I dont think this will get any better
 

Ive been visiting these boards for a few years now and i personally think that things haven't ever been any worse with NTL.

I honestly dont think anything is going to get much better anytime soon. Correct me if i am wrong but about 90% of the posts on here are about poor / slow broadband and below average CS and technical support.
I've been a customer for 4-5years now and pay over £50 pm to NTL. As customers we have the right to recieve and acceptable TV and broadband service. I personally believe NTL are oversubscribing a lot of areas, pushing broadband speeds soley to become more competitve in the broadband market with little or no support for existing customers.

The other 10% of posts consist of setup help, peering and packet loss which i guess is to be expected. 2 years ago i'd say it would be the other way round with just 10% of posts talking of bad connections.

It seems people are suffering from slow download / upload speeds / packet loss and high ping times in many major cities / areas around the UK. NTL protecting themselves by offering an "up to 10Mbit" service is a farse. The oversubscription and congestion in certain areas is just the result of lacking capacity and processing. They are effectivly protecting themsleves with marketing spiel and i think thats rubbish.

The usage isn't acceptable for congested areas i'm talking about 1 and 2Mbit aswell. Theres just too much packet loss, congestion and high ping times for it to be acceptable.

I'm not ranting here, i try not to express anger as i believe it gets people no-where but i'm simply stating what i believe to be the facts. Instead of posting about poor speeds all the time maybe talk about the root of the problem. If we do it on mass scale in the form of a petition to let NTL know the problems we are experiecing with the service and CS then maybe something will be done.

thanks...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Although I agree with your position I think I must point out that there is potentially a large customer base out there who enjoy a good service and do not express how happy they are.

I have had an NTL connection for years and still have my original IP address. Although I am only on the 1Mb connection I have all of that 1Mb available all of the time. Ping speeds are sharp and power levels steady.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Whilst the majority of posts may be about poor / slow broadband and below average CS and technical support they may be being made by a relatively small number of members. A few members posting the same thing time and time again and in several different threads gives the impression of mass problems which may not be the case.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I must disagree with your statement that things have never been worse.

This is NTL - the service has always been awful, and always will be.

I remember the verbal riots that were going on when the cap was imposed. I don't think the 10Mb rants are on the same scale.

Having said that, I think NTL may possibly be 1% less useless than BT. A close call though.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

1% less useless, then there is no hope then :)

ntl's service has not and is not awful for everyone, and to say that for those it always will be must indicate that you are in a position of authority to say that?

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Trust me, it always will be. After I dominate the NTL empire, I intend to run it with the same efficiency as the west coast main line.

Yours Sincerely
Dicky Branston

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Of course there is always 2 sides to the coin. However my post directly relates to users that live in congested areas. It also points out NTL's oversubscription and what seems to be little concern (no statement made) about this congestion and degrade in overall service performance. My fear being, they are passing off this issue as "an up to 10Mbit service".

There is always 2 sides to every debate, for instance my parents broadband has always been top notch. Solid pings and downloads speeds, consistent for a very long time. For me living in a area with a denser population the congestion and oversubscription has degraded broadband significantly and i can't see it getting any better unless someone makes noise about it.

I feel this congestion and oversubscription in relation to hardware is more apparent than ever before hence the 90 / 10 comment. My issue is, it is cropping up in most major towns and cities around the UK. The success may indeed outway the dissapointment stories but that doesn't mean it takes away our rights as a customer to a decent level of service.

I am debating this subject not moaning or shouting about it. Call it creating awareness if you wish, i just hope it doesn't turn into another bulldog. Fighting for marketing share and to become "topdog" by offering the fastest service to get people signed up... only to realise that the equipment cannot support high volumes and load in certain areas.

My 2p

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I have to say that as a rule, I am happy with my service (both BB and Phone), but then I have been for some time.

IMO the number of complaints Vs number of tech help posts is a hard measure to use.

The number of customers is increasing all the time, as is the general awarenes of punters that this site exists.
This is leading (again, IMO) to an increasi in the number of issues raised.

at the same time, people are looking at the FAQs and searching the forum for answers before posting - so a lot of the "how do I ....?" questions are not being posted, the answers are being found without the requirement to start a thread.

As ever - this is just my opinion - but it is how I see things at the moment.

As to the current "up to 10M" service - I cannot comment personally, ut I do know that my 2M service has been rock solid, and my pings on CS:Source are extremely acceptable (just a shame my playing ability does not match my network speed ;) )

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Problem is, 99% of the people that are happy with their service never voice it. Lets be honest, most people come here for advice / complain etc, you wouldnt do that if your service was good eh?

Same with all big companies, always some bad eggs in the batch that spoil it for others. I have been an NTL customer for 10 years or so, had 1 engineer out in that time. Total of 3 or 4 days downtime. Not bad eh? I dont think anyone can call that bad service.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Sorry to those who are pro-ntl in this matter but Prof clearly has a point. The amount of complaints over slow speeds has gone through the roof since the upgrades, this is simple fact.

Not really any room for discussion it is simply that clear that the upgrades have bought all kinds of issues with them.

Will it improve? It has to else ntl are going to lose customers.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Sure, NTL know 10mb is having some problems in certain areas, but there are other contributing factors to this as well.

Some people's PC's cant handle 10mb speed, some peoples routers, etc.

Add that to some of the problems that NTL need to iron out, i guess this is where the complaints come from. Im not pro-ntl or anthing like that, ill speak my mind as stated in my signature. I think NTL have rushed things a bit with the 10mb, but there are a lot of happy 10 meggers out there, hopefully a lot more soon.

Just my 2p worth :)

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Thanks for the comment Ig :)

For the other debating on good service v bad. I personally think this point is irrelevant. I am merely stating a personal experience which i believe to share with an increasing minority. Keyword being minority if that classifies things, it still doesnt automatically mean the service is running fine. NTL have an agreement to provide an exceptable level of service. I'm not contesting this at the moment i'm just highlighting my degraded experience; as ignition kindly pointed out, since the upgrades.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Kev,

totally agree with both posts...okay some people might have very bad connections but thats the case with anything in life.

I had the 10 meg (gone back down to 2 meg) and I never had any real problems that were related to the line only problem I had was that my NTL120 was stuck in limbo at 1 stage after the upgrade but NTL fixed that within 5 working days which I think isnt too bad at all and they gave me my money back for the days that I lost.

Also I hear more and more people moan about the CS/TS guys okay there are some rotten apples in the bunch (looks at KevAmiga ;) j/k mate) but then again look at your own workplace same deal with the IS departments there that is if its a big company.

soon enough NTL's network will be more stable.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

And just to clarify things more, this isn't aimed at becoming another 10Mbit thread as previously mentioned. The degarde in service is available over all speed teirs and simply a result of upstream and even downstream congestion. Mainly due to oversubscription and lack of processing (as helpfully pointed out by others).

On a sidenote i except equipment affects throughput; true for 10Mbit tariffs but this isn't the point of this debate. :)

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Nice post mate.

Sorry if this has been done to death, but I arrived back yesterday so the 10 meg situation is all new to me. Do you reckon NTL have stretched themselves too thinly? Too many people to spread 10meg over? I'm not even getting the perfect 3 meg that I used to get.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Oi! I work for NTL i dont have a sence of humour! :)

With reguards to the congestion issue, not sure about that. Im on 2mb and my area (at least) is running fine both before and after 10mb rollout. I guess the only thing you can do is make sure its reported.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I have said this before but I will say it again, I used to be on the 2MB package and I too can say it was good never really had any problems even when the 10MB became available but as soon as I upgraded to the 10MB all hell broke loose at times I was getting speeds of less than 512k......

There is no excuse for such a crap service, I had to wait a month to be downgraded back to the 2MB service and as soon as i went back to the 2MB package all my issues were solved, I always got my 2MB all the time. I have now downgraded to the 1MB as it is now unlimited as I don't want anything fast.

And I get 1MB all the time, I have the latest 250 modem connected via eithernet and my PC is top spec and new with no spyware!

I only ever got 10MB about 10% of the time, in my opinion NTL's 10MB BB package is a waste of time and money!

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

well when I had the 10meg from most speedtest sites I got 8.91 and when downloading from say Mickeysoft I got on ave 1.2Mbps so I couldnt complain a bit I think but still 10 meg at the moment is overkill

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Just a thought - and apologies if it's been discussed previously. One for someone with inside knowledge (and more network know-how than me)...

Are the people on 10Mb somehow given lower priority than 1 and 2Mb subscribers? Just wondering - perhaps NTL are worried that a couple of 10Mb heavy users could crowd out a large number of 1 and 2Mb users. Are the 10Mb people getting bandwidth only when the 1 and 2Mb people aren't downloading?

This would explain why the upgrade is effectively a downgrade for some - they did get 3Mb on equal priority with everyone else. Now they get 10Mb but only if nobody else wants the bandwidth.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Yes, unfortunately some customers have problems, fortunately the majority don't.

I would argue that it has got better in the last couple of years, and it will continue to do so, ntl has spent and continues to spend millions not just on network upgrades, but on the background support as well. The tools used for monitoring bandwidth and the models used to predict growth are much better than they 6 months ago let alone a couple of years ago.

The only real problem is that there aren't enough of us to work 24 hours a day. How about we all triple the amount we pay for our services, I'm sure that ntl will be willing to triple the size of the workforce so that we can work all day every day, Oh but don't forget that your services may go off at 8pm for a couple of hours every now and then so we can do that maintenance. ;)

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

hopes that Kev has deleted all his pm's otherwise I can find my bb service terminated :( :Yikes:

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Im on 2 meg and although faster than 1meg a lot of sites were unavailable such as Ebay.
I contacted CS and India and got it fixed with a proxy.
Now the speed test is .75 meg and feels slower than that.
Ive been with NTL for over 5 years and the service can be dire at times but now I wonder whether NTL ever intended providing what they advertise.
Doubling the speeds but in reality halving them to many customers.
I wish they would go belly up and put a lot of people out of their misery.
They are charging me £600 a year for a service I wouldnt inflict on anyone for more than a fiver.
John S.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Lots of progress made mate without a doubt. Sadly sales have also ensured that that progress has been crowded out by selling more bandwidth :(

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Which, if you're right, should stop as people leave in droves. Self-limiting situation.

Remember this board is over-represented by heavy users. Not saying there isn't a problem, there clearly is (several in fact) but it's not quite as black and white.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I myself have been with NTL now for just over 6yrs. I didn't really have any problems with my cable connection over the years, the odd disconnection maybe, but nothing major. I used to sit there reading the rants from people over their service and think that I must be one of the luckier ones...

How-ever, like with so many people since I've upgraded to 10MB the service is just a pile of steaming doggy do-do's. I get constant disconnections, my speed levels fluctuate constantly between 2MB right upto 8MB. I know the Terayon's can't run the full 10MB, but at the start of the 10MB for the first month or so I had a constant 8MB. My on-line gaming used to be fine, I never had a problem with it until just after the new year. It's now got to the stage where I can't even play online anymore as it gets me so wound up. I've phoned CS several times and all I get is the same thing...
My routers at fault...
The firewall I run is slowing me down...
My server is causing the slow responses...
I must be running P2P software, which is slowing me down...
The site I'm trying to get to must be slow...
BLAME ANYTHING BUT THEIR OWN NETWORKS!!!
I've proved it to them with trace routes, but no, it's not their networks...
I even had one of the CS reps laugh down the phone at me when I queried them why I had to pay £50 for a newer modem, when it's THEIR equipment...
The only reason I'm still with NTL now, is that I live slap-bang in the middle between two phone exchanges so all I can get with ADSL is maybe a 1MB line. The way things are going that's looking to be a decent option... Either that or I might just go and plumb for a business line and pay the extra for a decent 3MB line...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

First thing I would do is specify a proxy since you in lough you will be on the leics proxies which are a joke at current, this should at least help on the http downloads.

colc cache 2 has been working ok over the past week if you want a reccomendation.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Thanks Chrysalis, I did this some time ago, my problems aren't with general browsing though, it's speed fluctuations, and online gaming...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Well i have been a VERY happy NTL customer for well, 2 years+. It is ONLY very recently with the 10MB upgrade and my modem resetting that i have had ANY problems. And my comp is on 24/7. Im sure if i get a 250 modem it will be all good again :D

Time will tell :D

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Well i just got off the phone to NTL, a tech is cooming out tommorow to replace my cable modem. As soon as i told the guy (from the indian call centre) what was up and that i seen its an issue on here, he put me on hold, then told me he's arraging for a tech, he's cooming out tommorow :D jobs a good un

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Check that your WAN port speed settings on the router are set to 100 and not to 10.......that helped my speeds a lot :D

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.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

What i mean also by this, who in your opinion is to blame for these issues. Obviously depends on what agreements any ISP has to carry traffic into there network from another ISP ect.

---------- Post added at 19:23 ---------- Previous post was at 19:21 ----------

No they aren't instant but, like most company's they will spend the money more wisley nowadays, not like it used to be when needless amounts of money was wasted.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I would say ntl is.

take the following which I know is true but I wont reveal my source.

Ntl LINX ports gigabit size which reach saturation levels, this causes packet loss, latency problems and dropped throughput. Other isp's have contacted ntl regarding the problem as they have ntl customers complaining to them about poor performance but ntl dont respond. These ports are maintained by ntl so when they hit full utilisation it is expected to either get more or upgrade to 10gig size to allow for future traffic growth, instead it appears ntl are just hoping traffic levels drop dispite rising customer numbers.

These are the ports that carry traffic from ntl's network out to the internet so someone may have a low utilised ubr but then hits saturation via the port, this person would then be tempted to blame it on external factors since the loss starts late in the route and it doesnt affect everything on the internet.

Now I ask you will you verify this issue? if yes do you think ntl should upgrade their capacity with traffic utilisation or is it the responsibility of others? how can other isp's be responsible for ntl's peering capacity?

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I'd say so my 2mb connection is now pants! with high pings in my games. download speed is not to bad on the tests.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

All my problems are happening within NTL's infrastructure, so yes it is upto NTL to pull their finger out of the backside and stop trying to buy up other companies (like they tried to do years ago, which got them into the sh1te that they're in now) and get their existing infrastructure sorted so that the network is capable of supporting what the needs of their current subscribers want and is also capable of growth of new subscribers. Let's face it, if this carries on and just gets ignored they are going to see people moving to their rivals, which as you know can be devestating in todays market...
NTL are making a mistake in ignoring people who play alot of online games, these are usually people who are loyal to who-ever they can get a stable connection out of. They won't care that it may not be the cheapest service available, they just want a stable connection...

COME ON NTL SORT THIS OUT AND STOP STICKING YOUR HEADS IN THE SAND WHEN PEOPLE ASK ABOUT THESE ISSUES!!!

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

hammered I agree with your sentiments, they putting growth over stabilising the current service and its very frustrating for those of us with problems.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

As i have previously stated the network is being upgraded where necessary. The point of which this happens could be reduced to trigger the work earlier i aggree.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Sollp,
I thought that the Leicester infrastructure was supposed to have been sorted out during the 10MB rollout, or so the NTL status page led you to believe... So what they really have done then was to just adjust to connections to allow the 10MB through, but leave the existing crap there for as long as possible...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Spot on Hammered.....I think us gamers are being ignored

Look at this speed test.....supposed to be 10mb connection

Also pings all over the place to uk servers and lag

Broadband Speed Test Results

Results from broadband speed test recorded on Sunday, 26 February 2006, 20:11.
Your Connection


'Actual Speed' is the amount of useful data that your connection can transmit/receive per second. The 'True Speed' figure includes an approximation of data overheads (non-useful data) and is estimated to be around 8%. 'True Speed' is for informational purposes only and is not used in any ISP rankings.
NOTE: Your downstream speed result is very low for the type of connection specified (Cable, 10Mbps). We strongly recommend that you check your Internet connection is not being used elsewhere during the test and/or contact your ISP to resolve speed issues you may be experiencing.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Ok I have spent an hour or 2 on the phone with various people at ntl today, I got back to the person who helped me back in dec to manage to do this.

Some things dont add up. Regarding my ubr 2 different people checked the stats on it, they told me all the upstream utilisations were averaging around 30-40% the highest been 41% and this was around 6pm and again at 7.30pm. The downstream was utilised at 28megabit he told me the figure but I have no idea what the capacity is but I do know it is a QAM64 so if ignition,bbking or bill or someone else could translate that into a % it would be great but I asked him a clear question is their any type of capacity problems on my ubr and he said no. I was pinging the gateway and it was fluctuating wildly so I asked what about these pings they are not stable and he told me thats normal due to them been treated as low priority and went on to state they dont garantuee latency. (this is bad I dont agree with this I am just saying what he told me). We then went to http://homepage.ntlworld.com/testmyspeed/ and did some speedtests, I was initially on the 2mbit and the on net test gave me 240-250kB which is good, the off net was also good we tested #3 which is the debian ftp link. I found it unusual it happened to go good today but we then went onto putting my modem on 10mbit and he asked me to reboot. After the reboot and when the modem came back I reran the tests, the on net test came out at around 450kB he then ran it at his terminal and he said he had the same result, the #3 test came out a bit slower at around 300kB and he said he was getting under 100kB. We proceeded to do a download of microsoft service pack 2 and I got just over 150kB this is on 10mbit. He thinks the modem is a problem and I have an engineer coming this friday who will run tests from his own laptop and if needed swap the modem.

Now their was a discrepancy the contact I rang told me every upstream was high utilisation except mine and was telling me ntl wont schedule a upgrade until all 6 are full and that was when I asked her to get it rechecked after 7pm, this was when it was passed onto the tech guy who rang me back around 7.15pm. He was telling me all 6 were low and the highest was 41% and the downstream was at 28mbit. I have also been told by some other people that my upstreams are highly used.

Regarding the proxies I mentioned that I am using colchester proxies or my own because leics is either slow or timesout most of the time and his answer was leics and nottingham have large amounts of customers I was thinking then add more proxies but I didnt want to talk about the proxies a lot as they are easy to workaround anyway.

Right now I am on 10mbit still for testing and its been reeavualated this friday, if they can get it working right I will stay on it and of course pay for it otherwise back down to 2mbit.

The traceroutes and pings are still showing massive fluctuations although speeds are up and my upload runs at maximum flatlined download speeds however are not max but are slowly rising, I can now hit around 800kB to some sites.

I want to rule out my hardware and software setup, I have 3 lan cards on this pc and plan to switch between them between now and friday and format windows on a different hd so I have a clean operating system, I have played with rwin as well and it is currently at 256960 a multiple of mss 1460.

I am not a gamer so if speeds stay above 5mbit for most parts of the day I will be satisfied, for the gamers I do feel sorry for them as it appears their is little sympathy from ntl on this I did mention it but the answer wasnt good news, I can only suggest that when they start enforcing the cap we will all get a better service but the bottom 2 tiers are unmetered so I wonder if a big change will be noticed.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I'm not a major gamer (but how the hell am I supposed to be on NTL's service!!!). But I do try and play online when I get the chance. The main problem that I have is that obviously we know that there is a problem, NTL know that there is a problem, but they are refusing to sort the problem out. Now... as far as I'm concerned the fact that NTL are not trying to sort this issue out tells me that they are not prepared to provide the service that we are paying for. At the end of the day, online gaming is just data flowing through their networks, so if there is a problem with this, then there is a problem with their service! If they don't try and sort this out then they are in breach of their own T&C's, as they are not trying to fix the issue... In theory, all online gamers that subscribe to NTL's service could take them to court to force them into sorting this issue out... I wonder is someone sorted out some sort of petition regarding this, backed up with legal representation, would NTL then do something about it. Just think of that negative press they would get...;)

---------- Post added at 09:37 ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 ----------

Oh and BTW, once the caps are in place, it's gonna get worse as all the P2P users will just switch to this to make sure they can keep their stuff flowing...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

105% or so, a 64QAM 6MHz DOCSIS (Langley) downstream maxes around 27Mbit. The optimisations that are shown on service status are quite frequently upgrades to 256QAM, perhaps someone still in the company can advise on when it's happening in your area, if it hasn't already. I know bits of Leicester are on 256QAM already.

Mightily impressed at a 64QAM downstream doing 28Mbit tho.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

If it's running @ 105% no wonder we're having problems then...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

ahh gaming pings yes i spent 2 years trying to get mine fixed it eventually (ubr issues) i could still d/l at full speed (back then 600k) so no biggie and they did end up giving me free broadband after that until i moved house and now im paying again :(

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Ignition ok I may be wrong on the QAM64 I think I am on it because the modem status page says it is QAM64.

Downstream Modulation : QAM64

if that will still say same on QAM256 then I could be on that.

All those optimisations on the status page none were on my ubr, or if they were they did it without causing my connection to drop.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Nah you would see your connection drop briefly when they switch to 256QAM.

Anyways there's your problem, if tech support don't consider a 64QAM downstream running at 28Mbps congested then that explains it ;)

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

---------- Post added at 16:52 ---------- Previous post was at 16:52 ----------

You sense make lots :p:

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

And folks slag off LE3 :disturbd:

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Indeed! You must have Scottie working for you there, he can change the laws of physics, Cptn.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

ok my grammar isnt the best but so what jtwn.

Ill take the time to say thanks to bbking, stu and ignition for their help during my diagnostics.

Ignition the guy I spoke to I am not sure if he was in tech support or not when I contacted ntl I didnt use the normal channels, he defenitly didnt sound like he was in a call centre.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I have been on NTL broadband, for a couple of years now, and have never been happy with the service.

It is fine early in the morning, but either side of about 6 in the evening, dialup is sometimes faster.

However, I have no problem with file download speeds, it does get slower in the evenings, but not to a crawl.

To me it would appear to be overloaded proxies, and I have heard that they have a hotc-potch variety over the country.

Manually selecting a different proxy often helps, sometimes slightly, sometimes a lot. (pity I couldn't find some software that would test different proxies and automatically switck me to a fast one)

It does seem odd that they are offering faster services when the slower ones don't work properly.

Unlike some posts I have read here, I have never had any problem with the NTL staff, always pleasant and helpful, though there is nothing they can do.
Have never waited long on the phone either.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

sollp asked me for my postcode last week and since then I havent seen him, it is interesting if my downstream at ubr really is maxed as this is supposedbly a hard thing to do with upstreams usually been maxed first.

I am soon ready to get a fresh XP installation on so I can start ruling out problems here. If this by some miracle solves the problem I will hold my head up and say it did, but I am not expecting it as I was of course achieving good pings and full 10meg speeds this morning which wouldnt be achievable if its the pc causing the problem.

--edit--

To add I did try tech support first but their was also a problem with my billing and when I downgraded my next bill (which I didnt check until this showed up) had 10 been cancelled and replaced with nothing and of course was a very low bill. It has caught up this month now tho and I have 2meg on the bill, but because of this tech support were telling me to order broadband first before they can help.

---------- Post added at 18:37 ---------- Previous post was at 17:27 ----------

seems I am now getting the packet loss symptons.

1 12 ms 51 ms 22 ms UBR [10.8.143.254]
2 86 ms * 71 ms leic-t2cam1-a-ge914.inet.ntl.com [82.3.35.149]
3 * 28 ms * leic-t2core-a-ge-220-0.inet.ntl.com [82.3.33.10]
4 30 ms 14 ms 11 ms lee-bb-a-so-220-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.110]
5 45 ms 58 ms 53 ms pop-bb-b-so-100-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.238]
6 29 ms 38 ms 33 ms tele-ic-2-so-700-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.184.6]
7 20 ms 19 ms 17 ms linx1.ohtele.com [195.66.224.247]
8 76 ms 38 ms * 194.79.31.14
9 63 ms 21 ms 32 ms web2.hostingfreak.net [195.242.215.140]

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

What news did the man have for you?

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

says running at 26meg and no upgrade forthcoming, also said 26meg is not full. :wtf:

ok now ill be gone for an hour or so got a partition ready for clean install.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Umm, right.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

back on fresh windows, desktop feels more zippy but the internet doesnt :(

2am but still enough users online to show problem isnt fixed. Will see what happens tommorow now when engineer shows up.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

[quote=Chrysalis]back on fresh windows, desktop feels more zippy but the internet doesnt :(
[quote]

Now why doesn't this suprise me...:dozey:

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

looks like someone may have flicked a switch to prep for the visit.

1 9 ms 34 ms 7 ms UBR [10.8.143.254]
2 10 ms 10 ms 8 ms leic-t2cam1-b-ge914.inet.ntl.com [82.3.35.213]
3 23 ms 12 ms 10 ms leic-t2core-b-ge-210-0.inet.ntl.com [82.3.33.134]
4 31 ms 9 ms 13 ms nth-bb-b-so-230-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.114]
5 15 ms 11 ms 12 ms nth-bb-a-ae0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.117]
6 13 ms 12 ms 17 ms gfd-bb-b-so-400-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.98]
7 30 ms 13 ms 18 ms redb-ic-1-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.174.138]
8 29 ms 19 ms 14 ms 212.58.238.189
9 13 ms 14 ms 15 ms 212.58.238.149
10 13 ms 24 ms 17 ms rdirwww-vip.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.131]

10meg on tests currently. This is the old windows install as well. (dual booting)

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

What's the betting that it's back to old best later tonight...

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

actually no...

thumbs up to the engineer who turned up he dug in and worked for over 2 hours, we did some tests turned out ok but he listened that it gets worse later and did some tests and decided to adjust the downstream power level.

Turned out I am not in the cab near me and further away but the adjustment there wasnt enough so they then did some recabling outside the property, was here for about 2 and a half hours, by the time he finished it was 4.30 and normally speeds at that time are easily below 6mbit. Downloaded a test file at 950kB, have done some speed tests since then and they have all been above 800kB the last one 5 minutes ago at 970kB at 10pm amazing!!!.

All lag is gone in ssh all running smoothly, shaked his hand afterwards for a job well done. the traceroutes are still all over place but actual service is good so that is now irrelevant. New downstream powerlevel is -2. Web pages also are much more responsive and I have been using the leics proxies.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Good! I hope it stays that way, that's a bit more of what I'd expect from something that's full. It'd have to be critically oversubscribed before it went as slow as you were seeing at times.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

done a download over level3 transit speeds look normal for what I would expect so that level3 stuff I said out the window :)

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Chrysalis i have sent a PM

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Can I have the engineer's name and number please...:D

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

You have one too sir.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

it isnt perfect have seen speeds dropping quite low tonight 2-3 meg but it is still better then before the visit, the hours of slowdown are vastly reduced I will see how it pans over the week.

I have also noticed a difference on tv sky sports previously it used to flicker a lot now that problem is gone.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Yeah that'll be the congestion sadly but if it's running better at least it's not as severe as before.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Ok things are bad tonight.

Speed

1 101 ms 105 ms 18 ms UBR [10.8.143.254]
2 52 ms 60 ms 20 ms leic-t2cam1-b-ge914.inet.ntl.com [82.3.35.213]
3 11 ms 13 ms 36 ms leic-t2core-b-ge-210-0.inet.ntl.com [82.3.33.134]
4 35 ms 61 ms 90 ms nth-bb-b-so-230-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.114]
5 96 ms 35 ms 21 ms nth-bb-a-ae0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.117]
6 17 ms 75 ms 30 ms gfd-bb-b-so-400-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.98]
7 20 ms 41 ms 36 ms redb-ic-1-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.174.138]
8 14 ms 15 ms 37 ms 212.58.238.189
9 181 ms 217 ms 70 ms 212.58.238.149
10 40 ms 41 ms 13 ms rdirwww-vip.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.131]

main problem speeds way down again and below 2 meg levels, some lag in ssh. Friday may have been lighter because people were out but I hope it wasnt for that reason and will see if mon-thurs is better then usual. I wont be ringing up regarding this yet until then.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Gah I was afraid of that, hopefully this is just a one off. Your speeds are low even for a congested downstream. The pings, sadly, fit it nicely though :(

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

Unfortenatly I have been out all day so havent been using it during the sunday daytime.

Re: I dont think this will get any better
 

I am sorry to report this but on net tests (ntl) I am getting about 1.5mbit, any kind of external traffic is around 0.5-1meg.