Worth a read - ThinkBroadband on WBC problems

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 10:26:54

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4040-bt-21cn-update.html

The piece confirms what we already know, BT got their planning wrong, but it's worth a read for the details...

Gary · Sep 07, 2009, 13:35:31

What concerns me Rik, is the possibility of issues with 20cn on ipsteam connect being the next casualty, as many of us cannot get WBC for many years, after the garbage that you and many others had to endure and the resultant loss of some users, the issues than Entanet had sound foreboding

The whole thing is like an episode out of Jack Straws liars diary for MP's

Sebby · Sep 07, 2009, 13:51:37

Interesting stuff.

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 14:59:45

Agreed, Gary, and the worrying thing is that it looks like switching to IPStream Connect may render Max customers vulnerable to node failures.

Sebby · Sep 07, 2009, 15:15:46

Even more reason to move to LLU where possible, I'd say.

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 15:23:58

You can't help but wonder why there was no resiliency in their planning, and then you remember the answer - keep costs down to a minimum...

Tacitus · Sep 07, 2009, 16:06:03

Quote from: Rik on Sep 07, 2009, 15:23:58
You can't help but wonder why there was no resiliency in their planning, and then you remember the answer - keep costs down to a minimum...

Never mind, all will be well when the other lot get in at the next election. They'll sort it out.

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 16:09:08

You mean the BNP, Tac?

Tacitus · Sep 07, 2009, 16:15:41

Quote from: Rik on Sep 07, 2009, 16:09:08
You mean the BNP, Tac?

You can't help but wonder where it will all end. The biggest mistake Blair made was not bringing in electoral reform. There are rumours that Brown is going to try, but I think the public will take the view that he's only doing it to save his own skin. At least that's the view Murdoch and his glove puppets will try to put across.

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 16:17:52

Has he got time to do it anyway? There's only a maximum of 9 months to the election.

Glenn · Sep 07, 2009, 16:51:40

Vote Monster Raving Looney - Oh wait, they are in power now.

Tacitus · Sep 07, 2009, 17:30:54

Quote from: Rik on Sep 07, 2009, 16:17:52
Has he got time to do it anyway? There's only a maximum of 9 months to the election.

The way they're suggesting is to have a referendum on electoral reform at the same time as a general election. The two would be separate with the election being on FPTP. The idea is that the incoming government would (maybe) be faced with an electorate that wants reform.

Cameron and co are against it, but if it can be framed as a 'will of the people' issue, he would at the very least be in an awkward position.

I think that's the idea, whether it would be workable or not remains to be seen. To my mind a government of whatever persuasion, elected with absolute power by some 22% of the electorate is seriously undemocratic. All this talk of 'primary' elections like the US is simply fluff, since it would leave the existing power structures in place, which of course is the idea.

Steve · Sep 07, 2009, 18:11:46

When are we expecting ipstream connect @idnet? I expect its not something I should be looking forward to.

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 18:12:46

Late October, Steve.

Glenn · Sep 07, 2009, 18:13:21

I can't be ordered until late September.

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 18:13:37

Quote from: Tacitus on Sep 07, 2009, 17:30:54
Cameron and co are against it, but if it can be framed as a 'will of the people' issue, he would at the very least be in an awkward position.

If politicians listened to the will of the people, they would have pretty much all resigned by now.

Steve · Sep 07, 2009, 18:24:56

Thanks Glen and Rik. I wonder whether users will see a cost/data benefit from idnet akin to WBC users

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 18:30:06

No, at least not afaik. The last I heard, BT will be charging a premium for the IPStream Connect service, though I am sure there will be an announcement once the service is ready to launch.

Steve · Sep 07, 2009, 18:32:57

Am I correct in assuming that ipstream connect will add to/or replace the "old" centrals

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 18:33:49

Eventually replace, Steve. Initially, add to as people are transferred.

Steve · Sep 07, 2009, 18:39:26

So presumably this a short term measure until we all become WBC. I wonder what happens to the symmetric and uncontended adsl services

Rik · Sep 07, 2009, 18:49:01

It is, Steve. Direct WBC connections are far cheaper, atm, hence the extra bandwidth allowance. In the long term, I'm not sure how SDSL, in particular, will be delivered.

zappaDPJ · Sep 08, 2009, 13:23:22

I wasn't surprised to read this (below) was attributed to an unnamed 'BT Spokesperson' because it's simply not true.

QuoteFor the most part these upgrades are pre-planned with many changes achieved without our customers noticing. For each upgrade we assess the risk of service disruption and, if appropriate, work with Communications Providers (CPs) to ensure they are aware of what is happening and how this may affect their customers.

Several times in the last couple of months my connection has been switched off dead on midnight for up to 3 hours at a time. IDNet had no notification from BT and the only reason we know it was BT was because other IDNet customers connected to the same exchange had the same outage.

I have no problem with upgrades and maintenance work, I welcome them if it leads to better stability but I do expect notice so that I can plan ahead. These unannounced outages have caused me a huge amount of extra work and in one case the loss of 24 hours worth of data on a busy forum.

Rik · Sep 08, 2009, 14:32:08

I know what you mean, Zap. I've been less than chuffed by the node failures too, which seem to happen as a result of tweaking by BT.