NTL 10 Meg is Rubbish don't buy it [Archive]

Mr Angry

24-01-2006, 23:07

but in NTLs defence they are not advertising a 10MB service. They list it as upto 10MB as they know some ares and modems won't be able to do the full speed all the time or at all. Still 5MB is fast though.

You seem to have overlooked a crucial element of the original post by Zouk which read "I used to be on 2 meg with no problems what so ever".

This is what is causing so much frustration. Many NTL users who were on rock solid services up until the rollout of the 10 meg service are now managing barely 56kb - 128kb dial up speeds but still paying for 1mb - 3mb services. There is something inherently wrong with a company who can leave loyal customers floundering with no discernable information or updates / statements regarding a depletion of their paid for services.

The "up to 10mb" is not a defence, nor indeed an argument. This was a unilateral rollout (which many 3mb users were not particularly interested in yet forced to take part in) which has had catastrophic results for the vast majority of fee paying customers in the form of vast under performance of previously dependable services.

That no one at NTL's Press Office has seen fit to issue a statement speaks volumes and, as can be evidenced by posts on this and other boards, is costing them many thousands in lost revenue.

I note from your sig that you work for NTL. Is it the case that even staff are being kept in the dark about what has gone wrong? Surely, beyond the never ending stream of calls to TS & CS someone in NTL should have the wit and common decency to keep their customers (and staff) in the loop?

We all know that things can go wrong, such is technology, but it would be nice, as paying customers, to be told how long things are likely to be unstable. In that environment people are far more likely to make reasoned decisions on switching allegiance / providers.

No one likes to be kept in the dark (nor paying for the privilege).

Enuff

24-01-2006, 23:08

Location North Manchester

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 23:08:43 GMT

1st 512K took 2922 ms = 175.2 KB/sec, approx 1332 Kbps, 1.3 Mbps
2nd 512K took 2438 ms = 210 KB/sec, approx 1596 Kbps, 1.6 Mbps
3rd 512K took 4142 ms = 123.6 KB/sec, approx 939 Kbps, 0.9 Mbps
4th 512K took 1547 ms = 331 KB/sec, approx 2516 Kbps, 2.5 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 1596 Kbps, 1.58 Mbps

Blade187

24-01-2006, 23:10

Mr Angry: Well said.. you;ve hit the nail right on the head there.

Ramrod

24-01-2006, 23:17

Hi Matt and patrickp, I'm in Bexleyheath ( :waving: ) and my '10 meg' (through stb) has been sub 1meg for the last 7-10 days now.

---------- Post added at 23:17 ---------- Previous post was at 23:16 ----------

Which would be fine if we were getting that. I was perfectly happy with my 3 meg service but since its been "upgraded to 10 meg" they can go stuff themselves. The quality of service is absolutely appalling. :mad: :mad: :mad:
Thats what I think :tu:

Still....at least the engineers are being very helpful and prompt :)

Paul

24-01-2006, 23:24

NTL 10 Meg is Rubbish don't buy it
Sorry to disagree, but my 10 meg is working just fine. While it is obvious that some areas have problems, it is not true for other areas.

Blade187

24-01-2006, 23:26

ok then.... NTL 10 Meg is Rubbish don't buy it if you live in the 95% of the country where it doesn't work. If you're in the 5%, go for it!

DavidC

24-01-2006, 23:30

hmm..maybe im the odd one out but im very happy with my 10Mb service although by the look of it a lot of people aren't.

I did that 50 Mb test file last night around 10 PM and downloaded it in 50 secs :shocked: and my irishspeed test showed my download at 9.8 Mb and upload around 470k so NTL cant be that bad everywhere..

Im no expert and dont pretend to be but im really happy with mine..by the way i use a belkin router which dont seem to affect things at all.

Hope peeps get there net sorted out :)

Mr Angry

24-01-2006, 23:31

This is the latest stunning performance from my "up to" 10mb service here in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It has been like this, consistently, for the past five weeks.

Cheers

Paul

24-01-2006, 23:32

ok then.... NTL 10 Meg is Rubbish don't buy it if you live in the 95% of the country where it doesn't work. If you're in the 5%, go for it!The only rubbish in that statement is the made up figures. If you can't be sensible don't bother posting.

Mr Angry

24-01-2006, 23:50

Folks, calm down. Let's not get into the semantics of discussing statistics.

Let's stick to the facts.

As I see it a lot of previously happy 1-3mb customers are suffering a serious downturn in service and no one from NTL can be bothered to make an official statement on the matter.

There are evidently those for whom the "up to" 10mb service experience is an absolute knee trembler - good luck to them, I wish them the best.

Unfortunately there appear to be a number of chaps / chapettes whose "up to" 10mb is proving to be the equivalent of surfing via two empty coke cans and a piece of string.

It is pointless bitching at each other on this forum. What needs to be done is that the faults being listed day and daily provoke the conscience of the service provider into making some form of public statement, even on this board,to allay these ongoing "myths" about routers, leaves on the cable, bad boys did it and ran away etc, etc, etc.

We are here collectively as NTL users (ie. we pay NTL (not other posters) money to provide a service). Our collective goal should surely be to be provided with the optimum level of service and customer service due to us, not to score cheap points off each other.

Please try and keep the debates civil and focused. In fighting will serve no purpose.

(edited: swear filters...sometimes a f**k**g nuisance when they misinterpret)

Enuff

25-01-2006, 00:01

sicknote

25-01-2006, 00:12

Enuff

25-01-2006, 00:16

So is there ANYONE from NTL that has the decency to come onto this forum and explain why this 10mg rollout has been such a complete mess and explain to all us regular LONG term customers when the farce will be sorted out? :erm: your asking for something there... I very much doubt it.

sicknote

25-01-2006, 00:25

well you never know til you ask :) but i would be surprised if they had that much balls:) but i wait in earnest

Enuff

25-01-2006, 00:36

there's no mention of this kind of fault on the ntl status page (http://www.ntl-isp.ntl.com/ServiceStatus/ServiceStatus.aspx), only mention of work that's being carried out will cause a loss of connection in certain areas between certain times.

Mick

25-01-2006, 00:55

Russ

25-01-2006, 01:04

So is there ANYONE from NTL that has the decency to come onto this forum and explain why this 10mg rollout has been such a complete mess and explain to all us regular LONG term customers when the farce will be sorted out?

There is one I have in mind and he keeps tabs on threads like these. I'm sure he'll post if he gets time.

Enuff

25-01-2006, 01:06

Those who have the issues with the 10Mb service - Have any of you reported this to the Broadband Technical support team? It is absolutely crucial that you do, just like you, ntl are not mind readers and cannot know you have a problem, unless you report it.Ye, I reported the slow speeds to TS on saturday. I was on the phone for about 20 mins while we tried to sort it out.

sicknote

25-01-2006, 03:54

while i had it i called everyday to report it and also had 3 techs out to try and sort it and still they never did,how many times have you got to report it to get the problem fixed? as i said before do ntl think we have all day everyday to call them to get them to fix a service thats supposed to work? i also have work,i get paid to do my job and i do mine properly and its about time they did theres seeing as we pay them :)

Downloads

25-01-2006, 07:29

Have a look through the other posts,everything you are saying is covered in them,some blame router for slow speeds,what model modemare you on?
Lots of peeps having probs

I'm happy with my 10meg service too, get the full 10, so we can increase that 5% who get it now.

Still, i think the 3rd post on this thread asked a reasonable question (please see the above quoted post) and if you arn't prepared to give an answer then i wouldn't bother posting again. Someone offers help and all people can think to do is moan rather than take a reasonable stance and take the help which is on offer.

Mr Angry

25-01-2006, 07:32

Michael, with all due respect.

Even working on the highly dubious assumption that no one on this forum has bothered to contact CS - are you seriously suggesting that the remainder of the nation's NTL customers haven't or that NTL are oblivious to the issues (their system status page certainly tells a different story)??

Come on. There have been many posts on many threads about horror encounters with TS / CS which have been removed by stealth. The argument has moved beyond the "If you don't tell them..." type of defence.

The fact of the matter is that many posters have contacted CS / TS and have ended up getting nowhere so come on here seeking better / qualified advice or to monitor shared difficulties and end up having posts deleted because they are critical of the very basic, irrelevant and ill informed technical / customer support they are afforded by a staff who are quite obviously as much in the dark as the customer base (see previous post).

Perhaps a thread entitled "Good lord...I've just spoken to a CS / TS team member who has explained some of the problems NTL are suffering and ran through some technical things that not only improved my broadband performance but also instilled in me a sense of caring responsibility on the part of the company for the provision of service levels commensurate with my monthly outlay to them and their well administered distribution of information" would be a good idea. However, I suspect that it wouldn't attract too many posts in the current environment.

Please credit the participants in this forum with an ounce of sense. We are (paying) customers to what is supposed to be a communications company who at the moment seem unable or unwilling to effectively communicate with their customer base and indeed their own employees.

Womble

25-01-2006, 08:26

Sorry to disagree, but my 10 meg is working just fine. While it is obvious that some areas have problems, it is not true for other areas.

Mine works fine too

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:33:32 UTC

1st 512K took 562 ms = 911 KB/sec, approx 6924 Kbps, 6.8 Mbps
2nd 512K took 484 ms = 1057.9 KB/sec, approx 8040 Kbps, 7.9 Mbps
3rd 512K took 453 ms = 1130.2 KB/sec, approx 8590 Kbps, 8.4 Mbps
4th 512K took 531 ms = 964.2 KB/sec, approx 7328 Kbps, 7.2 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 7721 Kbps, 7.58 Mbps

Maybe the people with problems should post where they are and what they are using STB/SACM.

It would at least give an idea of whats happening and where

Mauldor

25-01-2006, 10:36

Those who have the issues with the 10Mb service - Have any of you reported this to the Broadband Technical support team? It is absolutely crucial that you do, just like you, ntl are not mind readers and cannot know you have a problem, unless you report it.

I can say I phoned TS on Average 2 times a Week when I had 10mbit, nothing was every noted on Support Pages, not always did they log what I actually said, They blamed Spyware, My PC, Time of Day, Its a test and anyting else they can thing of..

End of day - I downgraded and been happy ever since...In the "Real World" of IT Support for example you get a Incident Number and some status of whats happening. If NTL Ignore what is going on around them - another company will happily fill there role..

Ramrod

25-01-2006, 10:43

Contacted tech support 2x, had 2 engineers out last week and been getting almost daily phone call updates from them since--so the quality of tech service has been excellent. The fact that no one has so far been able to get my 10 meg past 1 meg speed in spite of crawling all over my pc, my stb, the street box or the connection to the server suggests that this is a bigger problem. Someone, somewhere knows what is going on but they are keeping quiet about it and not even telling the poor old engineers--which is really odd since it must be costing ntl an arm and a leg to send engineers out to customers repeatedly to fix a problem that can't be fixed by an engineer. :confused:

Zouk

25-01-2006, 10:49

Have a look through the other posts,everything you are saying is covered in them,some blame router for slow speeds,what model modemare you on?
Lots of peeps having probs

im not sure what model, its the little grey one lol.

Out of interest, where in London are you from Zouk? I'm in Bexley on '10Mbit' and everything has been slow since this evening:

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:48:23 UTC
1st 128K took 9094 ms = 14413 Bytes/sec = approx 120 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 8516 ms = 15391 Bytes/sec = approx 128 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 9453 ms = 13866 Bytes/sec = approx 115 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 10031 ms = 13067 Bytes/sec = approx 109 kbits/sec

That's about twice as fast than a couple of hours ago :(

I'm in Waltham Cross on the border of North London and Herts.

This is the latest stunning performance from my "up to" 10mb service here in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It has been like this, consistently, for the past five weeks.

Cheers

I can beat your speed mr angry look at this lol

10442

Downloads

25-01-2006, 11:11

im not sure what model, its the little grey one lol.

I can beat your speed mr angry look at this lol

10442

Look all over your modem, it will say. Not an expert myself, but they are something like 100, 200, 250 etc

Stephen

25-01-2006, 12:08

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:04:04 GMT

1st 512K took 369 ms = 1387.5 KB/sec, approx 10545 Kbps, 10.3 Mbps
2nd 512K took 470 ms = 1089.4 KB/sec, approx 8279 Kbps, 8.1 Mbps
3rd 512K took 450 ms = 1137.8 KB/sec, approx 8647 Kbps, 8.4 Mbps
4th 512K took 390 ms = 1312.8 KB/sec, approx 9977 Kbps, 9.7 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 9362 Kbps, 9.13 Mbps
I've been on upto 10MB longer than most and have not had any problems at all.

lltfdaniel

25-01-2006, 12:33

Be Greatful, Pay an extra 10 pounds for a double speed connection or even More,

with a 512k upload.

i am geting 4-5mb, i find that Alright.

Since i mostly Browse and download files like 100mb occasionly,or gbs like Movies.

at least i will have double the time on here, if i had this connection goes as fast as it can, which is like 500k/sec , like 4mb, then if you were at 10mb, then your time will be much shorter, this is only a trial not a Solid Backbone.

hey i mostly browse,but the speed is handy.

and 35 quid is fine, for a 4mb connection with 512k upload.

but then again, i question why doesnt samsun just use a ethernet card o_0 , the box does nothing.

unless it has a built in cable modem i don't know.

i live in bournemouth dorset,

and you would have to be on all day downloading, playing games and all that to hit the 75gb mark.

but then i hear people with confige files which allow there connection to hit 5-7mb, from there samsung box, then why can't ntl offer a 5mb connection to the people, for cheaper?

like a 5mb with a slower upload , like 384k

like theres 1mb 2mb and 10mb,

why not 2mb 5mb 10mb.

Stephen

25-01-2006, 12:50

Mick

25-01-2006, 13:55

The fact of the matter is that many posters have contacted CS / TS and have ended up getting nowhere so come on here seeking better / qualified advice or to monitor shared difficulties and end up having posts deleted because they are critical of the very basic, irrelevant and ill informed technical / customer support

The fact of the matter is not that at all.

No such posts that you describe have been deleted for that reason at all. I know off-topic posts that was referring to unrelated issues and that had nothing to do with that topic at hand was why some posts were removed because it wasn't helping one the ntl internet support guys that was trying to obtain the relevant information from it. This is the reason and this reason alone.

chrisjones

25-01-2006, 14:13

Ok without wanting to open up another Pandora's Box, can I make this simple suggestion?

If you are not happy with the service then dont pay for it. If those of you with major issues have that much of a dislike for the service you are being provided then seek an alternative provider OR take up a different option with NTL.

NTL employees - Im not trying to cause agro, but im sure that anyone paying 34.99 for a service thats not even equal to that of the 1meg service are totally within thier rights for a downgrade or change of service?

Would just like to add im happy with my 2mb service... :-)

Ramrod

25-01-2006, 14:46

Well put it this way NTL are still telling some people its a trial and that maybe true as their original plan was to upgrade the 3MB first then the 2MB and finally the 1MB by the end of 2006. So unitl they do that the service is still in the process of being rolled out.Thats all well and good but I'm not getting near the (rock steady) 3 meg that I was on. I didn't ask to be put on 10 meg and now I have a worse connection than before. :disturbd:

Bill C

25-01-2006, 15:11

That's all well and good but I'm not getting near the (rock steady) 3 meg that I was on. I didn't ask to be put on 10 meg and now I have a worse connection than before. :disturbd:

Indeed i have been on the end of that good 3 meg connection during Friday night Gaming :LOL: , your much more easily hit now :D

sicknote

25-01-2006, 15:14

you know i was gonna make yet another comment in regards to this situation but hey i will not bother because it falls on deaf ears..god only knows when they will sort out this utter mess..looks like time to have words with oftel i think or at least someone that has a bit of authority in these situations

etccarmageddon

25-01-2006, 15:30

you mean ofcom

ynwa

25-01-2006, 15:50

75% of the time i have used 10meg, it has been worse speeds than when i was on 3mb.

sicknote

25-01-2006, 15:57

sorry ofcom :)

Womble

25-01-2006, 17:23

Every one still complaining, and still no one has posted area/settop or modem??? it does make a differance folks!

Chrysalis

25-01-2006, 17:28

i think if you getting speeds over the old 3 meg or even 2 meg you havent much of an argument since its advertised as "up to" but if you getting below 2 meg then you have an argument, since clearly you can downgrade for the same service and get rid of a cap.

Mr Angry

25-01-2006, 17:52

The fact of the matter is not that at all.

No such posts that you describe have been deleted for that reason at all. I know off-topic posts that was referring to unrelated issues and that had nothing to do with that topic at hand was why some posts were removed because it wasn't helping one the ntl internet support guys that was trying to obtain the relevant information from it. This is the reason and this reason alone.

Michael, I'm sorry but you are wrong - lets deal with the facts, please.

I am referring specifically to posts which were deleted from the "10 Meg Speed Issues And Contacting Ntl" thread. If you are referencing another thread then I apologize. Nowhere in the remainder of that thread in any posts prior to the actual time of deletion will you, or anyone else, find anything from anyone asking anything. If you are saying that the "ntl internet support guy" was having difficulty obtaining relevant information from a cut and paste speed test post as a result of subsequent posts then God help us all.

What I posted in that thread was my personal experience of having "10 Meg Speed Issues and contacting Ntl" (the clue was in the thread title).

Someone took a dislike to the fact that another poster had complained of the language barrier often encountered when contacting TS in India (quite relevant, if not pivotal, when discussing "....contacting NTL" on matters pertaining to "10meg", or any other tier for that matter, "speed problems").

This lead to other posters also referencing the fact that the relocation of call centres to India and providing the staff with little more than scripts to read was hardly the work of rocket scientists - given the current network malaise. Someone obviously took a dislike to what they perceived as a racial element in the posts and they were deleted enmass, my post included.

Please don't try to hide behind the "off topic, unrelated issues" defence when this is patently not true. And, for the love of God, please don't try to blame the entire affair on some poor ntl internet support guy suffering from either dyslexia or attention defecit disorder. The public have little enough faith in them as it is.

I don't come to this forum to fight, quite the opposite, I come here to interact with other NTL users and share experiences and advice. I've made it quite clear that in-fighting resolves nothing, but in this instance I feel justified in putting the record straight.

Peace out.

etccarmageddon

25-01-2006, 17:59

actually I would believe upto means at some point you get 10meg but not always ie. at peak times it's slower. if they think it means they can give you 4meg and you never go above that then it needs to be advertised more clearly.

Stephen

25-01-2006, 18:31

Michael, I'm sorry but you are wrong - lets deal with the facts, please.

I am referring specifically to posts which were deleted from the "10 Meg Speed Issues And Contacting Ntl" thread. If you are referencing another thread then I apologize. Nowhere in the remainder of that thread in any posts prior to the actual time of deletion will you, or anyone else, find anything from anyone asking anything. If you are saying that the "ntl internet support guy" was having difficulty obtaining relevant information from a cut and paste speed test post as a result of subsequent posts then God help us all.

What I posted in that thread was my personal experience of having "10 Meg Speed Issues and contacting Ntl" (the clue was in the thread title).

Someone took a dislike to the fact that another poster had complained of the language barrier often encountered when contacting TS in India (quite relevant, if not pivotal, when discussing "....contacting NTL" on matters pertaining to "10meg", or any other tier for that matter, "speed problems").

This lead to other posters also referencing the fact that the relocation of call centres to India and providing the staff with little more than scripts to read was hardly the work of rocket scientists - given the current network malaise. Someone obviously took a dislike to what they perceived as a racial element in the posts and they were deleted enmass, my post included.

Please don't try to hide behind the "off topic, unrelated issues" defence when this is patently not true. And, for the love of God, please don't try to blame the entire affair on some poor ntl internet support guy suffering from either dyslexia or attention defecit disorder. The public have little enough faith in them as it is.

I don't come to this forum to fight, quite the opposite, I come here to interact with other NTL users and share experiences and advice. I've made it quite clear that in-fighting resolves nothing, but in this instance I feel justified in putting the record straight.

Peace out.

If you ddin't come here to fight then maybe you shouldn't be so aggressive in some of your posts, and also picked a less Angry name:D

Enuff

25-01-2006, 18:35

Location: Manchester North - Modem: NTL:250 SACM - Speed Subscribed to: 10Mbit

Results using Cable Forums Speed Test.

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:13:19 GMT

1st 512K took 1265 ms = 404.7 KB/sec, approx 3076 Kbps, 3 Mbps
2nd 512K took 1374 ms = 372.6 KB/sec, approx 2832 Kbps, 2.8 Mbps
3rd 512K took 1625 ms = 315.1 KB/sec, approx 2395 Kbps, 2.3 Mbps
4th 512K took 1140 ms = 449.1 KB/sec, approx 3413 Kbps, 3.3 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 2929 Kbps, 2.85 Mbps

===============================

Results using this (http://www.irishisptest.com/myspeed/) test.

Your Download Speed is 2.91 Mbps Your Upload Speed is 490 kbps

===============================

Results using this (http://specials.zdnet.co.uk/misc/band-test/) test.

Your line speed: 3437.2 Kbps 421.2 K bytes/sec

===============================

Results using this (http://www.speedtest.ndo.com/results.php?kbps=2573.3&downloadtime=4.047&KB=1271.25&recorded=1) test.

On Wednesday, 25th January, 2006
Your bandwidth measured as:

2.51 Mbps

which means you can download at 321.66 KB/sec. from our servers.

===============================

Mr Angry

25-01-2006, 18:54

If you ddin't come here to fight then maybe you shouldn't be so aggressive in some of your posts, and also picked a less Angry name:D

Thanks Yoda, I'll take that on board. And, while I'm taking it on board, since you work for NTL, why don't you tell us what they're telling the staff the problem is?

Thanks in advance.

MovedGoalPosts

25-01-2006, 19:03

Would everybody please take a chill pill. Remember our rules not to bait each other. Argue the issues please, not each other. Any concerns about "post deletions" or other moderations should be raised by PM, and not here. Thank you.

Mr Angry

25-01-2006, 19:12

Rob,

Apologies.

JohnHorb

25-01-2006, 19:14

South Manchester (Sale). Samsung STB with Belkin 54g router - connection shown as 54.0, signal strength - very good:-

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 19:12:08 UTC

1st 512K took 1643 ms = 311.6 KB/sec, approx 2368 Kbps, 2.3 Mbps
2nd 512K took 1462 ms = 350.2 KB/sec, approx 2662 Kbps, 2.6 Mbps
3rd 512K took 1342 ms = 381.5 KB/sec, approx 2899 Kbps, 2.8 Mbps
4th 512K took 952 ms = 537.8 KB/sec, approx 4087 Kbps, 4 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 3004 Kbps, 2.93 Mbps

...and that's better than usual - possibly as the area was shown on the status page as being re-balanced this morning.

Mick

25-01-2006, 21:14

Thanks Yoda, I'll take that on board. And, while I'm taking it on board, since you work for NTL, why don't you tell us what they're telling the staff the problem is?

Thanks in advance.

One thing you need to be aware of - whilst ntl staff do post here they do so in their own time and capacity also they are not obliged to give any information such as what you are asking for due to non disclosure.

As to your earlier post - You haven't put the record straight with me - We don't go about deleting critical posts-end of. Please do not continue to argue with me on this, but if you feel compelled to discuss this further - I will be happy to via PM. Thanks.

Nedkelly

25-01-2006, 21:18

As someone has said the more people that phone up and report this they might do more about it .We are going to lots of faults and we know what the problem is but waitng for others to fix these problems.As it seems to be country wide it is a BIG problem for NTL .I know in my aera that things are happening to sort this problem out .But it takes time :( .Yes some of you are angry but it will be fixed soon .So the more people that report this they might shift into a higher gear to fix.Also please do not have a go a engineer in street because it not working phone faults i do not like being sworn at :mad:

Stephen

25-01-2006, 21:29

I work for NTL business now not home, so can't help you with your question.

sicknote

25-01-2006, 22:47

Ramrod

25-01-2006, 22:52

Bexleyheath, samsung stb '10 meg'.....

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:48:58 GMT
1st 128K took 1063 ms = 123304 Bytes/sec = approx 1026 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 1000 ms = 131072 Bytes/sec = approx 1091 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 218 ms = 601248 Bytes/sec = approx 5002 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 1047 ms = 125188 Bytes/sec = approx 1042 kbits/sec

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:50:18 GMT
1st 128K took 1859 ms = 70507 Bytes/sec = approx 587 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 375 ms = 349525 Bytes/sec = approx 2908 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 1844 ms = 71080 Bytes/sec = approx 591 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 1906 ms = 68768 Bytes/sec = approx 572 kbits/sec

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:50:48 GMT
1st 128K took 1000 ms = 131072 Bytes/sec = approx 1091 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 515 ms = 254509 Bytes/sec = approx 2118 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 203 ms = 645675 Bytes/sec = approx 5372 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 1032 ms = 127008 Bytes/sec = approx 1057 kbits/sec

As you can see, the speeds are all over the place. Capable of hitting 5 meg but then dropping to .5 meg as well....:(

Nedkelly

25-01-2006, 22:56

I only work with sacm but i thought a samsung was not capable of 10 meg .I may be wrong ;)

Ramrod

25-01-2006, 23:00

I only work with sacm but i thought a samsung was not capable of 10 meg .I may be wrong ;)It isn't but I was getting 5-7 meg till the last week or so....:(

inviroman

25-01-2006, 23:02

can someone tell me where they did the speed test as th cable forum is giving me a poor result

sicknote

25-01-2006, 23:03

Ned:just wanted to thank ya as an ntl guy for trying to help out

Paul

25-01-2006, 23:04

can someone tell me where they did the speed test as th cable forum is giving me a poor resultIf you are getting a poor result then that's probably because you are getting poor speed. Do you have some reason to thinks its wrong ?

inviroman

25-01-2006, 23:10

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 23:09:19 UTC

1st 512K took 8109 ms = 63.1 KB/sec, approx 480 Kbps, 0.5 Mbps
2nd 512K took 8109 ms = 63.1 KB/sec, approx 480 Kbps, 0.5 Mbps
3rd 512K took 14327 ms = 35.7 KB/sec, approx 271 Kbps, 0.3 Mbps
4th 512K took 8125 ms = 63 KB/sec, approx 479 Kbps, 0.5 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 428 Kbps, 0.45 Mbps

This is what i am getting should be 3meg?? why is the display diff from other posts?

Chrysalis

25-01-2006, 23:33

is faults available via 150 if not why not? I keep forgetting there is a faults reporting line I just ring 150.

Nikko

25-01-2006, 23:50

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 23:46:46 UTC

1st 512K took 999 ms = 512.5 KB/sec, approx 3895 Kbps, 3.8 Mbps
2nd 512K took 1015 ms = 504.4 KB/sec, approx 3833 Kbps, 3.7 Mbps
3rd 512K took 1000 ms = 512 KB/sec, approx 3891 Kbps, 3.8 Mbps
4th 512K took 1031 ms = 496.6 KB/sec, approx 3774 Kbps, 3.7 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 3848 Kbps, 3.75 Mbps

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 23:48:11 UTC
1st 128K took 234 ms = 560137 Bytes/sec = approx 4660 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 328 ms = 399610 Bytes/sec = approx 3325 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 156 ms = 840205 Bytes/sec = approx 6991 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 282 ms = 464794 Bytes/sec = approx 3867 kbits/sec

These results appear to be rather fast: maybe this page was in the browser cache.

Surfboard 4100 Ntl 10MB service. Reported numerously, it never goes over 4.6Mb

Womble

25-01-2006, 23:59

Every one still complaining, and still no one has posted area/settop or modem??? it does make a differance folks!

sorry had to post on this from Womble:) do you not read any other threads m8 sheesh most of the people on here from all over the country have posted said stats and areas etc have a look:)

and Mr angry i do look forward to your next post:) you leave what i want to say in your wake my friend:)

No , I tend not to post anymore, cos people keep getting angry and rude and NTL hunt us!! (Depending where and who you work for!)

I ask "what and where" because peeps can look at UBR's to see if they are overloaded. Also a Samsung is only rated upto 5meg.
There are also issuse with 120 modems
As there is with 250 modems not being particully well built

But hey ho :)

---------- Post added at 23:59 ---------- Previous post was at 23:57 ----------

Location: Manchester North - Modem: NTL:250 SACM - Speed Subscribed to: 10Mbit

Results using Cable Forums Speed Test.

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:13:19 GMT

1st 512K took 1265 ms = 404.7 KB/sec, approx 3076 Kbps, 3 Mbps
2nd 512K took 1374 ms = 372.6 KB/sec, approx 2832 Kbps, 2.8 Mbps
3rd 512K took 1625 ms = 315.1 KB/sec, approx 2395 Kbps, 2.3 Mbps
4th 512K took 1140 ms = 449.1 KB/sec, approx 3413 Kbps, 3.3 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 2929 Kbps, 2.85 Mbps

===============================

Results using this (http://www.irishisptest.com/myspeed/) test.

Your Download Speed is 2.91 Mbps Your Upload Speed is 490 kbps

===============================

Results using this (http://specials.zdnet.co.uk/misc/band-test/) test.

Your line speed: 3437.2 Kbps 421.2 K bytes/sec

===============================

Results using this (http://www.speedtest.ndo.com/results.php?kbps=2573.3&downloadtime=4.047&KB=1271.25&recorded=1) test.

On Wednesday, 25th January, 2006
Your bandwidth measured as:

2.51 Mbps

which means you can download at 321.66 KB/sec. from our servers.

===============================

I get the same result as you using that speed test, but show 6-8meg using the forums test ??????????

Russ

26-01-2006, 00:04

Guys I'm going to email one of my contacts in ntl tomorrow and ask him to have a look at some of the issues discussed in this thread.

He is under no obligations to do so and I offer no guarantees that he will answer anyone personally, however he has a history of posting here and helping people where possible.

Enuff

26-01-2006, 00:05

--------- Post added at 23:59 ---------- Previous post was at 23:57 ----------

I get the same result as you using that speed test, but show 6-8meg using the forums test ??????????Whats your location?

Womble

26-01-2006, 00:07

Whats your location?

Surrey

slowcoach

26-01-2006, 00:21

Oldham - ntl200

Oldham is poor this last week, and that is unusual.
7-8 Meg on the ntl network and just under 5 meg with the outside world.
Current work appears to be affecting most of the network, or is it a peering problem?

Ignition

26-01-2006, 00:22

Right this is going on a bit and unless the contact in ntl is a technical one might not bear any fruit.

Speed issues are going to be caused by one of a few things.

1) Your cable modem / Set Top Box.
2) Your connection to the uBR's quality RF wise.
3) uBR's CPU load.
4) uBR's downstream load on your node.
5) uBR's upstream load on your node.

There are a few easy ways to check which of these might be the problem.

1) Searching these forums is your friend. Plenty of threads about it.
2) Are you getting disconnects and extreme packet loss along with *extremely* slow speeds at times. What does your modem's diagnostics say? Does your Set Top show loads of pre and post-FEC errors? Do logs indicate T3 or T4 time-outs?
3) Are you seeing a lot of packet loss to the uBR (your first hop, will usually have a 10.x.x.x address) but no packet loss afterwards? Is the issue getting worse at peak times? Seeing perhaps disconnects at peak times? Very poor speeds also possible.
4) Spotted by varying speeds, worse at peak times, and higher than normal but relatively steady pings.
5) Spotted by varying speeds, worse at peak times, and very inconsistent pings with possibly a small amount of packet loss.

Solutions:

1) Modem swap.
2) Service call / engineer visit.
3) Upgrade of the NPE in the uBR, or resegmentation of customers off the uBR to reduce load.
4) Resegmentation or if possible modulation upgrade.
5) Rebalancing of customers across upstreams may resolve, if not resegmentation.

Simple as ;)

sicknote

26-01-2006, 01:45

All of the above it is then :P

Martyn

26-01-2006, 02:18

Some time in march. i think my area will be getting that ADSL2 or something? not sure... the thing that bulldog etc work on.. i think im going to wait untill then before i do anything..

dayloon

26-01-2006, 11:34

10mb has been a huge disappointment for me as well. 90% of the time it's worse than my 3mb connection was. Im in Stafford

IanUK

26-01-2006, 12:15

Other than some peering issues my 10 meg is ok.

Would it help if a special thread was created solely for the posting of 10 meg speed issues, say each customer listing their location,equipment and speed test results (pick one speed test on NTL network)

Might be an idea ?
A representative from NTL Tech could then be asked to look at just the one thread with all the info in...

ian@huth

26-01-2006, 13:02

It would help analysing problems if members included their location and what services they have in their profile so that it is easy to see if there is a common factor in some of the reported problems.

Informing NTL of your problems is the first stage in getting action taken. They can't fix what they don't know about. Just because one or two customers have reported a problem to NTL is no excuse for not reporting your problem. The more they know a problem exists the more chance there is of it being high priority for a resolution.

Keep a log of your problems, test results, etc with dates and times in a Word (or similar) document and let NTL have a copy if they continue. Add in details of any contact you have made with NTL including dates, times and person spoke to.

With the limitations of the current cable system and the internet itself it is unlikely that top speeds will be attainable all the time, if at all. Some problems will be due to how others are using their connections. The novelty of a much faster connection will mean that a few users are trying to create a new world record in how much they can download/upload. Hopefully this novelty will soon wear off, particularly when monitoring by the customer is available and NTL crack down hard on abusers.

Ignition

26-01-2006, 17:40

Keep a log of your problems, test results, etc with dates and times in a Word (or similar) document and let NTL have a copy if they continue. Add in details of any contact you have made with NTL including dates, times and person spoke to.

With the limitations of the current cable system and the internet itself it is unlikely that top speeds will be attainable all the time, if at all. Some problems will be due to how others are using their connections. The novelty of a much faster connection will mean that a few users are trying to create a new world record in how much they can download/upload. Hopefully this novelty will soon wear off, particularly when monitoring by the customer is available and NTL crack down hard on abusers.

NTL know what the problems are, they just don't see fit to tell the people answering the phones and would rather they wasted resources sending engineers out or accusing customers of having PC issues.

Monitoring by the customer unless it slipped again should be available very soon.

Other approaches to tackling congestion should be tested and practised shortly.

BTW Don't just blame the customers, ntl must take part of the blame for reasons I'm not going in to penny pinching has caused a fair few issues especially with uBR CPU load. The bandwidth usage per customer has been woefully underestimated too.

---------- Post added at 17:33 ---------- Previous post was at 17:29 ----------

Other than some peering issues my 10 meg is ok.

Would it help if a special thread was created solely for the posting of 10 meg speed issues, say each customer listing their location,equipment and speed test results (pick one speed test on NTL network)

Might be an idea ?
A representative from NTL Tech could then be asked to look at just the one thread with all the info in...

There are pretty graphs, etc, showing bandwidth utilisation and CPU utilisation on uBRs, along with various monitoring if RF network conditions degrade.

Again though this either isn't being shared with or the front line aren't being made to use these stats rather than blagging customers or trying to debug non-existent customer equipment faults.

IMHO a swift automated checker reading customer postcode and popping up any area effecting fault issues or capacity issues would save a hell of a lot of time, however the Harmony devs would probably take about 6 months and want a hundred grand a piece for the coding.

---------- Post added at 17:40 ---------- Previous post was at 17:33 ----------

Speed issues are going to be caused by one of a few things.

1) Your cable modem / Set Top Box.
2) Your connection to the uBR's quality RF wise.
3) uBR's CPU load.
4) uBR's downstream load on your node.
5) uBR's upstream load on your node.

Quick guide for any tech support bods.

2) Bluetools can diagnose, as could STBM, OSS make these tools for your benefit, use them!
3) STBM / Bluetools / BADGER.
4) See 3)
5) See 3)

1) If none of the above, how's the flaplist on customer's equipment, is it one of the models known to have speed issues? How many devices attached? USB/Ethernet? STBM / Bluetools.

Just use the tools available to you, saves infuriating customers asking them questions about their equipment. If customer hasn't changed anything about their set up chances are it's an ntl issue. The above tests take no more than a couple of minutes, far less than it takes following the usual gack about disabling firewalls, antivirus, etc, and will eliminate pretty much every non-customer caused issue.

Any techies not knowing what STBM or BADGER are, read your email!

Overall the level of support being given for these speed issues is clearly not acceptable. Customers should be told the truth if there are capacity problems, not lied to. If there is no fix planned escalate that's what FMT are there for! BADGER will show lists of upcoming upgrades.

Mr Angry

26-01-2006, 18:20

"Ignition" for (insert appropriate level of social status here): !!

More of this type of discourse, please.

Is this a new 10mb record?

Location: Belfast
Modem: Coke tin & string (MKII)

Ramrod

26-01-2006, 18:47

Is this a new 10mb record?

Location: Belfast
Modem: Coke tin & string (MKII):rofl::D

Magical

26-01-2006, 19:00

i've been haveing prob'salso here is my latest test.

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:58:40 UTC1st 512K took 609 ms = 840.7 KB/sec, approx 6389 Kbps, 6.2 Mbps2nd 512K took 624 ms = 820.5 KB/sec, approx 6236 Kbps, 6.1 Mbps3rd 512K took 640 ms = 800 KB/sec, approx 6080 Kbps, 5.9 Mbps4th 512K took 609 ms = 840.7 KB/sec, approx 6389 Kbps, 6.2 MbpsOverall Average Speed = approx 6274 Kbps, 6.1 Mbps

Ignition

26-01-2006, 19:10

You've an ntl 120, these are known to not do the full 10Mbit in most cases, and your speeds are consistent. Not really any relation to the *extreme* speed issues being shown here.

I'd also hazard a guess you're either using USB or your connection to your modem is 10base half duplex ;)

IanUK

26-01-2006, 19:12

Overall the level of support being given for these speed issues is clearly not acceptable. Customers should be told the truth if there are capacity problems, not lied to. If there is no fix planned escalate that's what FMT are there for! BADGER will show lists of upcoming upgrades.

Do you know of any contact for peering problems ? I have contacted NTL but had my emails ignored, my Exec Office contact will probably stop talking to me if I raise any more stuff, and I contacted Telia(USA), Telia responded by telling me I need to talk to NTL :(

You may (or may not) remember my server issue last year, well its back (the Cogent server is fine, its the other one) - when routed via WVfiber is cool, when I'm routed via Telia its awful - less than 5k a sec at times, this cannot be contention this end as all other sites are fine, its *only* when its Telia routed that problems occur

I'm really sick of this, I never had these problems with Wanadoo, even though I only had a 512k connecton then it never suffered the peering problems and 5k speeds that seem to be a sadly 3 monthly recurring problem with NTL - do they not have anyone who monitors peering ?

Magical

26-01-2006, 19:18

i don't know what a 10base half duplex is . i'm using router with ethernet cable. my connection was going down 3 or 4 times every day. and my speeds where down to 450 -600 kps till today

Ignition

26-01-2006, 19:22

Do you know of any contact for peering problems ? I have contacted NTL but had my emails ignored, my Exec Office contact will probably stop talking to me if I raise any more stuff, and I contacted Telia(USA), Telia responded by telling me I need to talk to NTL :(

You may (or may not) remember my server issue last year, well its back (the Cogent server is fine, its the other one) - when routed via WVfiber is cool, when I'm routed via Telia its awful - less than 5k a sec at times, this cannot be contention this end as all other sites are fine, its *only* when its Telia routed that problems occur

I'm really sick of this, I never had these problems with Wanadoo, even though I only had a 512k connecton then it never suffered the peering problems and 5k speeds that seem to be a sadly 3 monthly recurring problem with NTL - do they not have anyone who monitors peering ?

I've contacted NTL more than once on behalf of my employer to try and get a peering upgrade.

Might as well bang your head on a metal spike, far less prolonged pain and just as productive.

Bear in mind this was with having direct contacts. Their 30+k a year techs in Crawley Court aren't trusted with maintaining peering, so it's given to a department which does various other gack to keep them in a job. Those buggers are completely unreachable and appear pros at ignoring both direct email and forwarded mail via ntl networks.

To be fair Crawley Court aren't trusted with a lot of things which they really should be considering the alledged job requirements and salary the job attracts. Likewise they are lumbered with some jobs which are entirely inappropriate for people who are supposed to monitor the core network.

I don't think anyone actually appears to monitor peering regularly, certainly not the NMC, though these are the same guys who aren't trusted with fairly basic BGP and indeed some of them couldn't do it anyway :(

---------- Post added at 19:22 ---------- Previous post was at 19:21 ----------

i don't know what a 10base half duplex is . i'm using router with ethernet cable. my connection was going down 3 or 4 times every day. and my speeds where down to 450 -600 kps till today

Try directly without a router.

Mick

26-01-2006, 19:24

Hi All,

I've being liaising with our contact at ntl to try and get ntl to issue a statement on this so they can give us answers to these problems. I am hoping to get a statement from ntl tomorrow.

Mr Angry

26-01-2006, 19:25

... do they not have anyone who monitors peering ?
My CS experience of late would suggest they have plenty of staff whose jobs are just to peer at monitors.

Michael, excellent news. Here's hoping.

IanUK

26-01-2006, 19:30

My CS experience of late would suggest they have plenty of staff whose jobs are just to peer at monitors.

LOL !

Hi All,

I've being liaising with our contact at ntl to try and get ntl to issue a statement on this so they can give us answers to these problems. I am hoping to get a statement from ntl tomorrow.

Michael, does this include the peering speed problems ?

---------- Post added at 19:30 ---------- Previous post was at 19:27 ----------

I've contacted NTL more than once on behalf of my employer to try and get a peering upgrade.

Might as well bang your head on a metal spike, far less prolonged pain and just as productive.

If you couldn't get anywhere then I'm screwed :(

Paul

26-01-2006, 19:34

Michael, does this include the peering speed problems ?I wouldn't think so.

Mick

26-01-2006, 19:36

LOL !

Michael, does this include the peering speed problems ?

I've asked for a statement mainly about the 10Mb speed problems.

Ignition

26-01-2006, 19:37

Hi All,

I've being liaising with our contact at ntl to try and get ntl to issue a statement on this so they can give us answers to these problems. I am hoping to get a statement from ntl tomorrow.

I sincerely hope my posts in this thread have made that statement a lot more difficult to write (IE they are actually *shock* going to have to give real details and not just the usual PR gack - did you know that a simple newsgroups statement made before I worked for them ended up being approved, toned down, then rewritten by 3 seperate departments? All this was relating to was removal of some groups, however rather than give the honest response the engineers wanted to give it ended up being fluffy and completely uninformative PR BS).

I look forward to seeing this response. If it's the usual crap that passes for ntl updates I'm going to rip it to shreds. Hopefully they're learning something about transparency and not treating customers like morons from how Telewest used to be.

IanUK

26-01-2006, 19:39

I've asked for a statement mainly about the 10Mb speed problems.

OK.

---------- Post added at 19:39 ---------- Previous post was at 19:37 ----------

I look forward to seeing this response. If it's the usual crap that passes for ntl updates I'm going to rip it to shreds. Hopefully they're learning something about transparency and not treating customers like morons from how Telewest used to be.

I'm willing to bet it will be PR mush....much like the last proxy 'statement' was

Ignition

26-01-2006, 19:46

I'm willing to bet it will be PR mush....much like the last proxy 'statement' was

Probably, the PR department have always seemed to have extreme issues with allowing statements of the lines of 'we've screwed up because of this, this and this, and we're going to do this and this to fix it' as obvious a 'We are looking into these faults, please be assured that engineers are doing everything they can...' which is politely put but doesn't tell you a bloody thing is obviously going to be far better from the corporate point of view even if it ****es the customers right off.

Bill C

26-01-2006, 20:05

Probably, the PR department have always seemed to have extreme issues with allowing statements of the lines of 'we've screwed up because of this, this and this, and we're going to do this and this to fix it' as obvious a 'We are looking into these faults, please be assured that engineers are doing everything they can...' which is politely put but doesn't tell you a bloody thing is obviously going to be far better from the corporate point of view even if it ****es the customers right off.
Well untill they fix the 10 meg i will be staying on the NTL POWER OF 2 thank you very much :)

themelon

26-01-2006, 20:08

To be fair I am currently paying UK Online for an 22Mb** connection a rarely get above 512k!! Its pathetic! So I long for the day I can have ntl BB back!

**available nowhere, up to 22Mb if you live in the exchange only!

Sage013

26-01-2006, 20:11

The problem with PR statements is that if you're giving bad news, the share price is likely to drop. If it's really bad news then the share price could plummet. If things go really bad then the company ends calling administrators in and the company then closes. If this happens then none of us will have broadband, TV or telephone until we sign up with someone else. the other thing to remember about the business world and shareholders is that they are not the end users.

For those unaware, "NTL Incorporated is a Delaware corporation and is publicly-traded in the US on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "NTLI"."

Bad PR also has a negative impact on the public. Result, new customers don't sign up and existing customer start to disappear. Bearing in mind the apparent imminent merger could be messed up, bad PR is not a good thing at the moment.

Hence the reason PR statements have to be written very carefully!!! As for any statement giving the answers that all of us want on this board, forget it, it's not going to happen. The best we could hope for is an off the record comment from someone on the inside, but how many ntl staff that are actually in the know would want to risk their job on a situation such as we're having??

Mr Angry

26-01-2006, 20:13

UPDATE:

My speed test results from irishspeedtest.com which I posted earlier (download 70.7kbs - upload 520kbs) got me to thinking that perhaps there was something wrong with my connections.

After reading some of the posts on here about modems I got to thinking that perhaps I should ugrade to the MKIII to see if I could see any difference.

I sent Mrs Angry off to the Maxol garage to pick up a tin of Fanta and a pair of black "Punch" 14" shoelaces (black, with the wee plastic eyelet things on the end for better connectivity). When she got back, and after almost three minutes of drinking warm Fanta and trying to remember how to tie a half reef knot, I was ready to go.

I hooked the lot up, booted my pc and logged on. After twenty minutes and three attempts the irishspeedtest.com site came up. I went and cooked dinner for this Sunday, a nice cut of roast beef from Asda with baby sweet potatoes, carrots and runner beans with Auntie Annies mini yorkshire puddings, and returned to my pc just in time to catch the last 25 minutes of the Java applet loading.

I pressed the "Start" button and popped off into the living room to watch Willy Wonka. Quite a good interpretation I thought, but my son begged to differ so we watched the original Charlie and the chocolate factory and drew comparisons. To cut a long story short - just as we had finished our coffee and Hob Nobs I noticed that the speedtest was ending. Imagine my surprise to find out that my connection had actually got worse!! (See the attached gif.)

I rebooted my pc and it now has quite a sizable dent in the side of my Antec Sonata case.

I was speaking to a mate down the pub the other week who swore by his petrol powered broadband connection. I think I'll look him up when he is released.

In the meantime I think I'll switch back to my lightning fast MKII Coke tin and string set up.

The moral of the story? Don't believe the hype. Shoe laces are no better and in many cases worse than, ordinary packaging string.

Sage013

26-01-2006, 20:29

Mr Angry, try using a Red Bull tin, you're connection will then be working at flying speed ;)

Paul

26-01-2006, 20:34

UPDATE:

My speed test results from irishspeedtest.com which I posted earlier (download 70.7kbs - upload 520kbs) got me to thinking What is the url of the test you are actually using ? What result does the CF speedtest give (on the navbar) ?

JamShady

26-01-2006, 20:42

I'm having a problem on the 10Mb service. My speed is fine - irish speed test says I'm getting 9.55Mb down, 530kbps upstream :)

The problem is the stability, it just keeps knocking out. Playing PGR3 tonight it dropped out during my first race, and then again when I managed to get back into the lobby. Even whilst writing this post I notice it dropped again :mad:

I spoke to ntl about an hour ago, according to them my cable line is over-utilised so they'll escalate the problem to the faults department. Apparently it'll be fixed in the next couple of days, but who knows.

Meanwhile, my new cable morning from yesterday morning appears to have registered quite a few faults:

First Time: Time Not Established
Last Time: Time Not Established
Counts: 1
Level: Critical (3)
ID: 68000300
Text: DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response

First Time: Wed Jan 25 20:48:35 2006
Last Time: Wed Jan 25 20:48:35 2006
Counts: 1
Level: Critical (3)
ID: 82000500
Text: Maintenance Ranging - No Response received

First Time: Time Not Established
Last Time: Time Not Established
Counts: 1
Level: Critical (3)
ID: 68000300
Text: DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response
(Not sure why this is listed twice)

First Time: Time Not Established
Last Time: Time Not Established
Counts: 2
Level: Critical (3)
ID: 82000200
Text: No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out

Tiger33

26-01-2006, 20:48

until today my 10mb service was fantastic but i've noticed crazy speed droppped (my last speed test was measured at 5mb)
but although my download speeds have been bad all day my upload speed as been fine (and this is actually more important to me as im a freelance web designer and i have to do a hell of alot of page uploading)

Mr Angry

26-01-2006, 20:51

Paul (excellent choice of name),

The speedtest url is www.irishisptest.com/myspeed/ (http://www.irishisptest.com/myspeed/)

I got tired waiting for over 3 minutes for the forum speed test just there now (honestly, I'm not joking).

My connection "spurts" up to between 3 - 7mb for about 3 secs every couple of hours and then catches itself on and reverts to dial up 56kb speeds or thereabouts.

Thanks for showing an interest, much appreciated.

"Redbull" - a classic riposte, thanks for that Sage013.

Speed Test eventually came through!!
Thu, 26 Jan 2006 20:45:39 GMT

1st 512K took 15486 ms = 33.1 KB/sec, approx 252 Kbps, 0.2 Mbps
2nd 512K took 44909 ms = 11.4 KB/sec, approx 87 Kbps, 0.1 Mbps
3rd 512K took 29846 ms = 17.2 KB/sec, approx 131 Kbps, 0.1 Mbps
4th 512K took 14907 ms = 34.3 KB/sec, approx 261 Kbps, 0.3 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 183 Kbps, 0.18 Mbps

To repeat the test please click here (http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/speed.php)

Chrysalis

26-01-2006, 23:33

Ignition your posts made by day, finally someone been open and honest about whats going on, I was given some info regarding my problem by some people helping me but I didnt disclose it to protect them. Needless to say it made me downgrade lets just say the info was enough to let me know my performance wasnt improving any time soon.

Dispite what some readers may think I have been contacting tech support maybe not every single time but numerous times, the attitude I sense is I dont think they are even logging my call's never mind escalating them since every time I ring up there is no record of my previous correspendance.

Ianuk I got a email address of dnsstuff.com ip whois lookup database for ntl's ip range, their is a email contact listed as required by ripe rules to directly contact someone at ntl who is involved with their peering. I did get a route changed successfully via this manner, although another time I contacted them a guy replied angrily telling me to use TS so it may be hit and miss.

Regarding peering, any traffic to kpn in europe which goes through .nl of course is very heavily saturated on ntl's router. I moved my server from kpn to telia costing me money but telia is faster to ntl's network although I dont know how long for. Their is confirmed saturation on their LINX peering and telewest are the same at LINX.

Proxies are also overloaded, causing slowdowns on uncached content, many times I get faster speeds of ntl speedtest site hosted at "ntl" through my squid then over the proxies, I am talking over double speed not some 10% increase. I can often download quicker form the .us via germany then through ntl's proxies, their are many problems which I have tried reporting but to no avail.

Paul

27-01-2006, 01:23

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 20:45:39 GMT

1st 512K took 15486 ms = 33.1 KB/sec, approx 252 Kbps, 0.2 Mbps
2nd 512K took 44909 ms = 11.4 KB/sec, approx 87 Kbps, 0.1 Mbps
3rd 512K took 29846 ms = 17.2 KB/sec, approx 131 Kbps, 0.1 Mbps
4th 512K took 14907 ms = 34.3 KB/sec, approx 261 Kbps, 0.3 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 183 Kbps, 0.18 Mbps

To repeat the test please click here (http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/speed.php)
Yikes :eek:

Sorry, I haven't read all of your posts, I take it you have reported this, what was the result ?

Mr Angry

27-01-2006, 07:08

Hi Paul,

Yes, I've reported this no less than 11 occasions (I've tried IE and Opera, all the same results) only to be told twice that the previous individual I had spoken to had, for some bizarre reason known only to them, logged the issue as "resolved".

Neither CS nor TS would arrange an engineer visit, both claiming it was the responsibility of the other to do so with TS insisting that there was nothing wrong with the network or my modem and that "NTL broadband does not support the Firefox browser". This particular gem came from a chap who, when quizzed, told me his name was "Max Pace" - that was the final straw as far as my relationship with TS was concerned.

IanUK

27-01-2006, 09:21

Mr Angry, have you checked your modem levels as per this post:
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=26006

dayloon

27-01-2006, 10:28

TS blame everything but the network. At least they do with me. I've reported my rubbish speeds 5 times. So far the following are to blame :

My windows installation x 2
My anti-virus package
My firewall
My wireless adapter (even though i told him i got the same speeds when i plugged the cm directly into my ethernet port)

No point complaining any more.

Saneboy13

27-01-2006, 11:05

-Quick guide for any tech support bods.

2) Bluetools can diagnose, as could STBM, OSS make these tools for your benefit, use them!
3) STBM / Bluetools / BADGER.
4) See 3)
5) See 3)

Ignition,

Where in the grand scale of things would BADGER sit? I can understand STBM/BLUETOOLS, but a better reporting tool is CARDIE. This gives a utilisation of the U/S and will point to areas that need targeting.

I am not sure of other areas, but "Noise Busting" is one of our main priorities. Get rid of Ingress and CPD and that should help with these sorts of issues

Mr Angry

27-01-2006, 13:00

Ian mate,

I can't even get that page to open.

Is it not something to do with testing routers though?

handyman

27-01-2006, 13:35

The tools available to ntl (bluetools, stbm etc) have been available since I was at ntl back in 2002. We had to teach our selves how to use them so It's pretty disapointing that the tech support team in swansea/india that should have had training on it and be diagnosing faults are not taking advantage.

When I was at freeserve and we had 20 outage calls inside of 5 minutes from the same postcode /exchange we still had to advise the techs to continue with diagnosis (reboot/ rebuild settings/ call equipment manufacturer). These calls where pointless and took up to a hour. I'm certain customers would rather hear that the service was broke and should be back up in a couple of hours then mess about for a hour on a call. Altogether a more honest approach is required I think.

Saneboy13

27-01-2006, 13:37

I do find that the sweeping statement of "10 meg is crap" a disturbing one. Is it the fact that everyone has jumped on the band wagon, or are things really that bad with the 10 meg service?

Handyman,

Bluetools,STBM are still and should be used by all first liners. Speaking from Engineering myself we use CARDIE to route out noise/CPD so we can deal with it ASAP.

We really shouldn't have this huge problem with the 10 meg service

etccarmageddon

27-01-2006, 13:42

I do find that the sweeping statement of "10 meg is crap" a disturbing one. Is it the fact that everyone has jumped on the band wagon, or are things really that bad with the 10 meg service?I agree, people need to be careful about assuming something is failing just because a few people on a forum are having problems BUT there's talk of a 'press release' coming out today plus there's moaning in other forums about speeds so in my opinion there clearly is an issue out there. and it's unacceptable that people are reporting faults and being fobbed off with misinformation and/or lack of progress. at least keep these people upto date with what action is being taken. most people dont mind if there's a problem as long as they are being communicated with and kept in the picture.

ian@huth

27-01-2006, 13:51

I do find that the sweeping statement of "10 meg is crap" a disturbing one. Is it the fact that everyone has jumped on the band wagon, or are things really that bad with the 10 meg service?There are customers having problems with the 10Mb service. Some of the problems are because of the equipment they are using, some because of their equipment and software configuration, some because of what other users in their area are doing and some because of problems with NTL's network. If you were to count up the number of customers who have posted about problems it wouldn't be a very large figure. Many posts are the same people going on and on in different threads. Some people are posting about not being able to get the full speed or anywhere near it. The truth is that the faster that internet connections become, the more often you will not be able to achieve the maximum speeds. It is very easy to do speed checks, etc and post about not getting what you are paying for but the real question should be "is getting less than max speeds affecting what I want to do with my connection?". If it isn't then wait and see how it all pans out in the coming months. We use computers to do specific tasks and not do speed tests and benchmarks.

Saneboy13

27-01-2006, 13:51

Neil

27-01-2006, 13:52

it's unacceptable that people are reporting faults and being fobbed off with misinformation and/or lack of progress.

Like this you mean...?

TS blame everything but the network. At least they do with me. I've reported my rubbish speeds 5 times. So far the following are to blame :

My windows installation x 2
My anti-virus package
My firewall
My wireless adapter (even though i told him i got the same speeds when i plugged the cm directly into my ethernet port)

No point complaining any more.

This kind of thing has been happening in ntl for many many years-& that's not an opinion, it's a fact.

etccarmageddon

27-01-2006, 14:20

if I was experiencing all these 10meg issues I'd prefer to be told 'we know it's the network/ubr etc and will take 3 months to sort out' than being fobbed off evaded etc. most customers are happy to wait weeks or even months provided the supplier looks like they are in control of the issues. no-one desperately needs 10meg and not having it ruins their life so it aint the speed that's the problem, it's the way they are handling the complaints.

IanUK

27-01-2006, 14:26

Ian mate,

I can't even get that page to open.

Is it not something to do with testing routers though?

Its to test your CM levels (or do you have an STB ? - in which case that won't work but I'm sure someone will be able to tell you how to get the same readings on that)

I had problems very similar to yours, and my levels were way out, not saying thats what you've got, but it would be another thing to discount.

---------- Post added at 14:26 ---------- Previous post was at 14:23 ----------

if I was experiencing all these 10meg issues I'd prefer to be told 'we know it's the network/ubr etc and will take 3 months to sort out' than being fobbed off evaded etc. most customers are happy to wait weeks or even months provided the supplier looks like they are in control of the issues. no-one desperately needs 10meg and not having it ruins their life so it aint the speed that's the problem, it's the way they are handling the complaints.

Sadly though that kind of sums up NTL's approach to customer service though, they always fob off it seems. I had a nightmare with them trying to get various things sorted recently, and it appears I'm not alone, they really need some technically competent network people that are available to the customers (even just an email address to send results to that a REAL techy can look at)

Saneboy13

27-01-2006, 14:28

So is it more a training issue rather than a network one? is it first line or second line problems? if we don't know then how can it be resolved?

I agree with your point about the speed issue. But if people claim they were getting a better quality at 3 meg, then ask to be put back on the 3 meg service

Mr Angry

27-01-2006, 14:28

"It is very easy to do speed checks, etc and post about not getting what you are paying for but the real question should be "is getting less than max speeds affecting what I want to do with my connection?"

Meanwhile, back on earth.......

Saneboy13

27-01-2006, 14:32

Mr Angry,

Why don't you pop your Modem Mac addy in a PM to me and let me have a look at it on the system.

Let's try and be proactive instead of nagative, eh?

IanUK

27-01-2006, 14:42

Ianuk I got a email address of dnsstuff.com ip whois lookup database for ntl's ip range, their is a email contact listed as required by ripe rules to directly contact someone at ntl who is involved with their peering. I did get a route changed successfully via this manner, although another time I contacted them a guy replied angrily telling me to use TS so it may be hit and miss.

I'll wait and see what the announcement will say, although not about peering it may explain the direction they are going in.
From what ignition and you say it sounds like even if by some miracle you get through to the peering bods at NTL they are less than useful...

Mr Angry

27-01-2006, 14:42

andybeary

27-01-2006, 14:44

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 14:43:18 UTC

1st 512K took 230 ms = 2226.1 KB/sec, approx 16918 Kbps, 16.5 Mbps
2nd 512K took 211 ms = 2426.5 KB/sec, approx 18441 Kbps, 18 Mbps
3rd 512K took 190 ms = 2694.7 KB/sec, approx 20480 Kbps, 20 Mbps
4th 512K took 201 ms = 2547.3 KB/sec, approx 19359 Kbps, 18.9 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 18800 Kbps, 18.35 Mbps

ill have to find out what bb connection my company is on ;)

Saneboy13

27-01-2006, 15:42

Don't get me wrong, if there is a problem then lets get it sorted out. But I really want to know how many people are having problems with 10 meg and what modems they are using.

Mr Angry, just got your pm, thank you and I will reply in a few minutes

---------- Post added at 15:42 ---------- Previous post was at 14:46 ----------

It's interesting to see, I have been sent 4 mac addresses today to look at, and all 4 came back with good responses. That suggests the Network in those areas are fine.

This seems to support a theory that is going around that it's when you go off NTL's network that the speed drop happens.

It's something more to look at, and as soon as I can get more information I shall share it with the forum

Chrysalis

27-01-2006, 15:43

The problems I experienced which carried on after downgrading was more then just slow speed. I expect my download speed to slow down to maybe 60-75% of max during peak hours but what I dont expect is pings in the 100s to uk destinations, and download speed at 10% of max and upload speed at 50% of max and unable to reach full speed at 3am, that is what I was dealing with.

IanUK

27-01-2006, 15:50

This seems to support a theory that is going around that it's when you go off NTL's network that the speed drop happens.

Yes !

Peering :)

(crawls back into cave)

Prof-x

27-01-2006, 15:59

the speed tests are ropey... we can get up to 100Mbit to servers connected to our WAN and the most i can get out of this speed test is

1st 512K took 328 ms = 1561 KB/sec, approx 11864 Kbps, 11.6 Mbps
2nd 512K took 407 ms = 1258 KB/sec, approx 9561 Kbps, 9.3 Mbps
3rd 512K took 343 ms = 1492.7 KB/sec, approx 11345 Kbps, 11.1 Mbps
4th 512K took 329 ms = 1556.2 KB/sec, approx 11827 Kbps, 11.5 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 11149 Kbps, 10.88 Mbps

but then again you try it a second time and get

1st 512K took 546 ms = 937.7 KB/sec, approx 7127 Kbps, 7 Mbps
2nd 512K took 546 ms = 937.7 KB/sec, approx 7127 Kbps, 7 Mbps
3rd 512K took 562 ms = 911 KB/sec, approx 6924 Kbps, 6.8 Mbps
4th 512K took 578 ms = 885.8 KB/sec, approx 6732 Kbps, 6.6 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 6978 Kbps, 6.85 Mbps

Its not accurate at all, alot aren't up to 10Mbit. Therefore try download ISO's from servers like mirror.ac.uk or microsoft.com i get over 10Mbits solid from them.

However, even the 1 and 2Mbit NTL services can only be described as dismal in congested areas like stafford. Do consider other options when testing speed though.

ian@huth

27-01-2006, 16:28

Saneboy, I wasn't trying to be negative.

I merely find that attitude to be amazing.

It's like paying for a 5 series BMW and a dealer handing over a Reliant Robin saying "yes, but it's still a car".

Thanks for the kind offer, pm on the way.No its more like getting a 5 series BMW and finding that it will only do 130mph max instead of the 155mph expected. If you are only using it on UK roads the inability to reach top speed shouldn't be a worrying factor as you still have the same status symbol, comfort and performance when using it legally.

The point that I was making was that your connection is only a tool for a job and if it performs the job as well with say a maximum speed achievable from speed test of 5Mbps as it does with a max of 10Mbps then you aren't being affected by the inability to get the max. If the job suffers because you cannot achieve near the max speed then you have a problem that needs sorting.

IanUK

27-01-2006, 16:35

The point that I was making was that your connection is only a tool for a job and if it performs the job as well with say a maximum speed achievable from speed test of 5Mbps as it does with a max of 10Mbps then you aren't being affected by the inability to get the max. If the job suffers because you cannot achieve near the max speed then you have a problem that needs sorting.

I think a lot of people with problems here would be glad to see 5mb, my problem is slightly different in that my speeds are generally good, even at night, but I only get a max of about 20k from about 6pm onwards due to congested peering on routes from my server, (coincidentally the same(ish) route that Giganews takes, and that is awful at night too) I get almost 700k at other times, a quite unnaceptable drop.

This only started again once 10 meg rolled out, not a coincidence I think...

Ignition

27-01-2006, 17:30

To those who requested, BADGER gives upstream and downstream utilisation and also CPU utilisation on uBRs and has lists of card relief dates based on the RAG status.

Never tried CARDIE but from what you've said sounds more like a combo RF and IP tool.

BADGER also shows all the nodes connected to each upstream, and for a first line tech is all they need. If they can see noise on that SCG they can then pass it out to you guys to check each node individually if possible.

Martyn

27-01-2006, 19:05

I think a lot of people with problems here would be glad to see 5mb, my problem is slightly different in that my speeds are generally good, even at night, but I only get a max of about 20k from about 6pm onwards due to congested peering on routes from my server, (coincidentally the same(ish) route that Giganews takes, and that is awful at night too) I get almost 700k at other times, a quite unnaceptable drop. This only started again once 10 meg rolled out, not a coincidence I think... do you have more then one Comp connected to net? another family member might be downloading on that pc or something?...

IanUK

27-01-2006, 21:00

do you have more then one Comp connected to net? another family member might be downloading on that pc or something?...

Nope just the one, tonight its ok so far though.

Chrysalis

28-01-2006, 00:59

do you have more then one Comp connected to net? another family member might be downloading on that pc or something?...

Did you ignore the point he made when it started the same time as the 10meg rollout? NTL is currently substandard but I am amazed at people who are still trying to blame user's hardware.

Paul

28-01-2006, 02:25

This seems to support a theory that is going around that it's when you go off NTL's network that the speed drop happens.

It's something more to look at, and as soon as I can get more information I shall share it with the forumThis is not the case for Mr Angry, that's why I asked him to use the speedtest setup on the forum - the files it tests are on my ntl webspace, i.e. on the ntl network.

Ignition

28-01-2006, 08:18

Etc...

There are known issues with some modems i.e the 100/120 ambits and the Motorolla 3100 in so much as they can not handle 10 Meg due to the ethernet connection not being 10 based 100.

Other than that, we really shouldn't be seeing as many problems as are being stated on this thread

Addressing a few things in one hit here...

It's not an issue of networks being noisy, the noise subsceptibility isn't changed by the upgrade.

The basic fact in a lot of cases is ntl have either oversubscribed in terms of bandwidth or in terms of processing power.

In Mr Angry's case I'm not convinced this is what's wrong, and hopefully someone with knowledge can check his case out.

This isn't noisy networks, nor is it all CPE faults.

The fact that peering has been allowed to congest is disgraceful to be honest. ISPs that allow their peering to congest and do nothing about it tend to get kicked off Internet Exchanges. I know upgrades were planned for Amsterdam though, perhaps they weren't as smooth as hoped.

If you're a network engineer sir best get your resegmentation hat back on, think some 16QAM on the upstreams and 256QAM on the downstreams where not already done is going to be a step too. Hope your return lasers are the better kinds that won't gag when given something a bit harder than QPSK to handle ;)

You can't really blame people for wanting to go back to 3Mbit when it was a consistent 3Mbit. People are seeing sub-2Mbit or worse on their alledgedly 10Mbit services now, and IMHO that is totally unacceptable and as a minimum this service should be providing a noticeable and significant uplift to the 3Mbit service.

Maybe we should link ntl's and Telewest's networks more closely, Telewest can't handle the upload load while ntl are struggling with CPU and downstreams more. The CPU issues are penny pinching. Someone thought it better to adopt the short sighted and cheaper option, even though another upgrade was likely.

I can remember one area having 2 CPU upgrade in 2 months as the 'process' didn't allow as standard for skipping of the intermediate step in the vain hope of saving a few quid.

JohnHorb

28-01-2006, 09:06

Well, after moaning on here for some time about the poor speeds I was getting, this weekend, I've connected using my works laptop (faster processor, 'built-in wireless rather than PCMCIA), and am getting a consistent 6-7MB through an STB, using the same 54g wireless router as used with my home laptop, where I was getting a very inconsistent 2-3MB. So maybe NTL are not always wrong in blaming customer's equipment.

IanUK

28-01-2006, 09:53

This seems to support a theory that is going around that it's when you go off NTL's network that the speed drop happens.

It's something more to look at, and as soon as I can get more information I shall share it with the forum

I look forward to hearing from you about NTL's proposed solution for the big peering problems.

Saneboy13

28-01-2006, 10:24

Ignition

28-01-2006, 10:29

Ignition,

I agree with what you are saying. I know that we have just finished the QAM256 upgrage in South Wales. As for the QAM16, we are still awaiting test results and when it will be implemented.

I know that noise isn't a huge contributory factor with regards to speed, but if the CPD levels jump then it will impact things. Same goes for ingress, which we do lookk at on a daily basis. As long as we can keep the network to an acceptable level then that's all we can do as Network Engineers.

I know that a few hub sites could do with re-seg work, but I can not personally say when or if it will go ahead. In an ideal world we would be doing re-seg work prior to the speed increase and making sure the proxies are all good to go. As far as I can go with things, I will keep badgering the guys at BB support to see if we can't get things looked in to and resolved

I know CPD can be an issue and ideally you guys need to be able to spend a lot of time working on it and nothing else.

As far as BB support don't know if you're referring to Swansea or Crawley / Hook on that one, however I was closer to these guys than you are and spent some time banging my head on a brick wall.

The testing being done, if it's anything like the 256QAM will end up being more of a political exercise than technical. 256QAM rollout was delayed needlessly and tested to death when not required to be as an **** covering exercise, did ya know that one? ;)

Saneboy13

28-01-2006, 10:35

I know CPD can be an issue and ideally you guys need to be able to spend a lot of time working on it and nothing else.

As far as BB support don't know if you're referring to Swansea or Crawley / Hook on that one, however I was closer to these guys than you are and spent some time banging my head on a brick wall.

The testing being done, if it's anything like the 256QAM will end up being more of a political exercise than technical. 256QAM rollout was delayed needlessly and tested to death when not required to be as an **** covering exercise, did ya know that one? ;)

As is always the case with these things.

I know that they have done a lot in the testing of 16QAM and they said it would not be too far off on implementation. But the question of "How long's a piece of string" comes to mind.

The BB guys I was waiting to hear from were at Swansea. I want to know what they are seeing and what their views are first, before even attempting Crawley Ct.

I know it must be frustrating as hell for 10 meg users not getting what they are hoping for. If I can try and push things a long a little, even if it's to come back and say "sorry guys but you are looking at 4 months before resolution" then at least other forum members can see that something is being done, rather than keeping hands warm under *****:p:

Ignition

28-01-2006, 10:39

As is always the case with these things.

I know that they have done a lot in the testing of 16QAM and they said it would not be too far off on implementation. But the question of "How long's a piece of string" comes to mind.

The BB guys I was waiting to hear from were at Swansea. I want to know what they are seeing and what their views are first, before even attempting Crawley Ct.

I know it must be frustrating as hell for 10 meg users not getting what they are hoping for. If I can try and push things a long a little, even if it's to come back and say "sorry guys but you are looking at 4 months before resolution" then at least other forum members can see that something is being done, rather than keeping hands warm under *****:p:

There are other things being done that should help when they are sorted, however these are behind schedule, they slipped like crazy when I was there.

Hopefully these projects will actually be completed before any more upgrades for commercial reasons are done, they should help the customer experience a lot.

Swansea don't get much of a say in these things unfortunately. I wouldn't bother if I were you trying to get things hurried along, I tried some stuff to improve customer's service and was ticked off and told to roll it back as it was non-standard. It worked but it was non-standard :mad:

Saneboy13

28-01-2006, 10:46

If it's not standard but sorts out the problem, why tick you off? commendation should have been the order of the day.

The reason I am waiting on Swansea is to see what the second line guys I know are seeing with customers problems. I want to know more of what they are seeing and are they getting the same customers calling in time and again. I can not go off half cocked sending out e-mails up the escalation chain with out first getting as much info. together first.

I know there are posts upon posts here about it all, but I don't think that all of them are having the same trouble. The ones that are genuine are the ones that complain about the problem in a different way, if that makes sense. The genuine few post more information, or more relevent info. for want of a better word

mandrake

28-01-2006, 11:52

Just tried to ring tech support about slow speeds ain the da1 area, informed by an automated voice that their are currently 118 people waiting to talk to a support agent with an avarage wait time of 11 mins per customer, me thinks ntl is rapidly going down the pan.

bjorkiii

28-01-2006, 12:03

Enuff

28-01-2006, 13:36

Just thinking do any of the problem people having download speed issues use routers, more to the point linksys jobbies there seems to be a bit of a problem with the firmware you can find out more about it on the utorrent forum with links to new linksys firmware thats supposed to help.maybe, but before I contacted TS I disconnected the router, thats one of the first things they tell you to do before continuing to diagnose the problem.

Bill C

28-01-2006, 13:44

IanUK

28-01-2006, 14:27

118 out of 1.5 million broadband customers and you think thats going down the pan :)

When I was ringing NTL CS every day for almost a fortnight recently, I had a similar experience, the way to look at it is that a company of NTL's size shouldn't make you wait more than a couple of minutes at the most before being able to speak to someone.
If you take 118 at any given say 20 mins and then times that, it becomes a lot more people than it first appears.

Not satisfactory any way you look at it, but sadly its been my experience of ringing NTL virtually every time I've tried to contact them.

Bill C

28-01-2006, 14:37

When I was ringing NTL CS every day for almost a fortnight recently, I had a similar experience, the way to look at it is that a company of NTL's size shouldn't make you wait more than a couple of minutes at the most before being able to speak to someone.
If you take 118 at any given say 20 mins and then times that, it becomes a lot more people than it first appears.

Not satisfactory any way you look at it, but sadly its been my experience of ringing NTL virtually every time I've tried to contact them.
I now have Sky + for my tv i spent nearly 45 mins waiting to speak to a human. They have gone down in my view as well. I kept hearing on this board how good SKY are well in my short experience to date they are just as bad :mad:.

I think as a company gets bigger they tend to lose sight of there customers and why they decided to use them in the first place. I think they also end up thinking that they have enough customers to be able to take a few leaving. However if that few turn in to 100's or 1000's then they need to review why they are in that mess. NTL are close to that point now with this shambles of a 10 meg. I moved back to 2meg because my 10 meg just did not get above 3 meg at the best of time, It was fine during the trial.. I have just had SKY+ installed because NTL cannot provide me with a PVR ?. So thats a very long term TV customer they have lost.
Why ? Because they did not get there act together on Pvr's.

At the moment i am looking at using a llu service when it comes available in my area to provide me with a fast unlimited service, Something that NTL cannot provide me at this time. So that will be another long term BB customer they might lose if they dont get there act together soon.

Chrysalis

28-01-2006, 14:48

Saneboy13 if you want more info about the issues I have had pm me and I will be happy to provide what info you need.

XFS03

28-01-2006, 14:51

...I agree with your point about the speed issue. But if people claim they were getting a better quality at 3 meg, then ask to be put back on the 3 meg service:confused: ...but there isn't a 3 Meg service anymore!

Bill C

28-01-2006, 15:00

:confused: ...but there isn't a 3 Meg service anymore!

thats why i went to 2 meg.

Chrysalis

28-01-2006, 15:08

also all the tier's are affected by 10meg so simply going back to 3meg wont be the previous level of service as it doesnt change that the local ubr is hosting people on the 10meg service it cant sustain and ntl's peering is saturated and the proxies are overloaded. The only way ntl could fix that instantly is rollback the 10meg tier which would never happen so the next viable solution is to do the upgrade's ingition mentioned and sort out the proxy problems.

I see the real mess ntl have got themselves into here, they cant turn off the proxies because they havent got the peering capacity to handle the resulting increase in external traffic load. They cant increase peering due to the issues ignition pointed out with all the beuracracy, ubr upgrades were put on hold for many month's so ntl could rush out vod rollout's to satisfy commercial interests and the PR team panicked with the impeding max adsl rollout and with sky acquiring the llu easynet so rolled out 10meg.

Their are quite simple changes they could make which I would guess would solve a lot of problems such as seperate upload caps, peak time caps, moving proxies from http to p2p/nttp traffic as ignition suggested, price increases to help fund upgrades, and of course some retraining at the india ts call centre.

setch

28-01-2006, 16:06

I have just had SKY+ installed because NTL cannot provide me with a PVR ?.

You were lucky Bill C, NTL could not provide me with a TV service, all down to total incompetence on behalf of their staff. I had been a TV customer for longer than I can remember, but they did not give a rats **** when I lost my service through negligence on their behalf. Sky gave me a good deal when I told them why I was leaving NTL, probably gave them a good laugh too. I have not had any problems with my TV since moving to Sky, whereas I always had some form of problem with NTL TV. Also had my fair share of broadband issues as well. Only thing that I have not had an issue with is the phone. But that is becoming redundant as I am slowly switching over to VOIP.

Bill C

28-01-2006, 16:43

You were lucky Bill C, NTL could not provide me with a TV service, all down to total incompetence on behalf of their staff. I had been a TV customer for longer than I can remember, but they did not give a rats **** when I lost my service through negligence on their behalf. Sky gave me a good deal when I told them why I was leaving NTL, probably gave them a good laugh too. I have not had any problems with my TV since moving to Sky, whereas I always had some form of problem with NTL TV. Also had my fair share of broadband issues as well. Only thing that I have not had an issue with is the phone. But that is becoming redundant as I am slowly switching over to VOIP.
My TV was always fine and i had no real problems. I needed a pvr, NTL do not at this time provide one and i dont see VOD as a replacement for a pvr, So it had to go. I have had a few problems with SKY + at the moment but that's for another thread. "there upgrade sucks big time BTW"

IanUK

28-01-2006, 17:18

I see the real mess ntl have got themselves into here, they cant turn off the proxies because they havent got the peering capacity to handle the resulting increase in external traffic load. They cant increase peering due to the issues ignition pointed out with all the beuracracy, ubr upgrades were put on hold for many month's so ntl could rush out vod rollout's to satisfy commercial interests and the PR team panicked with the impeding max adsl rollout and with sky acquiring the llu easynet so rolled out 10meg.

Giganews Europe is currently running at less than 20k a sec, pathetic - its only been like this for about 2 months now at peak times :(

Half of broadband Plus hasn't worked for 11 days now, no sign of any resolution looking at the system status page where it has been listed since the 17th Jan.

The Newsserver still times out at peak times, even when reading text posts.

Oh and no sign of VOD in this area either, I'd completely forgotten about it to be honest.

My question has to be, is there any one with any Network technical know how still working at NTL ?

mandrake

28-01-2006, 19:14

Ok, if going down the pan gets some peoples back up, why advertise a service that they (ntl) cant sustain for what ever is their excuse and then expect people to have to wait for up to 4 hours to talk to tech support to try and work around a solution.
When I first changed from 3mb to 10 mb, I was getting download speeds of between 7-9mb over the past 3 weeks this has slowly decreased to between 1.5 and 4mb and it doesnt matter what time of the day it is. just in case there are any ntl tech staff aound i have included most of the modem diagnostics as I havent got a clue what they mean.

Cable Modem Downstream
Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Channel Id : 0
Downstream Frequency : 586750000 Hz
Downstream Modulation : QAM64
Downstream Symbol Rate : 6952 Ksym/sec
Downstream Interleave Depth : taps12Increment17
Downstream Receive Power Level : -5.9 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 30.3 dB
Upstream Lock : Locked
Upstream Channel ID : 4
Upstream Frequency : 28784000 Hz
Upstream Modulation : QPSK
Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream transmit Power Level : 49.3 dBmV
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2
Cable Modem Upstream Burst
Cable Modem Operation Configuration
Network Access : Allowed
Maximum Downstream Data Rate : 10240000
Maximum Upstream Data Rate : 512000
Maximum Upstream Channel Burst : 1600
Maximum Number of CPEs : 1
Modem Capability : Concatenation Enabled, Fragametation Enabled, PHS Disabled
able Modem Event Log
First Time Last Time Counts Level ID Text
Sat Jan 28 16:55:45 2006 Sat Jan 28 16:55:45 2006
4

Critical(3)

82000500
Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - ...
Time Not Established Time Not Established
4

Critical(3)

68000300
DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
Mon Jan 02 20:23:35 2006 Mon Jan 02 20:23:35 2006
1

Critical(3)

82000500
Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - ...
Time Not Established Time Not Established
1

Critical(3)

68000300
DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.

---------- Post added at 19:14 ---------- Previous post was at 18:10 ----------

Update, just got throught ntl tech support, every body else must have given up!!!. Informed by the tech that as long as I am getting more than 3mb at some time of the day that this is deemed as being within the upto 10mb specs!!and as such there is nothing wrong with my connection.
I do not use a router just a network card and as was suggested by this tech, my computer is not bogged down with software.

Retrovertigo

28-01-2006, 21:12

I think all this up to 10mb nonsense is an insult to be honest.

Why should I be paying the same price for a service which is varying wildy between 600k and 3-4 meg - as someone who is getting the full 10meg?

I, like many others here, and as stated in another post, am getting a service far worse than the 3meg service I was on. On 3meg it was as stable as I could hope for.

I was one of the first to get upgraded to 10meg and at first it was fine. But as students have come back into my area after christmas, and NTL have had a installation blitz in my area, the speed has slowly become a joke.

Of course when I mention contention to one of our Indian call centre chums, I am met with silence, as it obviously doesn't figure in his script.

Sick of phoning them now to be honest. Surely there is a cut-off point where "up to 10meg" becomes unacceptable? Like say 60% of the advertised speed?

etccarmageddon

28-01-2006, 23:41

shockingly bad service in my opinion.

twinkle

28-01-2006, 23:55

appear to have accrued 14 points .only as i said unplug modem whilst talking to ntl staff ,play any game to get an ambit 250 . got no problems at all ,i get between 7.5-10 on 10 meg .i can`t complain,**** any speed test you will know when you got it ,

Enuff

28-01-2006, 23:57

I wonder what will happen when NTL need to roll out higher speeds to keep up with the competition? I read in a post somewhere that NTL are going to be rolling out 25mb-30mb in around 6 months... and then 50mb by the end of the year. If that's true? then we're in for some fun! It would be nice if they could provide a reliable 10mb first though. :disturbd:

twinkle

29-01-2006, 00:09

bobna

29-01-2006, 01:21

deadite66

29-01-2006, 03:12

well i do get the full 10Mb most of the time but this year the packet loss at peak time is getting to me i can't play UT2004 properly on my favorite servers so i've had my BT line switched back on.
just waiting for the bt availability checker to recognize my number so i can order.

Chrysalis

29-01-2006, 03:15

I can see the day.

department A PR speeds upto 50meg 34.99

department B network umm were fecked.

department C tech support sir its your router, and remember uninstall your firewall then ring us back later.

customer hmm I am gonna upgrade to isdn get stable 64kbit.

lenney

29-01-2006, 07:34

I too upgraded to 10Mbit/s. Before I was on 2Mbit/s and everything was OK.

After the upgrade everything went wrong. I had the set top box reset twice.
allled tech support twice but never got above 1Mbit/s.

I was convinced it was NTL prombem.
I work in a similar job to NTL tech support. Using a packet sniffer I could see the tansfere rate would not get me above 1Mbit/s.

I was so convinced it was NTL I used another PC wiith only windows xp installed.

Bang went ecerything I was now getting 3Mbit/s ! ouch!.

So I removed every program that I did not use, killed every process not required, still only got 700Kbit/s.

The last program to remove was........... ZONE ALARM !
I have used zone alarm fo the pas 3 years and nver had a problem.

But after removing I got 3Mbit/s.

So I dowloded the latest and reinstalled it.

Back to 700Kb/s.

Removed it again and back to 3Mbit/s

Thi is my speed results

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 07:31:32 UTC
1st 128K took 219 ms = 598502 Bytes/sec = approx 4980 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 531 ms = 246840 Bytes/sec = approx 2054 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 188 ms = 697191 Bytes/sec = approx 5801 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 719 ms = 182298 Bytes/sec = approx 1517 kbits/sec

I think zone alarm may not be able to keep up with the high data rates.
Any one else care to try.

Cheers

Lenney

etccarmageddon

29-01-2006, 10:27

Ignition

29-01-2006, 10:47

i think we will get speeds of that `,HDTV `10 meg and a cap is not plausible,i personally hammer my 10 meg ,until ntl tell me different i did 15 meg yesterday .if you get a good ntl service you got it good ,otherwise it is pants
nottingham ng11

Copious amounts of cap threads where you can discuss how great you are as you download 15GB a day dude. Enjoy the 128kbps for the other 24 days of the month once the monitoring hits though :)

On the other hand I actually agree with you in some ways, if they just took their heads out of their backsides and just sent people the 250 modems, which cost less than a Chinese to them anyway, no need to involve an engineer this is why we have a postal service, etc, it would reduce a lot of the complaints from people with crappy modems.

No sympathy again, cheap kit ignoring the potential upgrade requirements while Telewest were handing out far far more capable if expensive modems.

Wonder how much these cheap modems have cost so far in engineer calls...

Bill C

29-01-2006, 10:50

Wonder how much these cheap modems have cost so far in engineer calls...

Nail , Head, :banghead:

Indeed it must be costing a lot of the money that could be used to upgrade and fix the problems .

popper

30-01-2006, 06:31

it seems to me that one day (soon?) the 10 meg package will become more stable for nothing more than commercial reasons at some point, however it seems that the powers within NTL dont want us the UK users to
have better choice within NTL packages, for that it seems we currently
have no other choice that to go with other companys if we want a better
upload to download ratio.

i happened to take the speed test at the irish url and happened to look
for their current best uload ratio, stunning in comparison to NTL's
20to1 10meg down/512k up 10meg BB or the 8to1 2meg down/256k up BB.
http://www.getbroadband.ie/broadband_deals.php?County=Dublin%20North&Area=Arbour%20Hill

keeping in mind that here in wythenshawe,south manchester (airport)
at least it seems that reaching the official 256k and keeping that steady
upload rate on the 2meg package with the blue 250 standaloan ntl modem (ready to upgrade later) is futile and seems to top out at 192k mostly.

i thought the wythenshawe datacenter was a main hub for the northwest
originally built to service europes largest council estate,i.e wythenshawe,
by mecury then owned by C&W and now NTL ?, so i wonder why today
we on ntl are only given a choice of such small upload rates were the likes
of the wireless breeze 2 meg package (above)get 2 meg up and down for 48.40 EURO.

i'd really like to see NTL give the 10meg users at least the ability to pick
a better ratio package than 20to1 for something like at least 1meg upload

perhaps 1.5, 2, 4, 5 and even 10 meg upload to allow for future ntl download
speed packages.

i can see you thinking why do we as end users need these upload speeds,
simple really, try downloading a non current torrent of any 2 set linux DVD
on one machine while your son plays something like splinter cell chaos theory
on the main ntl 250 cable modem machine.

several things happen but the killer is, his pings will rocket, and the torrent
will take days instead of hours , not what you want from a 2meg or even
a 10 meg connection, all for the sake of a far better upload connection
than 256k or even 512k.

etccarmageddon

30-01-2006, 07:33

there's no way the network can handle higher upload speeds like 2 to 10 meg.

IanUK

30-01-2006, 09:56

This is getting silly now :(

Giganews Europe below 50k at 9:54 on a Monday morning, utter rubbish.

I take it the 'statement' explaining all this poor service never arrived ?

etccarmageddon

30-01-2006, 10:53

Ian, have you considered downgrading to 1meg? as it's pointless paying £35 or £38 a month for this crap?

Ignition

30-01-2006, 11:27

I'm quite sure I can find better upload ratios than ntl's elsewere. They never can claim tobe the fastest, they're more the Walmart of internet services than the Waitrose ;)

i can see you thinking why do we as end users need these upload speeds,
simple really, try downloading a non current torrent of any 2 set linux DVD
on one machine while your son plays something like splinter cell chaos theory
on the main ntl 250 cable modem machine.

Easily solved, use an FTP server rather than torrenting alternatively make sure that both uploads are 'sensibly' set. If your son is hosting the game I'm sure you're munted but with 512k upload there's no reason why you can't upload at 30kB/s while your son plays apart from possibly the minor issue that Bittorrent is inefficient crap that will eat a lot more bandwidth in overheads potentially, and stale clients will be hitting your firewall for days.

Before anyone says but xxxx uses it, course they do, they wouldn't want to actually pay for the bandwidth to distribute their content, now would they? ;)

Higher upload certainly has its' place and is something I'd like to see too, but not to feed the endless demands of P2P networks. I can show you a number of Cablecos that offer high uploads and traffic shaping due to P2P. If you prefer that then it's not a problem at all.

EDIT: If you want to see what happens when there's no restrictions to how people use their services on cable, even with 384kbit up, check out the Telewest section of this forum. Virtually all of the slow speeds are due to upload congestion. 95%+ of the upload is going on P2P.

IanUK

30-01-2006, 12:43

Ian, have you considered downgrading to 1meg? as it's pointless paying ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£35 or ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£38 a month for this crap?

The problem is I have good speeds to about half the places I want to go, and usually good speeds to all the places during the day (except today), if NTL would do what an ISP is supposed to an fix it so that their peering arrangements can carry the load then everything would be cool here, there is no local congestion that I can see, its all peering rubbish that NTL seem too thick to fix.

Chrysalis

30-01-2006, 19:39

If p2p was never started we wouldnt be seeing all these requests for higher upload, as soon as I started reading popper's post I knew torrent's were coming up :(

IanUK

30-01-2006, 22:59

Well that statement wasn't worth having, they just repeated the usual PR mantra :(
They just turned it into a sales pitch, price quoted, how its better than ADSL etc etc

Where is the statement about Congestion, where is the peering problems ?

How surprised are we ? yeah right.

What a waste of everyone's time that 'statement' was...

---------- Post added at 22:59 ---------- Previous post was at 22:58 ----------

I sincerely hope my posts in this thread have made that statement a lot more difficult to write (IE they are actually *shock* going to have to give real details and not just the usual PR gack - did you know that a simple newsgroups statement made before I worked for them ended up being approved, toned down, then rewritten by 3 seperate departments? All this was relating to was removal of some groups, however rather than give the honest response the engineers wanted to give it ended up being fluffy and completely uninformative PR BS).

I look forward to seeing this response. If it's the usual crap that passes for ntl updates I'm going to rip it to shreds. Hopefully they're learning something about transparency and not treating customers like morons from how Telewest used to be.

Over to you then Ignition....

Paul

30-01-2006, 23:18

Where is the statement about Congestion, where is the peering problems ?
They weren't asked about peering (read back a bit) but even if they were I doubt the statement would be any different.

If you were waiting for some sort of statement full of technical details, and highlighting problems, then you were setting yourself up for disappointment. No company (ntl or otherwise) is going to do that.

That statement is exactly what I expected. ;)

sicknote

30-01-2006, 23:42

yeah paul a load of waffle and crap like we come to expect from a company with no regard for its customers

IanUK

30-01-2006, 23:44

They weren't asked about peering (read back a bit) but even if they were I doubt the statement would be any different.

If you were waiting for some sort of statement full of technical details, and highlighting problems, then you were setting yourself up for disappointment. No company (ntl or otherwise) is going to do that.

That statement is exactly what I expected. ;)

Absolutely no point in asking for it then, complete waste of time, just another chance for them to insert an advert for themselves.

Paul

31-01-2006, 00:16

yeah paul a load of waffle and crap like we come to expect from a company with no regard for its customersWell that's one view. If you dislike them so much why are you still a customer ?

sicknote

31-01-2006, 00:31

im not to sure Paul to be honest maybe i have been with them so long that i thought that they might of resolved these problems or at least admitted its there fault and they are trying to sort it out but clearly that is not gonna happen from the crap they put in that statement so i guess you have a very valid point one which i have to say is a strong possibility for me and i would expect a lot more here.

Paul

31-01-2006, 00:36

I'm quite happy with my service, my TV works fine atm, as does my BB and phone. If I was as unhappy with them as you seem to be, I would be gone, simple as that (ask my previous electricity & gas suppliers ;))

ntl are a huge company and I'm quite sure that internally they are well aware of the problems thay have, but they aren't going to admit it publicly ( ask Mr Ratner what effect that has :erm: ) any change in such a big company is going to be long and slow.

nffc

31-01-2006, 00:39

twinkle

31-01-2006, 01:00

yes nottingham quick again all day ,nice one ntl

sicknote

31-01-2006, 01:32

i think you have decided for me Paul to be honest yes im unhappy with the service or rather lack of service provided to me so i shall be actively looking for an adsl deal me thinks..as a note of interest Paul i dropped down to the 2mg connection and as of this moment just like last nite my pings are so high and this is at supposedly an uncongested time ie: 1:30am ish? so why have a got peering and routing problems after i get past ntl again? and its the same day after day after day i can honestly say i have NEVER had to call a company out for anything as near to as many times that i have had to in the past month on the 10mg and 2mg lines at lest 4 visits and numerous calls and reboots and re doin mac addys etc it really is gettin a little tedious to say the least and no longer funny...so as said im on my way i think..theres no point to a service if that service cannot be provided...oh a great to hear you got a good service at the moment lets hope it remains for you:P

Ignition

31-01-2006, 03:44

Can't even be bothered to comment too heavily.

Notice no Telewest users testing their 10Mbit, no Bulldog users over 4Mbit, virtually no UKOnline users, etc, etc, hardly a 'scientific' trial as far as the comments regarding speed go.

No confession of issues apart from the slightest referral to it, not much in the way of what is being done.

Pretty much as expected. Entirely unhelpful and a completely pointless exercise.

Gotta say I love the implicit blaming of customer equipment for issues, ignoring the cheap cable modems and buggy STB that ntl have provided customers. Also the blaming of customers for following their recommended until very recently USB set up was cool.

Followed the long ntl tradition of being about as informative as yesterday's weather report and as transparent as steel reinforced concrete.

Neil

31-01-2006, 16:06

ntl are a huge company and I'm quite sure that internally they are well aware of the problems thay have, but they aren't going to admit it publicly ( ask Mr Ratner what effect that has :erm: ) any change in such a big company is going to be long and slow.

How much longer would you like to give them? ;)

The problems/issues that people post about here are no different to what they were 6 or 7 years ago.

ntl management have proved that they do not give a fig about customers, the fact that the same issues still occur is testament to that.

manfredojr

31-01-2006, 19:46

I degraded to 2mb because of the problems 10mb was giving me and now 2mb is still causing packet loss in counter strike..Looks like im changing ISP NTL is so sh*te

sicknote

31-01-2006, 21:58

no response to those last few Paul :)

andybarker

31-01-2006, 22:36

These speed tests are pretty aweful at times. I just tried 4 different sites one after the other and got the following results:

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 22:26:45 GMT

1st 512K took 891 ms = 574.6 KB/sec, approx 4367 Kbps, 4.3 Mbps
2nd 512K took 875 ms = 585.1 KB/sec, approx 4447 Kbps, 4.3 Mbps
3rd 512K took 782 ms = 654.7 KB/sec, approx 4976 Kbps, 4.9 Mbps
4th 512K took 734 ms = 697.5 KB/sec, approx 5301 Kbps, 5.2 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 4773 Kbps, 4.68 Mbps

Downloaded 2097152 bytes in 2557ms (6407 kbps)
Testing upstream speed...
Uploaded 153333 bytes in 2385ms (502 kbps)

>>> Speed: 6407 kbps (down), 502 kbps (up) <<<

True Speed (estimated)
Downstream 6407 Kbps (800.9 KB/sec) 6919 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream 502 Kbps (62.8 KB/sec) 542 Kbps (inc. overheads)

Your Download Speed is 9.63 Mbps Your Upload Speed is 473 Mbps (yep - tried it twice, still got silly result).

6580.6 Kbps

On Tuesday, 31st January, 2006 Your bandwidth measured as:

3.28 Mbps

which means you can download at 419.83 KB/sec. from our servers.

And downloaded a 22meg file from Microsoft at 1174.4KB/s.

When I try to download real files from sites, I tend to get near the 10meg speed any time of day. There are times when it is well under 5meg, but I suspect that could just as easily be down to the site I am downloading from.

Don't believe everything you see with these speed tests.

Chris W

31-01-2006, 22:39

because speed tests use relatively small files, they do tend to be rather inaccurate. The best way to test speed is to download a few large files from different locations.

sicknote

31-01-2006, 22:48

sheesh Chris we could damm well test huge files all day and this 10mg would still suk ass...its down to ntl`s management of this 10mg roll out and the peering and congestion they have caused and there the ones that should be paying the good people like us some lip service and sort this farce out

and as i speak yet again for the 5th night running pings are high and service id d/l for me now on the 2mg line at !WOW 3k ffs

Chrysalis

01-02-2006, 00:15

That statement is exactly what I expected.

Maybe but they could have said something like this which would have been more respectable.

"We are aware their are issues with our network and unforseen utilisation of bandwidth, we are working very hard to increase our capacity and address any problems"

because speed tests use relatively small files, they do tend to be rather inaccurate. The best way to test speed is to download a few large files from different locations.

700meg large enough?

I have been hopping between upstream channels tried 3 different ones, right now ntl are struggling to give me an upload higher then 100kB and I cant even max out my upstream. Check the below traceroute.

1 508 ms 507 ms 543 ms UBR [10.8.143.254]
2 511 ms 509 ms 506 ms leic-t2cam1-b-ge914.inet.ntl.com [82.3.35.213]
3 538 ms 508 ms 507 ms leic-t2core-b-ge-210-0.inet.ntl.com [82.3.33.134
]
4 581 ms 521 ms 545 ms nth-bb-b-so-230-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.188.114]
5 514 ms 41 ms 534 ms nth-bb-a-ae0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.117]
6 21 ms 27 ms 515 ms gfd-bb-b-so-400-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.98]
7 44 ms 539 ms 59 ms redb-ic-1-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.174.138]
8 543 ms 516 ms 515 ms 212.58.238.189
9 518 ms 516 ms 515 ms 212.58.238.149
10 521 ms 525 ms 524 ms rdirwww-vip.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.131]

that was channel 5 my old channel, rebooted modem got channel 3 which was much better but still poor, then got channel 5 again immediatly back to the 500ms then got the channel im on now channel 6, which is clearly saturated but more useable so I stayed on this.