UTVip XL - Atrocious!

DirksDiggler

After months,nay years of waiting for a flat rate package isn't it typical that two arrive at once.Anyway money talks and all that so I opted for the UTV package and how I regret so.

How many times I've been disconnected these past two weeks requires a pocket calculator to estimate whilst Einstein himself couldn't possibly keep track of the number of sites my connection has seemingly ground to a halt whilst loading.

That particular treat occurs especially when I attempt to browse multiple pages simultaneously.And for multiple read two,three at the absolute most.

Honestly,I'm fuming at the shodiness of the service I've so far received and should the problem not be rectified UTV won't see my arse for dust once the initial 3 month contract has expired.

So....

how's everyone finding the IOL Anytime equivalent?


Oh and Hi.

First post.

flamegrill

Originally posted by DirksDiggler
After months,nay years of waiting for a flat rate package isn't it typical that two arrive at once.Anyway money talks and all that so I opted for the UTV package and how I regret so.

How many times I've been disconnected these past two weeks requires a pocket calculator to estimate whilst Einstein himself couldn't possibly keep track of the number of sites my connection has seemingly ground to a halt whilst loading.

That particular treat occurs especially when I attempt to browse multiple pages simultaneously.And for multiple read two,three at the absolute most.

Honestly,I'm fuming at the shodiness of the service I've so far received and should the problem not be rectified UTV won't see my arse for dust once the initial 3 month contract has expired.

So....

how's everyone finding the IOL Anytime equivalent?


Oh and Hi.

First post.

<slants eyes>

Have you contacted UTV about your problems? Probably not, well to be honest a problem can't be fixed until its raised as a problem between you and the service provider.

I've been using UTV since its inception as UTVip back in september last year. It's been fine, surely had its ups and downs, but certainly been a breeze to deal with and any problems I've had sorted in hours, not days, weeks etc like others.

</slants eyes>

sci0x

I have to say that i have experienced a few problems but nothing too serious. Sometimes I connect and i cant surf or it wont receive mail until i disconnect and connect again maybe upto 4 times but that problem seems to have sorted itself out. But yet this still isn't complete flatrate though is it. With flatrate you dont have 180 hours a month to keep under!

Urban Weigl

Getting constantly disconnected, web pages stalling or not downloading properly and so on usually indicates a problem with your phone line, i.e. Eircom, and not UTV. If you can, get ISDN. For downloading web pages it isn't that much faster than a good 56k connection, but especially if your line isn't the best it is a dramatic improvement, not to mention you will never get disconnected! (at least in my experience)

eth0_

Originally posted by denis_o_leary
But yet this still isn't complete flatrate though is it. With flatrate you dont have 180 hours a month to keep under!

Flatrate is NOT the same as always-on. But that's an argument for a different thread.

As for UTVxl, i'm on UTVip and have noticed it's been quite a bit slower since XL launched.

bizmark

its hell getting iol

but by god their products rule once on

i had netsmart for around a year no problum,s with connection at 48kbs

now iol broadband at 512kbs aaaaaaaaall the time

DMT

Originally posted by DirksDiggler
How many times I've been disconnected these past two weeks requires a pocket calculator to estimate whilst Einstein himself couldn't possibly keep track of the number of sites my connection has seemingly ground to a halt whilst loading.

You have a software controlled PCI Winmodem and may even be using Windows 98.
I had this same problem - disconnects every 5 minutes, webpages timing-out etc - I then bought an external serial hardware-controlled modem which solved the problem, giving consistantly good connections.
I'd blame 90% of these type of problems on Winmodems.

PiE

Yea defintely sounds like a line or modem problem. Try getting a lend of an external modem to test it out.

eth0_

Originally posted by DMT

I'd blame 90% of these type of problems on Winmodems.

I don't think winmodems are as bad nowadays. And you can't blame this problems on this guys winmodem, there have been quite a lot of complains about disconnects and general lag on utv since XL launched. Check out their support forum for a little proof

eth0_

Originally posted by PiE
Yea defintely sounds like a line or modem problem. Try getting a lend of an external modem to test it out.

Or he could try setting up a free isp account and connecting to that for a wee while and see if he gets the same problem. Oceanfree is generally the best to use to test.

RicardoSmith

Personally I'm also getting huge amounts of disconnects, and it can take a few attempts to logon. I've haven't risked moving my email across. It could be my settings - hardware - line but I don't think so. Especially as I never had this with my old ISP or any of the free ISP's I use as a backup. (should I need a backup?) I haven't had the time to chase up the issue with the support people yet.

PiE

But that'd cost money eth0 :[

Ricardo, have u downloaded the latest dialler? The new one fixed that for me... (until it stopped working altogether :rolleyes:).

DirksDiggler

I've got E*rcom and IOL's Free ISP installed on my PC.

Both of them firmly leave XL in the shade.

I dunno.Maybe I'll pop along to the Credit Union later this summer and borrow a few shillings for this new fangled BB thingy.

conZ

I have to laugh. I knew everyone would jump at this, without hearing what it was like.

UTVip on ISDN average 80-160 ping in CS (Eircom averages 50), now this is even worse. It is a 5hite service.

I dont think ye should be accepting this, and dont really think ye should have gone for it in the first place, knowing that the higher the contention, the worse your connection will be.

sci0x

Yah good point conZ. Loadsa ppl are obviously gonna go 4 it seeing that UTV advertised so much. And i dont even get pings that good! I think i'll contact UTV alright about this. They are constantly comparing their prices to Eircom's but they dont compare the quality of service. The different in pings between the two is just not on. I'll start e-mailing. Maybe we all shud they'd listen if there was a load of ppl complaining!

Eurorunner

That particular treat occurs especially when I attempt to browse multiple pages simultaneously.And for multiple read two,three at the absolute most.

well, my experience since coming back to 56k land is that i have to be carefull how heavy the pages are that i'm browsing simultaneously...cos really it doesnt work as a practise with a 56k line. I was used to having a taskbar full of pages open, switching between them - when i had access to a good dsl line...but a couple of months of 56k and i dont bother multiple paging any more.

RicardoSmith

Well I thought I had the latest dialer and if I don't it should at least prompt me that theres a newer one. Half the time it says I've entered the wrong password and username. Doh! the dialer does that...

I'm don't play games online so really ping times aren't too much an issue. Its a little slower than my previous connection but I simply can't afford connecting via the other ISP's anymore and I don't pass the BB line test. basically UTVipXL is my only option. Especially I dial in at peak time quite a bit.

sci0x

oh dear god, browsing mupltile web pages is not possible with a 56k unless the pages u are browsing have only text in them lol or if you have LOADS of time on your hands! What were u thinking coming down to a 56k from a DSL line. The price difference is huge though is it?

sci0x

Hey Ricardo that happened me too. Go into the dialer and make sure u are connecting to the UTV Internet connection and not UTV.

If you upgraded to the new account then the username and pass wont work for the old one. Maybe thats the prob.

DeVore

They'll prise my broadband from my cold clammy dead hands.

DeV.

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by denis_o_leary
Hey Ricardo that happened me too. Go into the dialer and make sure u are connecting to the UTV Internet connection and not UTV.

If you upgraded to the new account then the username and pass wont work for the old one. Maybe thats the prob.

Except that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't it will the next time I redial (using the dialler). So it must be correct.

Giblet

Something should be done about this:

Pinging games2.iol.ie [193.120.201.112] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 193.120.201.112: bytes=32 time=96ms TTL=243
Reply from 193.120.201.112: bytes=32 time=110ms TTL=243
Reply from 193.120.201.112: bytes=32 time=123ms TTL=243
Reply from 193.120.201.112: bytes=32 time=110ms TTL=243

Ping statistics for 193.120.201.112:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 96ms, Maximum = 123ms, Average = 109ms


My 56K modem pinged as well on Eircom as my ISDN does now on UTV.
Something has to be done.

PiE

They are trying to improve pings. Every time someone mentions it on the newsgroup, poor old Carl goes and chases it up. They've even done a few hardware upgrades in response to the complaints.

So it's not like they're ignoring the complaints, like say... a certain other duopoly would.

Eurorunner

What were u thinking coming down to a 56k from a DSL line. The price difference is huge though is it?

i relocated back to this soggy island:rolleyes:

Chowley

oh dear god, browsing mupltile web pages is not possible with a 56k unless the pages u are browsing have only text in them lol or if you have LOADS of time on your hands!

I have absolutely no problem with multi page browsing on iol free, and normal pages too not text only, try Opera 7 its great I hate IE now its a terrible browser everything about opera is better.:D

Stonemason

They'll prise my broadband from my cold clammy dead hands.

My version would be

Ill have cold clammy dead hands before i ever get BB somehow not so funny .

Staying with the thread i must admit that the only problem ive noticed is that i get dropped allot more quickly these days when im reading long posts so either im reading more slowly (possible )or they have reduce there idle time.

Gavin

Originally posted by Giblet


My 56K modem pinged as well on Eircom as my ISDN does now on UTV.
Something has to be done.

What are your pings to uk machines like ?

Gav

LoBo

Originally posted by denis_o_leary
They [UTVi] are constantly comparing their prices to Eircom's but they dont compare the quality of service. The different in pings between the two is just not on. I'll start e-mailing. Maybe we all shud they'd listen if there was a load of ppl complaining!

Just a poke in the dark here - but I gather you were not in Ireland for the last oh I don't know .. 6-8 years? Watching our beloved Eircom charge 5c a minute for 'free' internet access? Watching them refuse, fight and deny flat rate internet access and BB until we're so far behind the rest of europe its laughable? (The UK (just as an example) has had flat rate dialup for cheaper for the last .. 5+ years [?] and BB cheaper and faster for 2-3 yrs?)
"I'll start emailing you say" - well please do, i'm sure UTVi will be more than willing to sort out the problem (and in fact they probably already know - they read this forum - and provide feedback here). But please don't compare Eircom's "quality of service" without thinking about what they've done to internet access in ireland.

elsoldemayo

I can't say I haven't noticed any dip in service since switching from UTVip to XL - still connecting at about 42kbps and getting consistent download speed of between 3.7k to 4.3k.
Connection can be a bit slower between 8pm & 11pm but I usually connect during the day now that it doesn't cost any extra.

gandalf

Hmm no problems with UTVip XL here but then again I am using ISDN. I'd suggest contacting them to see if they can help you, anytime I have had a reason to contact UTV support they've been very helpful and they do know their stuff (unlike some other nameless Irish ISP's).

Gandalf.

trap4

I definitely *have* noticed a dip in performance since moving to UTVip XL. It now regularly takes numerous attempts to login and then often slows to a crawl with some disconnects.

And this has nothing to do with my Windows 98 or winmodems or anything like that because when it becomes unbearable I login with my old backup IOL free account without a problem.

I'm going to stick it out with UTV though because I've been very happy with their customer service, both here and on the phone, so I know they'll get it right. Well they'd better anyway :rolleyes: