Net loss

[j4]

addedentry and I are having persistent network problems. We're on Eclipse; if anybody else on Eclipse is having similar problems, we'd like to hear from you, except we can't guarantee to be able to check our email. If you're not on Eclipse and have any recommendations for a good, reliable, affordable ISP, we'd even more like to hear from you.

The chap from Tech Support says that the problem is that the series of tubes pipes are getting clogged, and if we disconnect and then reconnect, we might (randomly) connect to an unclogged pipe. What next: the screen getting fogged up with electrosmog?

Meanwhile, if you want to contact us urgently, phone/txt is probably a better option than email. Phone numbers are on Facebook!

Comments

[tamsinj.livejournal.com]

odd. we're through their milton keynes PoP, and fine.

[truecatachresis.livejournal.com]

The problem is ISPs aren't allowed to send sweeps down the pipes to unclog them anymore. Damn those child labour laws!

If only the internet were like a truck, you could just have it delivered to you every morning, and not have to worry about the clogged pipes.

Also; don't mock the electrosmog! It can be a real problem for LCD monitors, gets stuck between the glass and the display, and you can never clear it out.

[juliet]

I gather that Black Cat do ISP stuff now as well - doop/Kake/Bob are with them & seem happy.

We're with Zen, & have also been happy.

[caramel-betty.livejournal.com]

They do, and have done for quite a while. The ADSLMax (up to 8 megs) stuff isn't cheap, but comes with a fairly beefy cap. The slower varieties are a bit cheaper and uncapped.

(I seriously considered them when I moved house. However, I have issues with buying off friends - which one of the owners is - because I find complaining really awkward when things break.)

[j4.livejournal.com]

Theoretically we're on 8Mbps with Eclipse (and we're only paying £15 a month) though they won't tell us how many people we're sharing that with[*]. Less worried about the capping -- I want fast rather than beefy. (Blimey.)

I did the speedtest thing at www.thinkbroadband.com (adslguide as was) and they claim we're currently getting 2Mbps. :-/ But Eclipse have just told us that they're doing hardware upgrades throughout June and July which is why the pipes are getting clogged. *sigh* I wanted internets this summer!

[*] "Eclipse has introduced a new structure of broadband packages based on performance. We prioritise traffic to ensure you get a great customer experience when surfing the Internet and when sending and retrieving emails, on a 24 hour basis.

This is very different to the old ‘contention ratio’ method, which is no longer used by the industry for 8Mbps services. Therefore, we are unable to give a specific ratio figure as this will vary from minute to minute depending on the number of people using our network."

(http://www.eclipse.net.uk/index.cfm?id=contention_res)

[hsenag.livejournal.com]

We have exactly the same service as that, and I find the modem disconnects fairly frequently (varying from every few days to several times a day), but I suspect that's because I'm using old ADSL hardware. I've observed slowness sometimes, but never anything that made the Internet unusable - and it seems fairly reasonable given we chose the lowest of the four options. I don't know if anything went badly wrong over this weekend in particular as I was away.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Mutter mutter sodding Virgin not-at-all-broadband mutter mutter cutting out mutter mutter

[covertmusic.livejournal.com]

I'm actually doing OK with Virgin thus far (touch wood), but then I don't do the whole Bittorrent thing.

Obv. not one of the cool kidz.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

I don't BitTorrent either - but then, I'm not cool either. Just that my connection's been dropping with annoying tedium recently - which makes uploading photos to Fotopic rather a broken process ...

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Zen are certainly good and reliable. They are not exactly cheap though.

[(Anonymous)]

We're with Nildram (http://www.nildram.net/) who've only ever been good to us, and are quite reasonably priced.

[mikewd]

We use Nildram for work and for DSL links for our clients - they still seem to be pretty good and reliable (even though they're now part of the conglomeration currently known as Pipex) and we've never had any congestion issues with them.