Hi all, I'm new to the forum so please be gentle
I have been using BlueYonder Broadband for a couple of years now at least and I think in the main, it is a really good service.
But I have thought about the extra bits they could offer to make the service so much more attractive and usable, and I kinda wonder why they have never done it.
Well here are my thoughts anyway:
1. Email Capacity. Currently standing at 30Mb per mailbox last time I checked. Isn't this just the worst ever example of an email service ? What is anybody really supposed to do with 30 Mb ?
2. Email Reliability. I only use my Blueyonder email addresses for completely insignificant accounts that I could do without if necessary, because it has been so unreliable. Constant timeouts when collecting via POP3, realatively slow downloading of emails considering it is all on the BlueYonder network.
3. Fixed IP Addressing. Yes I know, the IP address rarely changes anyway. But surely that would work in their favour. Allocate an IP address to a customer, and leave it there permanently. I have a web based program that I use to collect all my incoming emails and allow me access to them from a browser, together with an FTP service that I run. Every time I go out and think I am going to use the program, I have to log in and check my IP to make sure it hasn't changed.
4. Upload Speed. Always a bone of contention with any broadband I suspect! But paying for a 4 meg link, surely they could increase the upload speed above 384k. A combination of fixed IP addressing and increased upload speed would allow the everyday user to run a small webserver. The reliability of BlueYonder would suggest that this would easily be possible. (And of course it would make more money for Telewest!).
I just feel Telewest could do so much more with their network than they currently do. The core broadband service is, and always has been, great where I live (5 mins from the Telewest Office in Sheffield). The download speeds are consistent and fast, and I have had very little trouble with it. But that is, of course, only the core service. I always feel like I am using a service that is extremely good but very rough round the edges. Polish it up, add a few extras, perhaps as suggested above, and keep the download speeds just ahead of the competition, and Telewest would be onto a real winner.
These points aside, I consider the service extremely good overall, but there is definitely room for improvement. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would probably say 7, mostly due to the reliability and speed of the actual downloading itself.
Come on Telewest, polish the service up and give it some final touches. You're in this to make money, and I'm sure this would improve your income!
And of course, if as someone has suggested in this forum, that 14 Mb links are on the horizon, what more could you ask for ???
(Well ok, 20 would be nice I know, but the words 'belly', 'bigger' and 'eyes' spring to mind)
PS. I'll probably be posting some tech questions in due course, so plz bear with any ignorance/muppet like things I might say wont ya