Well with the service due to be activated tomorrow (6th) there was no sign of the router, so after 18 minutes on hold I was given the logon details. The on-hold times were certainly no worse than PlusNet. Router reconfigured with new details (WAN1), while an external vigor 120 is currently handling the connection to plusnet (WAN2). Should be a nice simple switch over - move the phone cable!

No emails from origin though since the initial sign up / money taking emails. Still as long as the service works, that is the main thing.

I gave up in the end and signed up with Sky. I hope I don't regret it.

I was with them years ago when they provided services on the old Digital Region network in South Yorkshire. I remember it being a decent connection at 40/10, but I also remember it taking literally months to get connected and technical support being poor - the few times I called, it took ages to get an answer and the person at the other end of the phone sounded most irritated at being interrupted. They may well have been an 'apprentice' on £2-odd an hour, which was one of the company's regular wheezes.

Of course, the current incarnation of Origin is on a totally different network - but the same people are presumably still in charge.

These companies change so often it is difficult to know who is in charge.

Line now connected, and appears to be going through plusnet, and seemingly with a static IP (although that option wasn't selected at signup).

Sync speed on the line has dropped from 2.2 to 1.92, but as long as it remains stable that is the key thing, SNR remains at 7. Long line, over the Mendips where it is foggy and damp this morning, so that may well affect things.


C:\Users\matth>tracert 80.229.yyy.xxx

Tracing route to origincxxxxx.pndsl.co.uk [80.229.yyy.xxx]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.100.254
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 9 ms 9 ms 11 ms be443.pr3.hobir.isp.sky.com [2.120.10.36]
4 9 ms 8 ms 8 ms 195.66.224.185
5 10 ms 18 ms 7 ms 213.121.193.206
6 8 ms 8 ms 8 ms be11.psb-ir01.plusnet.bt.net [195.99.125.135]
7 8 ms 8 ms 8 ms 195.166.129.208
8 8 ms 9 ms 8 ms 411.ae0.central10.pcn-bng03.plus.net [84.93.253.82]
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * ^C

Still no sign of the router they were meant to supply, so not ideal for "first time broadband users".

I am currently with BT Infinity 2 and it's generally reliable, but feels expensive and BT are a pain if there is a problem.

I was looking at Origin and contacted them earlier via their chat service, but they say they cannot guarantee I would be able to keep my phone number if moving from BT. Does anybody else know anything about this? I just tried calling, but gave up after almost 30 minutes of listening to loud music without managing to speak with somebody. The other option is Vodafone, but I have a nagging doubt about their customer service.