UPC - Timeout Issues

rabbitinlights

I have recently gotten 20mb UPC broadband and I've started to notice an annoying problem; When I start to download a torrent (Legal one obviously) and I browse at the same time, I keep getting time outs and error connections on every website.

It's not the torrent using the bandwidth as it happens when a torrent is trickling down at<2kbs and it also seems to be intermittent as I could be browsing for a few minutes fine and then I click on a link in the same site and I get a time out?

I've noticed this behavior on both laptops in the house (Mac + Vista) and a friend has also mentioned this happening to him as well with the exact same set up as myself (NTL, same router etc.)

When I close the torrent program the issue remains for a few minutes and then I can browse with no issues.

Anyone have similar issues?

christophicus

I been getting disconnects from GameSurge IRC. Rather annoying really.

Stokolan

Ive had a few dissconnects from stuff lately too.. Yesterday was a real bad day. I was down from 20mb to 4mb at 1 stage. Over at my mates he was down to about 1.5mb. I wonder if it has anything to do with there upgrades for this year?

Jim236

Is it just me or is anyone else getting a problem with NTL broadband where it can take ages(up to 20-30 seconds) for websites to start loading but once they start loading they load instantly? It also affects games where it can take a while to connect to an online server when it should be instant. I'm on a 10MB connection which is going through a wireless router, but even on just a direct connection the problem still exists.

vibe666

are you still using the ntl dns servers?

i was using the level3 onesbut had some problems so i switched back to opendns and it seems to be working fine now.

i've recently upgraded the firmware on my router and it's much more reliale in general now so i might well try switching back to the level3 servers again and see how it is.

te opendns servers are: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 and the level3 ones are 4.2.2.1, 4.2.2.2, 4.2.2.3, 4.2.2.4 (possibly all the way up to 4.2.2.6, not 100% sure tho).

try either of those and seeif it's any better.

opendns have a lot of 'extra' features like content filtering and redirection which may be of use to some people, but if you're the sort of person that worries about people logging what you look at on t'internet then level3 might be a better as they don't log any of the dns requests made to their servers or mess with them in any way like opendns do.

Moriarty

The netgear WGR614 router that ntl provide is also pretty pants at handling more-than-normal numbers of tcp connections and will become extremely flaky if you push it over the edge. I'd suggest a linksys replacement as your first port of call.

christophicus

Moriarty wrote: »

I'd suggest a linksys replacement as your first port of call.

I'd agree, I have a Dlink myself, but having worked with Linksys all in ones I would go for them the next time I am going to get a new router, and would urge other people to do so too.

Jim236

Tried switching DNS servers but it didn't fix the problem. Its definitely not the wireless netgear router I'm using as even when I just have a direct connection off the NTL modem I still have the same problem, and when it was working normally it was with the wireless router connected. I'll ring them up again and see if they can do anything...

Tazzle

My msn & irc are always timing out. Extremely annoying.

Jim236

Here can anyone help with this. After speaking to about 4 different people from NTL yesterday, all of which were f**k all help, I was told that my NTL modem was working properly but that my computer wasn't picking up the IP address from the modem properly or something along those lines. I asked them what that meant and they said they didn't know and that I'd have to ring a 1550 number for IT support which would cost €1 a minute. I told him there was nothing wrong with my computer and I shouldn't have to pay to get this fixed, and he said if they find its NTL's fault they'll pay for the call.

Can someone explain what he meant about the IP address thing? And should I go ahead and ring that number or ring up NTL again and ask to speak to 'higher up' staff to fix the issue?

vibe666

what troubleshooting did they do with you? did they at least ask you do open a dos window and type 'ipconfig/all' without the quotes and then ask you what information was in there before deciding that was the problem?

because if they didn't at least do that (or check your network settings in windows to find out) then they're bullsh1tting you into paying for a premium rate call because they're stupid and don't have a clue what they are doing.

do it now, just go to: "start > run" and type in cmd and when the dos window comes up type ipconfig/all at the prompt and copy/paste it here and one of the lads will tell you if you're getting the correct ip address, gateway and dns etc.

also while you're there at a dos prompt do some quick ping testing by typing ping www.boards.ie and ping www.bbc.co.uk and see what response you get.

if you get anything except 4 replies, try pinging their ip addresses instead 89.234.66.107 (for boards) and 212.58.224.138 for the bbc site and see if you get a reply then.

if you're still not having any luck let us know and we can move on to checking other stuff.

Jim236

.

boredtalk

The problem is more than likely with UPC, don't waste you time with their support people.

I have the following setup:

internet <--> UPC supplied modem (Motorola) <--> Beiko Wireless router <--> Laptop (Windows Vista)

and I constantly get connection timeout issues while trying to access www.worden.com.

The web site is fine as proven by the fact that using a vodaphone 3G modem I have no trouble connecting and using the tools on the website.

So I believe the problem is with UPC. Also I removed the router from the above setup by connecting my laptop directly to the modem...still no joy. AND in this configuration I even turn off my McAfee firewall just while trying to use the web site....still no good.

The following might be waffle....but it seems to me....
In some other thread it was suggested that UPC hide user like myself behind one IP address (or proxy IP) and then use a DNS server to provide a connection to each user (me). If this is so then there may be an issue as the remote server might think it's lost connection to me due to UPC supplying anlternative temporary IP address for me???

The-Game

Tazzle wrote: »

My msn & irc are always timing out. Extremely annoying.

The same with me along with Xbox live over the past few weeks. driving me mad!

dub45

Jim236 wrote: »

Here can anyone help with this. After speaking to about 4 different people from NTL yesterday, all of which were f**k all help, I was told that my NTL modem was working properly but that my computer wasn't picking up the IP address from the modem properly or something along those lines. I asked them what that meant and they said they didn't know and that I'd have to ring a 1550 number for IT support which would cost €1 a minute. I told him there was nothing wrong with my computer and I shouldn't have to pay to get this fixed, and he said if they find its NTL's fault they'll pay for the call.

A lot of us on here feared this type of crap when they announced the support line. I wonder can anyone post about their experiences with this support no? Is there any evidence that it is staffed by any more qualified people that the UPC ordinary support? It sounds like a total rip off at the moment!!! I can only imagine the in and outs and calls to try and get a refund off UPC if this mysterious 'they' find it is 'their' fault.

The website states:

Premium PC Support deals with computer problems that are not directly related to our broadband service such as setting up a new computer, firewalls and viruses.

http://www.upc.ie/service
/?aid=84

Surely the suggestion to ring the premium no mentioned above directly conflicts with this? Also as far as I can see in the T&C's on the page linked to above I can see no reference to a refund as mentioned above (but it is late!)

pingpongz

I have had several conversations with chorus about this. Their excuse was that there is noise on the line and they are trying to fix it. (on going 6 days now)

I will be writing an official letter of complaint to their head office about their ongoing issues.

Quite simply the worst ISP in Ireland.


As for the 20mb line. You never get 20mb, i downgraded to 10mg after 2 months as i NEVER received the correct speeds. I replaced my router from the **** linksy they supplied but with very little improvement. The max speed i ever receieved was 14mb

Avoid these mugs at all cost.

Bottleopener

Just thought as I saw this thread I'd point out about a problem I have with Windows Live Messenger. Basically it times out every so often and completely disconnects me and I go to a page saying "reconnecting in 30 seconds". Gets really annoying when in group conversations. This problem happens on two different computers in the house, so I'm assuming it's to do with our network (UPC)

dub45

Bottleopener wrote: »

Just thought as I saw this thread I'd point out about a problem I have with Windows Live Messenger. Basically it times out every so often and completely disconnects me and I go to a page saying "reconnecting in 30 seconds". Gets really annoying when in group conversations. This problem happens on two different computers in the house, so I'm assuming it's to do with our network (UPC)

Not necessarily my msn often drops and I am on Smart.

Bottleopener

dub45 wrote: »

Not necessarily my msn often drops and I am on Smart.

Interesting. Thanks for telling me .