Thinking Of Returning To IDNet (ADSL2+)

[Phil123]

Hi all. I was an IDNet customer a couple(ish) of years ago. I'm currently with a Cable & Wireless LLU re-seller. Things have been great until recently when speeds have dropped to below 2Mb at peak time, even though I'm syncing at 12Mb+.

Anyway I was thinking of maybe coming back to IDNet on the Home Pro, ADSL2+ package (my exchange is WBC enabled). So was just wondering what the service is like these days? I heard whispers a while back that there were some problems, have these been ironed out? Could anyone on the ADSL2+ packages that can tell me what the service is like, if there's any slowdowns etc.

One other question, do BT still insist on having IP profiles on 21cn badged products? I've been used to no profiles on LLU.

Thanks in advance.

[Steve]

Hi.Too early perhaps for our adsl2+ users but they've been very quiet lately so I think one can assume the initial BT issues are resolving,it is however a profiled service as before. They all seem to like the increase in allowances compared to the adslmax package, I have seen that the odd line doesn't seem to like the adsl2+ signal and has to be profiled back to adslmax.

[Rik]

What Steve said, Phil. I've been WBC since June and have generally had a good experience with it, gaining 1M over Max. There have been three, short, periods where throughput hasn't matched profile, but giving BT a swift kick has resolved that. Be sure your router is ADSL2+ compatible, which I guess it is if you've been on LLU, but some MSANs don't like particular brands of router.

[Phil123]

I have a Netgear DG834G, which seems to work fine with the ADSL 2+ service I'm on at the moment.

Ok on the profiles, it's beyond me why BT bother with these, especially on ADSL2 which often re-syncs at different speeds depending on what the SNR is at that particular time of day.

Yes, I saw how much better value (bigger allowances/cheaper price) the WBC connections are. I'm on totally unlimited at the moment for £19.99, but as I say the speed at peak times has taken a dive. I guess because more and more ISP's are re-selling Cable & Wireless's LLU service now.

Thanks for the advice guys and nice to see you're still here Rik, talk about dedication

[Rik]

Hi Phil

The Netgear will be fine, it's proved to be the safest bet with the Huawei MSANs. Profiles are a BT trick to reduce their load, they ensure your line delivers less than it can. There is no technical justification that I can see, and the fact that LLU operators don't use them would seem to back that up.

Yes, I'm still here - they won't give me the key to the padlock.

[davej99]

I think I remember Virgin Media doing a deal with C&W to use the C&W LLU network for off-net users till 2011. This might explain the poor speed performance

[Phil123]

I think I remember Virgin Media doing a deal with C&W to use the C&W LLU network for off-net users till 2011. This might explain the poor speed performance

Yes there's Virgin, Demon and a load of smaller ISP's who are now using C&W's LLU service. I guess the network is getting pretty crowded. Such a shame as the service really was excellent until the last month or so.