server fails too!)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

lol :)

I though the internal server was only available for a few minutes after booting the modem. I didn't realise it was crashing. :)

Makes you wonder why NTL still bother with them if they're so crap.

Yeah, i do quite a bit of downloading via torrents, usenet and FTP, and a bit of uploading via torrents and FTP too. It's no excuse for the modem to crash though, and as i've said before it crashes (did it last night) while the connection's idle.

According to NTL staff, there's no fault on the line.

Perhaps a sb4100 would fix it, but i'm afraid i'm looking into leaving NTL now, after this pitiful saga. I'm definitely not going to buy any hardware that would become useless once i leave NTL.

Now all i have to do is sort out leaving NTL after only having been with them 3 months... I reckon that the fact that there's a fault they admit they can't fix should be grounds enough, but we'll see...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

This is the official line, but ive had mine stop working a minute after boot.. and had it still work 3 hours later... and everything in between. It seems to crash if you refresh the page too many times

Because they're cheap...

It depends, your IP goes out to the torrent clients and they can still try and contact you long after you've closed torrent. This might be enough to crash the modem even though your connection is seemingly idle.

If you've got an engineer offering you one, take it, nowt to lose :)

You could quote "goods unfit for the purpose sold", i guess...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Just restarted it.

Software version : 2.67.1011 Hardware version : 1.15 Boot Code version : 3.13.2 Web Based Configuration Pages version : 1.0.2

So it's the same as yours.

TBH, after all this, i really do want to leave NTL. Perhaps a SB4100 would work, but it wouldn't stop the lying about apponintments, known issues in the area, callbacks and the rest of it. The fact that there's a problem is one thing. It's an inconvenience, but it happens. It's the way it's been handled that's pushed me over the edge. While some members of staff are bending over backwards to help me, others are useless, and lie to me.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

If we cut through the **** it's never worked really.

There's your get out.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I'd have thought the fact that it'd been so flakey would be reasonable cause too ignition, but bear in mind that the first (?) girl i spoke to on the phone about it genuinely suggested that i just put up with having to reset the modem several times a day. :)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Goods are sold and required to be fit for the purpose they were sold for. Very inconsistent connection could be described as not being 'as sold'. Sale of goods act, trade descriptions act, etc, etc.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Fair do's buddy. Cheers. I thought that myself, but had it in my head that disconnections would play funny buggers. It's worth a go, eh? :)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

They can't do anything if you send their equipment back, and cancel the direct debit... well they can try but i'd like to see em win.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

lol. :)

I suppose they wouldn't be cheeky enough to take me to court after all this...

What's the bets i'll be one of the unlucky ones with bulldog? :D hehe

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

If you do go Bulldog for christ sake don't cancel the DD if you have problems, my mate did and broke the contract and ended up paying for the whole year! Can't remember the exact details but he had disconnections while playing Final Fantasy at night, 3 people where connected though a router all playing FF at the same time, but NTL was fine (Terryon modem) and Bulldog was disconnecting! He got sick of it after a month and cancelled, BIG mistake, he should have witheld payment until it got sorted!

He was on the phone everyday and had engineers visit and still no joy! Even with just one PC without the router it was still the same problem of disconnections. Luckily his NTL account was a few days from being cancelled so he just called and told them to cancel the cancellation, he's now happily chugging along at 2mbit with the same 3 PC's playing FF through the router!

Probably a rare bad experience of Bulldog, but enough to make us think twice! This was in the Nottingham area BTW, NG17 postcode!

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

i don't think it's so rare, tbh. :)

looking about, a lot of people have trouble with BD as well, but according to their website, it's a one-month contract.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

There are better ADSL providers. Nildram is one such company, as is their now-parent company Pipex.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

i wouldn't get the speeds with them though, would i?

I'm not guaranteed them with bulldog, but i'd rather take a chance for the lovely 8192/512 pipes bulldog supply. mmmm...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

yeah, i would be pretty sure you could get out of the contract at this point.

after all, its NTL who is breaking their contract to provide you with a useable connection :)

just threaten them with trading standards or something official sounding if they give you any crap :D

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Bulldog is far from hassle free, its not always greener on the other side.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

TBH i doubt you will get out of the contract- ntl may be in breach because of the poor service, but you are also in breach due to your usage....

an interesting legal debate could ensue :)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

why am in breach due to my usage? The caps aren't being enforced. Anyway, what is the punishment for going over the caps? Oh, nothing. I forgot.

There can be no legal debate

NTLaren't supplying a reasonable service. The product isn't working properly and NTL admit they can't fix it because they don't know what it is.

I'm using more bandwidth than they ASKED, not TOLD me to use. If NTL have a problem with the amount of bandwidth i use, they're more than welcome to do something about it, but the only thing i can see them BEING able to do is kick me off. Which would be nice.
__________________

nobody's died, have they? :D

I'm aware that lots of people have had bother with bulldog. It's either risk lots of bother with bulldog, with a 1 month contract, definitely get lots of bother with NTL, or drop down to slower speeds with another ISP. I might as well try the bulldog thing first, eh?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Surely you are getting a fair bit of service at the moment for you to go over the limit so much?

I agree it isn't ideal at the moment but it could be even worse with BD

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

It works for hours and hours at a time, but it's unreliable. Bear in mind that i can go over my (imaginary) cap in a little under an hour.

it COULD be worse with BD, but then it coud be better. There's at least the potential for better speeds as well.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

no it couldnt, please dont talk tripe.

if your tied into a 12 month contract for an always on service and its actually not always on and limits your ability to use the internet, they shouldnt even question him leaving early.
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the point for me when i had months of an up or down service was that it drives you up the wall, kinda like chinese water torture.

the service works, then you get your hopes up, then it fails and your back to square one. in the realms on internet connections and such, it was the most frustrating experience of my life.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

But the service isn't guaranteed to be fault free-& that's the difference.
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Agreed. :)

I'm not disagreeing that ntl should let MLR go due to the godawful 'service' he has had-both from his BB & from ntl also.

They should let him go as a gesture of goodwill & be done with it, there's no way they could force the contract in a court of law, for the simple reason that the service/product hasn't just failed the odd time, it has clearly been a complete nightmare.

Just my take on things.....

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

nope, its not meant to be fault free, but when the fault continues on as it has been doing, its gone past reasonable grounds.

yeah just my opinion, and i would agree as a gesture they should let him go if he wants

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Now all i need is my flatmate to return from whatever gallavanting he's been doing so's i can discuss it with him.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Well in your case I think bulldog will be highly likely a better service, although not garantueed. I was merely stating bulldog is not trouble free for everyone.

I think NTL would let you cancel without much of an argument although there is no SLA it is generally accepted that those kind of disconnections they are not providing the service and if they cant fix it they will probably reduce your price or let you leave.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

any update :D

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Well, i phoned to cancel my account early monday afternoon.

They tried, at first, to tell me that i couldn't cancel due to having another 8 months to go on my contract. I nearly flipped. :)

Made 'em read the list of contacts, problems, etc that i assume to be on my account notes, and they put me on hold.

They said their supervisor needed to take a look at it, and would call me back within 48 hours. Which didn't happen.

Not that i'm surprised.

Is that a retention method? Making cancelling the contract as awkward as possible?

Yet more NTL bull****, either way. I have not been called back ONCE when i've been told i would. Indeed, i've not been called back once. Engineers have called before they arrived to make sure i was here, and called back to check how things were, but not once has anyone in CS kept any kind of callback promise.

Broken promises. ANOTHER reason i'm leaving NTL.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Stop your DD if you're paying via that.

Ring them again and inform them if they don't cancel you then and there, you'll take the matter to trading standards.

I have heard this before, NTL CS making it difficult for people to cancel, regardless of how long they've had service. At the end of the day though, it is one of your statutory rights especially if you have had poor service which comes under "goods unfit for the purpose sold".

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

That's the worst thing to do as it may start affecting MLR's credit rating. :td:

@ MLR-We have a list of contacts here that you should take a look at.

Send an email to Simon Duffy detailing all the issues you have had (hopefully you have a note of the names of people you have spoken to), & refer him to this thread if needs be.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

unfortunately i haven't got a list of names, no. Their names/logins should be associated with the comments they've left on my acount though, no?

TBH, with most of the people i've talked to being in india, i'm not sure my attempts at spelling their names would be any use. :)

I'll phone 'em back later today (super busy just now) and report back.

I'm happy at least that i've made a decision towards sorting this out. Even if NTL are being dicks about it.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

did you speak to retentions or just CS?

cancelling direct debit will only affect your credit rating if a debt collector gets called in, I have stopped a DD myself before to NTL even on their advice the initial result will be they will probably contact you asking why you havent paid, and that will be your cue to explain why.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I phoned CS and they gave me the number for retentions/cancellations/whatever, yep.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

update...

i finaly got some free time and called back disconnections. I guessed that after 8 days, i wasn't getting that "callback within 48 hours...".

after getting through i get told that i've to call back next time it breaks, and that they're giving me a free month's internet.

****ing pointless, because they've admitted that it's unfixable because they don't KNOW what's wrong.

I shall continue to harass them every time it breaks.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Why bother? :shrug:

I'd rather pay for a reliable connection, than have a free one that's pants. :erm:

Why don't you just ring one of the numbers of the top brass in the link I gave you earlier, & get this disconnected?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Sorry, I though the whole point of calling disconnections was to get, well, disconnected :erm: ?

Why are they telling you to call them back when it breaks? They should be saying "Yes, Mr Lipring, we apologise for the fact that we can't fix your connection. We will arrange for it to be disconnected straight away".

Does that "free month's internet" include the time that it's broken?
If you were able to say that it was only working 50% of the time, in theory you could get 8 weeks out of them.

(That's the orginal 4 weeks, plus another 2 weeks for the 2 weeks it wasn't working for, plus another week for the 1 week of the 2 extra weeks that it wasn't working, plus another half a week for the half week of the on extra week for the two weeks that it wasn't working, plus.....oh I give up :D )

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

So after all this all you have become is the compo kid :mad:

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

WTF?

NTL are giving him a month's free BB because he has had nothing but crappy connections for the last.....God knows how long.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I think this is what the insider was refering to

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

earlier in this thread, i was angry enough to care about the situation, but i've been really busy with loads of stuff so haven't had time to complain/care recently.

I'm still mightily annoyed about it, and i fully intend to leave NTL but according to cancellations, it's been working 90-odd percent of the time, so they're reluctant to cancel it. The reason it's not been less than that is because i'm NORMALLY beside the PC when it happens, so can reset the modem. as of next week i won't be spending as much time at home, and i'd like a connection that i can rely on to work.

I'll give them one more chance to fix it, then i WILL be harassing someone with some power in the company. I'm in a pretty good mood atm because lady luck's fellated me this past week, never mind smiled at me, but i'm still very unhappy about how NTL has handled this. I'll definitely be directing whoever i harass to this thread, mrlipring's blog of ntl ineptness. :)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Tad better than 90% uptime, you get your money's worth out of it either way.

Hopefully they will let you go sooner rather than later.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

My sliver NTL box over heated inside and broke so they came and replayed it with a NTL 250

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

MrLipring,

I have just been reading through this whole thread. I have seen almost all of your power level readings.

The SACM will work down to -12 "AS LONG AS THE snr IS GOOD". From what you are saying, your transmit power levels are mid to high 50's, right? That is the threshold of your modem falling over on the reverse path, thus that is your problem, The engineers need to look at the reverse path alignment, bad connection or something along those lines.

Hope this helps, and feel free to message me if you need more info./advice

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

well saneboy, i've had a few engineers out and they've not been able to find anything wrong with it, sadly.

I'm finding it all a bit tedious now, if slightly amusing. I'm not ****ed off now, which is good.

Next time it breaks, i'll be demanding that they let me go, or i'll be contacting someone higher up.

The problem is, if i have to go elsewhere, that means a BT line. Well, bulldog. That means i'll have two phone lines. I don't NEED two. I barely need one. You pay for the phone line as part of your TV package, so will they insist that i keep those two services, even though one'll be completely useless, and the other fairly useless?

I only took all three packages because i had to at the time. Now, if i'm going to be using someone else for my telephone, there's not much point having an NTL phone. I grudge still being an NTL customer, tbh, after everything that's happened.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Mr. Lipring,

I really am very sorry to hear that:( . Sometimes it frustrates me to hear of your type of a problem. It does make us look very bad as a company and to be honest with you, it really does hurt to know that no one has been able to sort out your issues.

I personally look at every single job I attend as my own. If I am not happy with things I see and come accross as an engineer, why should a customer be?

All I can ask you to do is try one more time with the fault team/engineers, and tell them you have been informed that it could well be a reverse path issue and could they look at that side of things. To do this is quite a simple job for a competent Network Engineer, and I feel confident that is where your trouble lies.

If you are not prepared to give it one last shot with NTL, then I can not blame you but please don't think that your case is the norm. I work with a group of guys that "ALL" take pride in working the Network in my area, and we will always go that extra yard to make sure that the customer is happy in one way or another.

Good luck, and I really do hope you manage to get things sorted out once and for all.

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Saneboy
The network is fine m8, believe me I have been over it with a fine tooth comb. SNR and RX levels back to the node and from the node to the card and from the hub to the HE have all been checked and all connections broken checked and found to be good... There is no noise on the network as I have direct viewership of Cheetah I can monitor it constantly, there have many a times been max hold placed on his nodal, the most I ever saw was a couple of spikes about 15Db above the noise floor. Remember Glasgow has the best network in the UK, I know some say Teeside but you have to go with the size of the network as weel and we outstrip TS by about 3 to 1...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

I am starting to get jealous of all the attention Mr Lipring is getting lol, NTL seem to be falling over backwards to help him.

I am intrigued now as to what the problem is...keep us informed lads :tu:

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

It's not too hard to have a good Network, when it's all blocks of flats you look after;).

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

Jeez and thats coming from someone who lives in Swansea.;) ;)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

gaaah! Trying to sign up with bulldog there, and they won't accept the card. There's money in the bank, so i dunno what's wrong. :(

I'm cursed. that's all it can be. :D

@ saneboy - i was with NTL a few years ago in a flat i used to live in (round the corner from this one, actually) and the service was decent. The STB was still crap, but i don't remember having major problems with the BB like this. I definitely had to restart the modem on occasion, but not as bad as this. It's been ok these past few days, mind you. Still don't trust it. :)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

if its been okay for a few days, why not leave it a week and see if its still ok?

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

good luck with Bulldog

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/15/bulldog_logo/

;)

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

The grass is always greener on the other side :LOL:

Hope you all enjoy your new provider those that moved to poodog, As my m8 calls them now. :LOL:

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

hey, they cant be any worse than his NTL service and at least he can switch after a month...

Re: It's really getting on my nerves now...
 

i will. 2 connections can't hurt. :)

Might even get them to bump the NTL one down to 1mbit for the xboxes.