Should I switch to NTL?

Sumanji · 06-06-2006, 18:55

Hey,

At the moment I'm paying ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£25 for a Freedom2Surf 2MB uncapped service. Now I'm perfectly happy with the service, but I'm worried I'm overpaying for the speed I'm getting... problem is my line won't handle much over 2MB if I switch to Max (in fact it would probably sync under 2MB!).

So for the same amount of money I could be getting an NTL 4Mb cable line. Should I switch to them? I see it's an uncapped service, but how bad is the traffic shaping? And game pings are usually better on cable right?

I live right next to the Lenton student area in Nottingham, so will the NTL service here be a bit pants with all the students raping their connections with warez 24/7?

Any help/views appreciated [img]Download Failed (1)[/img]

Cheers,

Suman

Kliro · 06-06-2006, 18:58

NTL hasn't actually released this 4meg as of yet, but it should be rolled out by the end of this month, theres a comment on the homepage from NTL about it.

There's no traffic shaping as of yet though people do expect it to return.

I've heard about some people experiancing slower speeds in student areas, though I'm not sure on this one.

to the forums by the way

Sumanji · 06-06-2006, 22:06

Thanks for the reply dude

I guess I should hang on until all the 4MB upgrades are done and see how it pans out... and in the mean time do some research on what NTL in Nottingham is like. I used it in my old house but didn't really pay any attention to the service (I do remember the connection dropping a lot though

).

Also I was looking at the Linksys WCG200. Will I be able to use this with NTL?

Cheers,

Suman

DaggaDagga · 06-06-2006, 22:08

Absolutely do not sign up for NTL broadband. It was once a good service, now it's utterly hopeless.

FusionXN1 · 06-06-2006, 22:40

Well my bro In Grimsby had it around a year ago and said it was great and my friend has 10mb there he gets 9.5 - 10.5 all day! (according to speed test 10.5). So I guess it depends on your area.

tomjleeds · 06-06-2006, 23:08

If I could be bothered to have the BT line reconnected and having Sky installed, I'd have switched to DSL by now.

Sumanji · 07-06-2006, 13:45

lol ok, lots of conflicting reports... so it's either really really good or totally crap

Out of interest, are Telewest better than NTL? And whats the upload speed on NTL 4MB? The out-dated FAQ's on their website make no mention of any of the newer services!

Cheers,

Suman

orangebird · 07-06-2006, 13:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sumanji

lol ok, lots of conflicting reports... so it's either really really good or totally crap

Out of interest, are Telewest better than NTL? And whats the upload speed on NTL 4MB? The out-dated FAQ's on their website make no mention of any of the newer services!

Cheers,

Suman

?? There's a release from ntl on there website, here

Nugget · 07-06-2006, 13:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by FusionXN1

Well my bro In Grimsby had it around a year ago and said it was great and my friend has 10mb there he gets 9.5 - 10.5 all day! (according to speed test 10.5). So I guess it depends on your area.

I'm in Grimsby and, while I personally don't use ntl, both my neighbour and the guy over the road use it, and they've never had any problems

07-06-2006, 13:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sumanji

lol ok, lots of conflicting reports... so it's either really really good or totally crap

Out of interest, are Telewest better than NTL? And whats the upload speed on NTL 4MB? The out-dated FAQ's on their website make no mention of any of the newer services!

Cheers,

Suman

You will get conflicting reports, as the performance varies depending where you are. Parts of Leicester are poor, for example.

You would be best advised to pay more attention to customers from around Nottingham, as that will be the most relevant to you.

Nottingham has one of the biggest proxy server 'farms' in the country - my connection is proxied through Nottingham & I have to say that for the majority of the time they perform completely 'transparently', for me.

Upload on NTL 4meg should be 400kb/s. <edit> as it says in orangebird's link - thanks OB

No experience of Telewest, though, sorry

<edit> NTL will supply the cable modem, so you only need a standard wireless router, such as the Linksys Wrt54G

DaggaDagga · 07-06-2006, 14:02

At the moment, the broadband seems to stop working nationwide for a day every 2-4 weeks or so. Check some of the other threads on this forum.

If you think this is acceptable then you'll be delighted with it.

It was once incredibly reliable. Now it seems to be falling to bits.

chrisjones · 07-06-2006, 14:12

Like a lot of people are coming back with - it really depends on what your area is like. Do some research, try and find people in your area that are currently with NTL. Im in Harrogate (HG1) which apparently has quite a low connection rate via NTL - I have next to no issues with my 2mb connection except the pretty regular DNS attacks we seem to all be having.

Sumanji · 07-06-2006, 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by homealone

Nottingham has one of the biggest proxy server 'farms' in the country - my connection is proxied through Nottingham & I have to say that for the majority of the time they perform completely 'transparently', for me.

I have no idea what that means

please could you explain? Is it a good thing or a bad thing basically

Quote:

Originally Posted by homealone

NTL will supply the cable modem, so you only need a standard wireless router, such as the Linksys Wrt54G

I would rather have an all-in-one solution like my 3Com ADSL router/modem at the moment... less wiring mess, and plug sockets are a premium commodity for me atm! Is the Linksys I mentioned compatible? Or do you have to use the supplied NTL modem?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaggaDagga

At the moment, the broadband seems to stop working nationwide for a day every 2-4 weeks or so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisjones

Do some research, try and find people in your area that are currently with NTL.

Some good old hammering of the forum search button then?

Cheers

Suman

07-06-2006, 14:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sumanj

I have no idea what that means

please could you explain? Is it a good thing or a bad thing basically

as if they weren't there - a good thing, as when the proxies don't work properly it affects browsing quite badly.

Quote:

I would rather have an all-in-one solution like my 3Com ADSL router/modem at the moment... less wiring mess, and plug sockets are a premium commodity for me atm! Is the Linksys I mentioned compatible? Or do you have to use the supplied NTL modem?

you have to use the NTL supplied one, I'm afraid ...

FusionXN1 · 07-06-2006, 14:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nugget

I'm in Grimsby and, while I personally don't use ntl, both my neighbour and the guy over the road use it, and they've never had any problems

Yes - Agreed - again Grimsby / Cleethorpes are a good area (one of the top apparently for NTL) and i think they connect to a proxy in nottingham I'm not sure. Anyway maybe post a new thread on the forum asking for people in your area with 4mb and 10mb and find on what service who gets what and where they are in your area