O2 ADSL2+

[SiPhi]

Have had good service from IDNET for well over a year now, but reviewed my ISP needs in conjunction with telephone services.  This led me to switch to o2 where I thought I saw a fantastic deal for ADSL2+ @ £15. 

BIG MISTAKE!!! 

Customer service and tech support with o2 is lousy, 2/10 is being kind to them.  My line gives up to 24 Mbs down, but with IDNET I was getting "only" 8 mbs down, usually 6 Mbs.

Also, on my small network of 4 users, with voip, email and www, I see no noticeable improvement whatsoever on speed.  I typically get 19 Mbs down, but it's just not noticeable.

The o2 wireless router supplied free proved to be defective, and they eventually sent me 3!  I was without connection for 3 days from switchover, and even now the service is dropping intermittently.

So at the risk of IDNETTERS whispering "I told you so", I regret switching away.  I would rather pay a few pounds more for quality service with IDNET. 

And in case anybody is wondering, I'm not on commission or payroll with IDNET!!!!  I am a real customer and can be reached at <advert removed - Rik>     If anybody from o2 is reading this, before you disagree or defend, call me, read the notes on my account.  I then authorise you to comment here on my case if you're not totally embarrassed.

[Sebby]

I think Be* is the one you should've gone for - they use the same network, but Be* is a lot more technical.

[Inactive]

A warm welcome to the forum....Have a karma..

[Simon]

Better late than never...  

If you're not happy with O2, you could always come back to IDNet. 

[Gary]

Have had good service from IDNET for well over a year now, but reviewed my ISP needs in conjunction with telephone services.  This led me to switch to o2 where I thought I saw a fantastic deal for ADSL2+ @ £15. 

BIG MISTAKE!!! 

Customer service and tech support with o2 is lousy, 2/10 is being kind to them.  My line gives up to 24 Mbs down, but with IDNET I was getting "only" 8 mbs down, usually 6 Mbs.

Also, on my small network of 4 users, with voip, email and www, I see no noticeable improvement whatsoever on speed.  I typically get 19 Mbs down, but it's just not noticeable.

The o2 wireless router supplied free proved to be defective, and they eventually sent me 3!  I was without connection for 3 days from switchover, and even now the service is dropping intermittently.

So at the risk of IDNETTERS whispering "I told you so", I regret switching away.  I would rather pay a few pounds more for quality service with IDNET. 

And in case anybody is wondering, I'm not on commission or payroll with IDNET!!!!  I am a real customer and can be reached at www.theHRguy.com     If anybody from o2 is reading this, before you disagree or defend, call me, read the notes on my account.  I then authorise you to comment here on my case if you’re not totally embarrassed.

To be honest I dont know what happened, I'm with O2  and great customer care very fast speeds, but everyone has a different experience, and I never use routers provided by a company have a welcome  also I should point out you had Ethernet to connect you while your router was replaced, and my switchover from IDNet happened the same day, but glad you found what you like here

[Gary]

Oh and a nice piece of advertising for the company

[zappaDPJ]

I think Be* is the one you should've gone for - they use the same network, but Be* is a lot more technical.

I've just migrated from Be*. I was with them for around four to five months and the first two months went reasonably well. After that things went down hill so fast it put me in mind of the previous eighteen months I'd just spent trying to get my MAC from Pipex.

To be fair I think Be* became the victim of their own success. They were without a doubt a good ISP but either over capacity or perhaps a change in practices when they were bought out by o2 has seen them go down hill very fast in recent months.

As an example my issue which was finally admitted to be caused by over capacity was initially put down to 'loud music'. Not a particularly good technical diagnosis of a fault I'm sure you will agree! In the end I had to leave because their best projection for upgrading the infrastructure was many months which would have left me with worse than 56K throughput at peak times on a 24MB service.

Like Pipex they started off well enough but it's all started to go horribly wrong for a large proportion of their customer base.

[Rik]

Loud music!! I'd never get a BB service.

[Gary]

I've just migrated from Be*. I was with them for around four to five months and the first two months went reasonably well. After that things went down hill so fast it put me in mind of the previous eighteen months I'd just spent trying to get my MAC from Pipex.

To be fair I think Be* became the victim of their own success. They were without a doubt a good ISP but either over capacity or perhaps a change in practices when they were bought out by o2 has seen them go down hill very fast in recent months.

As an example my issue which was finally admitted to be caused by over capacity was initially put down to 'loud music'. Not a particularly good technical diagnosis of a fault I'm sure you will agree! In the end I had to leave because their best projection for upgrading the infrastructure was many months which would have left me with worse than 56K throughput at peak times on a 24MB service.

Like Pipex they started off well enough but it's all started to go horribly wrong for a large proportion of their customer base.

Yet to experience issues with O2 and customer reviews do not point to that yet, many people blame the ISP when its other issues as we all know (not saying you did) and Be are not adding new customers in congested areas now, if BT got their act together I would come back to IDNet for ADSL2+ but as it is my line is faster and more stable where I am for now, BT really need to pull their finger out

[Inactive]

O2 and BE are owned by Telefonica Spain .. nuff said.

It is almost inevitable that it will/would go downhill.

[Rik]

Spanish boots of Spanish leather sounded so much better than British banks of Spanish ownership.

[Gary]

O2 and BE are owned by Telefonica Spain .. nuff said.

It is almost inevitable that it will/would go downhill.

Just like the whole of the UK Phone network owned by BT

[Inactive]

Indeed Gary, tho' I have to say, BT are not in the same league as Telefonica Spain, nobody could be as bad as them.

[Gary]

Indeed Gary, tho' I have to say, BT are not in the same league as Telefonica Spain, nobody could be as bad as them.

I dont know much about them In , but what I have works for me so that's good enough for now, if I lived in Spain that may change though

[Tacitus]

Spanish boots of Spanish leather sounded so much better than British banks of Spanish ownership.

There speaks a Dylan fan.  Makes me feel quite nostalgic 

[Inactive]

If you lived in most parts of Spain, you simply wouldn't have any choice Gary.

[Gary]

If you lived in most parts of Spain, you simply wouldn't have any choice Gary.

Like Hull you mean, you can only get one broadband supplier, Kingston Communications has a monopoly there for some odd reason 

[Inactive]

Indeed, they also come bottom of the league tables in service standards, it goes back years when the local council owned the phone network.

[Rik]

There speaks a Dylan fan.  Makes me feel quite nostalgic 

Now playing.

[Gary]

Indeed, they also come bottom of the league tables in service standards, it goes back years when the local council owned the phone network.

I wondered why, In only having a choice of one would really make me  

[Inactive]

Likewise Gary....

[DarkStar]

Now playing.

What's on at the moment then Rik?
What's your favorite Dylan period, or do you like them all, as I do.

Ian

[Rik]

I like them all, Ian, I was very much into the folk/protest scene back in the 60s. 

[DarkStar]

I was into folk back when, Dylan and Joan Baez. Later on I got into the Grateful Dead, still my greatest love along with Keith Jarrett. Going off line a bit here. Nearly got banned from one forum for not sticking to the original posted subject. 

Ian

[Simon]

You won't get banned for that here.  I'm suprised they've not got on to food yet! 

[Rik]

Nearly got banned from one forum for not sticking to the original posted subject. 

As Simon says, we don't worry to much about going off topic, Ian, in fact we worry when we do, it usually means there's a problem. You missed Bert Jansch from your list... 

[DarkStar]

Talking of food, I was late up this morning, had to go to the dentist and then the Doctors for another blood test, didn't have time for any breakfast so was something hungry by the time I got home at 11.30. A quick bowl of porridge when I got home and toast to follow about 2ish. Getting hungry again already.

ian

[Rik]

They have trouble finding my veins, Ian - five attempts last time. Luckily, though, I didn't have to starve first.

[David]

If you had been to the dentist Ian you should not be hungry.its a filling experience surely,anyway you know the drill.sorry but by gum your welcome here as long as you keep to the root of the thread other wise it may be felt you have a nerve,trying to extract something else here.....just pulling your tooth
sorry leg

[Rik]

I think this thread is decaying...

[David]

Needs capping I think 

[DarkStar]

The dentist says I have more filling than tooth in my mouth but only a check up this morning. When I go for a blood test nowadays they can't stop it bleeding once they've managed to find a vein. Once when i went they had just started drawing the blood out and the vein collapsed, took nearly half an hour to get enough for a test. Nurse says "do you feel alright"  
Got to laugh though

Ian

[Rik]

I know how you feel on both counts, Ian. I suffered from 'South African Trench' dentistry, as it became known, while all my veins quietly hide when they see a needle. I don't mind blood tests, but I do get tense about not being able to produce a vein, which doesn't help, of course. We should have little taps fitted.

[Inactive]

I could give you a tap on the shoulder.

[Rik]

[Inactive]

 

[ducky22]

I actually plan to move to Be* at the end of the month. I've read mostly good things.

The fact there's no year contract means I can move back to IDNet (or Zen...) if necessary. The lure of 14-16mbit is just too much now a days! That 40mb .exe file just doesn't download quick enough on 8mbit! hehe.

I have (and continue to have intermittantly) problems with packet loss and latency with IDNet but they're still a cut above plusnet, ukonline etc.

[Sebby]

The fact there's no year contract means I can move back to IDNet (or Zen...) if necessary.

Only on Unlimited and Pro (but no doubt you would have gone for one of those anyway), plus you have to give 3 month's notice.

[somanyholes]

does anyone know if you have to use betheres router on be or use your own?

[Sebby]

You can use your own.

Can I use my own modem?
Yes, you can, but as the Be Box is provided free of charge to all members, you'd be silly not to accept our generous offer. We may also not be able to support other modems and access devices. Certain features of our service may also not work if you're not using our Be Box.

I'm not convinced it's true that some things won't work. After all, the Be Box is just a SpeedTouch 585v7 in fancy dress.

[somanyholes]

cheers sebby, have been umming and arrghing about them for a while......

[zappaDPJ]

You can use your own.

I'm not convinced it's true that some things won't work. After all, the Be Box is just a SpeedTouch 585v7 in fancy dress.

That is almost the case except you won't in theory get the same level of support if you use your own modem and Be* have recently informed members that they have started to upload files to the Be* box in order to provide better support. This didn't go down too well with a lot of members.

I stopped using their modem because I found the excessive heat levels it produced to be quite alarming but I did have to revert back to it in order to post my stats on support tickets. In general though you can use any modem you like.

[Sebby]

Thanks for that.

[Tacitus]

does anyone know if you have to use betheres router on be or use your own?

AFAIK you can use any but some, notably Draytek, seem to give problems.  I don't think Be use the standard ADSL settings (VC, 0, 38), but someone else probably knows more about that than I do.

Might be worth hopping over to the Be forum on TB.   

[Gary]

AFAIK you can use any but some, notably Draytek, seem to give problems.  I don't think Be use the standard ADSL settings (VC, 0, 38), but someone else probably knows more about that than I do.

Might be worth hopping over to the Be forum on TB.  

you can use any router, no password needed its mac related. settings are LLC, 0, 101 with mtu at 1500, be and O2 work well with broadcom chipsets

[Gary]

You can use your own.

I'm not convinced it's true that some things won't work. After all, the Be Box is just a SpeedTouch 585v7 in fancy dress.

I would never use a speedtouch 585 V7 if you paid me Sebby

[Rik]

How about if someone else paid you? 

[Gary]

How about if someone else paid you? 

Nope, but I have a door that needs a wedge

[Sebby]

I would never use a speedtouch 585 V7 if you paid me Sebby

No chance of that.

Why don't you like it? It has your favourite chipset.

[Gary]

No chance of that.

Why don't you like it? It has your favourite chipset.

but no gravy Its not just the chipset Sebby its whats built around it, and what version of the chipset, as I said, no gravy