CockersOnline Forum
Off Topic => Computer Help => Topic started by: Colin on February 26, 2006, 11:09:20 PM
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I've recently been having a few problems with Tiscali - they claim to have no download limits yet I've recently fallen foul of their "fair usage policy" which resticts bandwidth use between 5pm and 11pm - I'm on my last warning or else they'll put me on a slow speed for those peak hours. >:D So basically I'm after recommendations for high speed, with no limits that restrict me watching live football streaming or downloading torrents at any time I wish.
For a simliar price to my 2mb Tiscali I see people like Wannadoo and Bulldog are offering 8mgs - Bethere offer 24mgs for £24 ! I realise I probably wouldn't achieve these speeds in reality but I'm sure they are way faster than what I'm getting now, which is a long way short of the 2mbs I pay for. Anyone tried any of these providers ?
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Colin, have a look at http://www.adslguide.org/ and it will give you some comparisons on price, usage, speed, and customers reviews B)
HTH
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Mmmm wonder why your exceeding your limits ^_^ >:D >:D
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Gilly - I was just thinking that - knowing ;) between us girlies :laugh:
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Watch the small print with Bulldog - it's not the deal you think it might be ;)
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Yep, I've looked into Bulldog and a lot of people aren't too impressed - not keen on changing my phone line to them either.
I'm tempted by Be*...
https://www.bethere.co.uk/
Again a lot of people had teething problems with it, they only started up a few months ago. Most complaints seem to be that they only get speeds of 4meg to 8meg rather than the supposed 24meg capacity - I'd settle for that though, just how fast do people need things to run ? :huh: No matter which ISP I look at people seem to have issues with - although that's the nature of things really, people only post about problems, if things are running smoothly they just get on with it.
I hope I didn't give the impression I'm downloading anything "top shelf" - it's not the case, honestly. :lol: It's the live football streaming that has got me into trouble. >:D
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Tiscali!! Rrrrrrrghgh don't even get me started, rrrrghghgh I had nought but problems with them >:( >:( >:(
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Is there such a thing as unlimited downloads with any broadband supplier? I signed up with Virgin on the basis it offered unlimited downloads but they've recently added a 20GB limit per month >:( I haven't gone over the limit yet despite downloading torrents & uploading stuff to websites so I guess I'm ok for the moment ;)
Jane
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I'm with Blueyonder pay £25 a month..... I think. I must download so much stuff within a month it's unbelieveable :005: so YES mine is definitely unlimited ;)
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Is there such a thing as unlimited downloads with any broadband supplier? I signed up with Virgin on the basis it offered unlimited downloads but they've recently added a 20GB limit per month >:( I haven't gone over the limit yet despite downloading torrents & uploading stuff to websites so I guess I'm ok for the moment ;)
Jane
We have our boradband from our local cable company, Wightcable - and they are definitely unlimited; but no good unless you live here (http://digilander.libero.it/le.faccine/faccinea/cartelli/statici/1524.gif)
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I'm with Blueyonder pay £25 a month..... I think. I must download so much stuff within a month it's unbelieveable :005: so YES mine is definitely unlimited ;)
Yeah but some of us can't get cable of any description - we've only just had our exchange upgraded for broadband and cable is a long way off here ;) Shouldn't be a problem for Colin though down in the big smoke :lol:
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Yeah but some of us can't get cable of any description - we've only just had our exchange upgraded for broadband and cable is a long way off here ;) Shouldn't be a problem for Colin though down in the big smoke :lol:
When we moved here 7 years ago, there was no cable - a company bought the Licence and installed the cabling to many of the towns (p***ing off all the locals and holiday makers with the roadworks in the process), and then went bust :o The current company took over and seem to have made a great job of it - they did go through a dodgy period last year - but all seems OK now.
Hang on in there Jane - I'm sure you'll get cable eventually ;)
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We have got cable here - Telewest. I was looking at that last night - I'm slightly put off from previous experiences with Cable London though, who were a right cowboy outfit. >:D The trouble these days is there's just too much choice - it just complicates matters and I usually end up sticking with what I've got. ::)
Is there any easy way of me finding out roughly what bandwidth I use a month, because I've absolutely no idea. As I said earlier I didn't get any warning emails until I started watching live footy streaming. I'd previously been downloading torrents without a problem but I'm reluctant to risk doing it now during the peak hours in case Tiscali start capping me. >:D
Nobody got experience of Be* ?
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There are freeware applications that will monitor bandwidth and download volumes: have you tried Download.com or ZdNET?
I'll have a word with OH when he comes home (with dinner ;)) and get back to you......
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Thanks Rachel, I'll check those out. :blink:
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Coli, Telewest is a huge company and I've been with them since the days of Dial-up and now Boradband and not really had any problems. Everyonce in a bluemoon the connection goes awol for a few hours (once/teice a year) apart from that no problem at all and it's FAST ;) I get Download speeds of 100kb's+ :shades:
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Can't recommend anyone personally but please avoid NTL like the plague. I had major problems with them when I tried to cancel. They collected the modem and I had a signed receipt for it. They kept billing me which I patiently kept waiting in their queues to explain I no longer had the service. In the end they took me to court and looked total fools as I had the signed receipt for the equipment and an email from their Customer Services confirming it had been cancelled. >:D
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I cancelled NTL because they kept charging me for stuff i didn't want and always said it would get taken off the next bill >:(
BUT i owed them £160 and each time i had a letter i complained saying i had cancelled a few months before ( true but i did really owe them it ) and they billed me £80 next so complained even more and as they don't know their a*se from their elbow i ended up paying nothing :005:
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We have NTL - the 2meg version but we dont think we get 2 meg cos its takes days sometimes to download one episode of something via torrents!
We cant have adsl here, not sure why, but sumat to do with the exchange....
Janey
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I get mega dowload speeds with my torrents, I was getting 160kbs+ yesterday :shades: :o I think it depends on what downloader your using, I've been usiong Bitcomet for the last couple of months, also depends on the settngs I've been fiddling around with mine to get those kinds of speeds ;)
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We have NTL - the 2meg version but we dont think we get 2 meg cos its takes days sometimes to download one episode of something via torrents!
Jayney, if you go to the "adslguide" link Emma posted on the first page they have a speed test you can run (it's in the menu on the left hand side). It will only give you a snapshot of that particular moment but if you run it a couple of times at different times of day, you'll get an idea. My connection is supposed to be 2.3meg yet the best I've got from the test is about 1.6meg - one time it was only 0.6 meg. Torrent downloading speeds can also be affected by your ISP blocking certain ports - not sure if NTL do this, I'm pretty certain Tiscali do. >:D There are ways of manually opening ports to increase speed - I'm too chicken to try it in case I mess things up though and worry if it will open me up to virus attacks.
Gilly - 160kbps is pretty impressive. I think I've only got over 100 once. I'm still reluctant to go with a cable company though - I'm currently looking at plusnet, they do have a monthly download cap but don't block ports and claim to offer torrent download speeds of upto 500kbps, they also promise low contention rates.
( Guess whose been reading up on a load of techie sites recently. ph34r :lol: )
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OK This is the test I have just run as advised by Colin! Can anyone translate for me?
Direction Actual Speed True Speed (estimated
Downstream 1895 Kbps (236.9 KB/sec) 2046 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream 183 Kbps (22.9 KB/sec) 197 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Is this good?
Many Thanks
Jane
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Jayney - I think that means you are getting a speed of almost 1.9meg, probably as close to the 2meg speed as anyone is likely to get.
If your torrent downloads are taking ages it's probably down to blocked ports or the file has too few seeders and loads of leechers. ( With new TV shows you have to get in there quick - or maybe wait a day or two for it to have more seeds and less leeches.) One thing I read to speed torrents up is to reduce the maximum upload rate to about 20kbps, rather than setting it at your 2meg speed. It seemed to work for me. It could also be the torrent software you are using - I'm using the original Bit Torrent but have heard that Bit Comet is much better.
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I'm with Blueyonder/Telewest too, but the 10MB connection.............I get around 600kbps, never had any problems with them and you can use their instant online help, somebody will ring YOU back.
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I too have had numerous problems with NTL,
However , until 3 months ago they had been crediting my account for 14.99 per month instead of debiting.
This had gone on for 14 months.
There was then a problem with my modem. So when I called them up to sort it out they spotted the problem. They told me they wouldnt be taking the money back, but had to start charginge me the sum of £16.99. which they did.
I was feeling like ' damn !! then I go the the bill in and they had charged me £16.99, but were still continuing to credit me £14.99. So with the massive amount of credit I had sitting on my account, it works out i should get Braodband free for about 104 Months - HAHA
SO I LOVE NTL, the staff I have commuicated with are stupid and rude.
IMO - GOOD JOB !!!! lol
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the staff I have commuicated with are stupid and rude.
Aren't they just. I once complained that I'd had no internet connection for a couple of days and they told me they were 'experiencing problems in Scotland' so that was probably it! Yeah sure - I'm at least 350 miles away so it's really going to affect me!
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One thing I read to speed torrents up is to reduce the maximum upload rate to about 20kbps, rather than setting it at your 2meg speed.
Ok how do i do this? Is it easy....just waited over 24 hrs for a 40 min episode....thats cant be right...can it?
Thanks for your help everyone
JAney
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Janey - It depends which torrent client you are using. With Bit Torrent there is a slider, you just slide up and down depending on what upload rate you want to set. With Bit Comet you go to options and then preferences and then set the level.
If your downloads are going so slowly maybe try Bit Comet, see if it's any better than what you are using - you can download it free here...
http://www.filehippo.com/
If you haven't already got it, it's worth downloading Peer Guardian from that site too - it won't improve speeds but is essential security to prevent any unwanted attention. ;)
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Steve here (Annette's OH) aka ReadingSteve
Tried using Bittorrent software a few months back, but was getting really slow speeds. Never did get to the bottom of this. In the end I went back to Limewire which is a traditional PTP client and I normally get really good download speeds from them.
We are also with NTL, but haven't had any problems (yet!)
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Have 'tinkered' with bittirrents settings at my peril...and Im still only downloading at 7.5 kbs....
I really am a bit of a technophobe so I dunno what im doing lol...Ill try bit comet once this episode is in....see if its any better
Janey
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I use Peer Guardian too ;) i'd go mad with download speeds of 7.5kbs :huh: Like Colin says it does depend on the number of connected seeds. Depends what client your using and firewall, I'm just using Windows XP firewall but you have to remember to open the port. If you decide to use Bit Comet give me or Colin a shout and I'm sure we'll be able to point you in the right direction to tweak the settings. I've also downloaded a piece of software that opens the connections that windows sets as standard (usually 10) I've upped mine to 50.
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I use Metronet (Click me! (http://www.metronet.co.uk)) who have a very good system
Basically, I pay a nominal amount per month (£13.75 for a 1MB service). For that, I get around 2GB of downloads. You do not get cut off at that point though. All that happens is that you pay 25p per 1MB downloaded above that 2GB. When you hit 8GB, you pay no more. Again, you do not get cut off. You merely hit a limit on the amount you pay. At that limit, you will pay £26.75. You'll never pay more than that £26.75, but may pay as little as £13.75. And you never ever get restricted!!
You are also only tied in for 3 months (most companies make you sign a 12 month contract).
Now for the downside. You do not get a modem or free connection. The connection will cost you £70 (which is how much BT charge all broadband companies per connection) and you can pick up a modem for around £20 from Dabs (Click here (http://www.dabs.com)) - or at least, you could around 18 months ago. I haven't checked prices recently, and actually use a wireless router and modem combined, which cost around £80, but I doubt you'll pay much for a standard broadband modem.
Funny thing is, a couple of weeks ago some bloke knocked on my door one evening trying to sell me his broadband service, and ended up making notes on what I have cos it was a much better deal!!! Lol
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Colin, I also recommend BY/telewest. Dont pay for the biggest package as you will no doubt get free upgrades - I got 2mg for the price of 512g. As others have said its a reliable service BUT their email servers are up and down more times then a pair of drawers ;)
As for the rest of you, dont be complaining about your BB speeds - I cant get BB here at all :'( :'( :'(
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After having a look for broadband recommendations on MoneySavingExpert, can anyone give an opinion on madasafish (http://www.madasafish.com/cheaper/) please?
thanks,
Michele :003: