Another Potential Customer

[filnet_uk]

Afternoon,

I ended up here from good old DSLZoneUK where I've ready some pretty good threads on ADSL24, however I still have a few questions so thought it best that I ask them all here. Now I'm fairly happy with what I have read about the company, your a fairly new outfit but everyone has to start somewhere.

My main questions are:

1 - Migrating from Pipex (non LLU) via a MAC code won't cost me a penny ?

2 - it's a month-2-month contract so no 12 month tie-in with no "exit fees" should I wish to leave (providing I give a months notice) ?

3 - is there still a set-up fee to pay for signing up and going month-2-month ? I may in the future look to go LLU with one of the providers who will unbundle my exchange at some time within the next 8 months purely to get an increase in upload speed to around 1.3mb (see point 6) - or if I'm happy with ADSL24 I'll simply stay

4 - that my download speed will not go thru the floor once 6pm comes ?

5 - How easy is it to actually get technical support ? via web, phone & e-mail ? Pipex used to be really good but now are the pits

6 - I work from home a lot (part of being an on-call techie :cool: and having a son who fits a fair bit at the moment :( ). My connection back to the office utilises "military grade" encryption (which I can't really go into here but it is CESG approved) which requires specific "high" tcp ports (in the 50000 range), for the connection. Therefore do you (or rather Entanet) do any kind of Port Blocking or Traffic Shaping ? (I don't use any p2p apps and neither does my son so I don't care if that kind of traffic is shaped), I know the likes of TalkTalk do block these ports which caused no end of problems for some of our other remote users as they said no when asked but in reality they did, this however got us out of the contracts with these people so I need to ensure that this is not the case with ADSL24.

7 - My son also plays quite a few online games - "Gunz" (??) as well as some XBox Live games, with Pipex ping times are fine for this and he doesnt get "fragged". What is the latency like with Entanet ? (i know it depends on your location but something to go on would be good).


To give you a little back ground, I'm currently on Pipex Max (upto 8mb), now during the day it's spot on, currently "sync'd" at around 7072 kbps, grabbing some files from a server at around 3.5 mbps, surfing etc and am at the moment :) However I know that come about 1600 "ish" It will start to slow down, last night for example it was sub 1mpbs :mad: ! Pipex state that there is nothing wrong (and they probably don't care as long as they get my sub each month...). I'm not on a "congested" exchange according to the various checkers. I find the best and most upto date ones are :

Prodigy Networks ADSL Line Checker (http://www.prodigynet.co.uk/menu.php?page=support/adsllinecheck) and Prodigy Networks Line Checker (http://www.prodigynet.co.uk/menu.php?page=support/linecheck)

so I'm pretty certain it's a Pipex Issue but like I said they are not interested - they never reply to support requests and trying to talk to someone there who knows whats going on it an absolute joke.

Any answers from the ADSL24 team or any other users here would be greatly appreciated, I'm all ready to get my MAC code, leave Pipex and join someone else - so why not you ?.

Phil

[tboorman]

Hi Phil,

To answer your questions:


That's correct, migrations are free of charge.
There are no exit fees, you just need to give a month's notice.
No, there is no set up fee to pay, a 1 month contract is standard.
Entanet have implemented an anti-packet loss tool (see http://www.adsl24.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=101 for details) which kicks in when a central reaches maximum utilisation; this typically happens at 10:00 pm during the week, and at various times during the weekend. You may notice your speeds reduce slightly, but not to a great extent. Entanet currently have 2 new centrals on order to meet the growth in demand.
Brian works very hard to support his customers, and will respond in a timely fashion. For urgent problems with your connection, you can also call Entanet's Help Desk directly.
There is no port blocking or traffic shaping whatsoever.
I'm happy to post traceroutes for any sites you're interested in.

[cliff]

Hi Phil
Warm welcome to the forum...I moved over ADSL24 from Nildram(owned by Pipex)after some considerable grief from my sons, they to are avid online gamers, so since moving over to ADSL24 i have been able to put my feet up and relax,
We do experience some slow down, no were as bad as Nildram/Pipex. that should improve when the two new pipes come online soon.
Tim seems to have covered most of your questions...Any port blocking concerns regarding your special needs would be best answered if you PM Brian James MD

Regards
Cliff:)

[filnet_uk]

tboorman / Cliff,

Thanks for your answers, sounds good enough to me. The Anti-packet loss seems a very good idea especially if it keeps the connection around 2mbps (still better than sub 1mbps !). I also read somewhere else that ports are not blocked so I'm pretty happy with what I'm hearing / reading so far.

I guess now I just need to have a look at packages to see what suits me best and get a MAC code from Pipex.

[cliff]

hi Phil
You may want to consider the Office Max (29.37 inc vat)if you upload alot...also you get more priority at the exchange, the 20:1 and 50:1 contention thing has been dropped by BT on the Max connections.
Cliff:)

[cliff]

Oh Phil
Nearly forgot....The MAC code, you would have more chance of getting a knighthood off tony.Suggest you phone if you dont mind the wait. If you email them you may be waiting forever.
I phoned Nildram...Had it in two minutes(gave no reason for leaving. its best that way).
Best of luck
Cliff:)

[Rachealmac]

Oh Phil
Nearly forgot....The MAC code, you would have more chance of getting a knighthood off tony.Suggest you phone if you dont mind the wait. If you email them you may be waiting forever.
I phoned Nildram...Had it in two minutes(gave no reason for leaving. its best that way).
Best of luck
Cliff:)

same goes for tiscali...last attempt via the phone was a 25 mnute wait,followed by a disconnect.

they used to give them out via the support forum,but i guess they go flooded,so they stopped doing it.

[filnet_uk]

I'll definitely be calling them, even if it does cost me a fiver - it'll be worth it just to leave them, plus I just love listening to the on-hold message that guy does ;-)

Also had a look at the packages, I think I'll start with the Home Max 30 and see how I get along with that as I have no idea what my current usage is. My son's use is mainly on an afternoon and weekends so he'll fall within the Off Peak allowance and I doubt he'll even use 10gb in a month.

As for me it's a no brainer - I pretty much do everything during the day so most of that will be off peak as well, and any evening /night calls - well I only live 15 mins from the office so depending on the job & what tools I need to use it can be quicker to drive & use a wired connection or pop to my local Police Station & work from there.

If priority becomes an issue then I'll simply change package at the next billing cycle to one of the Office Max packages.

[Realist]

Well, we look forward to your valued custom and many years of being a customer of Adsl24.

Regards.

[filnet_uk]

Here's hoping so.....

[filnet_uk]

Well getting my migration code was painless - phone answered within seconds which really makes a change for Pipex :eek: . Was asked why I wanted a migration code by the Customer Service rep - simple answer was "why do you think" I then got put through to "our cancellations department".

Now I had visions of that episode of Friends, the one where Chandler wanted to leave the gym & they bought out the "hot cancellations lady" - but no I got Raj a pleasant bloke who asked why I was leaving - so I told him my woes :mad: .

Today I got my MAC code so tomorrow I'll be on the phone to get my account set-up and start the migration ball rolling :) .

[tboorman]

Good news, you've made a wise choice.

[cliff]

Hi phil
Nice to see you obtained you mac code.:D (are you sure you got your mac code or is it a membership to a gym)
Cliff:)

[filnet_uk]

hmm - me and gyms - the two simply don't go together, there's cheaper ways of keeping fit.

[pcdoc]

hmm - me and gyms - the two simply don't go together, there's cheaper ways of keeping fit.

...and far more enjoyable Fil ;) ;) :D :D :D :D

[filnet_uk]

Well placed my order last night and have a migration date of the 16th Feb (next Fri), was surprised it was so soon.

Oh Brian - get the guy who took the order a headset as he had terrible trouble hearing me on his handset

[Realist]

You need to speak up M8 or move to Wales and drink a few Welsh beer's :)

Regards,

[Ircsum]

Good to hear everything went smoothly. Life on the 'net should pick up for you pretty soon. Welcome aboard. :)

Ircsum.

[filnet_uk]

You need to speak up M8 or move to Wales and drink a few Welsh beer's :)

Regards,

apparently all the beers have gone ;)

[filnet_uk]

Good to hear everything went smoothly. Life on the 'net should pick up for you pretty soon. Welcome aboard. :)

Ircsum.

Cheers - can't wait to have something better than I've been getting:

Random Evening Tests:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/83161189.png
http://www.speedtest.net/result/82362667.png
http://www.speedtest.net/result/78450048.png

Random Daytime Tests:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/77838916.png
http://www.speedtest.net/result/82483131.png

[pcorker]

http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges

Plusnet's User Group's exchange status checker always seems one of the most up-to-date

(Though you can probably take the BT info with a pinch of salt...)