Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Funny that you've said that, as I was also on the phone to CS last night and I've finally got them to agree to a modem change :D . The CS guy finally gave up when he tried moving my modem to a new segment and it still was playing up...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

hammered hope that fixes it, leics area is pretty bad but I know there is loads of upgrading work going on at current so hopefully your ubr is ok and it turns out to be the modem. If not I guess like me have to wait until they get round to it.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

To be quite honest Chrysalis, I'm seriously thinking of dropping my package down to the 2MB line as I know (from friends) that this seems to be more stable in my area...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I am normally an NTL hater, but I honestly think they are trying very hard to improve in all areas.

I started out with all packages and went through the grinder like many others when issues arose with one of the services.

Not had a problem with my BB for ages (except for a broken modem, my fault). But was sorted today by a very friendly customer service guy (William) in the UK.

Never had a problem with my phone.

I had intermittent problems with my digital for years, NTL could never sort it, they changed the Pace box for other Pace boxes until they gave me one that just refused to work. In the end I ditched it and went Sky+ which I am now starting to regret the move, Sky+ is great, but I get more than my fair share of pixilation and picture freeze. I think that once HD comes out in June/July or whenever I may switch back to NTL. As I am sure that their new HD boxes will be the nuts.


I guess that what I am trying to say is that when you think about moaning and groaning about an NTL product, look at the bigger picture and what is happening to users of other providers.

NTL are very competitive when it comes to pricing and their service is definitely on the move towards being more than acceptable. My last several calls to NTL have all been answered within 5 mins. I tried to contact Sky this week; I honestly thought that I would have more chance getting four numbers of the lottery. I had to hang up after waiting for over 45mins on a premium rate number.

Give them a chance.

Setch

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Setch every time I ring ntl my call is answered within 5 minutes, that isnt important. The important bit is it resolved 1st time? sorry to say the answer is usually no.

As for having no problems it is clear that it depends on where you live on what type of service to expect, I think telling someone who has had to endure months of poor service and can expect to wait many more months to just ride it out is a bit unfair.

Let me ask you a question, if you was getting 10% of your max speed at peak time and couldnt even hit it at 3am and had analogue only service, had to have the help of cableforum team to upgrade to 10meg due to CS incompetence, had to switch proxies due to local proxies radnomly timing out and been slow, had lag on games every night (not me but I would if I played them) would your attitude still be the same.

If I put myself in your shoes, no problem with broadband for over a year lets say, have no reason to ring for a fault except once due to broken modem I think I would be fairly happy and maybe telling others to chill out.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Chrysalis, I agree with you when you say that it depends on where you live. About a year ago I had to suffer terrible connection speeds and there was nobody at NTL who could help. I believe that they had serious problems in the CM18 area and would not admit to it. They fixed around March last year and I have not had a problem since. Also I am still on 2Mb and refuse to go up until all speed related issues are resolved. My reason for switching to Sky was down to incompetence on behalf of NTL support staff, I new what the problem was, NTL even new what the problem was. They just refused to fix it in a timely manner.

What I was trying to say was that I believe they are getting better and it is worth giving them a chance. A couple of colleagues at work switched from NTL BB to Bulldog, you want to hear their horror stories.



Setch

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

The issue is not that they would not admit there being a problem, more like the CS staff didn't really know or understand the issues that occur in the network, so when your asking what the problems are they haven't really got a clue. Basically they will be told there are upgrades or issues in certain areas, so to be fair to ask them anymore than this they are not going to know.

All i can say about Harlow is the network has had alot of upgrades over the past couple of years and will continue to. The Harlow network has proven challenging due to the MATV system that is running in CERTAIN areas in Harlow, this is working off the CATV system and has caused alot of issues, but like i said some of this has been overcome. So refusal to fix was not an option or not to fix in a timely manner wasn't the case.

Unfortunately like most support staff they are not going to know or understand everthing that happens in the network.

As for slow networks, congestion and saturation the NTL network is being constantly upgraded where needed. Just like BT the traffic is monitored and where appropriate is then upgraded when and where necessary.
I often here people saying the network or browsing is slow only to find that the PC is under spec and full of spyware adaware ect, after removing these it's amazing how much quicker the PC works, this is something i think, in alot a cases is affecting the performance of the PC but customers are to quick to blame the ISP.

Oh yes what exactly was the problem in CM18?

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Of course the grass isnt always greener the other side. This I do know off.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Just not true sadly, peering issues go for months without being resolved, if it is monitored then they clearly need new monitoring equipment.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Well i can assure you it does, i'm mainly talking about the UBR for the upstreams and downstreams, also the network itself. Where it reaches a certain percentage the relevant equipment is upgraded.

Where abouts are the peering issues.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

sollp the answers to your question are scattered all over this forum.

proven peering issues are cogent (resolved sort of) and linx.
unproven are amsterdam congestion and kpn.

probably some more which havent been noticed by customer's as well.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Things have changed since I was there I guess.

While I know these things are monitored the upgrades themselves are far from instant depending on how complex the job is.

The whole RAG lists are good though, shame the upgrade schedule can lag behind a bit :)

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Well my speed is quite a bit more stable now that I've had the new modem installed. But the problem with online gaming is still there, although I do have to say that so far it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be... Saying that though I haven't really played in the evening which is when I usuall would get my drop outs. I'll be testing my connection tomorrow evening (tues) so I'll see what happens then...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

people dont come here to say ntl rocks ..people only come alive when something goes wrong i wouldnt be surprised if it was 100% moaning posts here :) its how it started after all..

ntl for me 6 years with them now with broadband had some issues got 2 years free service moved house got installed and up and running asap no issues since and the installers left behind a load of cables and tools as it was nearing lunch time on a friday and they was ina rush to get down the pub :)

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I would say 3 categories of users.

1 - people with problems, these are the most likely visitors of this site and dominant visitors.

2 - people who have some problems but are either not knowledgable enough to know its an ntl problem or dont care enough to complain about it, these are generally treated as satisfied customers and make the figures look more favourable, probaby none of these on this site.

3 - people with no problems or little problems or brought out by retentions with nice discount to keep them happy, probably big % of ntl customer base, few may be on here.