Dropping Internet Connections

[Ghostrider]

No router, just hardwired to an ADSL Modem.

 

The connection started off with hanging last night, data could get in fine, but nothing was going out. Trying for a new connection just gave an "Invalid Username or Password" message, which is the same as has always come up in the past when something was down. I've never had a period of downtime lasting more than a couple of hours since going with Tiscali 18 months ago, so after theis length of time beginning to wonder just what's up.

 

Same with two different laptops, so pretty sure the problem's not with them, Modem and cables seem okay, but I have a spare set which I'll try too just in case.

[Ghostrider]

Well, different cables, Modem, splitter all tried, re-set up log-in, triple checked username and password, and still nothing changed. All in all a thoroughly wasted 1/2 hour.... I feel that ear chewing call getting close.

 

I hadn't heard Pipex had sold out to Tiscali, typical.... They were kinda top of my list of someone to move over to as and when and if necessary (around now being such a time), as I'd heard numerous good(ish) things about them, but somehow they don't seem quite so attractive now, knowing that.

[Fifi]

Anyone else's broadband down? We've been down since last night.

[Pooks]

Working fine here.

[Twerto]

fine here and with pipex myself

[Fjool]

My Pipex connection is unusually stable recently. Normally it drops like a drunk man juggling porcupines, but haven't been dropped for a while.

[Fifi]

Thanks Pooks. I've been phoning around in the area and it seems broadband's off in the area, so not Pipex. Same problem that seems to happen occasionally in the Northmavine area. Gets a bit frustrating as I and other broadband users who aren't with BT can't report it to them, only to our own ISPs who are then meant to chase up BT.

 

The folk who are BT Broadband customers find it almost impossible to make BT believe that there's a problem. They have to spend ages on the phone to India with these twits who tell them to check their own settings, change the settings on their router, etc. A few folk in the area have done this in the past, only to have to pay to get someone out to fix it again..

 

Grr.. BT. Spit!

 

http://northmavine.proboards86.com/index.cgi?board=localissues&action=display&thread=187&page=3

 

[Brink]

My BT BroadBand went down on Friday. Eventually BT realised it was a fault their side, not mine.

It then took a further 75 mins on the phone to India in order to reconfigure the router settings.

My favourite bit is when I am kept hanging on the line waiting for an operator and being urged to log on to their website for a more convenient and efficient service......

[Ghostrider]

A while later, and I'm still begrudgingy with Tiscali.

 

Anyone else with them? Preferably using a hardwired Modem, and preferably someplace round the Ness.

 

Any bother with dropping connections since the middle of last December? In particular a marked increase in them since the middle of last Sunday afternoon, often accompanied by it being extremely difficult to get a connection, and often when you do instead of being connected to Tiscali you're connected to a BT Wholesale error message saying the ISP's server is down.

[JustMe]

I am with Tiscali and intending to stick with them for the moment simply because they do not have some silly 10gb monthly cap. Looked up the "fair use" policy the other day and found that they regard something over 100gb a month as unfair.

 

Did get the BT wholesale thing the other day and was left wondering if Tiscali had paid the phone bill. After all there are rumours about them being in financial difficulty and possibly going to be bought by Carphone Warehouse.

 

As for speed it usually seems ok during the day but I have found my "up to 8meg brodband" as low as dial up speeds in the evening........perhaps lower as the speed test has timed out on occasion.

 

Located in Lerwick and meant to get up to 6meg at the very best.

[trooter]

I am with Tiscali and used to have a lot of problems with dropped connection.

I think it was the supplied Sagem modem that was at fault, I changed to a router and have had no problems since. Speed has varied a lot lately from a very poor 0.5 to a reasonable 6.0 meg.

Tiscali is apparently having major money issues though, so may have to think about changing.

[Colin]

Been with Tiscali for years and have never had any problems connecting through my router. Overall performance has been a bit variable. Until the last couple of months, anything up to 7.6Mbs was possible (depending on time of day) recently, however, speeds seem to be much lower.

 

Heard lots of different rumours about them. Everything from damaged fibre trunk at their server farm to bankruptcy looming.

 

I'm aware of a number of people having difficulty connecting during the last couple of weeks. If it's a technical problem, you would assume that it would be fixed sometime soon.

[Ghostrider]

^^ When I went with Tiscali 3 years ago, I signed up for the 1 meg service, and I've never changed that.

 

With the exception of two notable occasions, one of which I was bitchin above above 18 months ago, its been a generally reliable service. The trouble started in mid December, without either me doing anything, or being informed of anything by Tiscali, that my connecting speed changed from 1 meg, to what I assume is their "up to 8 meg" one. They didn't charge me extra, so I figured I could live with on average about 1-3 drops in connection daily for the benefit of the faster connection for the same cost as the slower one.

 

The dropping connections seem to be related to the variability in speed, in both directions, over time. In the early days it wasn't uncommon to get a connection of 7+ or 6+ meg, but after a few weeks it settled to usually connecting somewhere between 4.5 and 5.5 meg. The problem seems to arise when at any one given time the speed I'd connect at that moment exceeds 0.3 meg from the speed of the connection I have. ie. If I'm connected at 5.0 meg and it drops, I will reconnect at either 4.7 meg or slower, or 5.3 meg or faster.

 

The difference since the middle of last Sunday has been that while dropped connections may not have been all that more frequent, getting a connection initially and reconnecting after a drop has frequently been a long drawn out affair. Having the dial-up time out with an error message "The server didn't respond to verify username and password in a timely manner" and or the BT Wholesale error message that the ISP's server was down, have gone on continously for periods of up to 30 minutes.

[Ghostrider]

I am with Tiscali and used to have a lot of problems with dropped connection.

I think it was the supplied Sagem modem that was at fault, I changed to a router and have had no problems since. Speed has varied a lot lately from a very poor 0.5 to a reasonable 6.0 meg.

Tiscali is apparently having major money issues though, so may have to think about changing.

 

The Sagem Modems Tiscali supply are diabolical. The original one I had was endless frustration.

 

I bought two identical Modems with connection cable off ebay when the original started acting up, one had been bought in a shop, the other was an ex Tiscali freebie. The shop bought one has given me well over 2 years of daily trouble free use, the ex Tiscali freebie died the same death within a few months as the original freebie Tiscali supplied to me.

 

Haven't really had the inclination to dig in to it, but I suspect the Modems and cables supplied to Tiscali by Sagem were of inferior quality to those Sagem supplied to retail outlets. Most likely the inferiority is in the cable, the one supplied with the shop bought Modem is an entirely different construction to those with the Tsiscali freebie Modems.

[Fifi]

I'm still with Pipex but of course now it's owned by Tiscali. No problems and using a Netgear router.