COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Big Kev]

Word on the street; Talk Talk Broadband Support is moving outside of the UK.

[Stanley]

Life is very strange..... Having bitten the bullet I placed an order with DABS for the 3000 printer and two cartridges. I automatically punched the print button to print a copy of the order and guess what.... That's it, the old printer printed it out perfectly! No problem, it doesn't owe me anything. I shall carry on using it till the next time it jacks in and then simply replace it with the new one held in stock.....

[Tizer]

Word on the street; Talk Talk Broadband Support is moving outside of the UK.

Two of my neighbours lost their phone lines recently and I spent several periods on the phone to BT in India trying to get it sorted. The Indians were polite and helpful (although not easy to understand) but I didn't like them asking me "What are you doing today sir?" Somebody must think this is what we want to be asked when we're frustrated after going through a complex voice mail system!

[Gloria]

Our Orange connection has been down for a couple of days, they fixed it yesterday and the engineer said it was water that had got in. Speaking to their call centre was a nightmare, they told me I had to contact BT as it was their fault, when I explained they were responsible for our landline I got a surprised "are we". I really struggle telling what they are saying, and they also struggle with me, but it shouldn't have to be like that.
Are there no internet providers with UK call centres?

[Big Kev]

Our Orange connection has been down for a couple of days, they fixed it yesterday and the engineer said it was water that had got in. Speaking to their call centre was a nightmare, they told me I had to contact BT as it was their fault, when I explained they were responsible for our landline I got a surprised "are we". I really struggle telling what they are saying, and they also struggle with me, but it shouldn't have to be like that.
Are there no internet providers with UK call centres?

I have a couple of numbers, and email addresses, for UK Managers at Orange. An email to one of them usually prompts a good response and an escalation to a UK based support team.

[Tripps]

"Are there no internet providers with UK call centres?"

Try Plusnet - "Good honest broadband from Yorkshire". Calll centre is in Sheffield - last time I called a lady apologised fror not having a Yorkshire accent.

[Gloria]

Thankyou Tripps, I may look into that.

Kev, could you PM the numbers/e-mail addresses---would be handy to have next time it goes down---thanks

[Stanley]

Glo, I have a number for Orange Tech Support but it's a long time since I used it. 0844-8738586. Like Kev I always had a good response once they knew I had a problem. I told them I was poor and couldn't afford a long call so they rang me back.
You'll be pleased to know that my doubts about the printer resolved themselves yesterday. I tried a second print job and it failed again. It has to go.....

[Stanley]

I caught the tail end of a report on BBC this morning that referred to an article in the NY Times which I can't find. Evidently their correspondent on these matters who is well connected inside the government stated that the Stuxnet Virus was built by the US and Israel specifically for attacking Iran's nuclear capability. The commentators said that this almost certainly correct and the reason why the NY Times reporter had been given the news was that the US government want Iran to know for sure that this is what happened as a warning against future attacks. They also said that the 20gig Flame Virus has been around for a while and almost certainly came from the same source. They say that it is constructed in such a way that normal detection systems can't recognise it as a virus and this is why it has been able to be out there operating and only just 'found'.
There's a whole dirty world of cyber espionage out there which poor little blokes like me know nothing about.

[Tizer]

"Are there no internet providers with UK call centres?"
Try Plusnet - "Good honest broadband from Yorkshire". Call centre is in Sheffield - last time I called a lady apologised for not having a Yorkshire accent.

Tripps, I'm pleased to hear you're still with Plusnet and even more pleased to know that you find them good. I've been with them for about 6 years and they've always given me good service. The best thing is that I've almost never had to contact them, everything has been stable. On the odd occasion when I have needed to reach them it's been easy and quick. Plusnet has always been a favourite among computer engineers and geeks and it was advice from my computer industry friends that sent me there in the first place.

[Stanley]

I just checked the Plusnet connection for me and it is 8mps. In practice just what I'm getting now. I shall hang in with Orange even though it is dearer. (I must be mad but I just hate the idea of changing.....)

[Big Kev]

My son (Barlick based) has just signed up to Sky for his telephone and broadband. Up to 20MB (connects between 12 and 15) unlimited calls for £22 a month. He's currently paying £12 for the first 6 months as the BB is free.

The same package he had with BT was costing him £44.

[Gloria]

I am locked in contract with orange until october, unless I want to pay a penalty---no I don't.
I have only changed once before and didn't find it a comfortable experience, which I put down to age . Anyway I think I shall be biting the bullet.

[PanBiker]

I have just renewed my combination Phone and Broadband package with Talk Talk. I get 17MB solid from their routers at the exchange in Barlick. It's all down to who has the best kit in the exchange plus how good the infrastructure is from there to your door which of course is all down to BT regardless of who your ISP is.

[Pluggy]

I'll be staying with the old Orange contract I signed up to when the recession first bit and they were offering very cheap deals. Its still cheaper than anyone elses. £15.50 a month with line rental and anytime UK landlines, Orange mobiles and 30 foreign countries. (Usually comes out around £17 ish when they've charged for 0845/0870 etc numbers). Orange presently want more money for less. It went up by 50p when they changed the VAT rate. Sky and Talktalk are the only 2 with better than 8mb/s here until the long promised 21CN upgrade to Barlick exchange happens. (if ever). Orange did have their own kit but decided to move back to BT's which meant a speed cut (Stanley's still sore.....).

I've spent good money in the past to get Sky and their TV out of my life. They were always calling me with deals or to get me to buy more channels, I got sick of it. I'm not likely to go back knocking on their door, it might reawaken them.

[Gloria]

I have just run a download/upload test on uswitch and it gives comparisons with others
orange (us) 1.2
BT 20.4
BE 14.2
Plusnet 6.4
Talktalk 6.2
O2 5.3

make orange look like a joke doesn't it?

Gloria

[Pluggy]

Not necessarily, the ISP is only part of the equation with speed, If your speeds are consistently so low and you aren't a long way from the exchange you've likely got a line problem and changing ISP won't fix it. I was called out to a customer on another issue and I commented that his internet was very slow (on Sky as it turned out) he wanted to pursue it and it was eventually traced down to iffy extension wiring inside the house. His speed went up from about 0.8 to 3.2 mb/s when it was resolved . 3.2 wasn't bad for where he was. My Orange just now on the Uswitch checker gave 5.3, on my favoured speed checker (speedtest.net) I got 5.92. When its not peak time (like during the day) I get close to 8.

On the downside, Orange's customer service isn't so hot with Indian call centres whose operators seem to have very thick accents. As has already been stated, if you get an engineer to come out, he'll be from BT, no matter who your ISP is. If you're on cable (ie, not in Barlick) it will be a different matter.

[Pluggy]

The standard routine when chasing internet speed issues, is change the filter on the router, change the wire to the socket on the router plug the router into the test socket behind the facia on the master socket, log into the router and get the actual line speed it reports. Restarting the router at each step. The line speed marks the maximum it can ever be and it is largely independant of the ISP. If its low (too low for your distance from the exchange) its not your ISP's problem. If it improves with changing the filter, or cable, you've found the problem, if it improves with plugging it directly into the test socket, you've got a problem with the extension wiring in your house. BT will charge you (around £160 I think) if you get them out and its not their fault. If you've got a good line speed reported by the router and poor speed on a speedtest site, then you start blaming the ISP.

[Stanley]

Isn't it funny how the question of connection speed is just as big a minefield as it was in the days of dial-up. Remember sitting there watching your system make repeated calls just to find a connection?
Pluggy put his finger on one of my biggest beefs, like him I hate Sky with the same ferocity I hate Microsoft. My reason is the way they assume that you are the supplicant and a resource to be harvested. That's why I gave my Sky box to Doc the day I got my Freesat box. Plugs is right again about me still being sore with Orange because of the way they treated their customers with the 'improvement' in service last July when they dropped our speed. I made this crystal clear to them. However, as Pluggy says, connection speed is a complicated beastie. The way I look at it is whether I am getting what I want out of my system, even though the mps figure is low, Orange has improved of late, I suspect the bandwidth has gone up slightly, it's certainly a more prompt response than it was a month ago. Then there is the question of what speed you need. Even on 6mps I can function comfortably. It would be different if I was handling large uploads like the 150mb files I was sending when I was publishing on Lulu but I'm not. On the whole the connection is rock solid and I decided a long while ago to forget raw speed and simply wait and see. I have not lost any sleep.
PS. I wrote an article for the BET yesterday and punched the print button to get the hard copy for the files. The old HP 3650 churned it out as though nothing was wrong..... It has a mind of its own!

[Big Kev]

Kev, could you PM the numbers/e-mail addresses---would be handy to have next time it goes down---thanks

I've emailed it to you.

Cheers

[Stanley]

The printer worked again yesterday when I printed hard copy of an article but quite faint and variable. New one should arrive today...... Will I have problems installing it on Ubuntu? Stand by for a call Pluggy!
I see that Google is getting flak again about their latest mapping project using military grade aerial photography which allegedly has a resolution down to 4cm objects on the ground.

[Pluggy]

HP aren't a problem but newer models often need drivers adding if Ubuntu doesn't just find it and work.

[Stanley]

Good thing is that I know that if I get into trouble I know where to come!

[Stanley]

Big upgrade for Ubuntu installed this morning and whatever it is they have altered has made a difference. It was noticeable that the OS slowed down after the last big upgrade. It looks as though some hero somewhere has addressed this. Wonderful!

[Stanley]

HELP!! I have been a\ prisoner in my house for three days now locked in Yodel's automated delivery system which has completely failed to deliver the printer from Dabs.com. On Thursday I missed the driver by less than ten minutes. Ordered re-delivery on Friday with automated phone line, stayed in all day yesterday but no delivery. Yodel say they are investigating.... Deep Joy. This happened with my last Dabs order. I am crossing them off my Xmas card list. (If anyone needs me I shall be in all day....)