Thinking of coming back to IDNet

ashleyk · Sep 21, 2009, 12:40:46

I used to be with IDNet until about a year ago when my connection became extremely slow following the Olympics and I work from home, so I reluctantly switched to Titan-ADSL. My speeds picked up immediately and I was suddenly seeing 7+mbps again which was all good and at a lower cost, so I was happy.

All was well until a few months ago when they changed their contracts and suddenly my connection speed dropped pretty drastically, but worse still the connection became very unstable, sometimes dropping out completely more than ten times a day. For months now when you call Titan nobody answers the phone so you get put through to Enta and nothing has really been done to fix the problem, so today I eventually obtained my Mac code.

Right now I am thinking of either opting again for IDNet or possibly going to surfanytime. The cost and bandwidth are the same plus their customer support seems very good, however, they have longer minimum contracts and they won't give me an accurate time on when they could make ADSL2 available on my line even though it will be activated at my exchange in November. There also seems to be very little information about them on the internet.

The real question then is how have you all finding IDNet over the last 6 months or so for reliability and speed?

john · Sep 21, 2009, 13:20:46

Over the last 6 months reliability has been excellent, I've only had an issue on two or three occasions and I'm sure this was because of engineering work by BT.

I've given up trying to evaluate real world speeds as there are just too many bottlenecks on the internet for them to be meaningful. Despite what various speedtests say I can download at it varies greatly depending on where and when you're downloading from. This isn't an Idnet issue as we have a really fast connection at work that has been known to be much faster than I could expect at home but at other times is no faster than dial-up.

I think you'll also find the support is much better than what you have been experiencing elsewhere.

ashleyk · Sep 21, 2009, 13:31:09

Thanks John, I know speeds can vary depending on a variety of factors but I am just trying to minimise those factors like sudden slow downs at certain times of the day or frequent disconnections etc. which often appear to affect certain ISP's. I remember my connection became pretty bad at IDNet during the Olympics and I put it down to a general increase of traffic on internet at that time, however, it continued afterwards and I was never really given a proper explanation at the time. Until that point I would have given IDNet 10/10.

Trying to be completely pragmatic I think all ISP's will suffer problems from time to time. The key issue is how they deal with them, which is why I would never touch the likes of Talk Talk or Tiscali. My first broadband supplier was BT and their customer support is atrocious, so now I avoid any ISP that wants a 12 month minimum contract period.

sobranie · Sep 21, 2009, 14:06:29

Welcome back in advance.
I'd tend to stay away fromADSL2 pro tem ..... see here ..... http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=16325.0
but I think I speak for us all who haven't gone that way yet that 'the water's lovely still'.

quandam · Sep 21, 2009, 14:07:06

All I can say is that I was with Sky Connect (8Mb) and had excellent speeds during the daytime but once 5pm arrived speeds went downhill dramatically 7 days a week. Since returning to IDNet using exactly the same equipment PC/Router etc my speeds remain stable 24/7. With SKY Connect simply watching a short YouTube video after 5pm was a nightmare but with IDNet never had the same problem.

As you rightly say, all ISP's will have their problems, overall IDNet, for me, have the least. Hope this helps a little?

dujas · Sep 21, 2009, 14:38:37

You may experience periodic congestion issues on the ADSL Max products whilst Idnet waits for its transition to IPStream Connect.

Depending on line length and whether or not BT Openreach/Wholesale decide to balls up the install, ADSL2+ WBC products are the superior choice once properly working.

Rik · Sep 21, 2009, 15:37:26

Welcome back, Ashley. I've made the move to WBC and, while it's had its moments of teeth-gnashing as BT try to find out how it works, I've gained about 1Mb in throughput, and I don't see any congestion. There is still occasional congestion on Max, due to the delayed provision of IPStream Connect by BT. That should resolve in the next few weeks and problems should then be a thing of the past.

Gary · Sep 21, 2009, 15:41:01

My line apart from occasional wild pings, is stable, I would say Idnet are a safe bet, I am happy here.

Ann · Sep 21, 2009, 19:22:22

As an ex IDNet customer my personal view is...

IDNet is an excellent ISP if your exchange has no congestion. If it does then it's a BT issue and it's best to get away from BT as much as you can and go with an LLU provider. Finding out if problems are caused by a congested exchange is difficult as everything available on the web may say that all is well when it really isn't. That's what happened to me. On the other hand I've always had a line that drops for no apparent reason and it still does!