Internet Connection

[Mary]

I've been with Freeserve for quite some time now but on and off I get connection problems

We have broadband but often I cannot get a connection.  When I turn on the PC the connection box appears and 9/10 times I connect fine.  Other times it doesn't connect as it says 'No dial tone found' (but there is a dial tone).  I've noticed that if I then pick up the phone and engage it (dial out) I can then get a connection   Occasionally I still can't get a connection.

This was happening all weekend.  There is often a 'fuzziness' on our telephone line when this happens.  We have had the line checked by BT and they say there is no fault.  We even had a BT engineer out once who said it would be the internet providers fault but that they'll more than likely blame BT

After I got rather irrate at the weekend, hubby rang Freeserve.  They said the error message was just a general term but didn't necessarily mean that there was no dial tone.  We were told to log out, turn off PC, disconnect the modem and restart/replug everything again.  It worked and we got a connection.  But why should I have to go through this process?  10 minutes later when we used the phone it disconnected me again Since then though I've had no problems again

TBH, I'm fed up with it.  I don't want to change IP if it's likely to happen with another IP.  Anyone any idea who/what is at fault?

[Gilly]

I would say the ISP Mary. Must admit I couldn't be doing with one of those broadband connections that goes through your phone line, mine is cable so a totally different connection. Not sure what to suggest if there is no cable in your area really?? I know my sister has broadband with Freeserve/Wanadoo and she occasionally has problems. Sorry not much help am I !!!

[Mary]

I would say the ISP Mary. Must admit I couldn't be doing with one of those broadband connections that goes through your phone line, mine is cable so a totally different connection. Not sure what to suggest if there is no cable in your area really?? I know my sister has broadband with Freeserve/Wanadoo and she occasionally has problems. Sorry not much help am I !!!

[snapback]104550[/snapback]

We do have cable in the area....NTL.  That's all I'm saying

[Gilly]

Ahhh wouldn't bother then!!!

[suzysu]

I have BT Broadband and hav'nt had any problems - it never cuts me off either ..... touch wood !  

[suki1964]

Sounds like freeserve havent changed much Used to have terrible problems keeping a connection when I was on dial up with them many moons ago and yet according to them it was never their fault

Maybe its time to look around for another ISP. This page has a lot of info

[Mary]

Sounds like freeserve havent changed much Used to have terrible problems keeping a connection when I was on dial up with them many moons ago and yet according to them it was never their fault

Maybe its time to look around for another ISP. This page has a lot of info

[snapback]104617[/snapback]

Thank you for that information.  Looks like they are really praising 'Homecall'.  Never heard of it myself  

I think it's time to go elsewhere but not being technically minded I don't find these things easy

[Jane S]

We've only had broadband for a couple of weeks & so far, I've had no problems connecting. We can't get cable out here in the sticks so we're with Virgin at the moment - so far so good

Jane

[Shirley]

We've been with Freeserve/Wanadoo Broadband since last August.  I did have to phone them a couple of times at the beginning but the problem was not with them it was a 'winsock' (sp?) problem and I got it sorted over the phone with PC World helpline - no idea now what I did, just clicked what they told me to at the time   .  Haven't had any problems since September.  We have no cable here either (surprisingly enough   ) so no alternative if there was a problem.  Hope you get it sorted - it's sooo annoying when you get cut off, used to happen to me all the time on dial-up    

[Pete and Jo]

Be careful when phoning support numbers - they are often £1.50 per minute!!!

If they are £1.50 per minute, then they MUST tell you at the begining of the call.

Then it's up to you to speak really quickly

[Pammy]

We do have cable in the area....NTL.  That's all I'm saying

[snapback]104562[/snapback]

We have ntl and have been with them for a number of years now. Generally our service is excellent!

True their customer support could be a bit better at times but I would say we've had uninterrupted BB connection for at least 99% of the time. Their online diagnostic tool, "Broadband Medic" allows you to perform certain diagnostics and then "chat" with an engineer.

My main gripe was when our set top box was on it's way out and they wanted me to replace our wireless system with wired before they'd come out. Told them where to get off!! Engineer came and swapped out the box and no probs since.

Also the prices with ntl are excellent.

We pay about £90 per month for the full tv package, 700kbs BB, and we prepay our landline phone bill in that. £15.50 per month covers all calls to standard, landlines. You also get free phone line rental if you have tv package.

None of the ISPs are without fault - it's just a question of finding the one that suits you.

[stueymac]

Mary, are all your Line filters in place and working correctly? Just made me think when you said you get 'fuzziness' on the line?

Generally Freeserve/Wanadoo and AOL seem to have more problems than most, but it often depends on your geographic location. For example I know alot of people have problems with BT Broadband but up here in the North I find it quite reliable in my area, this will be because the Broadband take up (ie the amount of people signing up and using it) will be less here than down south say.
Contention ratio's* are often a problem too and times of day at which you connect, tea time and evening are often the worst.



*
Broadband contention ratio means "How many people are fighting for the same internet connection line as you?". The more people there are fighting for the same internet access line, then the slower your connection to the internet will be.
If there are 20 people to one line, then the contention ratio will be 20:1
If there are 50 people to one line, then the contention ratio will be 50:1
This means that the higher the contention ratio, the slower your internet access will be. A contention ratio of 20:1 will give you faster access than a 50:1 contention ratio.
What this means in the 'worst case' is that you could be sharing a 500 Kbit/s connection with up to 49 other users. So if they were all using it at the same time 'theoretically' you would only get 10 Kbit/s (not very fast at all - in fact quite a bit slower than a normal modem). Home Broadband is usally 50:1

[Mary]

Mary, are all your Line filters in place and working correctly? Just made me think when you said you get 'fuzziness' on the line?

Sorry Stuart but can you please tell me what Line filters are?  ::

Pammy....we were with NTL for a long while, the TV package and telephone line.  I couldn't complain about the service but the customer support was not just bad, it was diabolical   The amount of times they made administrative errors was unreal and trying to contact them by phone was like trying to reach the moon.  If we did manage to get through it was a complete waste of time as they never actioned anything.  It was like beating your head against a brick wall.

We actually had an NTL shop in Swindon but they closed it as so many people would use it to complain and there were literally queues going out of the door

Not sure Jim would contemplate giving them another go

[stueymac]

Line Filters are little boxes of tricks that attach to other (non digital) pieces of equipment which are connected to your phone line, extension telephones, fax machines, that sort of thing. You may not need them, depends on what sort of broadband modem/router was supplied by Freeserve/wannado.
They look a bit like this:
[attachmentid=66]

[Shirley]

Be careful when phoning support numbers - they are often £1.50 per minute!!!

If they are £1.50 per minute, then they MUST tell you at the begining of the call.

Then it's up to you to speak really quickly

[snapback]104706[/snapback]

    Yes, my call cost £20, but I knew that before I phoned.  Unfortunately I'm useless when things go wrong with this machine so the other option for me was sending the whole thing to Invernes which would have cost a lot more    

I got two microfilters free with the modem when I signed up for Wanadoo Broadband and they make a huge difference to the telephone line.