Can any ISP be better?

I have a broadband problem that is driving me mad. First thing in the morning I have near 7Mbs download speed but every day, excepting weekends, my speed degrades to about 0.5 Mbs by 3.00pm going back up by mid evening. Same pattern every day.

My ISP says it's a BT problem, BT says it's an ISP problem. I cannot get it resolved. Any suggestions as to the most likely cause? Thinking of changing ISP, but don't want hassle of changing e-mail address if it doesn't improve the situation. Also - which ISP should I look at?

Any advice would be most welcome.

It sounds that you have a bad ISP which is over subscribed and have a contention issue
Most ISP'S operate in this slap hazard fashion with the public daft enough to put up with it
Good for you for speaking out as to getting it fixed that's another story and apart from going over to zen you are unlikely to get any further forward
You get what you pay for in life and zen are running a ongoing business hence there expensive

I was in the same boat as you ten years ago when i knew nothing i joined this forum asked an expert and everything has been plain sailing since

Edited by NICK_ADSL_UK (Tue 03-Jan-12 16:23:51)

It would help us help you if you tell us which ISP it is . With some it is known to occur regularly, with others it would suggest a problem more your end. Or even exchange congestion. Re the exchange, and suggestions for a different ISP, can you give us the link to what samknows says about it?

Re changing email address, some ISPs let you keep it after leaving, perhaps at a small cost, but you could get rid of that problem once and for all by getting yourself ISP-independent email, which is probably a lot cheaper than you imagine, and you can choose what your new (permanent) address is.

I would rather not say who my ISP is as I was traced by them when I posted a review on another site and asked to delete my comments I have looked on samknows and there doesn't appear to be a congestion problem on my exchange which is 1 kilometre away. I am with one of the top (smaller) ISP's and am paying £23 per month for which I would expect to have a fairly stable connection. I do not have very heavy usage - average between 2-4Gb per month. I have checked with a website that shows that my connection is not being throttled and my pings are fairly low with no packet loss. I don't need anything superfast, but a steady stable 5Mbs would be wonderful.
P.S - I am plugged directly into the BT master socket and connected by ethernet.

I am also considering going to a wireless provider at the moment and wonder if anyone has experience of wifi providers.

Thanks again

well, i think you're entitled to your opinion by posting reviews on other websites and as long as it's an objective review i don't see why they should ask you to take it down.

also, what website did you use to check if your connection is throttled.

http://broadband.mpi-sws.org/transparency/bttest-mla... it is run by the Max Planck Institute.

The review I left was much the same as the comments I have made here, just that my speed gets seriously bad throughout the day and I don't know whether it's the ISP or BT.

Edited by deleted (Tue 03-Jan-12 17:00:45)

Where does samknows give congestion info?
How do we know what ISPs are available there without knowing the exchange?
Did the ISP threaten you with legal action or further curtailment of service?
Did removal of adverse comments improve the service received?

I'm sorry, but without relevant info I for one can't help.

Sorry - my exchange is Birchington, Kent. I didn't really make adverse comments, simply said I had on going problem that couldn't be resolved and I didn't know where the problem lay. No I wasn't threatened at all just told that they would help solve the problem if I amended my comments. I was just a bit shocked that I was traced and approached. Things haven't improved at all however, which is why I am unsure whether I have a problem at the exchange, which BT deny, or whether the ISP is oversubscribed and there is congestion that end.

Sorry - it wasn't samknows the exchange information was on plusnet http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/

At the end of the day, I am just asking for opinions on ISPs who are known for reliability. I don't mind paying for a good service, but if everything rests with BT any provider may give the same result if the fault is with them.

Ummm, not a good exchange for alternatives.

In your case I wouldn't recommend TalkTalk, more later on that.

I am just asking for opinions on ISPs who are known for reliability. I don't mind paying for a good service, but if everything rests with BT any provider may give the same result if the fault is with them.

That's why I wanted to know the ISP, as explained earlier. If it is highly unusual for them we need to try and find why it is happening and if there is anything under your control affecting it. From what you said previously then the ones that spring to mind are, (alphabetically), AAISP, IDNet and Zen. If it isn't one of those then look at them. For 2-4GB per month you may well find AAISP hits the button.

Note that on that exchange AAISP and IDNet have different/worse prices for the ADSL which is all you can get at the moment and ADSL2+ which is scheduled for March. (WBC 21CN).

Otherwise you could consider one of the resellers that connect using the TalkTalk ADSL2+ equipment at that exchange. Some then use the Opal backhaul I think, others do not. Vivaciti, ADSL24 and Aquiss are the ones that come to mind, though best to call them as it can be difficult seeing which of their packages are on the TalkTalk kit and what happens behind it.

(Edit - typo).

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 03-Jan-12 18:14:38)