I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have call centres
in GB...?

TIA
--
the_constructor

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:45:47 UTC, "the_constructor"
wrote:

I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have call centres
in GB...?

uk.telecom.broadband ===== that way

You'll get much more info there...!

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On 22 Jul, 19:45, "the_constructor" wrote:
I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have call centres
in GB...?

TIA
--
the_constructor

Google talktalk hell. I am leaving as soon as the contract runs out.

the_constructor wrote:

I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have call centres
in GB...?

Call centres are in the uk - at the end of a premium(ish) rate number.
Based on experience of some of our clients you will get to know them well!

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

the_constructor coughed up some electrons that declared:

I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have call
centres in GB...?

TIA
--
the_constructor

Don't know. But I am with Andrews and Arnold (aaisp.co.uk) and they are
*very* clueful. Not the cheapest - but here are a couple of examples of
calls from me to them over the last few years:

a) Me: Phones AAISP, lady answers in 15 seconds:
Me: My links gone dead, is it you or me?
Her: We're having a problem, engineers are rebooting something.
Me: Ok, that's all I need to know, I'll wait it out.
10 minutes later, all is well.

b) [Upgrade to ADSL-MAX, the 2Mbit/s cap wasn't being removed after the
physical link settled down to 6Mbit/s - waited 3 days]

Me, by email: blah blah, cap still in place;
Them in a couple of hours: Could you wait one more day?
Me: OK
[Next day] Me [still by email]: Nope, still broken, could you ask BT to fix
it?
Them [hour or two later]: Please bear with us.
[Later, within a day IIRC]: BT Engineer calls my mobile;
BT bloke: Yeah, this happens sometimes, I've reset some widget at our end.
Are you in a position to test it.
Me: Sure, give me a moment to ssh into my home system...
Me: Yes, that's running at about 6Mbit/s - thanks!

In summary - not cheap, not there outside of business hours, but when you do
call them, you do get to speak to intelligent people who don't ask you to
reboot Windows, which in itself is worth the cost!

HTH

Tim

On Jul 22, 8:20 pm, cynic wrote:
On 22 Jul, 19:45, "the_constructor" wrote:

I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have call centres
in GB...?

Google "talktalk hell". I am leaving as soon as the contract runs out.

They own AOL these days. And AOL is one of the best on "ISP Review"
whilst TalkTalk is about as bad as they get. I have the phone line
with TalkTalk's parent company so could get broadband for free but I
would rather pay the money for AOL silver.

However the BBC is seeking to have me cut off from the net so I might
be looking for a new host shortly.

I doubt it will be TalkTalk. I doubt that very much.

"Weatherlawyer" wrote in message
ups.com...

However the BBC is seeking to have me cut off from the net so I might
be looking for a new host shortly.

You been a bit rude or something?

clive

On Jul 23, 1:30 am, "Clive George" wrote:
"Weatherlawyer" wrote in message

ups.com...

However the BBC is seeking to have me cut off from the net so I might
be looking for a new host shortly.

You been a bit rude or something?

Moi?

In message . com,
Weatherlawyer writes
On Jul 22, 8:20 pm, cynic wrote:
On 22 Jul, 19:45, "the_constructor" wrote:

I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have
call centres
in GB...?

Google "talktalk hell". I am leaving as soon as the contract runs out.

They own AOL

They own AOL ?

Are you sure ?

--
geoff

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:30:03 UTC, raden wrote:

In message . com,
Weatherlawyer writes
On Jul 22, 8:20 pm, cynic wrote:
On 22 Jul, 19:45, "the_constructor" wrote:

I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have
call centres
in GB...?

Google "talktalk hell". I am leaving as soon as the contract runs out.

They own AOL

They own AOL ?

Are you sure ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6039740.stm

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

In message , Bob Eager
writes
On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:30:03 UTC, raden wrote:

In message . com,
Weatherlawyer writes
On Jul 22, 8:20 pm, cynic wrote:
On 22 Jul, 19:45, "the_constructor" wrote:

I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have
call centres
in GB...?

Google "talktalk hell". I am leaving as soon as the contract runs out.

They own AOL

They own AOL ?

Are you sure ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6039740.stm

Well I never ...


--
geoff

raden wrote:

They own AOL

They own AOL ?

Are you sure ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6039740.stm

Well I never ...

yup, crap ISP buys crap ISP shocker ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Jul 24, 12:55 am, John Rumm wrote:
raden wrote:
They own AOL

They own AOL ?

Are you sure ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6039740.stm

Well I never ...

yup, crap ISP buys crap ISP shocker ;-)

Actually AOL is pretty good. In ISP Review it gives some reasons for
that. The Silver Broadband rate is more expensive than the cut-price
tools such as Virgin but at £10 a month, the cut price stuff doesn't
cover expenses. WTF Talk Talk were thinking is anyone's guess.

I was looking at moving to Namesco at the 2GB capped rate but they are
underwater. I think I shall stay where I am.

Weatherlawyer wrote:

Actually AOL is pretty good. In ISP Review it gives some reasons for

They are handy for people travelling that need dialup access in a
variety of countries, although I note they charge extra for this now.
The basic platform performance for broadband is ok. Their tech support
is hopeless - all decision table driven 1st line staff with little
technical knowledge, and few technical people available for backup.
Getting BT faults escalated for investigation is very difficult. Much of
it has also been shipped out to India as well.

There are some technical limitations of the platform that are also a
little worrying, such as they way their client software connects to AOL
via a VPN connection - tunnelling straight through firewalls etc. Now
they support use of a router this is less of an issue, but still has the
potential to bite some users using the bundled modem.

As for their software installation process... you can't be serious!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Jul 24, 12:12 pm, John Rumm wrote:
Weatherlawyer wrote:
Actually AOL is pretty good. In ISP Review it gives some reasons for

They are handy for people travelling that need dialup access in a
variety of countries, although I note they charge extra for this now.
The basic platform performance for broadband is ok. Their tech support
is hopeless - all decision table driven 1st line staff with little
technical knowledge, and few technical people available for backup.
Getting BT faults escalated for investigation is very difficult. Much of
it has also been shipped out to India as well.

There are some technical limitations of the platform that are also a
little worrying, such as they way their client software connects to AOL
via a VPN connection - tunnelling straight through firewalls etc. Now
they support use of a router this is less of an issue, but still has the
potential to bite some users using the bundled modem.

As for their software installation process... you can't be serious!

Since they supply a free firewall from McAfee there isn't a problem.
Their bug catchers are pretty good too.

I have always found their help excellent. I couldn't get online with
BT until I was paying for two services. Even then they only deferred
repayment over a period of time that I had a landline with them.

I can't say anything more than that as I don't have the lamer problems
I used to these days and wish to try Linux -which as far as I know,
AOL still doesn't support. But how many ISPs do?

Weatherlawyer wrote:

Since they supply a free firewall from McAfee there isn't a problem.

I would not want to rely on a software firewall running on the end users
PC as the only means of defence.

I have always found their help excellent. I couldn't get online with
BT until I was paying for two services. Even then they only deferred
repayment over a period of time that I had a landline with them.

Not sure that comparing with BT tells you much

I can't say anything more than that as I don't have the lamer problems
I used to these days and wish to try Linux -which as far as I know,
AOL still doesn't support. But how many ISPs do?

Demon, PlusNet, Nildram, A&A to name a few. In reality pretty much any
ISP will enable use of other OSs via a router, but you may still find a
few that require Windows / IE or use of their bespoke CD for account setup.

TalkTalk excelled themselves in retarded circular logic in this respect:

"Sorry we can't help you if you are using a router. Please install the
supplied modem and ring us back. "

Few hours of waiting on the phone later, customer says "can't install
the modem, are you sure it work with Mac OSX 10.4", TT; "Let us check
again, oh, no apparently not with that version, the drivers are not
compatible - have you got a router?"

You can guess the rest.

(BT line fault which they never resolved in 4 months of being told there
was no ADSL signal present on the line)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Jul 22, 7:45 pm, "the_constructor"
wrote:
I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have call centres
in GB...?

TIA
--
the_constructor

TT have been fine for me over the last 12 months.

MBQ

On 2007-07-24 16:14:48 +0100, John Rumm said:

Demon, PlusNet, Nildram, A&A to name a few. In reality pretty much any
ISP will enable use of other OSs via a router, but you may still find a
few that require Windows / IE or use of their bespoke CD for account
setup.

TalkTalk excelled themselves in retarded circular logic in this respect:

"Sorry we can't help you if you are using a router. Please install the
supplied modem and ring us back. "

Few hours of waiting on the phone later, customer says "can't install
the modem, are you sure it work with Mac OSX 10.4", TT; "Let us check
again, oh, no apparently not with that version, the drivers are not
compatible - have you got a router?"

You can guess the rest.

(BT line fault which they never resolved in 4 months of being told
there was no ADSL signal present on the line)

Another trick that I've just encountered is the LLU bulk migration scam.

Provider decides that he wants to migrate his customers at a given
exchange to LLU either by installing his own equipment or buying a
wholesale service from other than BT Wholesale. Apparently, (I believe
because of Ofcom rules) he is supposed to contact customers and ask if
they want to be migrated away from BT Wholesale. This is because
migration to a different ISP often then costs more.

For whatever reason, this doesn't happen and he migrates his user base.

Apart from the obvious customer retention advantage that he gets, he
also may have forgotten to remove customers who have recently migrated
to another ISP from his asset list. These customers then get
migrated to LLU and the original provider claims that he is still
providing service and asks for payment.

Meanwhile, the new provider will be charged a connection fee to bring
the line back to BT Wholesale. As far as BT are concerned, they had
been asked to cease service when the LLU migration was done.

On Jul 24, 4:37 pm, "
wrote:
On Jul 22, 7:45 pm, "the_constructor"
wrote:

I am thinking of changing my ISP but am a little concerned who to go to.

Has Talk Talk improved over the last 12 months and do they have call centres
in GB...?

TT have been fine for me over the last 12 months.


That's it then. I will sign up no delay.

On Jul 24, 10:59 pm, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Jul 24, 4:37 pm, "

TT have been fine for me over the last 12 months.

That's it then. I will sign up no delay.

I am surprised that Talk Talk didn't go head to head with Tiscali on
he
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/new/complain/clist.shtml

No douibt that is because no one with the sense to use ISPreview would
use TalkTalk?

So why would they use Tiscali?

On 2007-07-25 02:39:21 +0100, Weatherlawyer said:

On Jul 24, 10:59 pm, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Jul 24, 4:37 pm, "

TT have been fine for me over the last 12 months.

That's it then. I will sign up no delay.

I am surprised that Talk Talk didn't go head to head with Tiscali on
he
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/new/complain/clist.shtml

No douibt that is because no one with the sense to use ISPreview would
use TalkTalk?

So why would they use Tiscali?

These review sites are of relatively limited value for several reasons:

- ISPs with a larger customer base will experience larger numbers of
complaints.

- There is no indication as to whether the problem related to a
complaint really is the ISP's fault or is that the customer has finger
trouble or expectations beyond what is being provided. That can be
because of over-marketing by the provider, or the customer not
understanding that speed and connectivity are not completely under the
provider's control.

- Like almost all things, the price that the customer pays heavily
influences what they get. For example, the entry level providers
tend to employ techniques such as traffic shaping, caching and other
contention methods. They don't invest in proper support. They
economise on peering and transit arrangements and go for poorer SLAs on
connectivity. All of this taken together adds up to poorer customer
satisfaction especially for customers who have been taken in by the
marketing, expect something for nothing, don't know any better and
have limited technical ability themselves.

- To some extent, the review sites drive the market. A provider
gets a good review or two or comes close to the top of a league. They
get lots more customers as a result. If they are then unable to step
up the provisioning and support, the service quality drops and people
migrate away. Then the provider gets acquired if they are lucky or
goes broke if they aren't

Andy Hall wrote:

- Like almost all things, the price that the customer pays heavily
influences what they get. For example, the entry level providers tend
to employ techniques such as traffic shaping, caching and other
contention methods. They don't invest in proper support. They

The other critical failure of many comparison sites is they take no
account of the package that the customer has purchased. This can have a
big impact on the level of performance and support that different users
get from the same ISP, leading to radically differing views and
experiences of them.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
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| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/