Changing Services and Line Speeds

[Trinket]

Hi,

I'm about to start a new job working from home, and will need a faster connection. Currently I have a 2mb fixed line with IDNet.

My previous ISP was Nildram, who I also had a 2mb fixed line with, with no problems. When they offered an 8mb line I signed up, but when it was installed my speed dropped to 14.4kbs, and would not go any higher. It stayed like this for weeks, often dropping so low it would just disconnect completely.

After some investigation by Nildram, they could not figure out what the problem was, and told me that my line obviously just wouldnt accept ADSL at all, and I would never be able to go above 14.4kbs! Then, in the same breath they offered to move me back onto my 2mb fixed line for no charge. Which they did, and my speed instantly went back up!

Anyway, long story short, moved to IDNet. With them I find my speed is a little faster than it was with Nildram, often getting up to 250kbs (cap was around 220 with Nildram).

So... the questions are:

1. How do you move to another service / speed on IDNET, and how long would it take to be done?
2. Would I have exactly the same speed problems (which personally from reading around the net sounded like the BT guy had set the switches wrong when he moved it) if I transferred to 8mb (I live 1.48km away from the exchange and have been offered up to 24mb with Be*) on IDNET, and if I did have the problem, would IDNet try and fix it, and if they couldnt, would they set me back to 2mb?
3. If I did have problems, how quickly would they try and get it fixed? As it would be my only connection to work (I would need to video conference and Skype daily to the US and Germany) I could not afford to be out of touch for more than a few days.

Thank you, and sorry for the long post!

[Lance]

So... the questions are:

1. How do you move to another service / speed on IDNET, and how long would it take to be done?
2. Would I have exactly the same speed problems (which personally from reading around the net sounded like the BT guy had set the switches wrong when he moved it) if I transferred to 8mb (I live within a mile of the exchange and have been offered up to 24mb with Be*) on IDNET, and if I did have the problem, would IDNet try and fix it, and if they couldnt, would they set me back to 2mb?
3. If I did have problems, how quickly would they try and get it fixed? As it would be my only connection to work (I would need to video conference and Skype daily to the US and Germany) I could not afford to be out of touch for more than a few days.

Thank you, and sorry for the long post!

1. If you ring or email support and ask to upgrade to Max they will arrange it for you. As far as I know, it is dependant on how quick BT are but shouldn't be more than a few days.
2. It's hard to answer this. It really depends on what caused the problems, but as it's stable on 2mb now, I'd suggest it should be fine. If you did have a problem, yes IDNet would try everything they can (plus you have us here for advice too), and yes they would put you back onto 2mb if they couldn't (although to be honest I think they would fix any problem!).
3. This depends on how quickly the fault can be diagnoised, and how quickly BT can act. I'm sure, however, that IDNet would not delay the process.

Most problems on MAX don't mean that you completely lose connection, so even if you can't sucessfully use skype, email should still be an option.

Hope this helps and have a karma as a welcome!

edit: just noticed you joined the forum a while ago, but have the karma anyway!!!!!!!

[Rik]

Hi

Can you post your stats - downstream line attenuation and noise margin? That will give us a better idea of what you should be able to achieve.

That said, most people benefit from Max, so it should be worth a try. If you hit problems, IDNet will do their best to resolve it and, if they can't, they will move you back to fixed rate. There is no charge for the change. Usually, switches take a few working days, but can be faster.

You may wish to consider Home SuperMax, as this gives you the higher upload speed and priority over the BT network. You may even want to think about paying for enhanced care, which will give you a faster BT response time in the case of a fault. "Enhanced Care offers a 20 clock hour clear within BT Wholesale, a 3 hour response time, and is supported by an improved Service Level Guarantee. Out of hours engineering visits to site may be used to complete a repair if unrestricted access is available.

Standard Care offers a 40 clock hour clear within BT Wholesale, but no guaranteed response time, and is supported by a Service Level Guarantee. No out of hours engineering visits are scheduled under Broadband Standard Care which is a no cost, standard care level."

Overall, I'd suggest giving IDNet a ring, telling them what you have said here, and asking for advice. My hunch is that you had some noise problems which caused instability, which in turn pushed your profile and throughput down. These can often be overcome with some simple changes and, as you observe, what Nildram told you doesn't quite make sense.

[Trinket]

Thank you both for your advice and help. That is all very useful, and I shall give them a ring and talk it through.

Oh and thank you for the Karma point. I'm not sure what this does, but it sure sounds fun! (And the reason I have been a member for a long time, but not posted before, is due to having no problems with IDNET since the day I signed up, and never needing to post! ).

[Rik]

You don't have to have a problem to post, we generally spend our time putting the world to rights.