Weird Connection Issue - affects all PCs except one in Safe Mode

[busterdan]

I have ben a 10meg customer for a few months now, all started well and I was very impressed with the speed of the service... I have one of the small blue perspex NTL SACM's

Over the past few weeks I have notice the response time for loading general web pages has decreased significantly, but overall downloads still seem quite fast (depending on the download location/site).

On Monday evening, the same slowness was noticed and then I was unable to connect but, I thought it might be a DNS issue (I have had that happen before) so tried some different DNS IP addresses... this helped for a short time but then also seemed to fail.

Normally I connect via a router so I did all the usual, reboot the router, the SACM, renew the IP address - still no progress...

Then I connected my laptop to the SACM directly (this is a machine that I have registered with NTL and clone the MAC address within my router. Normally this would work or at least get some response... still nothing.

So I tried my other PC and that didn't work.

FInally I resorted to call tech support (it's disgusting that I pay £35 a month and still have to pay 10p a minute to resolve a fault).

We went through all the usual, restart the SACM, check the IP address and settings, is there a firewall or antivirus software running, if so turn it off... we tried pinging a web address...and then a IP address and nothing... at this point i was getting very frustrated. The operator said that she was able to ping me from where she was.

Then the operator said try safe mode with networking - when I did this with the laptop connected directly to the SACM it worked - the operator said it was antivirus software...but it can't be... I agreed to run some of my own tests.

I then tried safe mode on the laptop going via my router (that did not work despite all the MAC and DNS settings being correct) - the router picked up the same IP address from NTL so I do not understand why this would not work (assuming that the problem is with the laptop or other windows pc's in my network). I tried safe mode on the other PCs (via the router) and this also did not work.

Finally I though....perhaps a virus, some ad/malware may have got on to the PC's and spread to the others so I install a new version of Mandrake Linux. It picked up the network fine was allocated a IP address by my router but again.... no internet access.

I'm not sure what to try next...

If it was the router settings then the laptop should have worked in safe or normal mode.
If it is NTL then why did the laptop work in safe mode
If it is the laptop/PC's then why didn't the other machines work in safe mode and especially the one with Linux installed.

Any suggestions please folks

[MovedGoalPosts]

If something weird is happening, get rid of all the extraneous stuff first and back to basics. Proove the connection over ntl is fine and trouble free, with minimal equipment in the way so get rid of your home network to rule that out.

First the PC you reloaded with Mandrake, you are otherwise confident it is fine. Connnect that direct to your modem, no router. What happens? Are all firewalls, antivirus and the like deleted. Make sure you reboot the modem when switching ober the connections.

[busterdan]

Thanks for the reply Rob... treid again tonight - nothing... then managed to get a connection through my main PC (direct through the SACM)... then through the router and this time I was OK but the page loads are incredibly slow.

Anooyed by this I then spent 45 minutes on tech support... the guy run various tests and I ran some tests from www.numion.com

It seems like the problem relates to download speeds... the test I ran proved download speed is aroun 1 to 2mbit and not 10!!! I reckon this has been the case for a few weeks at least.... maybe longer.

The tech support guy said he had done everything he could and would arrange an enginner for next monday.... I refused because I was not prepared to wait any longer - instead I will call Cust Serv and demand that I get the full speed immediately (or I will cancel)

It doesn't seem too bad at the moment to be honest...at least I can get in.

[busterdan]

I just tried another speed test here's the very sorry results.... http://www.numion.com/YourSpeed3/Sho...?ID=49,856,131

[Paul K]

How do you expect to get full speed if you cancel the engineer visit? If it's an issue with the install or hardware it will require an engineer to sort out and not another call to CS.

[James Henry]

Originally Posted by busterdan

The tech support guy said he had done everything he could and would arrange an enginner for next monday.... I refused because I was not prepared to wait any longer - instead I will call Cust Serv and demand that I get the full speed immediately (or I will cancel).

Presumably you expect customer services to wave a magic wand and mystically restore your connection to service, after all if it's a cabling problem they can easily fix it from their desks, can't they?

Oh, you can't cancel, you signed a 12 month contract and you can't really claim that the service is substandard and nothing is being done about it as they want to arrange an engineer but you are refusing.

You can demand all you want, no-one can guarantee you full speed and if it's a problem with the modem synching up to the ntl network or signal quality you need onsite support.

When you're done throwing toys out of pram and cutting off your nose to spite your face perhaps you'll reconsider that offer of an engineer visit.

[busterdan]

No I don't expect any magic wand waving... and my toys are not being thrown about, but I am clear that I want this issue resolved immediately....

So I have this morning spent another frustrating 20 minutes on to tech support to hear nothing but the same "Can you start up in safe mode...." the guys are helpful don't get wrong but they are clearly working from a troubleshooting list...

I spoke to customer services and they said that there is nothing they can do but were prepared to give me 10meg Broadband for 3months at half price....

Then I went through to cancellations and lo and behold I spoke to some one who was extremely helpful... he said he had had 3 people this week with similar issues. He seemed to have a very good technical understanding and went on to say that NTL have a dedicated person working in their department - his name is Steve (I better not give his full name here) who is dedicated from resolving critical broadband issues. Unfortunately he is apparently away until next Wednesday otherwise I would have ben able to speak directly to him.

The person I was speaking to also said that if the sync and ready light on my SACM were stable then the cable modem was not at fault. Also as I had tried other machines including a linux box it was unlikely the fault was software based.

I then run another test and this time the download speed was show to only be 700kbps - the operator fully understood my frustrations and said he would book an appointment for Steve to call me and run his own in depth (whatever they are) tests.

All this was discuss very calmly, not a single out the pram moment.

Without me even asking I was then credited a further £20 on top of the 3 months half price 10meg I was already offered - which I accepted otherwise I really would be spiting my face!

So the facts are....

The issue is not going to be resolved immediately
I am not being unresonable and all toys are intact
I am connected.
It is slow.
I won't have it resolved until Wednesday 21st at 7pm (when Steve calls) at the very earliest.
It may still be necessary for a engineer to visit my home.
I do not have any 12 month contract - I have been a customer with NTL (or previous companies since 1997) and was specifically told that I was not contractually obliged to stay with NTL for 12 months when I upgraded to 10meg.