I need cheering up

ou7shined · Feb 08, 2009, 14:40:18

When I first signed to IDNet my pings were in the region of 26-27 and I felt paying that little extra for the service seemed worth it as the connection was solid and uncongested, I was a happy bunny. Then at some point my pings inexplicably went up to an annoying but tolerably stable 42-43. But since the outages last week they have hiked to around 100 (and yes I have rebooted my router.... several times now) which is not doing my gaming any good plus severely limits the number of severs I can connect to too.
Then to add insult to injury I get a threatening email saying that I have downloaded 9 gigs in the last week which (if projected) brings me close to my limit and I will get charged even more.

To start with, having asked everyone with access to this connection, I'm pretty sure that we've not downloaded anything near that much (although I'm just going on what I've been told) and secondly I wasn't really even aware that I had a limit - I thought there was a fair usage policy or some such. I remember it being a major factor at the time when I abandoned ship at Plusnet and went looking for a "nice" isp). I'm not worried that we will go over this limit but I will keep check on our usage over the next month just in case.

It's starting to seem that this isp is becoming less of a "just leave them to it service" and as much of an worry as my last one.

To cheer me up, how can I get my pings back to the mid 20s again?

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 14:41:16

Read this thread?

http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=12515.msg286790#msg286790

Simon · Feb 08, 2009, 14:50:05

Quote from: ou7shined on Feb 08, 2009, 14:40:18
To start with, having asked everyone with access to this connection, I'm pretty sure that we've not downloaded anything near that much (although I'm just going on what I've been told) and secondly I wasn't really even aware that I had a limit

There's always been a download allowance, dependant on which package you are on, but uploads don't count. If you think your usage is wrongly estimated, leave it a couple of days to see if it settles down, and if not, you'll need to contact IDNet. Sometimes, an unusually large one off download throws the monthly predictions out a bit, and it's only saying that if the download rate continues at that level, you'll be reaching your limit. Nothing really threatening about it.

You've done sweeps for viruses / spyware?

ou7shined · Feb 08, 2009, 15:21:14

Quote from: Rik on Feb 08, 2009, 14:41:16
Read this thread?

http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=12515.msg286790#msg286790

There are 20 pages there buddy and as usual most of it is off topic (going on about hampers etc.). I'm having problems accessing this forum from my pc since starting this thread (just this forum - other are working fine) and have to do this on my mobile... post by post. Was there something you specifically wanted me to see or are you saying that everyone is in the same boat?

ou7shined · Feb 08, 2009, 15:25:17

Quote from: Simon on Feb 08, 2009, 14:50:05
There's always been a download allowance, dependant on which package you are on, but uploads don't count. If you think your usage is wrongly estimated, leave it a couple of days to see if it settles down, and if not, you'll need to contact IDNet. Sometimes, an unusually large one off download throws the monthly predictions out a bit, and it's only saying that if the download rate continues at that level, you'll be reaching your limit. Nothing really threatening about it. You've done sweeps for viruses / spyware?

Yep, I realise that it might just be a blip in the system.

Pc's clean as the preverbial. Fresh install too.

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 15:33:25

Essentially, there have been problems ever since extra capacity was added a week ago Friday. This comes down, in the main, to BT's software loading up one central and leaving others empty, so there was more congestion with extra capacity than existed before. Yesterday, Simon found that one central was also being loaded on one half, so while it looked uncongested, in fact half of it was very congested. My take on the most recent outage is that a router connecting IDNet's network, including this forum, to the world fell over.

IDNet are working flat out to try and resolve all the problems, but are being hampered by these odd failures (there was another one on Tuesday, when a router failed).

As to the usage, I really can't comment, because we don't have access to your account. If you feel it's wrong, and you've checked for malware, then you do need to talk to IDNet directly.

zappaDPJ · Feb 08, 2009, 15:34:38

Quote from: ou7shined on Feb 08, 2009, 15:21:14

There are 20 pages there buddy and as usual most of it is off topic (going on about hampers etc.). I'm having problems accessing this forum from my pc since starting this thread (just this forum - other are working fine) and have to do this on my mobile... post by post. Was there something you specifically wanted me to see or are you saying that everyone is in the same boat?

I'm having the same problems, the forums keep coming up as a broken link, my usage has shot up this month for reasons I've yet to determine and like everybody else my latency has quadrupled while my throughput has halved. The latency and throughput issues are due to an infrastructure upgrade coupled with what sounds like an unfortunate series of events. I does appear steps are still being taken to resolve these issues.

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 15:43:29

The usage might just be down to problems with the BT radius servers being hit by lots of reconnections - only IDNet can say for sure.

zappaDPJ · Feb 08, 2009, 16:00:39

I'm not particularly worried but exceeding my allowance but I am very worried about the cause as it is imperative to what I do that I keep a clean system.

One rather major concern for me is this:

QuoteThere is a problem with this website's security certificate.

The security certificate presented by this website was not issued by a trusted certificate authority.

Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept any data you send to the server.
We recommend that you close this webpage and do not continue to this website.

This is what I get if I try to navigate around IDNet's website which is something that just popped up today.

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 16:05:24

I'm getting a clean report on the certificate, 2 years to expiry.

Ray · Feb 08, 2009, 16:06:47

Same here, Rik.

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 16:07:32

Thanks, Ray.

zappaDPJ · Feb 08, 2009, 16:17:28

Thanks for checking, I'm getting the same thing from a known clean system so I don't know what to make of it.

Another problem I'm having is that if I attempt to download my stats from the Bandwidth Usage page the site takes me to the log out page as if I've voluntarily chosen to log out. Would you mind checking that for me while I go fashion a tinfoil hat?

Ray · Feb 08, 2009, 16:23:49

No problem here gives me the option to open the file in MS Excel or to download it and both options work, which browser are you using? I'm using FF 3.0.6

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 16:30:29

Same here, Ray, thanks for checking.

zappaDPJ · Feb 08, 2009, 16:33:31

Quote from: Sheltieuk on Feb 08, 2009, 16:23:49
No problem here gives me the option to open the file in MS Excel or to download it and both options work, which browser are you using? I'm using FF 3.0.6

I'm currently using IE7 out of necessity and that could be the key to this. Thanks to you both for checking

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 16:35:30

Is there no way you can switch to Firefox or Opera?

zappaDPJ · Feb 08, 2009, 16:41:14

I would normally use Firefox but I've recently been forced to switch temporarily to IE7 in order to validate a website I'm working on.

I used to be able to run multiple browsers but since switching to Vista I find it occasionally causes issues when switching between them.

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 16:41:58

You need XP.

Philip · Feb 08, 2009, 16:42:48

OK on SeaMonkey and Vista

Ray · Feb 08, 2009, 16:43:34

Quote from: Rik on Feb 08, 2009, 16:41:58
You need XP.

davej99 · Feb 08, 2009, 16:45:21

Quote from: zappaDPJ on Feb 08, 2009, 16:17:28
Thanks for checking, I'm getting the same thing from a known clean system so I don't know what to make of it.

Another problem I'm having is that if I attempt to download my stats from the Bandwidth Usage page the site takes me to the log out page as if I've voluntarily chosen to log out. Would you mind checking that for me while I go fashion a tinfoil hat?

Confirm can browse IDNET customer account pages as normal using XP/IE7, but it logs me out too when calling for useage download.

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 16:48:21

So it's probably an IE7 issue. I'll pass it on to IDNet.

ou7shined · Feb 08, 2009, 17:29:47

That's me getting back in again.

It's strange how it's just an intermittent problem (I experienced the same issue the other day when I was here). I'm using IE7 too btw.

Regarding the pings, you are saying just sit tight and it will get sorted... sooner or later... hopefully.

Rik · Feb 08, 2009, 17:32:08

Other than re-booting your router (which may force you onto a less congested pipe), Rich, there's little you can do from your end. It's been a frustrating 10 days or so, we just have to trust IDNet to sort it soon.

ou7shined · Feb 08, 2009, 17:40:12

Cheers buddy.

ou7shined · Feb 18, 2009, 14:08:10

Well 10 days later pings are ~45 at the very best but I' have seen 190. Browsing is a cr*p-shoot - it can be normal to sticky to like wading through treacle. I've knocked gaming on the head for now as the line is just too unpredictable.

Not sure if these are significant but....
http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/?exchange=Aberdeen%20Kincorth&exact=5
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/NSKNC

Rik · Feb 18, 2009, 14:51:47

Have you spoken to support, Rich? If not, let them have your data and they can look at what might be the cause and what they can do to help. I note your exchange is WBC enabled, so mention that to them.

Sebby · Feb 18, 2009, 17:17:21

I agree with that. Things are pretty much back to normal for most, so see what IDNet have to say.