Slow Forum

[Brenjon]

Have been on the forum tonight and found the speed painful. I am on dial up as i can't get broadband even so the speed of getting the topics on screen is driving me mad. Does anyone find it the same?
Regards Brenjon

[Chantal]

I think most people are on broadband these days, I know the old forum used to be slow on dial-up and would think the new one is not much different. Being on broadband myself I can't comment on last night though, sorry.

[Chez]

Hello Brenjon - I have found the site even faster, but we are on broadband and just upgraded a max speed. Have you checked recently that you are unable to get broadband where you are? Our business is broadband supply and installation and many of our customers have either been told by other suppliers they can't get broadband (when they can and we do it) or haven't checked for several months and then find they can now get it. If you are comfortable sending me a PM with your postcode (or telephone number) I could check for you. Of course this offer without any obligation on your part and we won't harrass with you sales calls either.

[Tigger]

We were in the national 2% of people not receiving Broadband until the beginning of March when BT notified us of a connection.

Previously the Forum could be slow.

It's noticeably better now. Perhaps you ought to raise your game as per Broadband?>?

[Brenjon]

Hi Chez
I sent you a pm regarding your generous offer.
Did you get it?
Regards Brenjon

[Compo]

Hi Brenjon you need to go on to the BT website and find out about broadband when you put in your postcode and it says your line is suitable there should be a link to vote for it in your area, we were the same here and when enough people voted we got broadband, hope you get lucky, I only changed a few months back and it is amazing and now quite cheap.

[Chez]

Hello Brenjon - just got in from all day out in the garden. PM now waiting for you.

Hello Compo - I am afraid that system no longer exists.

General tips for anyone seeking broadband:
If you have have a less than straightforward connection (i.e. needing an engineer visit, line a long distance from the exchange, etc.) forget the 'big' suppliers. They are not interested in connecting you, as they do not deem it economically viable to do so. A significant number of our customers have come to us from suppliers who simply couldn't be bothered to push the boat out and get them connected and informed them (incorrectly) they could not get broadband.
If you want the best service and support, it does not lie with these guys. Make sure you read the latest Which? report first.
Look very carefully at 'cheap' offers. They are not always as they appear. Watch for prices that increase after a few months on a cheap rate, difficulties contacting suppliers when you need support, premium rate support costs on every call and low cost rates which tie you in to 12 month or longer, contract periods. If a provider is confident of their service levels, they shouldn't need to lock you in. There is far more to the cost of broadband than the monthly payment. And there is great use of guns and smoking mirrors in this game. Remember the old adage, 'he who buys on price, pays twice'. I have deliberately not mentioned our company name, as this is not intended to be an advertisement. Just some knowledgeable advice for those who may find it useful.

[Allan]

I am on broadband but even so I can't always use it successfully. I think it's a matter of how many others want to use it at the same time. Early morning, up to about 8 are usually good but evenings are the worst times, I quite often have to give up because of frequent dropouts. It helps if I can switch on quite some time before I go online which suggests to me that there is a lot of routines that the computer has to go through before it can cope. If things get really difficult a restart smetimes sorts it out.
As I don't pay extra for leaving it on I sometimes do that and troubles can go away.
Nobody seems to know what it's all about, the helpline was a waste of time.
Allan

[Chantal]

That sounds very strange Allan, they sound more like dial-up problems. I used to have problems accessing this site between 7am and 8am most days but since the site moved the new server, everything is OK. It was a KG problem, not me or the broadband.

[Sarahlee]

We recently switched ISP and I wish we hadn't. Sure it is half the price that we were paying before but every 20 minutes I get disconnected. It is driving me mad.

[Beccy]

I too am on broadband and sometimes have problems similar to those Allan has. Usually when I'm trying to access 'listen again' on the BBC site. Sometimes a restart works, sometimes it doesn't. If the slowness is affecting lower bandwidth sites I just give up and do something else for a while, restarting won't help .

[Chez]

Allan - the symptoms you describe are consistent with internal wiring problems in your house (a common problem and one we see routinely) and not broadband itself. This usually requires a BT engineer visit, which must be arranged through your ISP. If you want to know how to partially test it yourself so you can pass the info on to your ISP, PM me. OH is the broadband engineer (I am just the girl) and he is on a customer site this morning, so I can't get the details until later today.
Beccy - if your problems are similar to Allan's I suggest the same. Unless you are a high bandwidth user? In this case, ISPs generally have a Fair Usage Policy, which means if you use are exceeding your allowance, they drop your speed back to dial-up levels (and below, sometimes) to ensure other lower bandwidth users are still getting a fair go. Even if you have signed up for an unlimited 'allowance', many ISPs still institute this policy. Not sure if this applies to you?
Sarahlee - I'd switch back if I were you .
Suffice to say, there are sometimes small problems with broadband (often when engineers are working in the exchange) and these are easily resolved over the telephone. The unstable connections above are simply not good enough and should never be accepted as normal.

[Beccy]

Thanks for that Chez . The problem is usually of a few minutes duration, so we just do something else for a little while. But yes we are high bandwidth users, BUT we pay for that because OH has been working from home and the size of some of the documents he works on is enormous (big and complex, maps of various sorts in particular). So if the ISP 'being fair' is the answer, they b'well shouldn't be because we pay to get the service

[Colin Miles]

I would be very interested in hearing which ISP's are causing problems if those with the problems can name them. I am on broadband with Wanadoo and don't have any problems, apart from the 90 day reconnection pain.

[Mr Potato Head]

Generally speaking, I've kept all advertising off the forum, which should keep the speeds up, and provided that there aren't too many avatars / pictures, the download times shouldn't be too hideous.

If you can, I'd highly recommend moving to broadband. Not just because of the speed (which is nice) but I found that towards the end, I was paying more for the dial-up calls anyway!