COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[PanBiker]

I am currently interacting with Talk Talk with my Trustee hat on for Bosom Friends. Since we reopened the centre we have noticed that we have WiFi but without internet, as much use as a chocolate teapot! When we first got the line we had TT Business Broadband. It was a new line install and had to be a business account as we are regarded as such even though we are a registered UK Charity with unpaid trustees. We don't have aphone as we dont have a use for one. The line is used exclusively for internet connectivity via the WiFi and to feed our upstairs display arrangement. I pulled out a data connection so that anyone attaching a laptop to the display could also get on the web etc.

I went round and logged into the router with my phone. The broadband admin page is blank, no connectivity at all, logs show repeated failed attempts to contact the exchange. I came home and logged into a support chat session from our business account hub. I chatted with Bethany and after hearing our fault did a line test and router interrogation etc and then emailed me with the results. She suspects that we have the wrong router! As soon as I read that I looped back to my original emails from when we had the line installed and the account set up. It was back in 2019 when it was first set up and shortly after we got an offer to upgrade to fibre at no extra cost which I accepted. I got a date for roll out and told that I would be sent an upgraded router before the event.

Unfortunately that all got overtaken by Covid as we slipped into lock down. We closed our centre down and I completely forgot about the router upgrade, I never received one anyway. The business account is all set up with my home details and email so anything sent out should come directly to here, we don't have a letter box at the centre anyway.

Despite this the line must have been upgraded at the exchange and now carries a VDSL signal which our current router can't deal with.

Bethany asked me to do all the normal tests and then reply to the email. I went back round and checked for a dial tone on the line which was OK. I took the faceplate off the master socket and plugged directly into the test socket and of course got the same result. Line looks OK and I can phone home from it. Tested it with filter, without filter, front of faceplate, back of faceplate. Open Reach actually fitted the smart 5C master socket which is quite a clever device. Anyway, I reported all back to Bethany by replying to the email with all the results plus the model of the router which is a HG 635, this should confirm we have the wrong router and we should really have the HG633. In this crazy world the HG633 is a later version than the HG635!

Not heard anything back yet.

[Big Kev]

Not heard anything back yet.

I still have the old Sky router here after changing to Talktalk. Not sure on the spec without digging it out of the cupboard but you're welcome to it. It may do the job until the 'correct' one turns up.

[Big Kev]

A quick read and it looks like it's a non starter. ISP specific routers are hard wired to only work with that ISP...

[PanBiker]

Well that was interesting, just had another chat with the support team. I mentioned that the previous support agent suggested that we needed a new router. They tried to tell me that it would cost us £100 + P&P + VAT for a replacement! I pointed out that I had been offered, accepted and had confirmed by their sales team a FREE upgrade to fibre, all confirmed last year and had the emails to prove it. They then said our contract ended in October of 2020 so I countered with the fact that we had no notification of this and that they had continued to debit our bank account each month for the last 12 months contract or not! Tech support then decided this was not within their remit and offered to transfer me to sales. Chat ended with a promise of a call from the sales team.

Just had a nice 5 minute chat with a lad in sales. He said the easiest way to get round our problem was to dump the contract that has already expired and start a new one for the fibre deal? OK say I, as long as I get a free router, no problem says he and it will cost you less as well £16.45 + Vat (we pay over £25 at the moment). He confirmed 65Mbps fibre broadband with a minimum guaranteed speed of 36.8Mbps. Router will be delivered to my address, get back to them If I have any more problems, winner!

[Big Kev]

Nice result

[PanBiker]

Just looked at the email that was sent from the sales dept at Talk Talk. All we talked about on the phone was the fibre package but the deal referred to in the email is for the bog standard Business Broadband which is 17Mps ADSL. He did say get back in touch if there are any problems. I will wait and see which router they deliver, if it works and see what connection speed I get to the exchange. Grrrrr

I have all the chat transcripts but unfortunately could not record the telephone conversation and what was discussed. I'm fairly sure they record them at their end though. Not out of the do do yet.

[Stanley]

Ian. Reading all that confirms my belief that we live in a very complicated world. I hope you can get a result.....
On another matter, gThumb is poorly, it loads but then vanishes off the screen. Any suggestions?

[PanBiker]

I thought that I might get a follow up email to say that the original was the base deal and they would be upgrading us to fibre but no such luck. It's annoying so I have replied to yesterdays email, (because it said I should if there were any discrepancies) and suggested the sales team review the recording of yesterdays sales chat. 17Mbps ADSL was never mentioned.

The router we already have (HG-635) is supposed to be the bees knees as it has 1GB throughput and output ports and is specified to handle both ADSL and VDSL2. One way or the other the one a the centre doesn't work. I notice also that Talk Talk have withdrawn supply of that particular model and should now be supplying the HG-633. We'll see. All we want is a line and connection that works and does what it says on the tin, how hard is that?

I noticed also on the email that they don't seem to have all our details despite being a business customer for the last three years. Patience running out.

[Tizer]

On another matter, gThumb is poorly, it loads but then vanishes off the screen. Any suggestions?

I assume you mean it opens and you see the list of folders down the side and thumbnails of any images in whatever folder it opens on - but then immediately vanishes? When it was working OK and you closed it last time where you viewing an image folder that was very large? If so I suppose it might be crashing because it's trying to open a folder whose size is on the borderline for what it can cope with. If you can remember what the folder was you last had open as normal you could temporarily rename it in the File Manager (e.g. add an x to the name) then open Gthumb and see what happens. (I assume you've already tried restarting your PC?)

Otherwise I can only suggest uninstall and reinstall in the Ubuntu Software Manager (orange icon like a Sainsbury's bag!). Open it then click the spy glass icon top right of the Manager's window. Click Remove, wait for it to finish, click Install. It won't take long to do. If you've customised anything in Gthumb you'd have to do it again...but there isn't much to customise anyway, just things like thumbnail size.

[Stanley]

I tried uninstalling and re-installing after switching the computer off and restarting it and it's still doing the same thing. Is there another application that's similar?

[Stanley]

Now it won't let me get off the page!

[Tizer]

As you know, Ubuntu is usually very stable and on the rare times when it does seize up it will recover after several attempts to close the software application that's in use. But there comes the odd time when you have to simply switch off the computer to get out of the problem.

I don't know why Gthumb is still failing after a re-install. If you want to urgently edit a photo you could do it in Gimp of course but that doesn't offer the thumbnail views as in Gthumb. I'll have a look tomorrow morning to see what might help you until the Gthumb problem gets sorted.

[Stanley]

I use gThumb for searching the archive of pics. I have deleted it from the system.

[Tizer]

There have been several ubuntu updates recently and one of them might have cause a glitch that affects your Gthumb. I've been doing some intensive manipulation of photos of my mineral collection with two Gthumb windows open at the same time and I did have a couple of instances where the application shut down completely; but it always opened as usual when I clicked the icon and it hasn't happened since. I'd put it down to me asking it to do too much at once!

I suggest you leave it for a few days then install it again and try opening it. The glitch may have been corrected in a later update. At least it doesn't affect your photos - they're all in your Home folder and not in the Gthumb software.

In the meantime you could try Shotwell which was meant to be the Ubuntu default photo management app and it's in the repository where Gthumb also resides. It differs from the latter as it makes library of copies of your photo folders and files. You work on the library copies, not the original ones in your Home folder. As you edit photos everything is reversible and the original is not changed. You can choose for it to make the changes to the original when you've finished. I've tried it in the past but it didn't suit my needs and I found it a bit difficult to understand - but it may be different for you. Play around with it and see what other options there are. They have a web site here: LINK

LATER...I've found that `gwenview' is in the repository too. It looks and works much more like Gthumb. You can see a photo of how it looks on this web page: gwenview It takes a bit longer to install because it's really part of Ubuntu's sister Kubuntu and a few Kubuntu operating apps have to install for it to work on Ubuntu. But it's also easy to uninstall if you don't want it. Give it a try - find it as you did for Gthumb in the `shopping bag' software manager by putting gwenview into the search field at top right. When the install finishes click Launch and when it appears on screen press Ctrl M to get the top menu bar with File, Edit, View...etc. You can go into Settings and make plenty of changes. Also, at bottom left there are three icons - click the File icon if, like me, you use Gthumb with a file manager listing down the side. It seems to work in the same way as Gthumb and will probably provide all you need for now. Here's a photo of it on my screen showing my folder for mineral specimens I photographed in the Museum in Truro...

[Stanley]

I've tried all the above. I also went into the obscure little files like pictures etc which I never use and cleaned out all the files that have somehow got in there. Then I reloaded gThumb again. Same result so I have deleted it.
Tried Shotwell and it frightened me to death. Not for me. I shall soldier on without gThumb.
Oh, I went into the forums and found others have had the same problem but no solution.

[PanBiker]

No new router yet for the centre. I have looked on our Business Broadband online dashboard and at the products we have. All they have seemed to have done is extend the original contract for the 17Mbps ADSL for 12 months. As I read the terms we have 30 days to cancel the contract if it doesn't come up to specification, sorely tempted.

[Stanley]

Not exactly Wilson's 'White heat of technology' Ian....

[Tizer]

Tried Shotwell and it frightened me to death. Not for me. I shall soldier on without gThumb.

I can understand you not liking Shotwell, nor do I although a lot of other folk love it. Horses for courses, I guess. But did you try gwenview as I suggested? It's very similar to Gthumb and has the same bells & whistles. It's designed for the same uses as Gthumb. And it's only a few clicks away!

[Stanley]

I had a look at Gwenview and couldn't find a simple way to do a search so I ditched it. Life's too short to be pissing about with programmes. I shall perhaps attempt gThumb after our next major upgrade. It must be a random thing, you haven't got the problem but others have.

[PanBiker]

I thought that I might get a follow up email to say that the original was the base deal and they would be upgrading us to fibre but no such luck. It's annoying so I have replied to yesterdays email, (because it said I should if there were any discrepancies) and suggested the sales team review the recording of yesterdays sales chat. 17Mbps ADSL was never mentioned.

Email received today:

Dear Ian,

Thank you for contacting the TalkTalk Business Customer Services Team.

The call with the sales agent you've spoken with has been listened to and we can confirm and reiterate that whilst the speeds on your order confirmation relate to the ADSL broadband speeds for your line, you are in fact receiving a fibre connection where the download speed should be between 40.48mbps - 55.76mbps and the upload speed should be between 7.56mbps - 11.52mbps.

Apologies for the confusion however this was stated at the point of sale, and the verification script stated the ADSL speeds as well in order to reduce your prices even further. This was part of a free fibre upgrade that went through in August 2020.

If you should have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

James North
SME Customer Service | TalkTalk Business

[Stanley]

So have you got the router and connection now?

[PanBiker]

No not yet. There are two streams running here. A possible repair to the line from Open Reach and a new contract with a new router which may effectively fix the problem. On the repair thread Talk Talk wanted me to commit to an AM or PM slot on any day Monday to Friday. I told them I didn't live there and the property is normally locked up but I can open it if given a definite time slot. Certainly not moving in for the week waiting for an OR engineer. I have said PM's are best and asked them to advise me of available dates from Open Reach. tell me by phone text or email and I will open up.

When Bethany, who was the first support agent I chatted with ran tests from their end she said we had the wrong router obviously the tech and sales folk don't talk to each other. That's not my problem and I'm not bothered which comes first router or Open Reach engineer. If a new router fixes it I will cancel the engineer visit. If it doesn't we need the engineer anyway.

[PanBiker]

Stands back in amazement! Talk Talk Tech and Sales seem to have finally caught up with each other. Just had an email to say that they have noticed that we terminated the contract and signed up for a new one which gives us a new router. They have suggested we try that before booking an engineer. Funny, I suggested that to them last week!

[PanBiker]

Speak of the Devil, the router turned up this afternoon, heard a knock at the back door and just caught the Hermes or whatever bloke about to leave it in our paper recycling bin! It's a new whiz bang model half as big again as the one it is replacing and came in a box labelled as a Business Broadband Hub, quite posh. I took it round to the centre this afternoon and installed it. Makes no difference, we still have no broadband. Wi-Fi fine, I can log on but with no internet. Logged into the admin console with the new credentials and the first page you hit reports no broadband so that is that.

I will update the folk at Talk Talk and say that we do indeed need an Open Reach engineer. Next trick will be getting a date and time where I don't have to take up daily residence at the centre. My best guess now is that they disconnected us or downgraded the line at the exchange when the contract expired.

[Big Kev]

I'm sure the Openreach engineer phoned me when he was on his way...