I've just about had it with Zen

Only been with Zen since 10th of February and what a speed disaster it's been. I admit I was a little bit hasty at the start because I didn't know I needed to wait 10 days for the line to settle down. When it did eventually settle my top speed was between 5mbps and 7mbps which I suppose wasn't too bad but I was getting nearly 13mbps from my last isp. It's the evenings that make me rattled. My speed drops to 1mbps and sometimes slightly more but first thing in the morning it's back to between 5mbps and 7mbps. I can only think Zen must have too many subscribers unless somebody else knows better. I'm giving it this week and if things don't improve I'm off to pastures new after only 6 weeks with Zen. Anybody make any recommendations?

Caley.

What exchange are you on, and which ISP where you with before hand?

It sounds like congestion at the exchange. BT Wholesale are apparently seeing a lot of that round the country right now. If you were on an llu provider before hand you likely would not have experienced it.
http://revk.www.me.uk/2014/02/bt-21cn-not-fit-for-pu...

Have you raised a fault with Zen? Try to get a bunch of speedtests showing the issue at http://speedtest.Btwholesale.com including the part where you change the credentials in your router.

Thanks for responding.
I'm on Inverness Culloden exchange and I was with ADSL24 till they got taken over by Coms and that's another story. I did contact Zen previously but they didn't seem interested so I just plodded along till the evening speeds dropped right down into the 1mbps range and that did it for me. I have learned only recently that ADSL24 put us on llu with TTB I think and the speeds were good but before that I was getting a steady 8mbps into the evening also which was far better than what Zen are offering.

Caley.

That exchange isn't even 21cn!
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/NSICL
It's quite likely you are suffering congestion.

Your best bet is to get a few speed tests using the link I sent you, and to raise a fault with Zen.

In reply to a post by caley:

I have learned only recently that ADSL24 put us on llu with TTB I think and the speeds were good but before that I was getting a steady 8mbps into the evening also which was far better than what Zen are offering.

Sadly Zen are limited by their wholesale provider, and at your exchange the only provider Zen can use is BT. In BT's eyes they still haven't upgraded your exchange to their new network (21CN / WBC) but still using the old 20CN . Zen's hands will be tied, as BT are suffering congestion on their new network across the whole of the UK, and so I wouldn't be surprised if this is showing up even more problematic on older 20CN exchanges.

Sadly Zen don't offer service using another wholesale network, such as TTB, so you need to find a new ISP who can use a non-BT wholesale network on your exchange.

Our exchange is rather antiquated but fttc is supposed to be within the next couple of weeks but I'm afraid at our end of the road it's all fixed lines to the exchange so no fttc for us. Just ran a speed tes just now and this is the result. Not very good.

upload download
380 Kbps 1140 Kbps

Caley.

Like i previously mentioned to you here you're better off going to an LLU supplier at the exchange as BT will probably never 21CN it. Culloden exchange has the following ADSL2+ suppliers:

Sky LLU
talktalk LLU
C&W LLU

If you want the cheap as chips option and don't mind using forums for support then TalkTalk is your best bet, followed by Sky and then Tesco (who use C&W). However if you want ADSL24 or Zen quality phone support then going with a reseller such as Xilo is your best bet for TalkTalk resold services.

Also since Inverness Culloden is having FTTC under BDUK, i suggest you email Nick Scroggie of Highlands & islands Enterprise (HIE) and he'll advise you what (if anything) is being done for those on exchange only lines.

[email protected]

Thanks for that. Always seem to get quality information from yourself and others on this forum. Just emailed the person you suggested. Let you know if he responds.

Caley.

Been toying with the idea of Xilo. They're mentioned quite a lot on this site and seem to have a good reputation.

Caley.

In reply to a post by caley:

Been toying with the idea of Xilo. They're mentioned quite a lot on this site and seem to have a good reputation.

Caley.

Yeah Xilo are highly recommended on these forums. Their 'up to 24 meg' TTB based service with no traffic management and unmetered usage is £20.99 pm (£17.49+vat) and you can keep your BT line.
http://www.xilo.net/adsl_broadband/#pro

Good Morning Caley,

Im sorry to hear of the issues you are having, please can you PM me your account details and ill look into this for you.

I think I find myself in a similar position to Caley having also recently moved to Zen (although from another 20CN based ISP). I'm finding that the evening speeds are very poor and seem to be getting worse. The exchange (Turgis Green - THTG) is strictly 20CN for BT, and although some cabinets have been enabled for FTTC ours has been repeatedly put back (June 2013 became September 2013, then March 2014 and now December 2014). Alternatives are Sky (no fixed IP addresses so a non starter for me) or a TTB reseller.
If BT were to commit to resolving the congestion problems I'd happily stay with Zen, but as it stands I think I'm going to have to give a TTB reseller a go, surely they can't be any worse than the BT 20CN network, can they?

In reply to a post by NickRG:

surely they can't be any worse than the BT 20CN network, can they?

The TTB wholesale network is reportedly excellent - don't confuse with the TT retail (extremely low cost) ISP.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by NickRG:

surely they can't be any worse than the BT 20CN network, can they?

The TTB wholesale network is reportedly excellent - don't confuse with the TT retail (extremely low cost) ISP.

TallkTalk retail is also very good...its just that many (usually non-customers) assume poor phone support = poor broadband.

Aye the joys of market 1 old knackered exchanges my speed night time is like the old dial up

Download Speed: 439 kbps (54.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 366 kbps (45.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 147 ms

Day time > Download Speed: 7048 kbps

Upload Speed: 386 kbps

Latency: 26 ms

making night time a waste of time !

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

TallkTalk retail is also very good...its just that many (usually non-customers) assume poor phone support = poor broadband.

Understood, but I've got friends on TT ADSL and TT FTTC and there (can be) a lot more congestion effects than on other ISPs. I gather this is area by area different.

Nick,
I'm a Parish Councillor for Bramley and have been handling FTTC upgrades/install enquiries.
I'm on cabinet 6 which is showing as being maxed out but only because I don't think they installed a full set of line cards (according to the BT engineer working on my cabinet last week). I'm trying to collate a picture of the state of the installation in Bramley as I have a meeting with BT set up for early May.
If you are in Bramley, can you send me a PM and I'll PM you my email address and I'll try to find out exactly what is going on with your cabinet.

ADSL wise I was using TTB prior to moving to PlusNet (using BT) and performance was a nightmare. Via TTB I was getting 1meg down, 200k up but at least at those speeds, you didn't notice congestion. As soon as I moved to Plusnet ADSL, even being up near the village hall my connection went to 3.5meg down, 300k up.
I wouldn't touch TTB with a barge pole after my experience with them, but then again, YMMV. I stayed with Plusnet when FTTC was enabled and apart from the odd minor hiccup, my line has been solid as a rock.
If you are in my area