NTL Proxy advice
 

When I was living with my parents they subscribed to the 600k cable modem service. They are on a road that loads of elderly people live on so I allways got a good speed. For the last year my father has like many users has had very slow web browsing speed. I have had the same problem for over a year and I only live about a mile away from him.

Last week my father got fed up and called technical support. After a 47 minute and 20 seconds wait (he logs things like that :) ) He spoke to a tech. The tech gave him a list of proxy servers and explained the changing proxy servers procedure to him. They proxy they have him is a Cambride proxy !

It is clear that NTL are aware of the problems with the luton proxy servers. I wonder why they have not done anything about it ! All the luton proxy's perform the same - slooow.

When are they going to do something about this ???? Every network has problems - Its a fact of life and I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is a company sitting on there backside and just hoping that the problem will go away !! :afire:

Have any other users been advised to change proxy by tech support ?

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Stu-nearly every ntl customer has been advised to change their proxy by ntl at some point. :rolleyes:

I know for a fact that ntl are aware of the issue (having mailed the MD for the region several times about it, but all he could do was keep asking for my suggestions on what I thought should happen :dozey: )

ntl are kken to take your money, raise thier prices, pay fortunes to shareholders etc, but spend anything on their network?-never :afire:

Incidentally, why don't you suggest to your father that he follows your example with regards to BB? ;)

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Allready have done m8.... But my dad is one of those very stuborn people. He will hound NTL till the end of his days :D :D I sort of feel sorry for them...NOT

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

I get your point even if it is an exaggeration ;)

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

u got a good proxy to use???? since i got cable modem, i cant access many sites

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Never had one problem with the swansea Cache servers. I am a happy bunnie =)

Although allot of people do seem to blame proxies for almost everything. I dont take that many proxy related calls anymore. In fact I had a secure site issue the other day and it wasnt the proxy. I was amazed.

Ohh and Stu, sometimes we do advise people to change proxies but the agent SHOULDNT advise the customer to leave that proxy specified. If it is switched off or stops working the customer has to make another call which lowers satisfaction. This should not be done.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

In fairness to NTL part of the problem may be down to large numbers shifting to a "good" proxy only to flood that with so much extra load people then shift to another.

I'm no tech but it strikes me that if too many people are moving around randomly to join the shortest queue, each new †œfavouriteà¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Ã⠀šÃ‚Â� queue will then become the longest just as it does in banks and post offices.

Perhaps one of the knowledgeable here can confirm if this is the case and so explains at least part of NTL's apparent problems with effective load balancing.

EDIT: I'm thinking specifically when forcing a change of proxy is used to reslove slow browsing problems, not the specific case of problems with "secure" sites btw.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Simply put. Yes.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Many thanks Mr.M that is useful to know.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Perhaps because a lot of customers are realising that it is a waste of time. Given the general (in)competence of the tech support people I have had the dubious pleasure of dealing with in the past they certainly would not be my first line of contact, you are more than likely to get better advice on this forum.

As for people blaming the proxies, in my experience they certainly are the main cause of problems for me. It is almost certain that any surfing problems I have can be fixed by switching to a non-NTL proxy for a while.

But of course, with very few exceptions, people shouldn`t have to be told to change their proxies in the first instance.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

This is the place I go for proxies, just try a few that aren`t on port 80 until you find one that works for you.

http://www.atomintersoft.com/product...xy/proxy-list/

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

:tu: 100% correct m8

Sorry Mr Moony but its all a load of bs and lame excuses for a substandard service from a company that does not give a :******: about its customers.......

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Now the company is made up of individuals. Individuals (employees) do their job, and if the it solves the customers problem it makes the customer happy, the customer then thinks the company is great. So if the individual cares about the customer and tries his best to help, then their are giving a "toss" as you so nicely put it. Some people who work there may not agree with what has to be done, but it is their job and they will do it to the best of their ability.

Although not everyone falls into this category.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

I think the problem here is NTL's company atitude towards its customers. It's a fair point that sometimes you phone up and get someone who is genuinely helpful, but on the otherhand, it's all too common to get someone who couldn't care less and after exhausting their A4 sheet of fixes, is all to happy to pass the problem on. And this is after an age of waiting on the phone, listening to the f***ing silly music NTL love to drown us with.

If NTL, as a company, had a policy of being helpful, and a policy of more investment in the existing infastructure, rather than just spending the lot on bull**** and PR exercises, then perhaps they'd be in a better state financially (i.e. by keeping their paying customers).

The proxy problems have been going on for ages. One minute they're working, the next they're not. Why? I've just tried several in an attempt to fix my broken sites. My only decent help has been from this forum (thanks stuartbe and DrAwesome). If the d**k-heads that run NTL actually came and read and took note of the comments of this site, perhaps things would be better. This lack of support is not the fault of the majority who work for NTL, but those at the top.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Well said 'abailey152'. :tu:

That pretty much sums it up for me.