Talk talk LLU vs IDnet

[DorsetBoy]

Don't you have a cooling off period, this is a doorstep sale and I don't think they can enforce it till you have "x" days to reconsider.

[gazzthompson]

I hope so, i need to find out for sure.

[Glenn]

Gazz take a look here http://whatconsumer.co.uk/doorstep-selling/

[Technical Ben]

Hmmm, wonder if its a sales ploy.

O2 continually told me their "evening disconnect/throughput problems"* would be solved in a months time. Guess when the cancellation date expired? A months time. I was not taking the risk. I cancelled. 6 months later, they still had a problem on their network. Glad I did not fall for the empty promises used to keep me on the hook. I later found out it was the same line used by the sales/customer services for the last 2 years!!! 2 years of "we will fix it next month".  

I cannot comment on TalkTalk though. I hear their internet speed and reliability is good. However the comments on their customer service put them in the same boat as Abbey and the likes. It is the only thing that prevents me from migrating (other than the contract length ). Hope you never meet such problems!



_{*caused by a failure to purchase the correct amount of lines/bandwidth from BT. Or failure to manage the load on their network, whatever way you look at it.}

[pctech]

O2/BE are liars just like TalkTalk.

O2 should stick to what they excel at and thats running a mobile network.

[Technical Ben]

It is strange pctech. I have only ever used O2 for my phones (Except maybe my first pay as you go might have been orange when I was 15).
O2 were always honest. Took the benefit of the doubt, and usually any errors they amend even at cost to themselves. They offered cheap, or at least competitive prices and plans. Clear and concise. Monthly contract sim only deals as market leading and such like.
But the broadband side of the business is the complete opposite. 

[Simon]

The dangers of trying to be all things to everyone?  If companies concentrated on what they were best at, consumers might benefit all round. 

[Rik]

I'm best at eating. Excuse me while I go and concentrate.

[gazzthompson]

I was on 02 before IDnet.... *shudders*

[Simon]

[Rik]

I was on 02 before IDnet.... *shudders*

Just take it a day at a time, Gazz, you'll get over it eventually.

[pctech]

I suspect it was the employee I dealt with but claimed under their guarantee because the line was unstable, they told me they'd refunded me the 7.50 charge but found nothing on my bank acount, he then demanded I send in bank statements which in any case I'd have had to pay for (smile charge 2.50 per page) and asked me to send them to a 'Mark' but would not give a surname or tell me whether he was a Supervisor or Manager.

I smelt a rat TBH and it would have costed me more so let it drop.

Been on O2 PAYG for over four years and absolutely agree they are superb. I even changed my mind on a bolt on and they refunded me the credit as a gesture of goodwill.

[Tacitus]

I must admit I do know a couple of people on TT and they are well satisfied.  However, they are the sort of people for whom cost is the major consideration and, who wouldn't know a dB from an onion.  So long as it works at all, they regard the service as satisfactory.

The real problems start when something goes wrong and you need to contact the call centre.  After that it's pure luck of the draw whether you get a script muppet or someone that knows what they're talking about.

YMMV of course  

Regarding CPW wholesale, I too find it surprising that many knowledgeable people find it much superior to the vanilla TT.  Certainly in the unlikely event that iDNet were to offer a service based on that, I would be willing to give it a try since TT is the only viable LLU on my exchange.

[pctech]

I've used cheap ISPs in the past and you definitely get what you pay for.

[DorsetBoy]

The one big advantage of the LLU service through Tiscali/CPW wholesale is that you do not get the peak time drops in speed. All those periods of bad weather over Christmas where the net was being hit hard many on a BT based service were seeing bad speeds,my neighbours were maoning but our LLU was not affected at all.

[pctech]

Indeed Dorset.

No problem with using wholesale to deliver traffic to my chosen ISP but would not use TT or O2/BE's own service.

Sadly I don't live in Rochdale or Leeds where Zen have unbundled some of the exchanges and backhaul the traffic over WDM fibre.

[gazzthompson]

http://www.talktalk.co.uk/legal/30-day-trial/

30 day trial i guess. will try for abit then, see what happens.

[gazzthompson]

Change of plans,  Looked into it and im going to cancel it before it happens, just too risky for a 24 month contract ..

Also i rang Talk talk support for a definite answer on trafficing at all, the girl didn't know what "traffic shaping" was...

[Rik]

I'm not altogether surprised - they found the script too hard to write.

[pctech]

Not surprising to a Carphone Warehouse member of staff (no matter what they call the division) is clueless.

Go in and ask them about a technical aspect of a mobile phone service, they look blank but then again ask Virgin Mobile store staff about a coverage issue and they look just as blank.

[Glenn]

The Three Indian call centre denied there was a problem with a transmission mast, even when they were presented with the work order number to replace the hardware controlling it.

[pctech]

working as a mod on 3G.co.uk was a real eye opener about three, heard lots of stuff so that didn't siurprise me one bit.

[gazzthompson]

Going to look into :

http://www.xilo.net/adsl_broadband/#pro
http://www.vivaciti.net/index.php

When i get home.

[Glenn]

Ericsson took over running their network 5 years ago, in their wisdom, Ericsson have been 'upgrading' the hardware that controls each mast. Now to do a soft reboot of the boxes an engineer has to be sent out to do it manually, rather than remotely as before. 

[armadillo]

You might wish to look at this thread over on TB.   The original Daily Mail article is here.

Good article.

I agree with the "top" two choices.I would have nothing to do with TT, no matter how short the contract nor how low the price.