NTL Broadband

Author
Discussion

marlboro

Original Poster:

637 posts

277 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
Anyone out there using NTL's Broadband?

I'm thinking of going for the 512K service. Any comments would be appreciated.

DrSeuss

323 posts

267 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
How much is it? I've got Pipex ADSL @ £23/month, consistently get a 576K connection, and have had no probs whatsoever. They sometimes do special deals with no connection fee and/or a cheap ADSL modem too. Worth checking out as an alternative, maybe.

marlboro

Original Poster:

637 posts

277 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
Thanks I'll have a look.

Here's NTL's prices:

128K - £14.99 / month
512K - £24.99
1Meg - £49.99

Install £50 for existing customers (thats me), otherwise £75.

q405mb

410 posts

271 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
marlboro,

I use it at 512k and it's absolutely brilliant. Had some issues with account limits and pure unfriendly and illogcal customer service, but that's fixed now.

I wouldn't go back to dial-up even if it was all for free!

H

TC390SE

79 posts

268 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
I have known of rumers that NTL are on shaky ground.Alot of people think that they may do anITV DIGITAL before the new year.

philshort

8,293 posts

283 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
I've been using 512k service for over a year. Some problems initially with service outages, traced eventually to insufficient voltage on line.

Occasionally have problems with their DNS servers going astray, so bits of the internet dissappear, which usually sorts itself out in a few hours. (When this happens I can connect to a remote computer using VPN and access the "missing" sites from there, so I know its an ISP problem at my end not that the sites are down).

When its working though its great, can't imagine life with a dial up line again! Often get seriously in excess of 512k, but I think I'm probably the only one using broadband on our street so I get the lot! 2Mb is not unusual and 4Mb not unknown. I'm happy with that!

Agree with other comments re customer service - its right up there with dabs.con!!!

>> Edited by philshort on Wednesday 31st July 22:52

JamesG

128 posts

271 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
I got the 512K service a few weeks ago and it is fantastic. No connection problems at all. NTL customer services are pretty disorganised though.

One thing to note: The 512K refers to downloads only. It is 128Kbits/sec upstream which is only about 2.5 times faster than a modem. You wouldn't want to use it to host files.

James.

First and Last

57 posts

267 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
Hi Guys.

Any similar comments about BTOpenworld Broadband I'm thinking about going to (£24.99 per month) which includes voice line-rental and 'phone can be used at the same time.

Also any recommendations for other Broadband services (e.g. Blueyonder via Telewest I think).

Many Thanks.

Have Fun

JamesG

128 posts

271 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
I should add that there's half-price installation until 31st July (I think).

So you have, err... 75 minutes to get it ordered

marlboro

Original Poster:

637 posts

277 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
I doubt if NTL will go the ITV Digital way. They have massive debts from installing the initial fibre network, but their customer base is very strong and hence have a somewhat guarenteed turnover. ITV Digital however were losing customers to Sky. Shame, the Monkey adverts were great.

Phil,
DNS problems are not only with Broadband, I experience the same with my 128K ISDN. Please mail me if you would like to try an alternative Name Server.

yertis

18,563 posts

272 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
We've got BT Openworld at home and it's great. Surprisingly helpful on the phone too.

OTOH I got the office sorted out with broadband by an outfit called Timewarp. To be fair they try their best ,but at the moment BT only seem to be able to provide them/me with a line that is "sometimes on" rather than "always on". Since a large part of what we do involves shunting websites around the place it's bit of a nuisance to say the least.

smeagol

1,947 posts

290 months

Wednesday 31st July 2002
quotequote all
I've got NTL BB and hardly ever get an outage (about 3 times in 2 years). Its excellent, btw there is better customer service if you ring the BB telephone number on the top of the account letter you get. (it bypasses the standard NTL customer services which is more concerned with TV).

Certainly one of the best purchases I made. I got doigital TV at the same time and got fitting free, so if you're thinking for home use mention this to them, don't be afraid to haggle on fitting price.

There thats my bit of advice done.

Marshy

2,748 posts

290 months

Thursday 1st August 2002
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If you have DNS server problems, try 158.43.128.1 and/or 158.43.192.1. They're UUNET name servers, and I've never, ever, known them go off the air. Until WorldCom goes titsup anyway. A couple of NTL folk using them isn't going to make any difference at all.

Anyway, the cable modem is great. Their transparent caches occasionally go a bit funny, but there are ways around that.

MikeyT

16,865 posts

277 months

Thursday 1st August 2002
quotequote all
quote:

I have known of rumers that NTL are on shaky ground.Alot of people think that they may do anITV DIGITAL before the new year.



Put it this way, if I had shares, I'd sell 'em.

pdv6

16,442 posts

267 months

Thursday 1st August 2002
quotequote all
quote:

Also any recommendations for other Broadband services (e.g. Blueyonder via Telewest I think).



Been using Blueyonder 512k for about a month now - so far so good. Bit of luck really, as I can't get ADSL yet and there aren't any other cable operators in my area...

Most people I've spoken to seem to have a horror story to tell about Telewest, but the worst I've had so far is them trying to charge me £16-odd per month for all inclusive phone calls that I (a) never ordered and (b) categorically stated that I didn't want when placing the order for tv/phone/internet connections.

zippy500

1,883 posts

275 months

Thursday 1st August 2002
quotequote all
If I cant get cable in my area and BT dont have necessary goodies for ADSL in my area what can I do. I want a fast connection for on line gaming, am I up shit creek until BT upgrade.

pdv6

16,442 posts

267 months

Thursday 1st August 2002
quotequote all
quote:

If I cant get cable in my area and BT dont have necessary goodies for ADSL in my area what can I do. I want a fast connection for on line gaming, am I up shit creek until BT upgrade.



If you've got deep pockets, you could go for a satellite system. Upstream stuff still goes out over the phone line, though (33.6k max!)

zippy500

1,883 posts

275 months

Thursday 1st August 2002
quotequote all
Ive got sky digital. Cant I change to a different phone provider. Or dosent it work like that.

CarZee

13,382 posts

273 months

Thursday 1st August 2002
quotequote all
If you've got even deeper pockets, two-way satellite broadband is worth looking at - the monthly charges are almost reasonable once you've stumped up a grand for the installation..

I'm considering it - neither NTL or BT ADSL are ever gonna appear down my street, 3 miles outside the centre of Basingstoke.. middle of nowhere obviously ..

pdv6

16,442 posts

267 months

Thursday 1st August 2002
quotequote all
quote:

If you've got even deeper pockets, two-way satellite broadband is worth looking at - the monthly charges are almost reasonable once you've stumped up a grand for the installation..



What, really reasonable or just compared to the install cost?