TalkTalk Broadband problem - Physical Down!

Ok - where to start... I received a letter from Talktalk telling me my exchange was going to be updated in December and that my internet connection would be upgraded to something faster. Since the upgrade my connection has become incredibly slow, I need to reconnect/reset my router pretty much every other day because the connection is lost and since last Friday my connection has gone completely down. My routers error logs gives me "DSL carrier down". I called up the Talktalk helpdesk, who assured me that nothing was wrong with my connection and it was my unsupported D-Link router that caused the issue. Upgraded firmware on router, called D-Link, reset factory settings etc.. still no connection. Called Talktalk a few more times, bought a new microfilter, they still blamed my D-link router, one guy even said Talktalk doesn't support wireless routers(!) and transferred me to a colleague (aka transferring you to a non-existant person, which cuts of your call).

Anyway, went to carphone warehouse, bought a TalkTalk standard wireless router, still same problem, now it just says ADSL: "physical down". Called up Talktalk again a few more times and in the end got the response "I don't know" from a very "helpful" Indian lad... great customer service!

I checked "http://status.zensupport.co.uk/exchanges/" for my phone number and postcode (Hendon) and got this "According to BT's latest data the VP status of your exchange is RED. A date of 29/12/2006 has been set by BT for the exchange to be upgraded."

I'm kinda running out of ideas, after spending 50 quid on a Talktalk router so I didn't have to deal with the "We don't support your D-Link router" and replacing my microfilter I'm pretty much looking to switch provider. I'll probably have to pay some ridicoulous leaving "fine", but if it fixes my internet and if it means never ever having to call the Talktalk helpdesk in India again.. it'll be money well spent!

Does anyone else have this issue and know how to fix/resolve it before I switch providers? Thanks!

Peter ([email protected])

This is appalling CS and why I cannot recommend TT. A Speedtouch 330 USB modem for

It may be that with the move to unbundling and a rate adaptive service it is not running smoothly, i.e. the resyncs and you need to do some tidying up of the phone wiring in the property.

As mentioned the sticky posts are worth a read, and really this sort of thing should be suggested by support when people have intermittent issues.

I'd be tempted to take the Talk Talk router back to the shop - goods not fit for the job, i.e. did not improve things, thus a waste of money and do as suggested get a cheap second hand speedtouch for when dealing with support.

Are you able to get the line stats, i.e. line sync speed, attenuation and noise margins from either piece of kit?

If the phillips router is indicating the line status as down then there is no sync on the line. It may be your line is not capable of supporting the faster speeds, what speed where you on previous to LLU migration ?

Have you tried plugging into the test socket ? If all else fails Talktalk can always lower your sync rate in an attempt to find a connection speed that your line can support (if there was no fault caused during the migration to LLU)

phillips router? spoke to a person on the relevant number who claimed it was a TalkTalk product/router and that phillips had nothing to do with it. they never refer to it as a phillips router, just as a talktalk router.

if it is the same router that I spent 5 or 6 hours on last week, then I would suggest getting talktalk to arrange a collection and refunding you your money!

I got the excat same router, only problem i have with it is that it cant handle high traffic loads very well

Ok here's a quick update - my phoneline does indeed have a really bad crackling noise on it, so called Talktalk on one of the numbers above in the sticky posts for telephone faults.. and oh unrestrained joy - I got through to a UK callcentre. They acknowledged the fault, the line was so bad they had to call me back on my mobile and the defect has been logged and "an engineer has been assigned to the issue". They said they'd work on the phone line issue first before moving on to why my internet is down.

Speeds? I didn't clock them when the internet was running, but I was on a 512kbps contract I think, when I check now, I can't even sync, so they're all on 0.

Will keep you guys posted on how it goes and if it is resolved. Thanks a lot for your input, I'm sticking with Talktalk for now...

Edited by PeterHendon (Tue 09-Jan-07 11:27:30)

well that and a load of other stuff. it doesnt save mac codes, username and password are stored on the pc on install, uninstall of the software doesnt work but only if the cd is in the drive, doesnt work with other wifi dongles, the software doesnt work on multiple XP user accounts (only the one when it is firstly installed) and loads of other stuff that I found out. You spend 5 or 6 hours trying to get it setup and working, try everything first before phoning the support numbers for them to tell you that, yes these are all known problems with this router! I did feel guilty taking any money for this time spent or should I say WASTED trying to get this piece of dirt to work! Unbelieveable and they are still selling it on the site. Must be the potential revenue from support calls that they are banking on or maybe users will think it is something that they have done. Who knows!

MrSaffron - What do you mean with tidying up the phone wiring in the property? Rewiring my phone lines? As I said in one of the previous posts, I'm not getting any stats through/no sync.. no dsl signal at all.

Thanks!

Fifth paragraph on http://newsnet.googlepages.com/maxdsldiagnostics is worth a look, the state of your extension wiring can affect the speeds you may or may not get.

i.e. if Talk Talk have enabled you for a fixed speed higher than your line currently supports, disconnecting extensions may allow it to work.

Andrew