Connection died, then came back, but now seems to be the wrong speed

**Matt D** · 18-09-2005, 18:20

First problem I've had in ages....

2mb service, via a Terayon SACM. Don't have DTV, just BB & telco. Location is Cambridge, CB2.

SACM connected to a Linksys WRT54G router, which is connected to my PC (XP Pro SP2) via ethernet (no need for wireless for my main PC as the router sits on top of it).

BB died yesterday. The cable light went out yesterday afternoon, & wouldn't come back.

I tried rebooting the modem, with no luck.

Phoned ntl TS. They told me to reboot the modem again. Didn't help. Then put me on hold while they did something at their end. Told to turn it off again, for a bit longer. Still no use, still no cable light after turning it back on.

So...the TS guy booked an engineer for me for Thursday.

But...then it came back to life sometime in the night. Steady cable light, connection appeared to be working OK.

Great, I thought. No need to take a day off for the engineer visit.

But then I noticed it seemed slower than it should be, so ran some speed tests.

Robin Walker's test gives a speed more like what you'd expect for 1mb not 2mb:

Quote:

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:05:27 GMT
1st 128K took 1093 ms = 119919 Bytes/sec = approx 998 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 1063 ms = 123304 Bytes/sec = approx 1026 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 1062 ms = 123420 Bytes/sec = approx 1027 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 1078 ms = 121588 Bytes/sec = approx 1012 kbits/sec

Tried it a few times, similar results each time. Also tried speed tests at ADSLGuide & a couple of other sites, all gave a speed of around 1mb/s or less.

Phoned ntl again this evening. The support guy didn't seem to think there was anything wrong, but said maybe I should still have the engineer come out anyway to check it all.

18-09-2005, 18:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D

First problem I've had in ages....

2mb service, via a Terayon SACM. Don't have DTV, just BB & telco. Location is Cambridge, CB2.

SACM connected to a Linksys WRT54G router, which is connected to my PC (XP Pro SP2) via ethernet (no need for wireless for my main PC as the router sits on top of it).

BB died yesterday. The cable light went out yesterday afternoon, & wouldn't come back.

I tried rebooting the modem, with no luck.

Phoned ntl TS. They told me to reboot the modem again. Didn't help. Then put me on hold while they did something at their end. Told to turn it off again, for a bit longer. Still no use, still no cable light after turning it back on.

So...the TS guy booked an engineer for me for Thursday.

But...then it came back to life sometime in the night. Steady cable light, connection appeared to be working OK.

Great, I thought. No need to take a day off for the engineer visit.

But then I noticed it seemed slower than it should be, so ran some speed tests.

Robin Walker's test gives a speed more like what you'd expect for 1mb not 2mb:

Tried it a few times, similar results each time. Also tried speed tests at ADSLGuide & a couple of other sites, all gave a speed of around 1mb/s or less.

Phoned ntl again this evening. The support guy didn't seem to think there was anything wrong, but said maybe I should still have the engineer come out anyway to check it all.

check your PM's

**Matt D** · 21-09-2005, 13:40

An update...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D

Phoned ntl again this evening. The support guy didn't seem to think there was anything wrong, but said maybe I should still have the engineer come out anyway to check it all.

First, to add to that:

When I phoned TS on Sunday, the TS rep (Shaun/Sean IIRC) refused to believe that I could be on the wrong speed. He said that as I was being billed for 2mb, I *must* be on 2mb. Despite what all the various speed tests said. He gave me a URL to download a file, & used the transfer rate my browser displayed for that d/l to claim that my connection was fine - despite it being a small file & despite browser reported transfer rates such as that being an unreliable measure of speed (so says RDHW). I explained to him that I'd used multiple proper speed tests (such as RDHW's, ADSLGuide, etc) & they all clearly showed 1mb not 2mb but he said that was impossible.

Anyway.

So, Bill C kindly offered to help me

I gave Bill my MAC addy & he checked my modem for me. He said it was most definitely, clearly, on the 1mb service & not the 2mb service that I'm paying for. Unfortunately, he couldn't fix it for me due to my account being an old type & due to my being in a different area to him with different systems. But he was still amazingly helpful, & at least it proved that my modem was on the wrong speed

So.... I phoned ntl again last night.

I explained everything to the TS rep (can't remember her name). After doing a test herself, she finally accepted that the modem was actually on 1mb not 2mb.

But, she claimed that she couldn't fix it & that I had to get Customer Services to do it. This is despite the fact that TS can & do change speeds (well, based on my past experience anyway).

So, she transferred me to CS....but the wrong dept. When I finally got through, the CS rep said he couldn't do anything as he didn't cover Cambridge. So I had to hang up & dial ntl CS again myself.

When I finally got through to the correct CS dept, the rep said as far as he could tell I was on 2mb anyway, as that's what the billing system showed. I assured him the modem was actually on 1mb, that I'd done speed tests showing it was on 1mb, that I'd had two people from ntl who had both checked the modem's status & config & found it was actually now set for the 1mb service.

He tried to reset my level to 2mb using whatever CS use, although he was skeptical as his system showed I was on 2mb anyway.

Needless to say, it didn't work.

So, with it almost 8pm, when CS & so on (except TS) close & go home, he told me he couldn't do anything else & that it was obviously a fault & that I had to speak to Faults.

So then I phoned the main ntl no. & selected Faults. But, being 1min to 8pm, I didn't get through to Faults & was on hold for 15mins until my call got diverted to Tech Support.

I explained everything once again to the current TS rep, who was confused at what had happened but was actually very helpful. The guy confirmed again that the modem was on 1mb, & he quickly fixed it for me & put it back on 2mb (despite the previous TS agent claiming TS couldn't do this & CS had to do it). Can't remember his name, but he was very helpful

So, at last, my modem appears to be back on 2mb.

Still no idea why it originally died though, or why the connection was then re-created with the wrong service level, or why no one could have sorted it out earlier (e.g. the TS rep on Sun or the 1st one on Tues).

Neil · 21-09-2005, 14:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D

I explained everything once again to the current TS rep, who was confused at what had happened but was actually very helpful. The guy confirmed again that the modem was on 1mb, & he quickly fixed it for me & put it back on 2mb (despite the previous TS agent claiming TS couldn't do this & CS had to do it). Can't remember his name, but he was very helpful

Typical ntl left hand/right hand scenario, coupled with a lot of the standard CS-BSÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¾Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¢.

Well done to they guy that got you sorted, it's a shame you don't have his name.

[Edit]-But a big

to the peeps that did get involved/help.

21-09-2005, 14:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D

An update...

BIG SNIP

Glad your sorted

**Matt D** · 29-09-2005, 17:52

Actually had a call-back from ntl yesterday!

One of the TS people I had talked to took my email address, & I got sent a CS/TS feedback survey last week. Filled it in, with a very long comment

They phoned me back last night, to apologise for the whole thing. The guy who called said they know who I spoke to each time & they will be looking into it to see why it didn't get sorted earlier

Chrysalis · 30-09-2005, 15:32

tech support should probably ask you to login to 192.168.100.1 and get the speed from that, since it shows you which config you have.

**Matt D** · 30-09-2005, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

tech support should probably ask you to login to 192.168.100.1 and get the speed from that, since it shows you which config you have.

Can't do that unfortunately. I've got a Terayon Terajet modem, which doesn't let you do that unlike some of the other SACMs.

Used to be able to use Robin Walker's DOCSDIAG, 'till ntl blocked the use of snmp.

stairpotato · 02-10-2005, 09:28

This seems to be an ongoing issue affecting numerous customers. I have a seperate thread open about the same kind of issue. To date I've been put back down to 1 meg on four separate occasions.

If I was a more cynical person - I might think that NTL are deliberately dropping customers down to 1 meg to try and ease bandwidth - and hoping that they won't notice....

....but that would of course be the action of a company that is totally out of control - has no idea of customer service - would charge for air if it could get away with it - is desperate for cash - and doesn't give a flying f*ck about its customers.......

....hmmmm

Chrysalis · 02-10-2005, 21:28

sounds like ntl then

punky · 02-10-2005, 21:36

I spoke to an NTL employee about this a little while ago, about a problem I had. TS staff aren't supposed to make CS changes - although some do to speed the process along. The one I encounted didn't make the change herself, but phoned CS on my behalf (they have no internal means of doing so and jumping the queue, she had to wait in line like everyone else) for CS to make the change.

The service you get varies very much by who you get, how confident/competent they feel they are, how much they'll bend the rules, and how bothered they are by their AHT. There's good and bad in all companies.

Chrysalis · 03-10-2005, 23:54

punky out of curiosity did you geta call centre in the uk? as I see you are east london and ntl have a support call centre in westminister.

**Matt D** · 09-10-2005, 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by punky

I spoke to an NTL employee about this a little while ago, about a problem I had. TS staff aren't supposed to make CS changes - although some do to speed the process along. The one I encounted didn't make the change herself, but phoned CS on my behalf (they have no internal means of doing so and jumping the queue, she had to wait in line like everyone else) for CS to make the change.

The service you get varies very much by who you get, how confident/competent they feel they are, how much they'll bend the rules, and how bothered they are by their AHT. There's good and bad in all companies.

This was, AFAIK, a TS problem though, not a CS problem.

CS could not & would not do anything about it - as far as they could see, I was on 2meg not 1meg, as that's what their billing system said. Their attempt to change it, by re-doing my package on their systems, completely failed.

It was only when I finally got through to someone helpful at TS that it got sorted - quickly & easily.

The guy who gave me the callback also said that TS should've fixed it originally, instead of giving me the runaround & telling me to phone CS etc.