No internet connection this morning... is it just me?

RostokMcSpoons · Jun 02, 2008, 09:55:43

Hi,

I woke up this morning to find my daughter telling me the "internet doesn't work".
I've cycled the router, and alas and alack, still no connection.

I'm just wondering if it's just me (I'm currently in the process of migrating to O2, though I've not heard when my activation date is, so I doubt it's the changeover)... it certainly looks like it given the lack of messages here or at TB.

Unfortunately I'm now at work, so any suggestions to fiddle with settings might prove tricky

My daughter is quite computer-literate though, so I could talk her through it.

Exchange: Shenley Church End, Milton Keynes

cheers

Rik · Jun 02, 2008, 10:01:36

I'd suggest you start by phoning O2 to check if they've migrated you. If not, call IDNet to see what they can see on your line (0800 0267237).

If the status quo hasn't changed, then you need to get your daughter to login to the router and check that it is connected and, if so, at what speed.

RostokMcSpoons · Jun 02, 2008, 10:08:40

Thanks Rik...

I just checked my O2 account on t'net and it does indeed show my migration as 'in progress'. Which is weird because the page says they take payment first and activate 4 days later (which they haven't) and they've sent me a gazillion text messages giving me progress reports on everything but this, the most important part!

Oh well

Anyway. I shall leave IDnet with a small tear in my eye - it's been an excellent ISP for me, I'm just leaving because O2 offered me such a good deal (16mb for £2.50 pcm.. can't be beaten)
If it turns out to be a rubbish service, "I'll be back"

Rik · Jun 02, 2008, 10:13:13

Good luck.

Baz · Jun 02, 2008, 13:38:22

16mb for £2.50 pcm..

hows that work then, is it part of another package or something.

hope it goes ok for you, keep us informed it might even tempt some people to go

Simon · Jun 02, 2008, 13:41:16

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Inactive · Jun 02, 2008, 13:46:22

Well O2 is part of Telefonica Spain, that is enough to put me off straight away.

They are notorious for increasing prices at the drop of a hat.

Not forgetting their long term contracts, usually stitched to a mobile phone contract.

Baz · Jun 02, 2008, 15:00:02

Quote from: Simon on Jun 02, 2008, 13:41:16
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

I didnt want to say that but yeah

RostokMcSpoons · Jun 04, 2008, 12:22:35

I'll report back after I get my first bill, but the deal is ... I'm on the 16mb connection, it's normally £10 pcm. Interleaved is fixed as 'on', and that's a dynamic IP.

I got £2.50 pcm as a 'customer retention' deal because I wanted to use my wife's (1 year) old T-Mobile phone.
I called O2 asking for a PAC for my Pay & Go phone (on which I spend about £5 a month!) to take the number to hers. The customer service rep immedialely offered me £15 credit to get the T-Mobile phone unlocked (which I've already received).
And then she said 'why not take our broadband, we'll discount the rate'. They checked whether I could get 24mb (would've been £5 pcm)... I couldn't get that, but could get 16mb for £2.50... and that rate is guaranteed as long as I top up my phone by £10 every 3 months (...and I did ask what happened if I forgot, I was told I just needed to do a top-up and then phone customer services ASAP and could get put back on it)

There was a little bit of fussing around because they couldn't log that rate against my account, so the paperwork says £10, but I've contacted them after activation (as they asked me to do) and they amended my details to £2.50.

I've done a speedtest and I'm getting 12mbps, which is fine as I'm a couple of km from my exchange, and it's aluminium lines in Milton Keynes.

The speed did seem to drop in the first evening's use at peak hours, whereas IDnet was always the same great speed all the time.... having said that I did a speedtest last night at 8:30pm and still got 11mbps. I'll monitor the stability and speed over the next few days.

The provided O2 Box2 (Speedtouch 585v7) seems to work better wirelessly with my laptop than my Speedtouch 585v6 did, strangely (but pleasingly).

Immediate downsides to O2: There's no webspace. And you can't have completely free choice on email addresses - you can have 10 of 'em, but they must be O2 website logins, and that means you must include numbers as well as letters in the name. Ugh. So I've not bothered with the O2 email (which in turn means I don't know how good the spam filtering is).

Unknowns: There's 24/7 tech support, but I don't know how responsive they are.
Bandwidth is supposed to be uncapped, subject to 'fair use'. I don't know about shaping either. The thing is I don't actually do lots of big downloads so I'm not too worried about that.

Upsides: price!

I'd have been more than happy to stick with IDnet, but money's always tight these days, and my wife was tending to nag about the broadband and Sky TV bills... you know how it is

I sacrificed the 'safe pair of hands' that is IDnet's service so I could keep my Sky Sports

Simon · Jun 04, 2008, 22:34:42

Hope it all works out OK, Ross. You know you'll always have a home here.

RostokMcSpoons · Jun 05, 2008, 02:23:37

cheers

I forgot another down-side .... 12 month contract

I've got a 30 day cooling off period though, so if it's obvious it's going to be a 'mare I'll be over or under the wire before they've turned on the searchlights and released the hounds!