The way NTL are handling this and the support I received when enquiring about this is a joke.
Last monday I contacted CS to ask when my area would be receiving the 10mb service, the CS said he could upgrade me right now, but because I have a STB I would be limited to around 5mb, if I wanted the full 10 I would have to purchase a Cable modem at a cost of £50 from them. This annoyed me a litle as I know all new customers in my area have been issued with a Samsung STB and Cable Modem instead of running it through the STBs modem, where as I having been a broadband customer since launch with them, am being forced to pay more money to get what everyone else gets for free. Also #I only had the samgsung STB for a year now, so I wonder why they diddn't give me a modem to futureproof my equipment instead of requireing new equipment each time they up the speeds.
However, moving on, 3 hours later my speeds were still identical. 2 days later I call back and speak to the indian call centre of doom and get transfered back to accounts since he tells me I'm still on the 3mb service. The new CS I spoke too said he would activate the 10mb service for me, he also said when I mentioned about the 5mb limit on the STB that it wa total rubbish and the person I spoke to on monday diddn't have a clue and was telling me crap. so half an hour later, I reboot the STB and have to enter my PID and password for the provisioning again (odd). I'm still on 3mb speeds and now feeling very ****ed off. I waited for the enxt day to talk to someone again as it was now after 10pm.
Third try, this time I spoke to a much more helpfull CS who had bothered to read the memos about the 10mb upgrade. She told me apparently the CD I spoke to yesterday had cancled and readded the 3mb service to my account as he thought that would enable the 10mb service. She also told me that the STBs were indeed limited to about 5mb and that I would need a cable modem to take the full speed. She then pointed me to
www.ntlworld.com/stb where I was able to fill out a request for an engineer to contact me about having a cable internet line added so I could connect a modem. However, my last question she answered is either wrong yet again or NTL's policys have changed. I asked of I could purchase my own modem (I want a Linksys WCG200) instead of buying the one they offer as it will save me money (the WCG200 is an all in one modem/wireless router so I wouldn't have to buy the NTL Modem AND a wireless router). She said that would be fine just tell the engineer I won't require a modem.
Since then I've done a little research and discovered that you can only use the NTL approved modems on their service... I'm more than unhappy now, it's been a typical example of their staff not knowing anything about the service they offer and the underhand way they treat exiting customers. If I don't have a free modem and 10mb speeds by the end of the week I will be switching to a 8mb ADSL service and Sky+ TV for half the price that these idiots charge for their incompatance.
