I'm off!
 

I have been a ntl customer for 6 years and take almost service they offer, 2x stb, 1meg CM, 2x phone lines, film 4. OK not everything but a lot, bills are usually 120 per mth.

After a lot of problems I decided to break out and see the world outside ntldom and thought I would share my experiences as they happen. Sorry if its boring, just bare with me or click on something else :)

Soooooooo here we go.

Phoned BT; one ring and a happy voice answered. 'Welcome back to BT', all free. £11.50 per mth with call costs less than ntl, not bad I thought. Installed 48hrs later...great. Then i found the BT web site and fancied CLI. I ordered it on line using the preliminary info from my line order sheet. 3-5 days they said. 2 hrs later my phones were all lighting up with CLI.....fantastic.

next SKY. £40 per mth package gets you £1 install with about 165 channels. Thought it would be a long time coming but NO, next day install sir? that will do nicely.

Broadband. Here it went a bit (just a bit) wrong. Spent 10 mins filling out pipex's forms only to find out at the last moment that they dont take solo cards....bugger. Had a recommendation to use freedom2surf www.f2s.com.
Signed up on line £19 per mth for 512/256 with static ip and NO CACHES. They said 5 working days to test line, 1 hour later the tests were done. Unfortunately i have to wait till feb 13th for BT to enable the line. Still, the good service from f2s is refreshing.

All in all, I feel good to be changing things. I'm sure there will be bad stuff to report and believe me I will stick around here and spread the word on that too!

more soon, watch this space :naughty:

Terry

Re: I'm off!
 

Not bad. My advice to everyone else DITCH NTL PRONTO. They just don't work as i can clearly see.

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Wise words from the 15 year old who was lost without this site over the weekend.

Wayne, I think you are seeing life from the rose coloured glasses of youth. YOU WILL LEARN.

ntl aint the be all and end all, but you will soon see that many arent.

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Most aren't :(

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You obviously forget that there are many customers who are 'clearly' happy with their service, so they do work. :rolleyes:

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Lets be clear. I work for ntl. I don't take any services from them as I don't benefit from discounts in the services I have. I don't live in an ntl served area. However I wouldn't stand up for them for the sake of it.
WNA however is not a customer, and so all of his opinions are from his parents and the posts here on this site.

Ramrod - Most arent but many are and WNA spends most of his time on a site which ****s off ntl.

I hope some here will help Wayne see that his choices aren't already made as he goes forth.
Some are already past the point of accepting that ntl can do anything good, not all tho.

Re: I'm off!
 

Aw Proppin, be generous, he will be SIXTEEN next month! :rofl:

NTL may (or may not) be the best, but when you are out of range for a BT line with ADSL then you have to be grateful for what you can get.

OK there may be outages, and many 'planned maintenance' periods - see this link:- NTL Service Status but it is nice to know that work does go on to improve things. (I use the word 'improve' in its widest sense!).

.

Re: I'm off!
 

I am one. On balance, I'm reasonable happy with the service I get. (And I don't work for them)

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Trouble is that the ntl services, while being top notch while they are working properly, spend too much time spluttering along.

I spent some time telling my brother (who has Sky/ADSL) about my looonnnnnngggg calls to ntl. WHen he said that in 4 years he hasnt had to phone sky or his ADSL supplier once I started to wonder.

I might be heading for trouble but, well,,,,, can't be any worse and 'a change is as good as a rest' as they say

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Please lets not turn this into a post against Wayne. I like WNA and admire his posts made so far. Very admirable for a 15 year old.

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I agree.

Wayne, people will not always agree with everything you post here, but don't take it to heart mate. :)

BTW i'm quite happy with my ntl atm. ;)

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LOL - remember Wayne that this is mainly a forum for complaints so it's view of NTL is slightly biased. :)

I'm one of the mainly happy customers (remember that BB is only one of the services I have).

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I was very happy for nearly 6 years until I realised I was spending too much time checking that I was getting what I was paying for! It's not the way things should be.

If ntl's service was consistantly good this site wouldn't exist.

Re: I'm off!
 

Yes and conversely if it was perfect it wouldn't exist either.

Theres sites to **** off most services. Hopefully where this site differs is that people like me who can make a difference try to. I benefit by feeling better helping where I can , whether at work or asking for help from my colleagues at work.

Cheers to Kev and Elton tonite.

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anyone posting against Wayne will incur my wrath, also, he has been very polite, during his presence on the forum, I share your admiration, proppin, he is a young man who could go very far.

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yes me being one, the broadband service is rock solid!!!!!! :)

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Thats £2 a month more for the rental then - and which calls, exactly, are cheaper?

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Well said Proppin, I'm sure that people really appreciate your help.

If only your attitude was replicated throughout ntl they would be unbeatable.
It's sad that they have the best BB technology and **** it up the wall with questionable practises elsewhere.

Terry

Re: I'm off!
 

I assume you didn't mean that the way it sounded, because frankly, it sounds a bit silly to me (and you know I don't generally consider your posts silly). If you mean 'don't start a witch hunt' or 'pick on' yes I'm with you. (But the same would apply to many forum members)

If you truely mean 'don't don't post against him', then I will happily take his posts on their merit and incur your wrath where appropriate. But I can't honestly see you meaning that...

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I hope people will see it as a request to give WNA some slack, he is young and whilst he should not toe in with each individuals personal view, he shouldn't be forced to make up his mind cos we say so.

I am always right however. No matter what anyone says.

Re: I'm off!
 

well, daytime is the same at 3p per min, off peak is the killer, 6p for the connection then free national calls for 1 hour.( of course you have to need to redial after one hour)

On ntl, my so called 'free calls ntl to ntl did not apply when calling my brother who only lives 2 miles away (across a franchise boundry you see-how stupid of me not to notice that when i signed up!)

all in all, tv-phone-BB combined I reckon I will pay the same with about 65 extra tv channels and based on recommendations, a massive reduction in hassle!

Like I said, if it doesnt work out I will spill the beans. I'm not leaving the forum, it has to be one of the best on the net for the UK. Long may it continue.

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Yes, I fully agree, and I presume that was Gaz's intent. I just felt that it could easily be misconstrued by the lurkers/prospective members out there, as it might make the forum look a little awkward. So, I guess I was mostly asking him to clarify his position/ soften his tone a little with a view to those who are not part of the community yet.

Re: I'm off!
 

Double check the daytime rate on BT - AFAIK its only 3p in local area - 8p out of area daytime. NTL do a similar 6p plan, and a Talk Local (no 6p) for £14.50 which overrides the out of franchise bit.

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I believe its most of them, especially evening and weekends.

On top of that there is no added "connection fee" (I'll admit there is a minimum 5p spend, but its a big difference) AND you get the option of using a company like call18866.com and make HUGE savings during the day (as well as weekends, if you call mobiles, 2p/min @ weekends!! ).

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I think people confuse 'being happy with their ntl product' with 'being happy with ntl's "service"

I have said in the past that for me personally the product was ok. DTV picture was poor, but I got fed up of them sending out monkies who didn't have a clue, & as I don't really watch that much TV it wasn't a major issue. My BB was good over the 3 or so years I had it-3 outages in 3 years is ok by me (apart from the email issues which was what finally made me ditch ntl & get DSL), but the biggest issue here is when you phone up with a problem, & you get batted round from dept to dept, because no one really gives a to$$, no one really wants to own your problem. :afire:

I still believe this is caused by upper management not supporting their staff as they are too busy covering their ar$e$ in case somebody actually realises how little they do, & how responsible they actually are for the way ntl treats it's customers.

Like I said, there's a big difference between being happy with the product, & happy with the service. I was happy with the former, but far from happy with the latter.

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I like my broadbum from NTL :D some times it goes down :cry: but dont they all :naughty:

Re: I'm off!
 

Let's not forget those customers that are 'clearly' unhappy with their service, that does not work to the full extent, as it should do.

Customers that can do better, and sometimes cheaper, elsewhere, depending on circumstances.

Those that are happy with what they have, fine, those that seek for more or better service than ntl provides, then it must be elsewhere.

Re: I'm off!
 

Option 1 †“ the 6p hour plan

Now all your National and Local calls are at the same rates, you can call anywhere in the UK for just 6p for up to an hour per call.

3p a minute for Daytime calls anywhere in the UK
6p for any Evening and Weekends calls you make in the UK - for up to an hour each call
Great range of additional discounts
Just £11.50* per month if paying by Monthly Payment Plan or Direct Debit, includes rental of your first line

from bt.com.

I also loved the way I can logon and check my bill as well as order extra services which started working within 3 hrs!!!

thats the way it should be done.

Re: I'm off!
 

I too am off. As of tomorrow I am going to sign up elsewhere for my internet access - after being with ntlworld since the first trials. I've always considered the service to be excellent; fast, reliable etc. Since the migration to FRIACO, however, the service has become unuseable and I have had no useful help from ntlworld CS. As it would appear that ntl have no interest in providing their customers with a service that works, I have no alternative but to reluctantly take my custom elsewhere.

Any recommendations for a reliable 56k dial-up (no ADSL here yet :rolleyes: ) unmetered provider? I'm thinking maybe Tiscali or Freeserve, or even BT for an extra quid per month. Most important is to be able to use the internet when it suits ME, not the provider. I would appreciate any recommendations from anybody that has already moved.

With any luck, as an added bonus a new email address should see a considerable reduction in SPAM-sifting - for a while, at least ;)

Cheers,

:waving:

Re: I'm off!
 

You also get (if you ask) BT Answer 1571 free :D

Re: I'm off!
 

Couldn't agree more. :tu:

There's no 'coming soon' with BT-every phone call I have had with them (prob 5 or so) has been followed up with a letter confirming what was agreed. :)

ntl-the clock is ticking for you......

Re: I'm off!
 

Yeah, theres no sites dedicated to highlighting poor performance from BT are there?

Each person has different experiences with each provider. Some good and some bad.

Re: I'm off!
 

It's the ratio of those calls that matters though :(

Re: I'm off!
 

Yes and again that applies to all providers.
I've got my own problems with BT at the moment, but this is an ntl slating site so I won't post them here.

Re: I'm off!
 

It is not an NTL slating site, the site has members that are happy with NTL as their telephone, isp & digital tv provider.

If this site was a total NTL slating site there would be no help & advice on how to cure problems.

Re: I'm off!
 

Wayne can look after himself, the forum guide lines protect us all (if we all abide by them) so there is no need to wrap him in cotten wool. :D


I like the way that BT give you the option without charge of selecting ring back before joining a queue the phone rings when your call is about to be answered.. (an idea NTL should have implimented) fortunatly i have not had a chance to use this option BT provide.

Re: I'm off!
 

I could have phrased my post a little better, sorry, - I didn't mean to imply he should be 'wrapped in cotton wool', nor did I mean to give the impression, quite rightly mentioned by Danielf, that there should be any kind of 'clique' among members. I posted as I did in a reaction to some of the abusive comments he has been getting in his blog - it was that kind of thing I was referring to when I said I would be annoyed. I take your point that the AUP is there to protect against that, but I wanted to give the impression that the members would not just sit idly by, either.

In a totally transparent attempt to get back on topic, I wish all the people who have left, or intend to leave NTL, well, but havn't had that bad an experience, myself, to make it worth the hassle;)

Re: I'm off!
 

I would like to Point Out That BT Put the 'T' in s.h.i.T And Sky put the 'S' in S.h.i.t judged on my personal experience that is.

Sky Picture Quality and reception was horrendous when i had it, in fact i forgot how bad until last week i laughed at my mates Sky TV which went off during the recent snow storms......they just seemed to except it as the norm!! I would have been on that phone having a right go still not worth it when Sky pay an unqualified monkey to come and spray some deicer on you dish!!, if you cant watch a £40 package when its snowing its a sad state of affairs!!

BT Well Well Well my experience less than 2km from the exchange and they cant even provide me with a telephone line that doesnt crackle, now that is poor very poor. ADSL not a chance!! Customer Service helpful......having a laugh, your lucky if you can understand most of them, and their is a department for every single problem that can lead to endless pillar to post passing......still to result in you wanting to put the phone down when you are passed to a call centre in Bangladesh with a CSR called Bob who knows the weather but nothing about your problem!!

I know this isnt a competitors slating site........but people should realise the grass is often dead on the other side, information is definately a good thing!!

Since I have been with ntl my TV has gone off once in 2 years for less than 10 minutes, Broadband has been more reliable than my ADSL at work and my phone calls are cheaper. So Im pretty happy. Ive range ntl on about 7 occassions and never waited longer than 15 minutes....Maybe its because im polite to the CSRs that I get put through quicker!!

Personally I dont expect good customer service because there is no such thing!! Certainally not in this country!!

Re: I'm off!
 

OK part two.

I had arranged to have Sky installed today. Two boxes on the Skyworld+family package which is basically everything. Taking this meant free install and I can tone it down after one mth ( thats when the sport crap bites the dust :) )

Phone (BT) rang at 7:05am, Sky engineer says he will be with me by 8am if that's ok, great.

9:15am, all working fine. Good install job, very happy.The only gripe is that the cable is black! marks to ntl, white is easier on the eye indoors.

First impressions are very good, excellent picture and sound, great TV guide and SOOOOOOOOO many channels. They might be brainless crap but at least i get to judge myself. Havnt counted but it must be pushing 200.

Like I said before, if it goes wrong I will tell you. So far so good.

Also got my ADSL router today from ebuyer. Never heard of Origo but let's give it a go and see what happens. f2s are activating the line on friday so I'll fill you in.

Terry

Re: I'm off!
 

Glad you're happy - but please remember the grass isn't always greener...

http://www.clik2complaints.co.uk/DPs/sky4.html

Re: I'm off!
 

Of course and I will be the first to moan (on here) if it turns sour.

Interesting twist! this morning there was a knock on the door.

Bloke from Wescot complaining that he had been trying to phone me and couldnt get through. Turns out the STB recovery dept had sent him to get my two boxes THREE WEEKS EARLY. Started waving a paper which had URGENT RECOVERY on it. They had also given him my old BT phone number from 10 yrs ago as a contact NOT EITHER OF MY NTL NUMBERS which should still work for anopther three weeks.

Seeing as I had Sky installed yesterday I invited him in and gave him the boxes along with my opinion of ntl. Then he cracked and said this job was typical of his ntl assignments and it made a change for the address to actually have cable installed!

Only dawned on me after he left that i have paid up to the end of Feb....... buggers I want a refund!

Re: I'm off!
 

Agreed, information about other competitor's services is a very good thing, before going to them, in the hope of getting a better 'greener' service, and not another 'brown' one.

....but if you are already getting a 'brown' service with ntl, there is nothing to lose by trying elsewhere.

Re: I'm off!
 

but you have to beware you could still go from bad to worse :D

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Customers, suffering bad ntl service, would be horrified to know that there could be worse. :D

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:eek: Is that possible....

I am moving out of my flat soon so I will have to stick to NTHELL...

Needless to say - I am not going to be installing NTL in the new place.

Re: I'm off!
 

Here we go...Part Three.

Thought I would try out my new ADSL router today and even though the line is not due for activation until tommorow I was pleased to find it works already!

To be honest I'm surprised it works at all, there are 4 phones and miles of cheapo focus diy extensions in my house plus when the bt eng reconnected me, he had to fix THREE breaks between my house and the exchange, two of them required digging the pavement up....imagine that with ntl?????

Anyway, it works. Plugged in the super cheapo Origo router, pasted in my cust details from f2s and bang, off it went. RDHW's test shows a steady 490Kbps which worried me at first having been used to ntl 1meg. However, the user experience is fantastic! It FEELS three times faster than my old setup, pages pop up almost instantly just like on my leased line at work. I guess it's the total lack of proxies and caches that does it.

Whatever it is, it's bloody good. I pinged a few sites on my NTL 1meg and was getting 70-90 ms to the likes of www.theregister.co.uk over 4 or 5 attempts. The f2s ADSL is giving me 14-20 ms to the same sites...fantastic.

So, overall, full marks to freedom2surf SO FAR.

watch this space though!! I can't half moan ;)

Terry
tkiely@f2s.com

Re: I'm off!
 

Oh forgot to say, it's £22.50 per mth and that includes one fixed IP address.

Re: I'm off!
 

Bored now,

17 days in and everything is working fine!

Phone great,
TV fantastic, too many channels really
ADSL, out of this world, pings to work site go as low as 2ms

thing is all i do on the web all day is look at nthw! sad or what?

Re: I'm off!
 

Jammy git :Peace: Sod off :D

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And has the speed dropped? if you have 1meg you should be getting around 120kb/s download

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God DAMNIT, if I find out my router will do the same, I am so moving if thats your ping. Any sign of a cap?

Re: I'm off!
 

The majority of adsl isp's have no restrictions/no set cap, just read the T&C's on the providers web page of choice.
If you cannot find anything about restrictions you can always just phone them & ask.

Re: I'm off!
 

Aww thanks, just remember people these are my opinions and i do welcome constructive comments. (That reminds me to repost the link to my website in "the show us your website" thread.)

Re: I'm off!
 

Just out of curiosity - Any chance of posting a tracert please ?

Re: I'm off!
 

3 tracerts of what his connections like at peak time 19:00-23:00 (sat/sun) :)

Re: I'm off!
 

Tracing route to www.theregister.co.uk [212.100.234.54]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 19 ms 18 ms 19 ms 194.106.33.164
3 21 ms 20 ms 19 ms i-194-106-32-57.freedom2surf.net [194.106.32.57]

4 21 ms 23 ms 22 ms edge2.lon.rackspace.net [195.66.224.116]
5 23 ms 23 ms 21 ms vl130.aggr1.lon.rackspace.net [212.100.227.18]
6 24 ms 25 ms 24 ms 212.100.234.54

Trace complete.

sorry, I missed your replys so here we go. Hop one is my ethernet adsl router.



Tracing route to www.theregister.co.uk [212.100.234.54]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 19 ms 18 ms 19 ms 194.106.33.164
3 21 ms 20 ms 19 ms i-194-106-32-57.freedom2surf.net [194.106.32.57]

4 21 ms 23 ms 22 ms edge2.lon.rackspace.net [195.66.224.116]
5 23 ms 23 ms 21 ms vl130.aggr1.lon.rackspace.net [212.100.227.18]
6 24 ms 25 ms 24 ms 212.100.234.54

Trace complete.

The 18-20ms is introduced by the adsl part of the link. WHen I tracert from work to home its 2ms all the way to the final adsl link to my house, ie the last hop which then goes to 18-20ms.

My point was that freedom2surf are maintaining as good a backbone (as shown by the low results) as Globix who are a leading tier one isp.


Anyway, new development.

As I reported earlier, although I am paid up to the end of Feb, NTL called to reclaim their STBs a couple of weeks ago. I didnt care 'cos I have Sky now. However they did say that they would send a jiffy bag for me to post the CM back to them.

I called today to ask where my jiffy bag was, 'Oh dont worry, we will continue your service until the 30th' she said.

'Is that the 30th of February?' I asked

'Yes'

'30th of Feb? are you sure?'

'Yes'

'Fine, thanks very much'


SO looks like they will collect on the 12th of never. It continues even after I have left-amazing

Re: I'm off!
 

Cheers for the Trace routes tkiely

I still have my CM i did phone/ask my local NTL franchise if they were going to retrieve it & i was told no.. so it sits on the cuboard gathering dust & the odd kitty cat hair when the cat decides to sit on it :)

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:shrug: I bet the connection still works too!