ISP issue

[Buzz]

Hey all

Just wondering, I have been having issues with my ISP and speeds and what not. Im paying for 8MB getting 4. Anyway long long long story short, Im curious, does anyone know If an ISP is allowed to connect to your router without permission even if it is when on phone to them, and they trying to sort issue.

I had a right fool on the phone, and even after I told him not to connect he did anyway.

Are they allowed being the ISP anyone know???

 

[Rakk]

I had a right fool on the phone, and even after I told him not to connect he did anyway.

Morally speaking he probably shouldn't have done if you told him not to, however as your ISP I suspect they have the right to connect whenever they want especially when trying to help fix reported issues - cos without connecting to it he may not have been able to check whatever it was he was trying to check.

Note: this is entirely speculation on my part, so could be horribly wrong

 

[Pete]

I didn't know they were able to do that, presumably if it's their router they can. If it was a BT homehub lets say i expect they would have some way of testing as far as the router but actually getting onto the web control panel i don't know, seems intrusive.

 

[Buzz]

I didn't know they were able to do that,

Yeh once they have the remote access URL and log in details they can. (I ALWAYS have mine disabled, but had to reset the router yesterday while on phone to ISP and forgot to disable it again)

Note: this is entirely speculation on my part, so could be horribly wrong

Well basically, they say my line can only take max 4MB but yet when I do some editing of settings etc I got speeds up to 5.1.

When you log into my router it tells you the speeds the ISP have you capped at

Speed
5920/512 (kbps)
Line Attenuation
51/30 dB

The 5920 was prior to my call set at 4 which Iv been havin trouble sorting them and getting them to keep the higher. He told me he did. I told him either he didnt or the router is not accepting the new settings. He said he would connect. I said dont that connecting he will see nothing more then I see and what Im telling him the settings are.

5 min or so later he let it slip he connected and saw I was at 4mb up 512down which is what I told him. So yeh long story short he basically didnt believe me that the settings didnt change so he connected even tho told him not to as there is NO need.

Tell ya one thing PCS, Keep up the good customer support because to a customer, there is nothing more important.

Gotta go make complaint now as being told MAX line can take is 4 but yet have it to past 5 now and he IMO surely shouldnt have connected...BUT Im not sure on that them being my provider.

 

[Rakk]

Well basically, they say my line can only take max 4MB but yet when I do some editing of settings etc I got speeds up to 5.1.

It's possible it can do more than 4MB but becomes unstable at that point and gets increasingly more unstable the higher you go, which is why they say 4MB (again, guesswork on my part)

He said he would connect. I said dont that connecting he will see nothing more then I see and what Im telling him the settings are.

Remember that a lot of people calling up will not be able to read router settings properly and understand what they mean (and therefore say what they think it shows rather than the actual useful data), therefore normally it's propbably in their best interests to see exactly what it says rather than trust whoever is on the phone, its possible in fact theyve been told they must check themselves and not automatically trust what they are being told (to avoid mistakes and misunderstandings)

 

[Buzz]

@ Rakk.

Everything you say in general is correct to a point.
They say 4MB is line cap anything higher is unstable but yet its not and Im telling them its not. And that its fine and Im happy with it higher (even if they say is less stable) Im paying for 8 so im entitled to have it at what I want.

Agree with lot people maybe wouldnt be able to read the things correct, but I explained to him that I can and I know what Im doing, and was in fact telling him certain settings are not right which he ended up changing. lol

Bottom line for me is, If I tell someone NOT to connect then they shouldnt connect. He/she can then say "well sry sir nothing else we can do for you then" or something to that effect. But I told him NOT to as I knew what I was doing. It shouldnt matter what they believe. Also...on this matter as far as he and I where concerned and what we where talking about and the reason he wanted to connect, I do know what am talking about and the setting where lower then he said he put them at and even when he did check when I told him not to he saw they where lower.

<Ranting on now.

 

[Rakk]

@ Rakk.

Everything you say in general is correct to a point.
They say 4MB is line cap anything higher is unstable but yet its not and Im telling them its not. And that its fine and Im happy with it higher (even if they say is less stable) Im paying for 8 so im entitled to have it at what I want.

However isn't it that most of the packages that go through standard phone lines (rather than cable) are 'upto' whatever amount it is they claim, its that 'upto' that means they don't actually have to give you the full amount for whatever reason it happens to be (too far from the exchange, lots of lines in your area, unstable etc).

The trouble is that if they think it will be unstable at higher speeds, and you tell them its not, then they change it, then you do find its unstable and then you complain then its that persons head on the line for giving you a service that is not maintainable, and therefore if its considered to be unstable when higher they are often just unwilling to change it for fear of getting into trouble, I realise it may just be a complete PITA, but I suspect its just them covering themselves from future problems.

 

[Pete]

I thought the line speed was an automatic setting based on the line attenuation / noise / packet failure rates etc so the further away from the exchange, number of people etc have an effect on this. 8 Mb if you can throw a stone at the exchange from your garden and < 2mb if you're 2+ miles away.

A colleague is at the very outer edge and normally gets 2mb but this often drops down to 512 for seemingly no reason other than it might have rained a lot recently. Lucily i'm on the edge of a small town and get 5mb.

You certainly seem a lot more knowledgeable than me, i've not had to look at my router settings in ages (had issues when i was only get about < 256k down for several weeks) have you got a new faceplate minus the bell wire, if not that might tip you over the edge from 4 to a 5mb ?

 

[Buzz]

Lol
Speak of the devils

Tuesday, 24 April 2012 12:46

broadband-speeds-fall-as-isps-told-not-to-lie

 

[yak]

I think broadband in the UK is pretty poor, not sure what the cause is but has been dissapointing.

When I first got broadband 12ish years ago in Belgium it was a 10meg line which after 1 or 2 years got upgraded to 20 for free, with actual speeds between 13-17 in tests (getting 6-8 max with sky now).
One of the problems would be infrastructure I guess, I don't think cable television ever kicked off in the UK so that network can't be used for broadband.

Just surprised how slow it's evolving, on the gadget show this week they claimed you can get 60 meg 4G in Tokyo, not sure what the speeds for 4G are in the US but why is it taking so long to make it to the UK I wonder.

Also the modems/routers supplied are sub standard and I'm not sure about other providers but with Sky you are supposedly not allowed to use you own modem/router... Last time I checked you need to run a script to retrieve your login info in order to set up your own hardware for use on their network.

 

[Buzz]

My brother is on 100MB with UPC, super super fast connection. Id have gone for same only cant get a 2nd line in the house. 100MB per household is MAX.

And its been the same old rubbish for years with my ISP. The line is not good enough for higher then 4MB. They been saying it for years. My point is if thats the case then only charge for 4 not 8. Also, as I have proved them wrong, I am after tweaking my settings, and asked ISP to push MAX connection higher (even tho they say not stable) which they did and now I get over 5MB. So all in all there my line can only take 4 is rubbish as im getting over 5. Took me 2 hours on the phone arguing with them but eventually got better speeds in the end. Such a big rigmarole.

http://www.speedtest.net/

Ping 44
DL speed 5.48
Up speed 0.75

Previously
Ping 88
DL Speed 3.80
Up Speed 0.48

Router
Speed 5824/512 (kbps) Line Attenuation 51/30 dB

Previously
Speed 4000/512 (kbps) Line Attenuation 51/30 dB

I have been with Many different ISP over the years in different counties, and my experience they would ALL say MASS if had the chance.