Ratings

[the-bruce]

Adsl24 has moved from 3rd to 2nd in the top isp charts :)


http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php#

n1 Brucey

[PunkRocker]

Well deserved too :cool:

[Charmers]

about time too, ADSL24 used to be a consistent 2nd every day till falconnet knocked them into 3rd place. Bit unfair if you ask me I mean adsl24 HAS 6 X the number of user feedback.

[Kobrakai]

Although ADSL24 are great, they are being let down by Entanet which has been said many times in the comments on that site. Entanet are starting to become oversubscribed which can be seen by looking at the centrals at weekends and after 10pm.

At the time of this post all centrals are around 2mb and capacity is still decreasing. One central is actually in the black. If Entanet continue to take on more customers without adding more centrals the ratings will start to fall which would be a shame as I love ADSL24.

[James]

I don't think it's a big issue for the majority as after 10pm is mainly when people go to bed and schedule downloads so with such a huge off-peak allowance (eg. 300GB on the Home 30GB plan) people should not expect to have top speeds all the time. It's either plenty of allowance and a lower speed after 10pm, or a little allowance and faster speeds after 10pm. The majority would choose more allowance.

As regards to keep adding centrals - it's not just viable to keep adding every other month. The problem is the 10pm-2am period (and some weekend periods). Outside of these hours the centrals are well under-used, so adding more centrals just to cope with the 10pm rush means more under-used central capacity during daytime - and it costs £millions for each central which is why Entanet have to plan it well.

[d3rang3d]

As regards to keep adding centrals - it's not just viable to keep adding every other month. The problem is the 10pm-2am period (and some weekend periods). Outside of these hours the centrals are well under-used, so adding more centrals just to cope with the 10pm rush means more under-used central capacity during daytime - and it costs £millions for each central which is why Entanet have to plan it well.

I still think the point made some time ago about removing the peak/offpeak times to balance out peoples useage would be the best way forward, there would be no need to schedual downloads at 10pm and it would be up to each user to balance out there useage, thus also eliminating the times when the centrals are under-used and no more need for expensive centrals to cope with a few hours of concentrated useage.

[scootaufc]

Although ADSL24 are great, they are being let down by Entanet which has been said many times in the comments on that site. Entanet are starting to become oversubscribed which can be seen by looking at the centrals at weekends and after 10pm.

At the time of this post all centrals are around 2mb and capacity is still decreasing. One central is actually in the black. If Entanet continue to take on more customers without adding more centrals the ratings will start to fall which would be a shame as I love ADSL24.

I love the speeds I get during the day (if I get the chance to be off work) but I'm let down seriously with the speeds I get after 10pm and all weekend. I never expected such slow speeds when I use the net the most. The 300Gb is an excellent allowance but it's not feasible for me to leave the laptop on between 2am and 8am to download as it automatically connects to my work server. If these speeds continue I don't think I'll be sticking around as the service obviously doesn't suit my needs. Shame.

[artyman]

I'm a simple guy but what are these huge downloads that folk do in the evenings, there can't be that many MP3 songs are there? :)

[buster1967]

Have you seen the amount of bandwidth you use to watch a tv show online, its frightening. :) seriously i was watching an episode of scrubs and the speed was at a constant 600+kbps.

[yorkie]

The service has certainly deteriorated since I first joined ADSL24 it has now become unacceptabe, people have left other ISP'S and joined Entanet for the very same reason.

yorkie.

[Gargoyle]

I'm a simple guy but what are these huge downloads that folk do in the evenings, there can't be that many MP3 songs are there? :)

TV shows and films mostly I imagine. Either from Usenet or P2P . An Xvid file of a TV episode is typically around 350MB, though if you want a HD show in at HD quality then you are talking of GB's.

I tend to the view that if you don't think the service you get for the money from Entanet isn't good enough, then move to another ISP - I think you'll find it difficult to find such generous download limits for the money from a 'quality ISP' - e.g. for £22 from Newnet you get 20 GB a month - compare than to what you get on the Home 30 package here.

Re the suggestion of a 'choose your own peak times' type idea. I suspect that the problem with this is that most people will still want to download their stuff in the evening. I think all that would happen is you would see lots of downloading going on in the 7-10pm slot casuing the speed problem to shift tot here

[James]

But surely 2Mb is well more than enough at the busy times - it's a contended service and you would have to pay several hundred pound per month to get a truly uncontended service.

There are changes ahead with 21CN that maydo away with the current peak/off-peak situation so a much better experience for all.

[scootaufc]

TV shows and films mostly I imagine. Either from Usenet or P2P . An Xvid file of a TV episode is typically around 350MB, though if you want a HD show in at HD quality then you are talking of GB's.

I tend to the view that if you don't think the service you get for the money from Entanet isn't good enough, then move to another ISP - I think you'll find it difficult to find such generous download limits for the money from a 'quality ISP' - e.g. for £22 from Newnet you get 20 GB a month - compare than to what you get on the Home 30 package here.

Re the suggestion of a 'choose your own peak times' type idea. I suspect that the problem with this is that most people will still want to download their stuff in the evening. I think all that would happen is you would see lots of downloading going on in the 7-10pm slot casuing the speed problem to shift tot here

It's not the download allowance I have a an issue with. In fact I think it's excellent. It's just the speed. When I signed up everyone was saying that the only times they noticed a drop in speed was between 10pm and midnight but since I joined it seems to be all weekend too. I work during the day so I can't benefit from the fast speeds.

But surely 2Mb is well more than enough at the busy times - it's a contended service and you would have to pay several hundred pound per month to get a truly uncontended service.

There are changes ahead with 21CN that maydo away with the current peak/off-peak situation so a much better experience for all.

I'm a sado that tends to work from home whenever I'm not at work and I need to be connected to their server to send/receive emails etc. I receive large files very regularly(high res images, CAD files etc for brochure design). Often several hundred Mbs at a time. When I joined I never expected to be only getting these files over a 2Mb line. I fully expected to be getting them at my full line speed

Also on a seperate note....... I've noticed that ADSL24 have changed their front page. If I remember rightly it used to mention how there was no traffic shaping or port blocking (worrying). In the page where it describes the service, it states "Fully redundant network with multiple POP's and Peering, actively upgrading to ensure no over-subscription occurs". To me the service is over subscribed at the moment. It also used to mention it had excellent pings for online gaming but this has gone too. My pings more than double in speed whenever the centrals start to slow down and this seems to be happening with other members too.

[yorkie]

But surely 2Mb is well more than enough at the busy times - it's a contended service and you would have to pay several hundred pound per month to get a truly uncontended service.

There are changes ahead with 21CN that maydo away with the current peak/off-peak situation so a much better experience for all.


James you know through the telephone conversations I have had with you that in general I was satisfied with the service I was receiving and I fully understand that it is a contended service, but the fact is that now the Centrals are getting hit earlier and earlier even on a weekday and at times I am getting well under 2Mb,

This isn't about speed it's about a service that has deteriorated month by month, because with all the new members that have joined all the Entanet resellers there is not enough capacity, and before people post saying I can leave if I am not happy I and I alone will make that decision if and when it comes, I believe that if something is wrong you try and put it right first.

I will not get 21CN until the 4th quarter of 2009 so waiting for that to happen is a nonstarter


yorkie.

[scootaufc]

James you know through the telephone conversations I have had with you that in general I was satisfied with the service I was receiving and I fully understand that it is a contended service, but the fact is that now the Centrals are getting hit earlier and earlier even on a weekday and at times I am getting well under 2Mb,

This isn't about speed it's about a service that has deteriorated month by month, because with all the new members that have joined all the Entanet resellers there is not enough capacity, and before people post saying I can leave if I am not happy I and I alone will make that decision if and when it comes, I believe that if something is wrong you try and put it right first.

I will not get 21CN until the 4th quarter of 2009 so waiting for that to happen is a nonstarter


yorkie.

Well said yorkie. I don't want to leave after such a short time but I will if it comes to that. Lets hope Enta see that their service is failing and improve it. I won't get 21CN till the 4th quarter of 2010 btw.

[PunkRocker]

But surely 2Mb is well more than enough at the busy times - it's a contended service and you would have to pay several hundred pound per month to get a truly uncontended service.

There are changes ahead with 21CN that maydo away with the current peak/off-peak situation so a much better experience for all.


I think people get worried when Entanet seem slower at expanding their service than they have done in the past! If they have more subscriptions then why do they not have more capacity? BTW, I am very happy with the service but it only seems reasonable that more subs = more centrals?

[yorkie]

Well said yorkie. I don't want to leave after such a short time but I will if it comes to that. Lets hope Enta see that their service is failing and improve it. I won't get 21CN till the 4th quarter of 2010 btw.


I wouldn't like to leave either as an early adopter to ADSL24 I think a lot about this ISP, but after February if I cannot see a light at the end of the tunnel I would have to seriously consider it ,


yorkie.

[PunkRocker]

The service has certainly deteriorated since I first joined ADSL24 it has now become unacceptabe, people have left other ISP'S and joined Entanet for the very same reason.

yorkie.

Just curious, if you decided to leave because of this, were would you go?
Is there other ISP's offering better for the same subs?

I remember when I first moved over to Entanet and no one could compete overall, unhappy with my resellers support I searched November 2007 and it was still Entanet resellers who seemed to have the best overall service?

What is actually unacceptable when they hit 2mb, is there someting you do that cannot run at 2mb.

/curious

[scootaufc]

Just curious, if you decided to leave because of this, were would you go?
Is there other ISP's offering better for the same subs?

I remember when I first moved over to Entanet and no one could compete overall, unhappy with my resellers support I searched November 2007 and it was still Entanet resellers who seemed to have the best overall service?

What is actually unacceptable when they hit 2mb, is there someting you do that cannot run at 2mb.

/curious

It's not things I can't run but things I can't do as fast. See my post here http://adsl24.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=50169#post50169

At the end of the day my line is capable of 6000Kbps - 6500Kbps so in my mind this is the speed I should get 24/7 regardless of download allowances.

[the-bruce]

Oh dear what have i started :rolleyes:

I remember the good old days when there was no capping/throttling/d/l limits etc ..

But everyone has internet now (Even my great granny has it) the bottom line bandwidth costs money ..

As long as i can surf, and game with reasonable pings i will be happy ;)

Also ive said this a few times, but will say it again, try Virgin Adsl for a week, then you will see how bad things can get lol

Cheers Brucey <--- The Non italian Stallion

[tboorman]

I won't get 21CN till the 4th quarter of 2010 btw.

Remember that ADSL2+ products may well be available at your exchange before your telephone service is switched over.

[James]

At the end of the day my line is capable of 6000Kbps - 6500Kbps so in my mind this is the speed I should get 24/7 regardless of download allowances.

If that's how you feel then you should not be on a contended service and should expect to pay a much larger monthly fee! :)

[Floob]

It's not things I can't run but things I can't do as fast. See my post here http://adsl24.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=50169#post50169

At the end of the day my line is capable of 6000Kbps - 6500Kbps so in my mind this is the speed I should get 24/7 regardless of download allowances.

So would you go elsewhere and pay more to get these speeds?
Where do you have in mind - I'm still in the comparison stage. Tempted with ADSL24 though.

[yorkie]

[QUOTE=PunkRocker;50178]Just curious, if you decided to leave because of this, were would you go?
Is there other ISP's offering better for the same subs?

Yes there is several that give you more than 2Mb when you are on a 8 mb package


I remember when I first moved over to Entanet and no one could compete overall, unhappy with my resellers support I searched November 2007 and it was still Entanet resellers who seemed to have the best overall service?

What is actually unacceptable when they hit 2mb, is there someting you do that cannot run at 2mb.


I am frequently getting less than 2Mb and it's a myth to say it never goes below it



yorkie.

[scootaufc]

If that's how you feel then you should not be on a contended service and should expect to pay a much larger monthly fee! :)

Yes I understand that James but reading what other members have been saying who have been here far longer than me that the service has been suffering as of late. As Punkrocker has previously stated, with the sudden influx of new subscribers, does it not make sense to increase the number of centrals to accommodate this? I would be quite happy to have download limit of 100Gb if it meant an increase in speed.

[PunkRocker]

At the end of the day my line is capable of 6000Kbps - 6500Kbps so in my mind this is the speed I should get 24/7 regardless of download allowances.

That I do not agree with, but as I said, I was just curious.

cheers

[James]

I understand the fact that the generous off-peak allowance is what brought the general slowdowns at off-peak on, but it's a "one or the other" kind of thing - either high allowance and lower speeds or low allowance and higher speeds. Most people from the various surveys that Entanet did before they offered the products were in favour of more allowance than more speed, so that's the route they took.

Again, I don't think it's gotten much worse. The pipes show down yes, but nowhere near as much as most of the ISP's out there. And during peak hours they are generally very uncontended. I do appreciate everyone's comments as we often pass these on to Entanet so they are being heard and just not left behind :)

That's enough for me today, time to swtich off the PC for a bit and not do much else til' the morning :)

[James]

yorkie - most ISPs can offer higher than 2Mb but then so do we. We are only talking about the busy periods when the speeds tend to drop. This does happen to every ISP regardless of the price you pay as no ISP can offer a guaranteed level of service/speed.

Of course as more people sign up, more bandwidth is taken - there is no denying that. You are still paying for a contended service that is offering well above the 50:1 spec that "BT quote". If you were seeing the standard 50:1 contention in action, you would be down to around 350 kbps all the time.

You have to agree that you pay a small price for a good solid service, and one that apart from any slowdowns you are perfectly happy with from previous discussions?

At the end of the day the reason we offer a one month contract is that we like to give customers the power to change ISPs without penalty should they feel the need to. If you do find an ISP that offers anywhere near the quality we pride ourselves in then you are free to go - of course we don't want that but it's each to their own and we appreciate this.

[James]

Yes I understand that James but reading what other members have been saying who have been here far longer than me that the service has been suffering as of late. As Punkrocker has previously stated, with the sudden influx of new subscribers, does it not make sense to increase the number of centrals to accommodate this? I would be quite happy to have download limit of 100Gb if it meant an increase in speed.

Each central costs around £2 million and has to be ordered several months in advance with BT, so there has to be several thousands of customer intake before a new central can be commissioned by Entanet. Entanet did order a central late last year and it should be online in February if BT get it installed right :)

[sentinel]

Well I'm still glad I made the change from Poopex, Yes sometimes it gets a little slower after 10pm, but a small sacrifice to make after my last isp.
I dont plan on migrating any time soon.

[andyg]

I can't complain either. Solid 4.5Mb all evening, compared to anything down to 36k with Virgin. I'm OK with the 2.5Mb I get after 10pm, and my son and I can schedule downloads for the quiet hours of the morning.

If customers don't like the service they're getting, they can always vote with their mouse finger, click a few times and move to somewhere where they think they'll get something better.

Andy

[yorkie]

yorkie - most ISPs can offer higher than 2Mb but then so do we. We are only talking about the busy periods when the speeds tend to drop. This does happen to every ISP regardless of the price you pay as no ISP can offer a guaranteed level of service/speed.

The problem is the busy periods are getting longer and longer

Of course as more people sign up, more bandwidth is taken - there is no denying that. You are still paying for a contended service that is offering well above the 50:1 spec that "BT quote". If you were seeing the standard 50:1 contention in action, you would be down to around 350 kbps all the time.

You have to agree that you pay a small price for a good solid service, and one that apart from any slowdowns you are perfectly happy with from previous discussions?

Yes I had said this in a previous post but the service has deteriorated since

At the end of the day the reason we offer a one month contract is that we like to give customers the power to change ISPs without penalty should they feel the need to. If you do find an ISP that offers anywhere near the quality we pride ourselves in then you are free to go - of course we don't want that but it's each to their own and we appreciate this.
Of course I can that's always an option,


yorkie.

[tboorman]

James,

Isn't another segment on one of the existing centrals due to be enabled soon? The last one was enabled on 20th December.

[James]

I've not heard anything so I'd imagine that when Central 7 gets enabled the first segment of that is lit.

[tboorman]

Steve Lalonde previously said in the TBB Entanet forum that a new segment would be turned on every 3 to 4 weeks, so it's a bit disappointing that they're not sticking to this.

[tboorman]

At the end of the day, you're getting far more for your money with ADSL24 than with what I consider to be the other decent ISPs - compare Home 30 at £19.99 with the following:

Fast.co.uk - 15 GB/month - £22.99
IDNet - 30 GB/month - £24.99
NewNet - 20 GB/month peak hours, Unlimited off peak hours (02:00-07:00) - £29.95
Zen - 20 GB/month - £24.99

[Gargoyle]

I guess they like to defer turning on the new segments as long as possible, all costs money :-)

Re your other post Tim, I entirely agree. Enta is cheap for what you get. And the packages probably attracts a lot of those who are interested in a fair bit of downloading.

Maybe the price for this we pay is the slower speeds at times? In an ideal world, Enta would always be upgrading the capacity to cope, but capacity costs