What do I do?

To get you in the picture, I live in a small village away from the nearest town, I have been happily on Sky Broadband for about 1 year now I get just over/ just under 2mb, my dad has now cancelled Sky due to us not using it anymore. (We are going for a quad LNB and Freesat).

I have been with Zen, IDNET and now Sky over the past few years and have always got a 2mb speed which I have been chuffed with, I want to go with O2 Broadband but I am just a tad over their line limit (well to BTs database anyway). They won't give me a broadband connection so what do I do?

I want O2 Broadband because I have heard good things and I am an O2 customer and £7 a month does not sound to bad at all, is there anyway around this to get O2 Broadband?

Have you tried putting your number into O2's website and seeing what packages it offers you?

Whatever it offers, do not order it!

If it says Standard/Premium/Pro then you are OK, but then you must clear cookies in your browser then order through TopCashback or Quidco to get £50 cashback. You still get three months free.

(If you haven't used Quidco this year they take £5 of the cashback, TopCashBack give you it all).

If it only only offers O2 Access then see if yopu can post your line stats for us, see here for help if you need it.

We can then tell you whether you might persuade O2 sales to take you on. Some of them do and some don't, and it can be easier with the stats. That way you get the three months free but no cashback.

Find your exchange using samknows and post a link to the result. That might show us some alternatives, though not at £7.50 .

it just says I can't get anything and when I rang up they said my line was just over the length they allow.

WHat exchange are you on?

Edited by vivaciti (Wed 18-Nov-09 16:14:39)

If you find those line stats it might give us something for you to tell them. Several people have been told the same as you but with a bit of persistence have got connected and everything is fine for them.

Some staff are more helpful than others.

The OP says they are in a small village away from the town, which suggests O2 Access rather than the LLU offering. If so, they will be paying something like £17/18 and not t £7 or so.

If that is the case, for that sort of money (depending on usage), the OP would be better going with someone like iDNet, Zen or Newnet, as O2 Access doesn't have a good rep at present.

I'm partly assuming the OP has already checked the exchange is enabled, but also asked for the exchange details earlier, both to be sure and to see what else may be available.

The fact that the O2 rep told the OP that the line is just too long also indicates that LLU is available, and the Sky sounded like it was LLU.

I completely agree with you about Access - see my earlier advice to the OP.

Here are my line stats: http://imgur.com/KpJk7.jpg

Billion Router

My exchange is here: http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/CMLGS

Is there anything specific I should tell these sales people on the phone, I mentioned that the line has always managed at least around 2mb on Sky and the others.

Thanks for all the input!

I see what you mean . But you must be able to get better stats at times, as the downstream 1824kbps contradicts what you say about getting 2Mbps a lot of the time. Was your last connection while it was dark? It can make a noticeable difference. Daytime connections are always faster.

Have a look at this page on my website. It may improve things quite a bit.

While you have the master socket open try connecting through the test socket on the wall at the back in the pic. And don't use a phone extension cable! We should see your best possible speed that way (connecting in the daytime).

Don't give up hope about O2 yet .

Also, how much is your Dad willing to pay? Sky was dirt cheap and there's only one other like that. But not as good.

I presume the website is simply saying no to you?

Have you said you are well aware that you will not get the fastest speed from their products, but still would like to order.

If you get nowhere, then email me [email protected] and I'll pass you through the channels to see if they will accept the order, even though its a long line.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I see what you mean . But you must be able to get better stats at times, as the downstream 1824kbps contradicts what you say about getting 2Mbps a lot of the time. Was your last connection while it was dark? It can make a noticeable difference. Daytime connections are always faster.

Have a look at this page on my website. It may improve things quite a bit.

While you have the master socket open try connecting through the test socket on the wall at the back in the pic. And don't use a phone extension cable! We should see your best possible speed that way (connecting in the daytime).

Don't give up hope about O2 yet .

Also, how much is your Dad willing to pay? Sky was dirt cheap and there's only one other like that. But not as good.

Hey thanks for taking time to reply, yes those stats were when it was dark, my speed jumps all over the place around 2mb, I am happy with it though. I think all the internal/external wiring is fine, I will be paying for this connection as my parents are on an Orange connection down stairs (it's better that way we have arguments when I download and they are trying to win something on eBay).

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

I presume the website is simply saying no to you?

Have you said you are well aware that you will not get the fastest speed from their products, but still would like to order.

If you get nowhere, then email me [email protected] and I'll pass you through the channels to see if they will accept the order, even though its a long line.

Thanks very much I will give them another call tonight!

Just ordered the Standard £7.34 package, went through all okay, but they didn't require the Sky MAC code that was sent to me in the mail...


Thanks for the input anway guys!

Just recieved this message on my mobile,

"O2: Thanks very much for your O2 Broadband order. We've estimated that
your maximum download speed is 0 meg. This is based on information BT
gave us about your BT line. You can track it via your online account
at o2.co.uk/MyBroadband/MyOrders. Thanks, O2 ".

Just a daft message, the speed it will run at will be determined when they actually run the service.

It probably had a figure of 0.5 from BT, which if they only show int values in the email means 0 was shown

It should be great . Let us know how things go.

Just a thought, once we see how your line performs on O2 (which is ADSL2+ even though capped at 8Mbps), you will quite possibly find you get a bit more speed and better stability on ADSL2.

So once you are through the first few days, (you get a txt/email saying all is OK), then it's a couple of CLI commands to the O2 box to try it.

But wait till you get that notification as their DLM will be running to tune their end and you don't want to screw that up. They turn it off once they send the message.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 19-Nov-09 22:36:21)

Hey, connected today happy with the speeds, but I can't seem to get my Billion router to connect, I have all the settings correct, can anyone give any help?

Sky Connection: http://i.imgur.com/kv0HO.jpg
O2 Connection: http://i.imgur.com/nn63E.jpg
I realize they are testing the connection at the moment

Hi again .

What settings are you putting in the Billion?

Settings 1: http://i.imgur.com/Kwize.jpg
Settings 2: http://i.imgur.com/91QZH.jpg

Thanks!

So you are getting an ADSL connection to the exchange but not getting an internet connection?

If so, some time tomorrow try leaving it the line disconnected for about 20 minutes. A few people find that is needed to swap routers, though most of us have no problem.

I think you need a different Encapsulation. Look for something like "RFC 1483 Bridged" and maybe LLC

I used 1483 Bridged IP LLC and it worked, it took away the password and the username field and connected straight away.

Great! This "RFC 1483 Bridged" is not something that O2 put in the Web Help for setting up your own router, but their Support emailed me with it when I asked about Encapsulation.

What are your router stats now that you've connected properly?

I think it's still in that 10 day testing period, but I am happy O2 said I lived 5.7KM from the exchange.

http://i.imgur.com/PrxPN.jpg

There isn't a 10-day period on O2 LLU. The first two or three days they do train the line a bit, then they turn off the DLM and send you a text saying everything is fine. (If it is!)