Leaving Be* advice on new ISP please

Been with Be* for a couple of years now and they have been OK but as of late i'm suffering from constant disconnects and when it does resynchronise speed is poor but half the time it cannot get an IP address from the exchange, this has been going on for weeks now and as yet they have still failed to find where even the fault is, so i've had enough and i'm off Unless they can fix it soon) I have my mac code and due to leave Be* on 28th Oct, so on the lookout for a new ISP.

For me i need unlimited downloads or at least 500GB a month, I'm also vey unhappy about signing up for a huge contract, I was looking at BT but they want a min of 12 months, O2 want a long one as well but they say they offer a 30 day cooling off period and if your not happy with stability or speed, then they will let you leave at any time, so what would your suggestions be for an ISP that offers a short contract and unlimited downloads.


All1

What exchange are you on? Other LLU providers suitable?

O2 own Be, and will use exactly the same exchange kit (unless you rather perversely, to my mind, use their Access product).

In reply to a post by alloneword:

Been with Be* for a couple of years now and they have been OK but as of late i'm suffering from constant disconnects and when it does resynchronise speed is poor but half the time it cannot get an IP address from the exchange, this has been going on for weeks now and as yet they have still failed to find where even the fault is, so i've had enough and i'm off Unless they can fix it soon) I have my mac code and due to leave Be* on 28th Oct, so on the lookout for a new ISP.

For me i need unlimited downloads or at least 500GB a month, I'm also vey unhappy about signing up for a huge contract, I was looking at BT but they want a min of 12 months, O2 want a long one as well but they say they offer a 30 day cooling off period and if your not happy with stability or speed, then they will let you leave at any time, so what would your suggestions be for an ISP that offers a short contract and unlimited downloads.


All1

This sounds like a line fault that won't be fixed if you switch ISP.

If you really want to move though and don't want to consider the possibility of repairing the line fault, then the most comparable ISP to Be* is UKOnline, if you have Easynet LLU available at your exchange then UKOnline will be able to offer a brilliant service (their network is more robust than Be*'s) but also a little more pricey.

The other alternatives are O2, which is the same as Be* just with a different sticker on the box, or Sky LLU, which is ansolutely horrendous thanks to their DLM and new MSANs.

Xilonet offer a good service over C&W LLU, but again, depends on LLU availability on your exchange.

I think you should concentrate on fixing your line fault, however, as the symptoms you describe aren't down to ISP-specific kit.

If you've got C&W LLU can recommend Xilo on the pro H product at £14.99+VAT (£17.24) A month on a monthly rolling contract

As someone else has stated, if your getting a fault on the line, it will probably still be there even if changing ISP.

Sky LLU, which is ansolutely horrendous thanks to their DLM and new MSANs.

Taking your word for that as I have no idea about it, wouldn't UKOnline also be affected at the MSAN'ed exchanges?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Sky LLU, which is ansolutely horrendous thanks to their DLM and new MSANs.

Taking your word for that as I have no idea about it, wouldn't UKOnline also be affected at the MSAN'ed exchanges?

Only SKY are using the new MSANs. UKOnline customers still use the Easynet DSLAMs.

The new Sky MSANs cause severe packet loss and intermittent PPP session issues, due to network compatibility problems or firmware issues, unfortunately the top tier Sky support bods don't understand the nature of the problem or how to fix it.

So you're saying Sky is adding MSANs and not replacing/removing the DSLAMs?

I find that strange.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

So you're saying Sky is adding MSANs and not replacing/removing the DSLAMs?

I find that strange.

Keep in mind that Sky offer Line Rental.

UKOnline do not.

Sky subscribers that take out Line Rental and ADSL are placed on an MSAN with a Broadcom chipset. These MSANs are experiencing severe teething issues that Sky have not got to the bottom of yet.

Sky subscribers that do not take out Line Rental, and UKOnline subscribers, are placed on to an Easynet DSLAM with a Conexant chipset. These DSLAMs have been around for a long time and work well.

I know this myself because I have been with Sky twice.

Once in 2007 when I was put onto an Easynet DSLAM the remove vendor ID was "GSPN" (Globespan). My ping times were 14ms and my throughput was excellent.

Again this July, I was put onto a Sky MSAN the remote vendor ID was "BDCM" (Broadcom). My ping times were 60ms+ with 15%+ packet loss and a dropping PPP session every 30 minutes or less.

I spent 40+ hours on the phone to sky, and after six weeks they were unable to fix the problem. It wasn't a line issue as the line I was on (at my mothers house) had been spotted by openreach, and was in sync at 6.7Mbit with a 7dB margin on 46dB loss. The line NEVER lost sync and the SNR NEVER fluctuated. There were negligible errors on the line.

I've witnessed the SEVERE difference in service between Easynet DSLAMs and Sky MSANs first hand, and noticed the severe depreciation in quality of support from Sky first hand too, and I can reassure you, play with fire and you will get burned.

What router/modem was this issue on? The Sky box DG934 (its all black to look like a sky hd box)?

Edited by deleted (Thu 01-Oct-09 18:06:46)