Esat BT Broadband package with wireless modem

BeagleBoy

Hi,

I have recently had a phone line installed and am now going to sign up for broadband. I have decided on Esat BT as they seem to provide the best value for money (30 euro per month including line rental for 2Mg) of the providers available in my area (Eircom, Esat BT, Digiweb, Imagine). Unless of course someone can convince me otherwise now

Anyway with BT you can pay 40 euro extra to upgrade to a wireless modem. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the make/model of wireless modem that Esat BT provide and if it works well?. Or should I be buying my own wireless modem?

Thanks,
BB

kaizersoze

BT 2mb BB is €40p/m including line rental. It's still the best value DSL if you can't get Smart BB.
They don't have the wireless modem in stock yet (March I was told) and don't seem to know what type it's going to be. They currently provide a ZyXEL modem and it's more than likely they will stick with ZyXEL for the wireless one. Possibly this one (http://www.zyxel.com/product/model.php?indexcate=1079416368&indexcate1=1021877946&indexFlagvalue=1021873638) or similiar, which is an excellent modem by all accounts.
One CS rep told me she thought it was going to be a Belkin model but basically she didn't know. I can't really see them messing about with 2 manufacturers.

Merli

kaizersoze you're correct.

I got it yesterday. Apparently, I'm on of 12 new users who got the new modem. It took a while to sort out as DSL connections on Modem were incorrectly set and it took a while to find someone on tech support who had the correct values. Ethernet connection now works great.

However, Wireless connection did not work - My laptop with wireless card could 'See' the SSID, but I could not connect. Tech support conceded that the modem was faulty and they are sending a new one, but I'm not so sure.
I still feel it's a setting either on my laptop or through the modem that is causing the problem. I'm no expert. but I know there is no encyption or MAC filtering set up on the modem, it is completely open, but won't let me connect. I have XP Home, service pack two and the latest driver for my wireless card. I can connect quite easily to other wireless sources.
Anyone got any ideas?

kaizersoze

Merli,
If the laptop can see the router and the router has no security setup then it's most likely a setting on the laptop that's the problem.
Make sure your anti-virus or firewall is not blocking the connection by disabling them temporarily.
Check the network settings of the wireless connection on the laptop to make sure it's not hanging onto an IP address from a previous connection. Set it to "obtain IP address automatically".
To check it's current IP address:
Click Start-->Run
And type cmd. Hit return.
At the command prompt type ipconfig and hit return.
This will list the various connections and their IP addresses.
The default gateway (if it's listed) will be your router.
If you have the laptop is connected via an ethernet cable, then disconnect it and disable the plug in network connection on the laptop.
BTW, did they tell you that you now own the router after paying the €40?

BeagleBoy

kaizersoze wrote:

BT 2mb BB is €40p/m including line rental. It's still the best value DSL if you can't get Smart BB.
They don't have the wireless modem in stock yet (March I was told) and don't seem to know what type it's going to be. They currently provide a ZyXEL modem and it's more than likely they will stick with ZyXEL for the wireless one. Possibly this one (http://www.zyxel.com/product/model.php?indexcate=1079416368&indexcate1=1021877946&indexFlagvalue=1021873638) or similiar, which is an excellent modem by all accounts.
One CS rep told me she thought it was going to be a Belkin model but basically she didn't know. I can't really see them messing about with 2 manufacturers.

Yes sorry I meant €40p/m

BeagleBoy

Merli wrote:

kaizersoze you're correct.

I got it yesterday. Apparently, I'm on of 12 new users who got the new modem. It took a while to sort out as DSL connections on Modem were incorrectly set and it took a while to find someone on tech support who had the correct values. Ethernet connection now works great.
QUOTE]

I suppose thats one disadvantage of signing up for the wireless option , if they're just rolling it out now its going to take a few months to iorn out all the little issues...

Diabolus

kaizersoze wrote:

BTW, did they tell you that you now own the router after paying the €40?

Their T&C's state that the modems remain BT's property.
So u gotta send it back when ur finished with them.

Merli

kaizersoze,
No one mentioned anything about the policy with the modem and I didn't ask, although like Diabolus, I do remember reading that it remains their property.

And it looks like they'll be getting this one back sooner than they thought as no one in their tech support team can get the wireless connection working.
I've disabled the Ethernet port, and when I run IPCONFIG it tells me that the Ethernet Wireless Adapter is Disconnected.
It still sees the SSID, but after 2 minutes of trying to dosconnect, it gives up and tells me it can't connect.
I've disconneced all firewalls and still no joy. I've even gone as far as to reinstall a fresh XP Home with SP2 and the latest drivers. Still won't connect. The wireless settings are set to "obtain IP address automatically".

Strange how I can connect to my neighbours Wireless, but am unable to connect to the router beseide me.
The new routers are 11g and my wireless card is 11b - Could this be the problem??

Diabolus

The P660-HW is compliant with 802.11b aswell.. read that here in this PDF

Sounds like a bogey router my man.

Merli

Just off the phone from tech support - apparently they have identified the problem and they are putting together a disk which will upgrade the firmware of the modem. It just occured to me that the the modem would have to be connected via USB to be able to upgrade firmware, but maybe I'm wrong.
So that's it, BT Wireless is now officially not wireless.
And if you're unfortunate enough to talk to the wrong guy/gall, they won't know what settings must be switched to enable BB via Ethernet cable.
But don't despair - the magic disk will fix everything. What a joke, they could have done a little testing before sending them out.

Small point, in my contract I agreed for BT wireless - although I can access via Ethernet, I'm assuming I have a case of not paying for the service until the day they manage to get wireless up and running. I don't remember agreeing for a service which leaves me sitting on the stairs hooked up via a cable beside my only telephone point.

IT Loser

what worries me is that i am signing up for the same thing, but after this i might just piss off and buy my own shagging router.

Diabolus

IT Loser wrote:

what worries me is that i am signing up for the same thing, but after this i might just piss off and buy my own shagging router.

You'd be better off but they wont support ya

skywalker

Im in the process of signing up with them myself. I just ordered my own wireless router.

sturgo

why not go an extra €20 and buy your own wireless router?

BeagleBoy

sturgo wrote:

why not go an extra €20 and buy your own wireless router?

I suppose for the reason that Diabolus said. If I buy my own and have connectivity problems BT wont support me....

positron

I am about to sign up for BT (outside Dublin, no Smart etc) - Reading all of the above, I am thinking of getting own wireless modem router on eBay - could someone please recommend a model that would work well with BT?

Thanks a million!

dub45

positron wrote:

I am about to sign up for BT (outside Dublin, no Smart etc) - Reading all of the above, I am thinking of getting own wireless modem router on eBay - could someone please recommend a model that would work well with BT?

Thanks a million!

Unfortunately it is not that easy - wireless equipment is notoriously unpredictable - look at some of the threads on here and you will find people swearing by Linksys and damning Netgear and vice versa etc etc and it is the same on boards all over the net - the linksys wag54g is an old reliable so at least have a look at that on the other hand dont go near the linksys wag54gs which has a design fault to put it charitably!

positron

I was afraid of that - I guess in that case I will stick to BT's own router. Its only 40 euros anyway. Thanks!