Looking to join IDNET

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 17:38:00

Hello all,

I'm currently with SKY for my broadband, I can only get Sky connect as my area isn't set up for LLU. Already seem to be having trouble(only been a few days)as in the morning my speeds are fine with a steady connection, arrive home from work and speeds slow right down and unstable connection. I'm really into my online gaming so this just wont do.

After looking through many different offers I notice Idnet, to be honest I have never heard of these before but seem impressed by what Idnet offers. What i'm really after is advice on whether joining would be a step in the right direction?

Look forward to hearing from you all.

Glenn · Mar 21, 2009, 17:58:06

Maverich

I think you will find IDNet offer what you are looking for, a stable connection 24/7 with little or no loss of throughput whatever time of day. Take a look at Gary's post here

Tacitus · Mar 21, 2009, 18:00:22

Quote from: Maverich on Mar 21, 2009, 17:38:00
What i'm really after is advice on whether joining would be a step in the right direction?

Look forward to hearing from you all.

Hi Maverich and welcome. The others will be along in a while but it might be helpful if you could fill us in with some more details. The exchange you're on would be useful so we can check whether the slow speeds are due to exchange congestion or traffic shaping by SKY. Some idea of your total usage in a month (eg 10/20Gb -) would allow us to suggest an appropriate package.

If you do join iDNet I doubt you'll be disappointed. Speeds are good throughout the day particularly with the recent upgrades and service is great.

Simon · Mar 21, 2009, 18:08:38

Can't add to the above, except to say that most of us think IDNet are the best non-LLU provider you will find, and have just been voted so on ThinkBroadband - see this thread.

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 18:10:17

Thanks for the replies. From doing a few test on roughly what my monthly usage would be I normally get between 10-15Gb although am happy to pay more if it provides comfort in knowing i'm not going to go over. My exchange code is CMMART and am roughly 1 mile from the exchange.

Tacitus · Mar 21, 2009, 18:46:03

Quote from: Maverich on Mar 21, 2009, 18:10:17
Thanks for the replies. From doing a few test on roughly what my monthly usage would be I normally get between 10-15Gb although am happy to pay more if it provides comfort in knowing i'm not going to go over. My exchange code is CMMART and am roughly 1 mile from the exchange.

Going by the distance from the exchange you should get good speeds although this will depend to some extent on the condition of your line and possibly your internal wiring. An iDNet HomeMax package at £24.46/month should suit you. Probably more than you are paying SKY, but as the others have said you will get good speeds 24/7 with excellent support if you need it. As always, you get what you pay for.

Generally speaking the gamers find iDNEt to be very good with consistently low pings, although there have been some problems recently with the additional BT Centrals. This seems to have been sorted and things appear back to normal.

I should add that it's only a one month contract so you have nothing to lose by signing up

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 19:00:59

Well from the sounds of what you say and those links posted Idnet does sound like the place to be. I can post my current stats from my router if that helps determine on whether i'll get the most out of idnet's service. The one month contract I personally think shows Idnet have nothing to hide and impress enough for people to not want to leave.

Glenn · Mar 21, 2009, 19:03:40

I have been with them since Jan 2006, I'm not leaving anytime soon.

Post your stats, Rik will take a look and let you know roughly what sync you should expect.

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 19:08:52

Downstream     Upstream
Connection Speed 5952 kbps     448 kbps
Line Attenuation    31 db     16 db
Noise Margin    4 db     22 db

The noise margin is usually higher then this, not sure why its dropped. Its good to see positive comments as some experiences i've had with isps are really bad but I also know there are good isps out there. I've just phoned sky and put in for my cancellation.

Rik · Mar 21, 2009, 19:51:22

Hi and welcome, Maverich.

It looks to me like you may be using a Netgear, and they are notorious for variable noise margin. I think you might get another 500k or so out of that line by some work on your internal wiring, but that's just a guess as I don't know what your setup is. If your exchange has been WBC enabled, you could expect about 14M.

Glenn · Mar 21, 2009, 19:57:37

No date for WBC http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/CMMART

kinmel · Mar 21, 2009, 19:57:50

Welcome Maverch, try Idnet for 1 month, but beware you will be scared to move elsewhere once you join us.

Your stats are great and Idnet will provide the best service possible on your current line conditions and they have the staff and commitment to be the best UK ISP for you.

This Idnetters forum is independent of Idnet, but we are all fanboys/girls.

People here believe it is worth paying a little bit more cash for a lot more benefits; look around the forum and you will see that we all positively enjoy helping each other to create the very best phone line conditions possible to enhance their Idnet experience.

The 1 month contract means you can test what we say without any worries at all.

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 20:05:30

Well that's good to know!! I'm looking forward to phoning Idnet on Monday to put an order in for my broadband and then hopefully having a stable connection and would rather pay the extra to know I'm getting better value for money.

From what I've seen so far and the speed in which you guys reply I am confident things will work well.

A last question before I let you all go, I am currently using a Sky router(netgear) but that will return with my cancelling, now my other router is a Netgear DG834GT which i believe to be fairly old. Could you recommend a wireless router which can also have at least 2 Ethernet ports @ a reasonable price? Or will my old router be ok?

Rik · Mar 21, 2009, 20:07:44

Your old router will be OK, but you might get better results with a Speedtouch 585 or a 2-Wire 2700 - so many of us use the latter that we have a dedicated board for it.

jaydub · Mar 21, 2009, 20:08:47

The DG834GT is still one of the best routers. No reason to change.

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 20:22:51

Ok well i'll give my old router a try first then take it from there. Once again thank you for the very quick advice, I'll definetely be coming across next week when the sales lines are open. Lets hope it'll be a seamless transfer.

Rik · Mar 21, 2009, 20:24:58

You can do it online if you have your MAC. Transfer time is usually about 3-5 working days, and you'll generally not see any downtime, you'll just find that your IDNet login starts working. Once you have those details from IDNet, you can set up your emails, webspace, blogspace and photoalbums.

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 21:15:27

I'm without my Mac code for upto 48hrs and it'll be texted to my phone, hopefully it'll come sooner rather then later.

Sebby · Mar 21, 2009, 21:56:19

IDNet should provide what you're looking for. I would have thought you should achieve full sync on that attenuation, so a bit of work on internal wiring (either fitting a filtered faceplate or removing the ring wire from all sockets) should sort that.

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 22:00:10

Ok well when I get up and running with Idnet I'll probably need some help with steps on how to sort the internal wiring etc this is all foreign to me i'm afraid. Thanks for all the karma and welcomes!!

Sebby · Mar 21, 2009, 22:05:57

We'll be able to help you with that for sure.

Ann · Mar 21, 2009, 22:11:47

Just one little warning .. IDNet don't have congestion on their lines but BT may have congestion at the exchange and IDNet can do nothing about this. This is what has happened to me. I get rubbish speed at peak times during uni term times as the locale that I live in taken over by students. During vacations I get full speed.

Maverich · Mar 21, 2009, 22:35:22

Thats fair enough and thanks for the heads up. Where I'm living now is a bit out in the sticks and from what I saw when finding out info on the exchange there was only like 1,500 people connected to the exchange. Fingers crossed all those 1,500 are not bandwidth hungry!!

Simon · Mar 21, 2009, 22:42:31

You should be fine, Maverich.

vitriol · Mar 22, 2009, 11:14:59

Hi there,

I can't really add anything that hasn't already been said. I too moved for gaming stability and besides the small blip when the centrals were installed, generally IDNet is fantastic.

Pings are low and consistant. I get little to no lag on Xbox Live and PC gaming is a dream. CoD4 pings around 35 to UK servers.