View Full Version : Slow In Watford Area
awharton
22-11-2006, 10:26
Getting extremely slow speeds in the Watford area (Chorleywood). On a 10MB connection which normally gets about 1.20MB/s and am now getting 10k/s if I'm lucky!
Called CS and as usual there is of course nothing wrong with their network, so they have booked an engineer to come and have a look.
Anyone else going slow at the moment?
Anyone else going slow at the moment?
Its been pants in Rickmansworth since Monday night, on a 10mb like you but getting slow speeds.
Let me know how you get on with the engineer.
regards
My connection has also been painfully slow since lunchtime on Monday. I have rung ntl everyday since and have only been told today there are local network problems. By the way I'm in a WD25 postcode.
I was on the phone to them again this morning and have been told that the engineers are working on it and that the time for completion is tomorrow morning.
I've also had my BB bill reduced to half price (£17.99) for the next three months because of this problem and am now using a Cardiff proxy, which gives me near perfect speed.
Fingers crossed for tomorrow.
EDIT: I was told by CS that until the problem has been solved I can't have an engineer visit
awharton
22-11-2006, 11:19
Cancelled the engineer as there is nothing he could do. I can connect to my computers at home with perfect speeds from work in London, so it seems that only certain peerings arent working. Even Demon and Tiscali are painfully slow. Downloading from homepage.ntl.com sites is fine though. WIll try the Cardiff proxy and see how that goes for the time being.
PS - they knew nothing about network problems when I called twice this morning.
UPDATE: its obviously a problem with their transparent proxy as using the Cardiff proxy gains full speeds
From what I remember from my phonecall on Monday, the problem was originally in the WD24 area and they said they was no other problems. Even when I rang again yesterday they said there where no problems, yet after todays call they said there was a local fault and that they were working on it.
This is the speed on my normal proxy:
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/11/32.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
and through the Cardiff proxy
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/11/33.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
awharton
22-11-2006, 11:37
I'm in the WD3 area so it's not just isolated to WD24. i've told TS of the exact problem, hopefully they will fix it 'soon'.
Hi,
Similar problems in HP21, but only in the evening even on the Cardiff Proxy.
Running at a crawl in WD5, dialup would be faster
Spoke to Tech Support and there is an ongoing fault in the area :(
wd23 going at 90% packet loss since monday midday.
Have a ticket number with them but no signs of any action :/
timo_w2s
22-11-2006, 17:34
It's been horrible here too in south Bucks since Monday lunch time. I guess I'm connecting via Watford as my IP address resolves to a watf.cable.ntl.com address.
Thanks for the tip to use the Cardiff proxy, at least my web surfing is better now even if I can't do much else.
Thanks for the tip to use the Cardiff proxy.
Yes thanks. Browsing seems better now.
Glad to see the status page reflects the problem
Rainman1
22-11-2006, 18:19
I've had enough now.
It's been slow all week. My VPN connection to my office is unreliable, skype is terrible and disconnects, MMORPG's are slow and disconnect.
This also occured a couple of weeks back.
I called the NTL Broadband support number and all I get is some indian guy who is determined that I need to reset my cable model, then my router, and then all of my PCs. Then, I have to disconnect my router and connect directly into the cable modem. They won't escalate anything unless you do all of this, even though you explain that you can connect but the latency is incredibly slow.
I've now ordered my BT Business Broadband. It's only upto 8mb, but it works out the same cost of NTL 10Mb and hopefully I'll get a better quality circuit. As soon as BT upgrade my line next week, NTL are history.
Regards,
Phil
timo_w2s
22-11-2006, 18:49
This also occured a couple of weeks back.
Yes, I was a bit worried when it started happening again so soon. After several years of faultless service I'm getting a bit nervous that my luck with NTL is starting to run out. Until a few weeks ago I've had nothing but amazing service from NTL BB.
---------- Post added at 18:49 ---------- Previous post was at 18:47 ----------
Glad to see the status page reflects the problem
Was that sarcasm as I can't see it on the NTL status page at http://www.ntl-isp.ntl.com/ServiceStatus/ :confused:
Was that sarcasm
Me? - would I be sarcastic
But true, its normally a rock solid connection from NTL
joggerspark
22-11-2006, 19:04
slow in WD19 since monday too :mad:
Rainman1
23-11-2006, 00:50
Time to vote with your feet people !
Phil
Been on the phone again this morning and they are now telling me the problem is only with 10MB customers and that all the other speeds are running perfect.
They said I'd be better going down to the 4MB service until the problems have been fixed, they have told me they are not sure when it will be resolved.
Is it only 10MB customers having the problems?
awharton
23-11-2006, 09:38
I'm going to call them again now and see if they actually have any clue what they are doing. If I dont get a satisfactory response I'll be ordering with BE broadband and getting a 24MB ADSL connection (hopefully).
UPDATE: just got off the phone to TS. They are now saying that there is only a problem at peak times, and that there is no time as to when it will be fixed. Basically they havent got a clue, and the only option is to vote with your feet. Thats exactly what I am doing.
I have a 4MB connection and was still having problems as of 7am this morning.
:(
timo_w2s
23-11-2006, 10:10
I'm on 4MB and have had problems since Monday lunch time. Since switching to the Cardiff proxy I can surf web sites properly again but I still have problems with picking up emails from external hosts, downloading podcasts, and FTP since I'm not using the proxy for these.
They are now saying that there is only a problem at peak times.
I dont consider 06:30 GMT peak time. Picking up email this morning was painful
timo_w2s
23-11-2006, 10:45
I've had constant problems from 9am to 2am, peak or not, the rest of the time I'm asleep so I can't comment but I seriously doubt they go away.
adrenalman
23-11-2006, 11:01
Dealing with NTL is a real nightmare. I live in Rickmansworth and both my wife and myself use the Internet for business. Frequently we have been amongst the first users to report a fault. The response is always the same rubbish. "There is no fault .... reset your modem/router." This is exactly what happened yesterday morning when incoming emails were timed out. The only good thing to come out of this latest problem is that I have found this forum.
I spoke to Tech support earlier and they said they needed Traceroute samples emailed to them before tyhey could do anything about it.
Im at work so wont be able to do this untill tonight but I think someone else should pick this up asap and start spaming them with the network data.
timo_w2s
23-11-2006, 11:20
I've already looked at various traceroutes and the problem is they don't seem to show anything abnormal, to me anyway.
Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk (http://www.bbc.net.uk) [212.58.224.83]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 11 ms 10 ms 5 ms 10.213.4.1
3 6 ms 11 ms 6 ms wtfd-t2cam1-b-ge95.inet.ntl.com [80.3.2.141]
4 7 ms 8 ms 5 ms wtfd-t2core-b-ge-wan64.inet.ntl.com[195.182.176.229]
5 7 ms 7 ms 10 ms pop-bb-b-so-710-0.inet.ntl.com [80.3.1.137]
6 13 ms 7 ms 7 ms tele-ic-2-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.184.6]
7 8 ms 8 ms 7 ms ntl-ge2-8.prt0.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.217]
8 8 ms 9 ms 10 ms 212.58.238.129
9 12 ms 9 ms 8 ms 212.58.224.83
Im on 4MB.
http://www.dslreports.com/linequality/nil/2133823
I have had a ticket with them since Wed morning - following it up every 6 hours or so.
The first times i called the support people seemed to know what they where talking about. But this morning i got a complete fool:
summary
me = im calling for an update on my ticket *reads number*
her = give me a short time to read it please
me = sure
her = 30s later "what is your problem sir"
me = what the hell do you mean whats my problem??? Did you just read the ticket???
her = give me a short time to check the details please
me = sure
her = oh i see sir "you have a lot of data on my computer"
me = I HAVE A LOT OF DATA ON MY COMPUTER??????
her = yes
me = WHAT?
repeat for 20s
me = NO MY INTENETS HARDLY BEEN WORKING SINCE MONDAY!!!
her = oh i see. Well you have a ticket that is still being worked on you have to wait 48 hours more
me = brilliant
Rainman1
23-11-2006, 16:18
I've been onto TS this morning, who finally admitted that the issue is because the area is over-subscribed. They are working on the case but have no ETA.
I contacted Customer Services this afternoon, to explain that I was unhappy that the fault has persisted for so long, it's existance had been denied, and that there was no ETA for a fix. They basically couldn't do anything but put me back in touch with TS. I was offered another free month, but I told to not dare make such a suggestion because it would not make one iota of difference to me.
I then asked to be transfered to the dept that could cancel my subscription. I was then put in a queue for about half an hour after which I hung up. I will now just be cancelling my direct debit and notifying them by email and leaving it at that. I don't see why I should pay them another penny. I've been a customer for about 3 years and I figure that this is a clear breach of the sale of good act. The goods are simply not fit for purpose at this point in time and the whole experience has been unreal.
Phil
After about a 1 hour outage this pm, its fully operational for me at least in WD23
GL guys
Looks like I'm up to full speed too in the WD25 area.
Just ran a speed test and got the folowing
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/11/28.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
jimexbox
23-11-2006, 16:37
I'm on Ntl's 10Mb here in Wendover near Aylesbury. Ive had very slow connection for a few days now. Its strange as I can download at full speed from MS, but my general web browsing is very slow. Not wanting to think I was paranoid I tried my brothers ASDL line 1 miles away. It works perfectly.
Ive rang tech support twice now and have been fed the usual line, of everything is fine, yeah right. Its like banging your head of a brick wall. If things don't improve over the weekend I will cancel by sub. I mean I'm paying £35 for a severely sub standard service.
After 2 hours on the phone to support this morning, how many times do you have to reboot the STB and PC before they believe you????? gave up still very very slow
Tried internet again this afternoon and speed is back up to normal :)
Looks like I'm up to full speed too in the WD25 area.
Yep. Same here for the WD3 area.
At least they managed to fix it, well done NTL
regards
awharton
23-11-2006, 18:31
Fixed here as well.
timo_w2s
23-11-2006, 18:37
Working again here too. :tu:
I've been onto TS this morning, who finally admitted that the issue is because the area is over-subscribed. They are working on the case but have no ETA.
Heh, so did they dump a load of subscribers in the Watford area this evening? ;)
Well mine is having problems again!!!
awharton
24-11-2006, 07:30
Back to ultra slow mode for me. Glad I didnt cancel my ADSL order! Can't even be bothered to call customer services as they will just tell me there isnt an issue as usual....
jimexbox
24-11-2006, 09:00
Yeah, it was working again last night. This morning its back to the pathetic speed. I see Ntl admit there is a problem in the Watford area (Their 3 warford servers covers a large area) on their server page.
http://www.ntl-isp.ntl.com/ServiceStatus/
At least ntl are now saying there is a problem
I knew it was too good to be true. Back up to full speed last night then try again this morning and we're back to dial up. At least it is now on the Service Staus page.
timo_w2s
24-11-2006, 10:05
Oh well, nice while it lasted...
Back up to speed again, but am wondering how long for this time
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/11/17.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
Well it never stayed at full speed for very long, I'm beginning to wonder if they'll ever be able to fix it.
Back up to speed again, but am wondering how long for this time
Seem to have gone belly up again for me, anyone else having issues?
WD17, 10 Meg, it's rubbish as reported, some sites are fine, others no good at all. Ah well, it's been pretty good hopefully they'll sort it soon. :rolleyes:
well it was full speed for a couple of hours now back to a crawl, it's not looking good though.
WD17, 10 Meg, it's rubbish as reported, some sites are fine, others no good at all. Ah well, it's been pretty good hopefully they'll sort it soon. :rolleyes:
Browsing is not to bad for me. Its downloading email that is a pain....oh well
nickfoster
24-11-2006, 19:34
It's been slow for me all week (apart from last night) in Watford (WD23)
Speedtests are showing I'm gettting 0.2 to 0.5Mb on my 2Mb connection and the packet loss is making MMOs impossible. Strangely enough it appears that the already slow upload speed is not affected.
I'm glad it's not just me but very frustrated that there seems to be no solution in sight! :(
Nick
dcclanuk
24-11-2006, 20:40
wat the hell is going on?
why are all the areas having "area faults"? my connection since yday [so called "10mb"] is going so slow the CF speed test doesnt even give me a result! Google loads in about 10-20 secs if i am lucky. Changed to cardiff proxy yday, seems to make browsing slightly faster, but today as that was slow i reverted back to the default.
This area fault is starting to p*ss me off, and reminding me of my days at tiscali!:mad: [with tiscali u always got cr*p speeds regardless]
ps i am HA0
wat the hell is going on?
I wish I knew. The Service status page has not been updated since 16:23 yesterday, come on NTL, tell us what is happening.
Rainman1
25-11-2006, 02:53
I knew I was right not to trust NTL with my phone or my TV. They couldn't organise a panic on a doomed submarine.
I don't regret getting NTL broadband, but I both rue and lament it. They've got your money so now they don't give a cr@p about you. The TS people told me the area is over-subscribed, so no matter what, it's time to leave this sinking ship.
Phil
It's interminable. Have to be honest haven't been _too_ displeased with NTL (I never call them is probably why) and this is the first time it's been so bad that I've had to check if there was anything wrong with the service.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/11/12.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
Not bad for a 4M connection yeah? And these jokers are talking about bumping UP everyones speeds soon? This problem has been listed since the 23rd I hope to hell they are trying to fix it.
Got to take my hat off to ntl this time. We are now into the fifth day and have to say that this time I think they've messed up big time.
I'm lucky to get 200Kbps!! :(
On a 10Mbit service!
WD24
WD24 too mate :(
Gonna call the *******s this is not acceptable.
I've managed to get this month for free and the next 2 months at half price (£17.99) due to the slow speed problems, anyone got a better deal.
Working again here too. :tu:
Heh, so did they dump a load of subscribers in the Watford area this evening? ;)
Disconnected all the people that hadnt paid their bills on time! ;)
Last time I called I was fobbed off by tech support, saying that I had to directly connect my PC to my modem. When I mentioned I was using wireless, and that my computer was at the opposite corner of the house, he hinted that my problems may have been caused by someone else using my WiFi!!
I tried to explain that this just was not possible (I'm rather au fait with IT;)).
So, he told me to go get a really long CAT5 cable (I'll need about 30metres) and to call them again once I've done that.
Doing that is not really an option. I don't have such a lead, neither did work.
I'm left with:
a) Move PC down to living-room (thankfully, plasma can act as a monitor).
or
b) use one of the many 'spare' PCs I have (bit of a self confessed geek) to build a PC specificially for testing and to keep Tech Support happy.
Gah!
Last time I called I was fobbed off by tech support, saying that I had to directly connect my PC to my modem. When I mentioned I was using wireless, and that my computer was at the opposite corner of the house, he hinted that my problems may have been caused by someone else using my WiFi!!
I tried to explain that this just was not possible (I'm rather au fait with IT;)).
So, he told me to go get a really long CAT5 cable (I'll need about 30metres) and to call them again once I've done that.
Doing that is not really an option. I don't have such a lead, neither did work.
I'm left with:
a) Move PC down to living-room (thankfully, plasma can act as a monitor).
or
b) use one of the many 'spare' PCs I have (bit of a self confessed geek) to build a PC specificially for testing and to keep Tech Support happy.
Gah!
In my experience, whenever you ring TS, dont ever mention networking equipment especially routers and wirelss, as thats just an excuse for TS to get rid of you.
Tell em the CM is connected directly to the pc is my suggestion, then theres no flaffing about and also tell them you are running their Security Sofware as well, Net....whatever its called.
PS I hope this problem doesnt leak over to Hemel Hempstead! ;)
Speed now up to 6-8Mbit. Which is a little more like it!
But, for how long?
Hilary Bates
25-11-2006, 13:25
Been on the phone again this morning and they are now telling me the problem is only with 10MB customers and that all the other speeds are running perfect.
They said I'd be better going down to the 4MB service until the problems have been fixed, they have told me they are not sure when it will be resolved.
Is it only 10MB customers having the problems?
No it isn't. I'm on the 1.5MB service and have been noticing utterly dire speeds (they make a glacier look reckless) for the last 3 weeks. HP5 area. Moreover, I get frequent dropouts and last night between 8:15 pm and 11:45 pm the connection dropped and reconnected about every 5-10 minutes (I gave up on the computer and just watched the set-top box while I was doing something else!!!). I've had 3 engineer visits so far. They've replaced the set-top box, replaced a piece of cable, and reset everything on the STB. Wouldn't you know it, last night while the engineer was here, the connection was stable. 20 minutes after he left, it started this on again-off again thing (which also has been going on for 3 weeks).
Seems the speed is back up again and like you mcbazza I'm also wondering for how long this time.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/11/10.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
Hmmm it all seems pretty good today, I wonder how long this'll last.
Mine seems to be up to full speed now too.
Also, for how long ;-)
Mine seems to be up to full speed now too.
Same here, the IP phone has been up now for 60 mins, so all looking good. lets hope it stays that way.
All the way through this 'slowdown' I've had approx. 12% packet loss.
It's been stable since the speed came back.
Must be our turn to suffer now then:~
Leicester LE3 here.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/11/9.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
Perhaps all the people that caused the over subscription have been move the Leicester? - Me thinks not
howard.bates
26-11-2006, 19:07
It's a self-regulating system. When there are too many subscribers and the network slows down, some proportion of customers get hacked off and quit, reducing the load on the network to the point where it starts functioning properly again. :)
If you're lucky they increase the capacity of the network so it can cope with all the extra people who wish to contribute to their salaries and profit shares.
ron hawkes
05-12-2006, 11:31
Getting extremely slow speeds in the Watford area (Chorleywood). On a 10MB connection which normally gets about 1.20MB/s and am now getting 10k/s if I'm lucky!
Called CS and as usual there is of course nothing wrong with their network, so they have booked an engineer to come and have a look.
Anyone else going slow at the moment?
Hi
I live out towards Hemel and I get a miserable 1 - 3 Mb on my so called 10Mb service.
What a con :mad:
adrenalman
05-12-2006, 21:26
Very slow again in Rickmansworth
Same in Swindon... getting 1Mb max on my 10Mb connection :crying:
What have they screwed up?
Seems OK in Watford tonight.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/12/24.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
Very slow again in Rickmansworth
In Ricky as well but OK with me, althought it was slow around 21:30 ish?
Seems OK in Watford tonight.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/12/24.png (http://www.speedtest.net)Wish I could say the same... compare your speedtest with mine :(
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2006/12/25.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
Rainman1
06-12-2006, 16:13
This has been going on for over a month now. How this can be anything like acceptible service is anyones guess.
I've been running my new BT Business Broadband (8Mb) on a different machine, alongside my NTL 10Mb service for just a couple of days. I still get poor performance and spurious VPN disconnects, etc on my NTL connection. BT is absolutely fine.
I had some issues getting my new BT kit running initially, but the support number I called was manned by a very friendly and knowledgable individual who knew where the problem was and put it right straight away. No long waits in a silly queueing system to speak to someone in Bangalore with nothing more than a scripted response. I was suitably impressed and I am now going to give NTL the elbow .... If I can get through !
Good ridance !
Phil
Glad its not only me having problems, was wondering if my router was on its way out. Well thats the final straw with NTL, come end of contract in Feb I'm going back to Namesco for my broadband and Sky. Bar the initial shoddy install and the constant crashing of the tv box I was actually reasonably impressed with NTL, until now........
timo_w2s
09-12-2006, 23:25
No problems over here on this side of the Watford connection for a few weeks now.
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