After some advice - jumping from NTL/Virgin

[dizzi]

Our internet service has rapidly deteriorated to the point where it's completely intolerable at the moment - between 5pm and 11pm we get constant drop outs in connection for 2-3 minutes at the time, and when you use the internet primarily at these times for online gaming - that's pretty much unusable. It's a total drop out on all computers connected in the house, and it occurs at pretty much 2-5 minute intervals every single evening without fail. Whenever I've called Virgin tech support it's always someone in India on a line so faint I can barely hear - and been pretty much useless.

No other phoneline fitted into the building, can't go the Sky route because it's rented accommodation so I'm looking at having to bite the bullet, possibly lose my TV (or drop it to the most skeleton package I can) and pay BT line install and go the ADSL route - I'm at the end of my tether with NTL/Virgin and I'm sick of paying for an unuseable connection.

Any recommendations / comments? Is it worth me calling Virgin/NTL up and pushing the issue with a department like retentions? I don't really want the hassle and expense of switching if I don't have to - but I do want internet that actually works. Or a reliable option that isn't going to push things too much beyond what I'm paying at present and that actually WORKS?

dizzi,

are you connected through a router? (you state all the computers connected).

If so, try just connecting just one directly to the SACM/STB and see what happens - if it still drops, it's (probably) the connection (but try it with more than one patch cable, as my nephew had a similar problem, and it turned out the patch cable he used was damaged).

If the connection stays up, it might be your router.

HTH