Ntl Speed Up???

[zimmerframe]

I don't know if anybody is aware of the current fight for customers between NTL and Telewest causing a general speed increase for no additional fee in NT'Hell & Telewest areas.
Ive not managed to find any forums as yet that have any threads regarding this topic, thought I'd start one :)

Heres a URL that NTL customers may find interesting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3646825.stm


Not wishing to be left behind, Telewest rival NTL is also upping the speed of its net connections for free.

Its services will start at 300Kbps, priced at £17.99, with the top end at 1.5Mbps costing £37.99.

"Our customers want more speed, better e-mail access and more newsgroups to enjoy, and that's what we're delivering," said NTL chief executive officer, Simon Duffy.

NTL has some one million residential customers and accounts for a third of the UK's broadband market.


Comments plz...

[Gunsmith]

Originally posted by zimmerframe

NTL has some one million residential customers and accounts for a third of the UK's broadband market.

poor bastards

[Killy]

bastards aren't upgrading the 600k connection by the look of things :mad:

[MONK]

From NTL (http://www.ntl.com/mediacentre/press/display.asp?id=702)

New speeds

At entry level, the 150Kbps service increases to 300Kbps (£17.99), the mid tier service increases from 600Kbps to 750Kbps (£24.99), while at the high end the 1Mb service increases to 1.5Mb (£37.99).

The new speeds are being rolled out across the ntl cable network to existing and new customers. Customers will receive communication in advance of the speed increase.

ntl has an outstanding track record of innovation in broadband, having pioneered speed-tiering some years ago and launching the UK’s first 1Mb service. Today it also unveils a number of other broadband initiatives:

[KBB]

you beat me to it Monk.

Sounds good to me, up to 1.5 for free

[Killy]

ahh must have missed it rar :)

[zimmerframe]

I'm so gutted, OMG!!!

600K to 750K, Thats it, I've had enough!

May aswell upgrade to the 1MB intime for the free 500K speedup.

:icon21: :icon21: :icon21:

[Bonkers]

Telewest are doing 3mb for £50 :) Bet u wish u were in a telewest area eh?

[spaz]

technically its not 1.5 for free as such because theyre increasing the price to £37.99 :(

[Bonkers]

Oh and did someone mention cap? Guess not - but im sure Mr NTL will slip it in there somewhere :D

[zimmerframe]

It's the best I'm gonna get where I live though, not a single house on my avenue has a BT line so getting a DSL line here is a ball ache! I spoke to a customer service adviser from BT about six months ago n she told me that I would incure the cost of the telegraph pole n everything on my installation bill! lol

3MB for that price though JC, nice deal if you happen to live in the right area. U know the upload KB/s on that line?

[Bonkers]

probably be the same @ 256k - cant see them being nice and giving you 512k upload - can you?

[Say_Ten]

256kb upload on the Telewest 1.5 and 3Mb services.

[Elbonio]

great! 1.5MB for me!



for the record i have had no problems with NTL

[KingDaveRa]

Just as an aside...

Telewest announced this on one day, then the very next NTL sheepishly also announced it.

The fact NTL just hiked prices will probably now be ignored, although no doubt they'll bump them a little bit more.

I find it funny that BTo aren't increasing speeds (boo!) but are reducing prices little by little.

More speed would be nice though... ;)

[Afty]

Originally posted by zimmerframe
It's the best I'm gonna get where I live though, not a single house on my avenue has a BT line so getting a DSL line here is a ball ache! I spoke to a customer service adviser from BT about six months ago n she told me that I would incure the cost of the telegraph pole n everything on my installation bill! lol
I'm curious, AFAIK regulations stipulate that BT must provide service (within certain limitations) to residential customers anywhere in the country without such surcharges.

It's similar regulations to those that state Royal Mail must deliver post to remote cottages in the Scottish Highlands for the same 19p/28p cost of stamp as anywhere else.

You should contact OFTEL about this - Maybe times have changed and BT are now exempt from such regulations, but it's worth checking.

[GeeDee]

I believe afty is right. You pay the standard installation rate; no matter where you live. I believe there are a few exceptions in areas where BT don't have the franchise and it falls to another operator, but thats very small parts of the country.

Giles.

[zimmerframe]

Contacting OFTEL is a good idea, I had a feeling from what other people have told me that BT should provide the service with on extra costs. My whole area is generally dominated by NTHELL so maybe this could be the factor preventing be getting my DSL line. Evenmore I would be a migrating customer so you would think they would make me a priority.

I've asked a number of my neighbours if they would move to BT and they would also prefere a change, do you think a petition would help???

[Cheez]

Originally posted by GeeDee
I believe afty is right. You pay the standard installation rate; no matter where you live. I believe there are a few exceptions in areas where BT don't have the franchise and it falls to another operator, but thats very small parts of the country.

Giles. I was gonna say, there was a thing in the news a few months back where a couple were quoted £1,000,000 to have a phone line installed. As they had to have cables laid to their island. :)

[Boffykins]

Originally posted by zimmerframe
I don't know if anybody is aware of the current fight for customers between NTL and Telewest
Someone doesn't understand how the UK's Cable franchising works. NTL and Telewest are unable to offer services in the same area as each other. They are not rival companies, they do infact refer potential customers to each others sites if the customer is outside of their franchise area. Get a clue before announcing it as a price war.

[Boffykins]

Originally posted by GeeDee
I believe there are a few exceptions in areas where BT don't have the franchise and it falls to another operator, but thats very small parts of the country.

Giles.
By "very small" you mean "very ****". Like Hull.

[Tsung]

Originally posted by afty
I'm curious, AFAIK regulations stipulate that BT must provide service (within certain limitations) to residential customers anywhere in the country without such surcharges.

I dont think that is 100% correct, as a telephone line is not considered an essential utility. Even if it is and BT has to supply, they do not have to supply a high speed internet service, just a phone line. Maybe if a property is already serviced by another operator they have no obligation to supply a service.

I've have only limited problems with NTL, the service once setup and billed correctly works with very little problems. Occasionally it would go down, but that can happen with any provider.

[Jez_Gafys]

Just a bit more on the BT line they also only have to supply a line capable of 9600 speed which is ample for there voice comms, im sure if you wanted fast dsl you very well might be faced with the any high osts that maybe involved.

[zimmerframe]

This morning I had a delightful conversation with a senior BT communications technician based in Manchester’s central offices after waiting twenty minutes in phone queue, he explained the situation regarding what he called ‘un-framed’ residential areas. He explained that where I live the nearest exchange is 6KM (20,000 feet) away from the point of installation, making it possible for a PSTN line to be installed (just about!) but the distance is to far for DSL. He said a work around is currently in place but will not be ready for several months. What they propose is to build a sub station nearby that can hold the DSLAM’s that would normally be held at an exchange. He also mentioned that another reason for delay in service is that such sub stations that are relaying information for residential lines cause problems with their line testing application Celerity. However, he did tell me no extra costs will be involved and paying for a telegraph pole is out of the question.

Is BT giving me the brush here or what? Does anyone think that is reasonable? Thx.
:confused:

[Cheez]

It doesn't sound unreasonable at all. They can't provide it normally and are working on a work-around. They don't have to do the work around at all, its more than reasonable to have to wait.

[zimmerframe]

Ture true, I should be thankfull really shouldn't I that BT are trying to provide service. I can't wait to move to DSL, I wanna faster line, lol.

[GeeDee]

Originally posted by Jez_Gafys
Just a bit more on the BT line they also only have to supply a line capable of 9600 speed

Actually, it's 28.8k/bit now. If your line doesn't achieve these speeds BT are obligated to sort it.

:)

Giles.

[zimmerframe]

Originally posted by GeeDee
Actually, it's 28.8k/bit now. If your line doesn't achieve these speeds BT are obligated to sort it.


Hmm that’s interesting, a friend of mine is on the AOL 1MB service which is fairly good now they have made it ‘open-shop’ not requiring AOL software to connect making LANing not a pain in as at his house anymore! Anyway, when he was on the 512K service the connection was rock solid always. Now he has been on the 1MB service for about eight months and he has so much trouble with the connection it’s untrue. BT voyager DSL modem software reports the line noise to be average 26, accoutring to AOL average should be 24. Do you think the fact that his BT line is not reaching 28.8K have anything to do with it coz you sound like you know a fair bit about this subject?

[zimmerframe]

^Should b askin this in Connections & Internetworking Thread! OMG :rolleyes: SRY

[Bonkers]

Its nothing to do with that - thats on a normal analogue phone line - because its not meant for data use. He has ADSL so its a completely differnt subject - such poor performance issues may be down to your VPs (Virtual Paths) being full - this is where conention issues are coming into play - if you are sharing a 10mb VP with 50 other users - all with 512k, 1mb - and everyone leeches - then you aint gonna get very high speeds :) This is why broadband (ADSL) - is labeled "UPTO 10x the speed of a 56k modem" because its not always 10x the speed :) If you report the poor performance to BT - and everyone else does - then chances are they will sort the problem and upgrade your exchanges bandwith capacity!
One other thing i thought - and this is an outside bet - but although he has low attenuation (26 i think you said) his line MIGHT be out of range for 1mb (although this does sound stupid as BT has the limits ect IT DOES HAPPEN!!) - this does i belive lead to poor performance issues. But if you ask BT to recheck - and it IS outside the range - then its back to 512k unfortunately :)

[Jedi180]

shame theres no date on that yet :/

woot 1.5meg for seany tho :D

[zimmerframe]

Originally posted by Jedi180
shame theres no date on that yet :/

woot 1.5meg for seany tho :D

Gud Innit:spinface:

[Storme]

If only they increased upload speeds...

[zimmerframe]

yea, then we could all have our own 1942 servers :p:

[maxrealism]

Just an update I got with my NTL bill, along with "Buy broadband, Telephone and TV from us" adverts (for services I already take)

The speed increases are happening according to the letter...

"The upgrade program starts in August..." with the speed increases that I think everyone's aware of, but to restate:

Our 150K service doubles its speed to 300K
Our 600K service gets 25% faster, increasing to 750K
Our 1Mb service gets 50% faster, increasing to 1.5Mb

This is (according to the letter) "To celebrate over 1 million customers choosing ntl broadband...."

[Killy]

/me waits PATIENTLY........................ meh

[Mingtea]

Why did Blueyonder do it 10 times faster?

Why have I been enjoying 1.5meg for 3 months now?

[spaz]

I think all the upgrades are now available in most parts of the country, so if you turn off your modem for about 30 secs it should get the new config file for your 300/750/1.5 cable.

Telewest did it much faster because ntl have had to upgrade a lot of their network (which is much bigger than telewests) and do other things like swap out STBs for people with their internet going through them.

Now i've got 1.5mb at last, shame about upload though :(

[Jez_Gafys]

Well ive been paying the 37.99 a month for about 3 months now, ill try the reboot modem thingy tonight.



EDIT ....


Well Im at home now I just rebooted my modem and did a modem test .. hmm 568kbps left it while and then went to go download a large ish file to test the download speed

I went to download.com and picked a file at random I ended up with http://www.download.com/3001-2192-10295118.html which is StudioLine Photo Program and began to save ... Very pleased through the entire download the transfer speed never dropped below 173KB/Sec with average peaks to 180KB so I reckon is worked and im now on the faster speed?

[Matt]

I got my speed increase today :-)

[Thrud]

I assume those of you who have had the speed increase are using a cable modem rather than STB??

[alipuk]

still waiting here

[werewolf]

Originally posted by Thrud
I assume those of you who have had the speed increase are using a cable modem rather than STB??


from comments on another board STB customers using the lower packages should get the upgrade already, i think it's only the 1mb stb customers who have to wait :)


i'm fairly sure i've heard of stb customers getting the increase from 600k etc, just not the 1mb :)

[maxrealism]

I've got an STB (set top box) and I've got the speed increase now... checked doing a download and it's ripping along @ 90KB a sec

[Killy]

i've got mine now (STB)

[KBB]

Just rebooted my modem and worked a treat - a nice steady 180 :D

[werewolf]

Originally posted by KBB
Just rebooted my modem and worked a treat - a nice steady 180 :D

It is quite a nice download :)


if only they'd upgrade the upload as well :)

[WhiteKnight]

After talking to an engineer, ive found out that the Blue PACE boxes are not capable of more than the 1meg service.

This is aparently due to the construction of the unit, only having a single crappy CPU inside and poorly implemented software.

In order for STB internet customers to be upgraded to the 1.5mb service, you need to have one of the new Samsung boxes.

I`ve discovered there are several advantages to this.

1) The remote control is a NORMAL remote so learning remotes can learn the codes and control the box.

2) It has a much faster UI.

3) Its capable of much greater throughput than the old box.

4) Its shiny silver to match the rest of my kit :)

[maxrealism]

Originally posted by werewolf
It is quite a nice download :)


if only they'd upgrade the upload as well :)

Here here to that !!

[zimmerframe]

Finally got mine yesterday, I did a www.toast.net speed test and got a nice 746KB/s

Is a shame about the upland speen though, even a little increase would have been nice :mad:

[Mu5icMan]

personally i think the samsung boxes are S***T because the engineer came out 2 weeks ago to replace the PACE one and on Saturday it broke, and now have to wait for a replacement.

[KingDaveRa]

The Pace boxes were OK.

Then along came CR3.

That software raped the processors in those boxes. It was so slow it was laughable. In in the time it took to navigate the EPG, the show you wanted to see had already finished.

I'm told by a mate who has NTL that the new Samsung box is far better. Yours is a one-off, so its unfair to say they are all ****. Things do break you know.

[maxrealism]

true, but NTL aren't known for their quick or good customer service.

[Matt]

Then again my Pace box keeps crashing since they did the Software Update (Which is horrible in my opinion)

[Mu5icMan]

I have phoned NTL today and they said that an engineer will not be available until the 14th August, which is a week since i made the phone call to get it fixed.

It this normal to take this long.

[Afty]

Originally posted by Mu5icMan
I have phoned NTL today and they said that an engineer will not be available until the 14th August, which is a week since i made the phone call to get it fixed.

It this normal to take this long. I assume you're going to have them refund you a weeks worth of your fee?

[alipuk]

taken from NTL Service status (http://www.ntl-isp.ntl.com/ServiceStatus/) page :-
On the morning of Tuesday 10th of August between midnight and 6am, the following work will take place:-


Network upgrades in the Leicester, Warwick, Middlesborough, Port Talbot, Oxford, Charminster, Ipswitch, Warwick, Reading, Salisbury, Cannisburn, Clydebank, Rutherglen, St Mellons, Newport West, Clifton, Huddersfield, Mansfield and Cardiff areas will result in a loss of service to some customers in those areas.

Looks like I will get my upgrade tomorrow :)

[zimmerframe]

Originally posted by maxrealism
true, but NTL aren't known for their quick or good customer service.

LOL, think we can agree on that :P

[HalOS]

Might I add that 3mb is most pleasing...

(I think my virtual penis just grew a little!)