Extremely slow broadband connection

[cavillas]

I believe NO ONE should work over bank holidays ata ll, that includes shops, emergency services, power sattions etc.  It does seem that most people who work normal office hours expect everyone else to be at their beck and call out of office hours.  Why should people work bank holidays and sundays etc to service all those who have those days off?  Especially as, in many cases these days, those peopele no longer get extra pay or days of in lieu.  It seems that office workers want others to work unsocial hours just so they can have people run round after them.

I think it's time that eveyone should work 5 days spread over 7 days on a 3 shift system, that way everyone would be in the same boat and complaints would be unsustainable.

[Tacitus]

Oh I agree she should have a response, I always have when leaving a message over normal weekends, there is normally someone about in case something goes t*t's up.

I've had a response when leaving a message over a weekend, so has my sister.  In my case it was Simon, in her case Miriam, so I guess it's where the rota falls on the day.  The real question is why hasn't Tina received a response?  Is it that the policy has changed so there's no out of hours service whatever or is it that something has gone pear-shaped?  We don't know and I doubt iDNet staff are lying in a deck chair whilst tuned in to Netters via their iPhones/iPads or whatever.

..... when BT changed what the ISP could do regarding line management from their end, this was bound to happen. If IDNet instigated full time weekend help I imagine costs will go up and there is still not much they could do if its out of their hands....

I agree and this is where BT are stifling competition, particularly from the smaller provider.

I don't think (no offence IDNet) that the niche provider is worth the extra cash anymore although I am happy staying here for now until I can get decent LLU. A lot has changed to make small ISP's into blunt instruments over the last year by BT.  

Whether or not the niche providers are worth the money is a pure judgement call. I never regard pure price as a prime indicator - *value* is what matters,  although the smaller suppliers are beginning to offer less in the way of perceived value due mainly to the machinations of BT.  Still I guess heat and kitchens come to mind...

Alas for some reason IDNet seem particularly hard hit by outages recently which does not help the mood. Maybe time for a spring clean of the equipment  

You seldom if ever hear about Zen having the same rate of outages, neither for that matter did you hear about NewNet, although they've dropped off the radar since the Timico takeover.  Maybe others do have outages - I'm sure they do from time to time - but they are better/quicker at fixing them and keeping it all quiet  

[Steve]

As far as I am aware nothing recently has changed with support's working hours or out of hours response and indeed I received a response  regarding the webmail issue on Saturday. I would sincerely hope by now that Tina has received a response.

[Tacitus]

As far as I am aware nothing recently has changed with support's working hours or out of hours response and indeed I received a response  regarding the webmail issue on Saturday. I would sincerely hope by now that Tina has received a response.

Thanks Steve, I didn't think anything had changed but it is unusual for them not to respond.  It would be helpful if Tina let us know what's happening - assuming she can get a sufficiently good connection.   

[T_M_D]

I think that's correct and if it does turn out to be a BT fault there is little iDNet can do until OpenReach resume normal operating hours.

However, at this stage we don't know if it is a BT fault or one with iDNet and I think it's that that T_M_D is complaining about.  TBH I always thought that out of hours - or at least at weekends/Bank Holidays - iDNet operated a system of duty managers.  Basically someone who would check the emails answer the phone and respond to anyone who had a complete service failure (aka no service).  If this system no longer operates and there is to be no response whatever out of hours, I think we should be told and an explanation given.

Agreed that the response you get after leaving a message depends to a large extent on the type of message that is left.  I'm sure that despite what recent posts may lead you to believe, T_M_D left a message that was polite and clearly explained the situation.  Given that this amounts to a loss of service, I think she's entitled to a response from iDNet.  Those who leave an ill-tempered rant on the answer machine can hardly be surprised if the response is tardy at best.  

Thank you Tactitus - I was feeling a lack of support yesterday. I did leave a message that was not impolite to IDNet Support yestereday, in fact I left two, the first one was very waffly, so I rang back a few hours later when I was still getting a problem pleading for some support. I can only assume that the total lack of support means that there is a total lack of anyone there to actually pick up my message and respond.

I am almost in tears now because last night suddenly at around midnight I got a workable internet connection, running at just under 6mbps. I thought great, now hopefully, all the stuff I needed to get on with during this bank holiday weekend I can get on with tomorrow. I felt heartened this morning to find that it seemed to be working. I ran a bt speed test and indeed it was running at just under 5mbps. So there I am, happily catching up with all my stuff, when wham, down it sinks again - I was able to just about run a BT speed test again and it is down to a dire 37kbps!

I probably won't be able to get on here for much longer - other than painstakingly like I did yesterday through my google mail in basic html mode.

I have emailed support again (did so yesterday once I discovered I could do it via google html basic view) and again this morning to inform them that it had started working at around midnight last night and was OK this morning, then an hour and 20 mins later to tell them that it is again practically unusable.

Again, I am pleading with them to get in touch with me. I have not left a nasty rant, but I have made it clear I am not happy about the lack of support and also that the symptoms seem to be commensurate with not enough bandwidth for the number of people using the service during peak times. I left both BT and 02 for this reason. I have noticed over the last few months that my connection does tend to slow down at busy times, but not to an unusable degree like it has done since Saturday and  I have always been happy as long as I can get on to web sites without too much pain and I appreciate restrictions on my exchange, but when it is working properly I get a decent-enough-for-me 5-6mbps.

I am feeling extremely frustrated now - whilst IDNet support are off enjoying their hols, much of mine has been spent in frustration and unhappiness at my lack of internet connection - sounds sad I know, maybe most people have better things to do, but for me, after some long working hours and hardly time to catch up with stuff, this bank holiday weekend was going to be the time for me to catch up.

Is it possible that there is some kind of bandwidth throttling/traffic shaping going on just on my exchange? I am assuming that as there does not seem anyone on here suffering the same issues as me that it has to be contained to my exchange?

[T_M_D]

I have deleted the text from this as it was a repeat posting I inadvertently did as I thought it hadn't loaded on. Tina.

[Rik]

It's not a bandwidth issue at IDNet, Tina, if it were we'd have a lot more complaints. I suspect BT engineering work, but have no evidence for this. Your problem has been escalated by forum staff as much as we can, and I'm afraid that we are all stuck waiting for a reply now.

[Gary]

Is it possible that there is some kind of bandwidth throttling/traffic shaping going on just on my exchange? I am assuming that as there does not seem anyone on here suffering the same issues as me that it has to be contained to my exchange?

If your exchange is madly congested you could have issues, have you used the plusnet exchange Status Checker when you can get online? Its possible though that it may not have the latest info of course http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/ can you check with a neighbour to see if they have issues? Maybe it would be a good idea to get a pay and go Dongle for Mobile broadband for emergencies.

[Tacitus]

It's not a bandwidth issue at IDNet, Tina, if it were we'd have a lot more complaints. I suspect BT engineering work, but have no evidence for this. Your problem has been escalated by forum staff as much as we can, and I'm afraid that we are all stuck waiting for a reply now.

You beat me to it Rik.  Looking at the situation so far the possibilities are router failure, a major noise event that's driven the profile down or BT work.  Could be any of those. 

TBH I'm surprised Tina hasn't had a response of some sort.

Gary:  I was going to suggest a PAYG dongle for emergencies.  O2 were doing a special offer, so I got one for a tenner and it proved invaluable on a couple of occasions.

[Gary]

You beat me to it Rik.  Looking at the situation so far the possibilities are router failure, a major noise event that's driven the profile down or BT work.  Could be any of those. 

TBH I'm surprised Tina hasn't had a response of some sort.

Gary:  I was going to suggest a PAYG dongle for emergencies.  O2 were doing a special offer, so I got one for a tenner and it proved invaluable on a couple of occasions.

A Tenner is a bargain, I would have to go with Three or Vodafone as no O2 3G coverage where I live, but its a good backup. I wish O2 did those femtocells like Vodafone do then I could use my iPhone as a Hotspot on O2.

[Niall]

I believe NO ONE should work over bank holidays ata ll, that includes shops, emergency services, power sattions etc.  It does seem that most people who work normal office hours expect everyone else to be at their beck and call out of office hours.  Why should people work bank holidays and sundays etc to service all those who have those days off?  Especially as, in many cases these days, those peopele no longer get extra pay or days of in lieu.  It seems that office workers want others to work unsocial hours just so they can have people run round after them.

I think it's time that eveyone should work 5 days spread over 7 days on a 3 shift system, that way everyone would be in the same boat and complaints would be unsustainable.

Me too. I'd absolutely love that. It would make life much easier. You'd always be able to contact someone during the week then. There were rumblings of this being introduced in our place, but I've heard nothing of that for about 2 years, so it seems it won't happen. Personally if we worked 4 on 4 off, or alternate shift patterns, it would be ideal. I'd be able to do much more, and you could even choose your delivery dates without having to be off work, or pay £20 more for Saturday delivery! Realistically though, I think that if they ever did this in our place, it would be staggered working days rather than shifts or 4 on 4 off. That being said, the 4 on 4 off pattern would make it VERY difficult for me to go to the gym as for 4 days, I'd be in work for the entire period the gym is open.

[T_M_D]

You beat me to it Rik.  Looking at the situation so far the possibilities are router failure, a major noise event that's driven the profile down or BT work.  Could be any of those. 

TBH I'm surprised Tina hasn't had a response of some sort.

Gary:  I was going to suggest a PAYG dongle for emergencies.  O2 were doing a special offer, so I got one for a tenner and it proved invaluable on a couple of occasions.

I am amazed that I can still get on here to respond. as I say, the BT speed test reported 37kbps.

I personally don't see how it can be a router issue when it was working fine late last night and up to around 10.15 this morning?

I would be happy to buy a dongle, however, when checking 3G coverage in my area, it is supposed to be either non-existent or very poor. I was wondering if maybe a dial-up modem would be an option, though it would have to be USB connection as I do not have a port in my laptop.

Noise-wise, are there reasons why there would be noise causing an issue only between certain hours?

I know there isn't much anyone on here can do, but thanks to all for your invaluable advice so far, it does help, coming on here.

I guess I now just have to accept that there will not be any IDNet staff available until tomorrow at the earliest. I will though be sending an email of discontent at some point tonight and I will be worrying in case it happens to me again next weekend.

It would be so typical of BT to decide to undertake 'unannounced' maintenance work over a bank holiday, but that is the only other reason I can think of as to why it was working fine late last night and up to around 10.15 today.

If I knew where the exchange was located I would be tempted to pay them an impromtu visit to catch them at it!

[Tacitus]

I am amazed that I can still get on here to respond. as I say, the BT speed test reported 37kbps.

My first home internet connection was at 14.4, my first one at work used a 300 baud modem and an acoustic coupler which would be around the same speed as you are currently getting.  We thought we were at the cutting edge of technology which I guess we were at the time  

I would be happy to buy a dongle, however, when checking 3G coverage in my area, it is supposed to be either non-existent or very poor. I was wondering if maybe a dial-up modem would be an option, though it would have to be USB connection as I do not have a port in my laptop.

I can't get 3G.  Fortunately I'm between the village and the O2 tower so the signal isn't too bad.  By the time you get to the village it's vanished altogether.  A dial up modem would probably be as fast, but I'm not sure whether iDNet support dial-up.

Noise-wise, are there reasons why there would be noise causing an issue only between certain hours?

Someone nearby switching on machinery.  Fridges and central heating are other possibilities

I guess I now just have to accept that there will not be any IDNet staff available until tomorrow at the earliest. I will though be sending an email of discontent at some point tonight and I will be worrying in case it happens to me again next weekend.

Like I said I'm amazed nobody has responded even if it's just to say it's BT and there's nothing they can do.

It would be so typical of BT to decide to undertake 'unannounced' maintenance work over a bank holiday, but that is the only other reason I can think of as to why it was working fine late last night and up to around 10.15 today.

Were you getting full speeds late last night?  It could be a component in the modem that heats up and that's when the failure occurs.  I have had a situation where two modems exhibited the same symptons of failure so I concluded - as did support - that two modem failures in succession was unlikely, so we got BT to come out.  Unfortunately I was the one in a million that had two dud modems in a row.     Needless to say I got a large bill for the BT callout....  Apparently it is rare but it does happen.  

I'm still not entirely convinced that it wasn't an exchange problem, but the amount of time and probably expenditure to get to the bottom of it wasn't worth the effort.

Wonderful thing broadband isn't it.  

[sobranie]

I am disgusted (r) disgusted that IDNet has not been in contact with Tina.
I formally request that IDNet improve their out of hours service especially in view of the fact that we all pay highly for the service which now appears to be crumbling!!

[.Griff.]

Isnt it the case that IDNet can not do anything anyway over bank holidays because BT Wholesale is not operating as normal?

What's that got to do with them offering no support on normal weekends? Or closing for over two weeks every Christmas?

Free UK Based Technical Support

We don't use 0845, 0870 numbers, or any other premium rate lines. Our support is absolutely free of charge and unlimited provided by UK based support professionals who can assist you immediately via a free-phone 0800 telephone number and email.

That's slightly misleading and should be amended or at least a note added underneath stating actual support opening times.

[Tacitus]

That's slightly misleading and should be amended or at least a note added underneath stating actual support opening times.

FWIW I notice that Zen support is open 8AM - 8PM weekdays and, 9AM - 5PM Weekends.  They are closed on Bank Holidays - no skeleton service, zilch.  This may be why their bandwidth allowances are lower than iDNet.  You can't have it all ways since the money has to come from somewhere 

[Glenn]

From the website FAQ http://www.idnet.net/support/faq.jsp#content23

    8am – 6.30pm Monday to Thursday
    8am – 6pm Friday
    Support via email is available 24/7 at support@idnet.com

[Simon]

So, hypothetically, I wonder if people here would be happy with less bandwidth, for more support hours?  Not that it's probably that simple!

[Tacitus]

So, hypothetically, I wonder if people here would be happy with less bandwidth, for more support hours?  Not that it's probably that simple!

I doubt it is that simple these things rarely are, but that is probably one of the trade-offs 

[Ardua]

The business landscape is littered with companies who had a well-earned reputation for excellence who then allowed things to slip and wished they had not. The facts are that IDNet has had a number of service issues over the past year and its public response has been something of a PR disaster - irrespective of where responsibility for the actual fault sat. Like other posters, I can find no reference to limited support hours on the IDNet website. Equally, where it not for IDNetters filling the communication gap, then I believe that the sense of concern amongst IDNet customers would be greater than has been the case to date.  I, for one, do not buy into the argument that because IDNet purchase services in from BT Wholesale etc that there is little need to have support available. My contract is with IDNet not their supplier/s. Even if IDNet cannot do something for me immediately when something goes wrong, then I would wish to know that they are on my case and pushing for a swift resolution. IDNet management need to look at other ISPs who provide their customers with more accurate service status information, information on internal/external outages and progress towards a resolution, and planned BT network maintenance. If there is no-one available out-of-hours to answer the phone, then what confidence can we have that service status is accurate and faults are being resolved? It would be a pity to see a good ISP - and IDNet sits in this category - slip into decline.

[Rik]

We agree with you, and have made sure that this thread will receive the attention of IDNet's management tomorrow, which is sadly as much as we can do right now.

[Glenn]

Would more support be 24/7 or extended daytime cover over the weekends?

I have no idea how many customers that they have, so guess at 10000, or the cost of bandwidth, but taken at £1.02/Gb (what they charge for additional bandwidth), then a 5Gb reduction per customer would give £51k to play with, to maybe hire 2 staff to cover later hours/weekends.

[Steve]

Trouble is if I've got it right, if you reduce the bandwidth available per customer don't you run the real risk of  people simply using less, so no gain there or looking at the revised packages and saying well other ISPs now come into play i.e ZEN and AAISP - I'll go there instead.

[Glenn]

It's a balancing act, but one we can't figure out.

[Rik]

Possibly, you also don't actually reduce overheads - I'm not sure how the BT charging system works.