What ntl says about :freedom
 

Written response by ntl to a user's formal complaint about the :freedom service (posted on ntl.support.dial-up by the user):

We are aware that many of our customers are experiencing difficulties
connecting to the ntl:freedom service and some are experiencing
frequent engaged tone. In recent weeks we have experienced a high
level of demand for the ntl:freedom packages and Internet usage has
risen and as a result some of our customers have begun to experience
delays in connection. Because we do not charge dial-up charges for
most of our services, the network is heavily used during peak periods,
which can make connecting to the web difficult.

NTL are aware of our customer's issues and are working to deliver
additional network capacity to keep ahead of customer demand. We are
actively managing our access numbers to give customers the best
possible means of making successful connection and ask for your
continued patience while these programs take effect. The ntl:freedom
team have recently launched improved dialler software in order to
improve service delivery and encourage anyone who is experiencing an
engaged tone, who has not downloaded the dialler to do so to speed up
connection times.

Our new dialler is available at
https://autoregister.net/cgi/friaco_migration

We are also monitoring high network usage and will be working with our
high level users to redistribute to available capacity, In order to
make the network more available for more of our customers more of the
time. Please remember, the ntl:freedom service is one of the best
value calls and internet service packages in the market today and
whilst the volume and type of calls will vary with different freedom
packages, the free internet access is aimed at the occasional surfer
who does not wish to pay a regular internet subscription on top of
their voice call charges.

The great news for our customers is that we are pleased to announce
that in the spring we will be launching Broadband as part of our
ntl:freedom packages, which will greatly increase the speeds at which
you can download and surf the internet.

Kind regards
(the guy's name)
ntl:Customer Liaison Team

I'm sure that's good news for those whose exchange is BB enabled :(

Does this mean they're going to put a cap on usage? If so I, for one, will be going elsewhere!

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Most 56K dial up ISPs already have a time cap in place and have for a long time. Only NTL and AOL that allowed constant redialing with no time limits.

Most ISPs had to change the way they allowed this service byt he few that used it heavy and was stopping others connecting. The main thing is they are looking. I would say if your exchange is enabled for ADSL then go with it if you are moving from NTL as the others work out dearer.

There is an article written by the Admin of our forum. I will post a link if Neil doesn't mind it explains Expectations - Unmetered Usage this was written when our forums flared over the ISPs limiting the time online per month. Hope it helps on the understanding why its hard to get online when these ISPs are working to their correct capacity.

Neil if its not acceptable please remove the link and I will gather the important parts and paste them in..

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Thanx, Aggie, that explains a lot. It's a shame that the dialler link they provide gives the 'unable to display' msg. when U try 2 access it.

Good 2 C NTL R on the ball again!

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Unfortunately my rural exchange has a target of 500 with only 131 interests registered. I've joined the local campaign group, but don't hold out much hope. :(

Thanks for the link, Kitty. I didn't realise there was an expectation of 300 hours per month on-line, and agree that's unreasonable, but I would hope that the cap wouldn't be set below 150 hours.

Of course, it's affected by the connection speed. At present I'm connected at 31,200 bps (compared to the usual 44,000 or 45,333) and, over the last couple of days it's been as low as 26,400, and browsing is taking so long and failing so often that my time on line is significantly increased.

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

So it does! I hadn't bothered to check it!

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Don't see any mention of 'unlimited' anywhere in that advertisement, just a statement that the service is unmetered 24/7, no call charges whatever time of day/week.

I imagine the T+Cs will contain comments on heavy usage any, most ISPs do.

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

The correct address above would be
https://autoreg.autoregister.net/cgi/friaco_migration

That will not be working today anyway, though it should be tomorrow.

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

The only two ISPs that do 56K last time I did my check of T&C was NTL and AOL all others had time limits. I can spend some time tonight rechecking the T&C and update our database on them. That is why I suggest those who have enabled exchanges to upgrade to ADSL as it does work out cheaper than 56K when you use more than one ISP to last the month. I know of some people who use two or three ISPs to last a month staying within the T&C.. This then helps those who cannot have ADSL to get online easier.

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Do me a favour read the letter received at post 1 the read then the advertising.
Then read my post where is unlimited mentioned no where its not BB. It does say 24/7 implying the ability to connect and use at any time

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Not going down this road, this is the same discussion as with definition of 'unlimited' on broadband services :) I see nothing mentioning anything against connection and use at any time anywhere though, merely comments on excessive use, I guess you and I just interpret it differently :Peace:

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

I seem to remember a certain communication to another site from NTL that NTL freedom will not be restricted

Oh look the sites in my sig

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

If you read the article by Mark.Jackson on the link I posted in post 3 you will notice the 24/7 means you can access the internet anytime in that period but it does not mean you can stay online 24/7

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Just had a little conversation on this with someone who knows about freedom in our favourite ISP.

Sorry to correct everyone but it does give people 2 hours access then reconnect as on the website so 2 hours reconnect,2 hours reconnect etc etc to 24

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Yes that is why I said that only NTL and AOL allow the unlimited. but they are now getting over subscribed and that is whats causing the unable to connect, engaged or wrong password details.

Thanks th'eng I don't need to go and recheck the T&C for NTL freedom now also don't need to update the data :D

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

But surely if you take into account the time it takes to reconnect every 2 hours, then you can't possibly get 24 hours of access.....:angel:

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Just how times do NTL repeat this crap?

Ive been with them for about 4 years now in various forms but it really gets a bit tiresome them regurgitating the same old crap over and over again.

The thing is they sent a load of "freedom" Discs to NTL subscribers last week in my area, those who had STBs but no dial up and many joined at £10 a month.......

Why didnt they forsee the increase usage...

T**sers the lot of em...

Couldnt organise a **** up in a brewery if the plan was done by the SAS and laid out in front of EM.

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

following regards to freedom names removed

received yesterday

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Thanks for sharing this. It's good news! :D

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

Problems with increase in new customers !? Still would be nice for a letter of explanation for the C**P service at the moment! Or do they want to lose all their customers ?

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

if you have a complaint and wish me to follow it through with the relevant people please tell us your problems

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

I understand what the 24/7 means, but I cant understand why I have not been able to connect via freedom off-net dial-up for over a week!
I managed to connect via a pay as you go ISP with no difficulty, that was after I failed to get Freeserve to work because that also had similar problems to ntl freedom.

I even got my old pentium out of hibernation thinking that I had a problem with my modem or virus etc, I ended up going th usual route of asking old friends involved in ntl networks and got the same old reply.

No Money, Trying to get as many customers on without spending a penny!

The guy who made that statement couldn't really say anything else or stick up for ntl, because he suspects redundancy is just around the corner. the company is on a slippery slope and service can only deteriate with the current way they are running the show.

ADSL Here I come :wavey:

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

BT Suftime was exactly the same for 3 months. Engaged tones, then when it would finaly connect, it would drop off 2 minutes later and leave you in engaged city once more.

Re: What ntl says about :freedom
 

"Problems with increase in new customers !? Still would be nice for a letter of explanation for the C**P service at the moment! Or do they want to lose all their customers ?"

Hi ! for over a mth my internet service as been terrible ! extremely sluggish if not non existant & only really been like this since the change to freedom ! before I didn't have any problems ! Been with NTL over 3yrs

I've had BT increase my line gain & disconnected the box as its free numbers we use anyway & the connection as become better ! I always put 1263 in front of my calls anyway so no problem there.

:)