NTL PS2 Woes

NTL PS2 Woes


Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢ve got Burnout 3 so thought id try PS2 online. Bought the network adaptor, which arrived today so, eagerly wanting to get online, I tried to set it up. Read the manual (yes I know Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m male but this time I did as it said). Installed the adaptor, slapped the CD in and off I went, or so I thought!! First thing It told me was to make a note of the PS2 serial number, hmmm cant do that when the network adaptor is installed!! Why didnââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t they tell me that in the manual!!

Anyway got all the details I needed and tried to configure it. Well I thought the best bet was to go auto all the way so I selected the NTL provider and let it configure itself. Ran the diagnositics, 4 tests went through really fast and the 5th took ages, which was DNAS authentication (what ever that is), but it worked. By this point im thinking 5 mins and ill be burning out, hmmm big mistake!!

Tried to connect to game central, ahhhh this is a no go. It tries to authenticate DNAS and never actually succeeds. So Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m thinking, well it ran the network diags ok but cant connect to game central, so must be a Sony issue. So I calls up Sony and we go through the set up and the guy tells me that the PS2 online and game adaptor are not compatible with a STB. IS THIS TRUE??? I CANT BELIEVE THIS IS TRUE AND NTL DONââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢T TELL YOU THIS. He said the DNAS step should takes seconds, not the minute and a half that it took in the diags. So he tells me to call NTL sales and tell them the issue and they will send me a cable modem and it should work.

Phones NTL sales, explain the problem and that I need a cable modem, they put me through to broadband support without handoff the call, grrrr donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t you hate that, so I have to tell broadband support the same story. The guy says that customer relations will have to cancel my existing broadband so I gets passed to customer relations. The guy here says he doesnââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t know what sales a playing at as they can order me a cable modem. So I gets passed to sales hmmm Full Circle?? The sales person agrees that the action to be taken is to cancel my existing broadband and then set up a new order. She informs me that I need a second IP address. My response was that I only want one IP address as I wont be using the PC and the PS2 at the same time and if I did I would buy a router. The sales lady didnââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t understand that so passed me to CS. Now this was a real Ding Dong call!!! Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢ve never come across such an argumentative person that didnââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t know what they were talking about. The woman here insisted that you have to have 2 IP addresses, buy this time Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m getting a bit annoyed so I start playing devils advocate. I ask why I need 2 IP addresses and Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m told one for the computer and one for the PS2, huh??? But Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m not going to use both at the same time, but she still insisted I needed 2. Ok playing devils advocate again I said once I get the PS2 running will be getting rid of my PC. Now she says †œyou cant do that, you must have a PC in order to be able to use PS2 onlineââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ�. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sony donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t tell you that you must have a PC in order to play PS2 online!! The argument goes on for ages and she still wont accept that I can do this with one IP address only. So I say to her, if I have a router I can have any number of devices behind the router and I would only need one IP address from NTL. Her response was †œNo you cantââ‚ ¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ�. The result of this argument was her telling me that †œThere is nothing we can do for youââ‚Âà ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ� So in response I have to say well if you cant supply with the service that I know you can supply then I better take my £100 a month of services else where. So she puts me through to customer relations to cancel.

Now this person was a star I wish I had took his name. He says †œSo you want to give notice to cancel all of your servicesââ‚à ƒâ€šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ�, which in response i say, well actually no I donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t, all I want to do is get a cable modem without a second IP address so that I can use PS2 online when im not using my PC. He says thats fine I can do that for you and I can review your charges. To which I respond, †œREVIEW MY CHARGES!!!ââ ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ� Why, he says †œAs a good will gestureââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ� well I wasnââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t looking for a good will gesture, but thats fine, all I want is my PS2 Online to work!!! So the guy raises an order for a cable modem to be installed free of charge, agrees that I could have a second IP address but that this isnââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t really required and as long as im happy to sort it all out at my end then he is ok with that. To top it all off he reduces my bill by £10 a month!!!! Not a one off but EVERY month!!


So why donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t NTL tell you that PS2 online doesnââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t work through a STB?

Why do so many of their employees insist that you donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t know what your talking about?

As a result of trying to get £2 a month out of me they have infact lost £10 a month and almost lost £100 a month and are installing a cable modem for free. Why is this so difficult?

So you did well out of it in the end then?So what are you chirupping on about?Are you chuffed or not?

I would be?I think!

Originally Posted by Incognitas

So you did well out of it in the end then?So what are you chirupping on about?Are you chuffed or not?

I would be?I think!

Im not "chuffed" about it because i was on the phone 90 minutes trying to sort it.

I dont really want a cable modem as ill have to take half a day off work

ive only just got my STB changed to a samsung this week to fix a problem i had and had to have half a day off work

people seem so suggest that PS2 online does actually work through the STB so it seems a bit of extreme action when someone with some knowledge might have been able to sort it out for me

Originally Posted by gary_580

Im not "chuffed" about it because i was on the phone 90 minutes trying to sort it.

I dont really want a cable modem as ill have to take half a day off work

ive only just got my STB changed to a samsung this week to fix a problem i had and had to have half a day off work

people seem so suggest that PS2 online does actually work through the STB so it seems a bit of extreme action when someone with some knowledge might have been able to sort it out for me

Ah ok! I see.....

Incog backs away from the thread slowly............................................ .................................................. ..

[Chris W]

21. Gaming Consoles

You may only connect XBox gaming consoles to the NTL network using a designated Xbox compatible broadband access product.

Users may only connect PlayStation 2 gaming consoles to the ntl network using a designated PlayStation 2 compatible broadband access product.

The STB is not a designated compatible broadband access product... if you wanted to know before you tried it you should have asked!

If you tried to sign up for ntl's console service you would have been told that you would need a SACM anyway, and if you are not signed up to the service, then what you are doing is unsupported by ntl, so why should they have told you!

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

The STB is not a designated compatible broadband access product...

huh? I get my BB through my STB so i assumed (foolishly) that the PS2 online would work through it as it also needs BB

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by 21. Gaming Consoles

You may only connect XBox gaming consoles to the NTL network using a designated Xbox compatible broadband access product.

Users may only connect PlayStation 2 gaming consoles to the ntl network using a designated PlayStation 2 compatible broadband access product.

Nice piece of legalese there.
Another paragraph, please contact technical support to estabish if you have a compatible broadband access product prior to attempting to connect your xbox or PS2 would not have gone amis.

Not that anyone reads the T&Cs

But if you bought the router the problem would go away as the router would be a compatible broadband access product - duh.

[BBKing]

Bleagh - the STB *should* be a superb console product, as both generally sit near TVs.

There is an easy way to get a console online with an STB without much palaver - find out its MAC address, clone onto a PC, register it with the PC, plug PS2 in. Should work.

[DeadKenny]

Don't know why they spin you this rubbish about 2 IP addresses, other than it makes them money.

All you need is a router and all the problems go away (you can have 1, 2 or 10 or more devices, and it makes no difference, it's all one IP to NTL, and it matters not if you use a PS2, XBox, Windows, Linux, Mac PC).


P.S. You're better off with a SACM though compared with a STB, but a router would have worked with a STB.


I feel your pain about taking time off work though, especially when an NTL "half day" means "any time in the day so you better take the whole day off, and even then they might not turn up at all"

[Tezcatlipoca]

To add to the echo....


1) No need at all to change from an STB to a SACM for your BB, if you want to use a PS2 online.

2) You can use a PS2 online via an STB. Just clone your PS2's MAC address onto your PC (as BBKIng said) & go through the STB registration....or get a cheap router


Don't be sucked in by ntl's BS about having to pay for the 2 IP service if you want to use a console.


ntl's T&Cs....


User Policy & use of routers:

http://www.home.ntl.com/page/userpolicy

20. Use of the Network (Broadband services)

You are permitted to use routers, and the connection of a dedicated hardware router or firewall shall not be considered a PC for the purposes of this section.

User policy & consoles:

http://www.home.ntl.com/page/userpolicy

21. Gaming Consoles

You may only connect XBox gaming consoles to the NTL network using a designated Xbox compatible broadband access product.

Users may only connect PlayStation 2 gaming consoles to the ntl network using a designated PlayStation 2 compatible broadband access product.

Which I take to mean that my XBox connection method (I use a Linksys WRT54G, & before that I used a Linksys BEFSR41) is OK wrt the AUP/T&Cs, because the router in question has been designated as XBox compatible by Microsoft (the AUP/T&Cs don't say it has to be "designated" by NTL! ).


There is, in my opinion, absolutely no justification for ntl to charge console users extra. The T&Cs allow the use of up to 3 PCs, & they allow the use of a router, so WTF should an XBox/PS2 owner have to pay extra, especially for something so pointless as a 2nd IP? (pointless as it's cheaper in the long run, as well as better anyway, to just get a router!)


Besides, if you do a direct connection, or use a router, or use ICS, they won't know you're using an XBox/PS2 anyway.

Cheers BBKing and Matt, cloned the PS2 MAC addr onto the PS2, registered it and it all worked fine.

Big green reps on there way.

Now the question is do i let NTL install the SACM or stick with the Sammy STB. Ill raise this in a new thread

[MarcusJohn]

OK you're now talking to a bit of a beginner to these kinda things!

I'm getting all what you're saying apart from the cloning part for the mac address (which I have for the PS2 side). I have XP, if you need to know this.
Any chance for an idiots quick run through on how to do this??

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by MarcusJohn

OK you're now talking to a bit of a beginner to these kinda things!

I'm getting all what you're saying apart from the cloning part for the mac address (which I have for the PS2 side). I have XP, if you need to know this.
Any chance for an idiots quick run through on how to do this??

If you bring up the properties for your network card, & go to the "Advanced" tab, you can enter your PS2's MAC address into the "Network Address" box.

Then, you just need to do the STB registration again, to register this MAC address with ntl: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d...r.html#pacereg

After that, you'll be able to connect your PS2 to your STB without problem, as the MAC will now be registered.


If you use a standalone cable modem (SACM), rather than an STB, then you don't need to do any of this. Simply reboot the modem inbetween disconnecting the PC & connecting the PS2.


Or, you could get a router, & use that to share the connection with the PC & PS2. You can get them very cheaply now (e.g. Amazon.co.uk have the Linksys BEFSR41 for just over 30 quid), & they are very easy to use.

[MarcusJohn]

Thanks for the help BUT:-

I'm still coming up with problems, I have a Nvidia Nforce motherboard with integrated network adaptor, whether this makes a difference to my next problem....well I dunno? But I can enter a new network address into the Advanced settings, but after I close this, it searches for addresses etc but then hangs just saying 'Limited Or No Connection'? And thats about it....I have entered all the original settings IP address,Subnet Mask,Default Gateway etc etc in manually also with the new network address but still no connection....although I can't seem to find anywhere to enter the DNCP Server in?? Is there something blindingly obvious that I'm not doing??
Oh and thanks for the welcome...keep up the good work!
Oh yeah I have a STB!

[DeadKenny]

I'd just buy a router. They're dead cheap and better in the long term.

Get a DSL/Cable router, but not and ADSL router.

You'll need a CAT5 ethernet cable to go from the STB to the router, and then CAT5 cables from the router to the PC and the PS2. All connect at the same time.

The router will also act as a hardware firewall, much better than firewalls you have in Windows.