NTL/UPC(whatever their name is :)) broadband router

MIN2511

Hi Guys,

My housemate and i are getting NTL on Monday. It seems to be the most affordable right now.
NTL quoted €50 for a router, which i think is a bit pricey:mad:.
Has anyone been in this situation? What did you do?
My housemate seems to think if we get a router and it doesn't work then we can't blame NTL...

Will any router do?

Cheers
M

_Sidhe_

Why would UPC support your router?
If you bought it in PC World and six months later lost the WEP/WPA key, would you expect them to repair it?
Most router manufacturers (the bigger names anyway), have their own tech lines.
Netgear/Belkin/Linksys/D-Link etc.
If you break your router, or if it breaks itself, you call them.

And the Netgear Router that UPC supply is the Netgear WGR614

Not great, but for what it is, it's okay.

Not worth €50!
The thing costs more than that, and you're getting the Network set up for you!

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=2HZ6

The installing alone would cost you more than €50 if you paid a tech to do it for you.

vibe666

ntl employee then?

there's a lot of threads here talking about the ntl supplied router being brutal and not worth the money or hassle.

most, if not all routers come with a quick set up guide that will take 5-10 minutes to go through, depending on how many devices you are going to connect to it and as far as the router to modem connection goes, it's a 30 second job of plugging the power and ethernet in.

frankly, if you have any problems with anything to do with your broadband or wireless connection the last people you'll want to speak to are ntl as they are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to support. any router support number will give you better support than ntl, if for no other reason than they would have to try extra hard to be any worse!

_Sidhe_

vibe666 wrote: »

ntl employee then?
there's a lot of threads here talking about the ntl supplied router being brutal and not worth the money or hassle.
most, if not all routers come with a quick set up guide that will take 5-10 minutes to go through, depending on how many devices you are going to connect to it and as far as the router to modem connection goes, it's a 30 second job of plugging the power and ethernet in.
frankly, if you have any problems with anything to do with your broadband or wireless connection the last people you'll want to speak to are ntl as they are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to support. any router support number will give you better support than ntl, if for no other reason than they would have to try extra hard to be any worse!

No, simply a longtime Troll who gets annoyed at some of the crap spouted in here.

Does the Netgear WGR614 cost more than €50 to purchase normally?
Yes.

Does it cost more than €50 to get somebody to set up your wireless Network?
Yes.

Is the WGR series a great router?
No.

Is it good for the price?
Maybe.

Is it a bad router?
No.

While you find loads of threads here calling it sh*te, you'll find reviews all over the internet saying it's very good for what it is.
It's a great starter router, as I've never seen one with a more user friendly interface.

I've used it before, and still have it somewhere.
I never once had a problem with it, cause I set it up properly.
Back when I had 6mb BB, I got 600k down on a constant basis, and I'll guarantee you if I set it up now, I'd get 2mb down straight away.
The amount of people on here who complain about speed, but have never properly configured their router, and in some cases haven't even rebooted it in half a year!

UPC have a hell of a lot of problems, but a lot of posters (especially the old NTL rather than Chorus customers I've noticed) just automatically blame them for everything.

I wish to christ there was a better fibre provider too, but there isn't, and for the €40 odd quid I get my BB off them for, I get a hell of a lot more than anywhere else in this tech barren country.
I'm lucky in that I've never had any problems really.
A couple of off days over the years I've had it, and usually up in a couple of hours.

But I've lived in other countries, and I know how most ISP's work.
Like waiting for weeks for Virgin to install over in England, and then simply been sent out the equipment to self install.
(It was the exact same router BTW, so i'm guessing it's a common one for cable BB providers)
The same with Eircom here.
Now this was years ago, so I don't know if they have changed or imptoved much, so don't hold me to it.
But I had to wait 2 1/2 years to get BB off Eircom, while my next door neighbour had it!
When eventually they did arrange it, I had to wait 3 weeks, for them to post me out a modem, which of course I had to self install.

With UPC I called, had an insatller out in 3 days, and was set up in 20 mins.
Of course the first thing I did was reset the router and configure it up properly!:P

I've never had a service call from them, so I couldn't talk to you about that, coud be terrible, and i'm just lucky.
But I'm speaking from my personal experience.
You've just written off a router, that you seemingly never touched, on the advice from one internet forum, of people who seem to not like UPC.

No matter what ISP I bought (that's the important word, bought, not rented) a router off, I'd automatically assume it was mine.
When somethings mine, I know I can do whatever I want with it, but it's my responsibility.
If I want to smash it off a wall, then I can.
But as you probably know, there are a million and one things that can cause interference on a wireless network.
Especially it the owner does nothing to maintain it.
So if it goes down, I fix it.

I'm using a Belkin router at the moment, and in the box, was a card with their tech support number.
Guess who I'd ring if I ever did have a problem?!
And with how bad ye seem to say UPC is, I for one would be happy to not have to ring them!

Your post is a perfect example of some attitudes here.
I point out that all router manufacturers nowadays have their own support lines.
So because I'm not writing death threats to UPC, I automatically work for them!:rolleyes:

Do you wear tissue boxes for shoes by any chance?!:P

No I don't work for UPC, but if I remember correctly, my brother once worked for Chorus, for a few months, about 15 years ago (not sure if it was Chorus then, all the name changes run together after a while!).
does that bar me from talking about them?!!
If it makes you feel any better, I think it was just tv he worked with.:pac:

But none of this really addresses the OP's point.
I'm fairly sure that UPC wouldn't suport your router, unless you're renting it off of them.
If you're buying it, it's yours.
If you're renting it, then yes they have to support it.
Ask the sales person to make that clear to you.
Make a special point of it, cause one thing I've learnt is that most sales agents in any company know SFA about what they're actually selling!:D
If they're selling, then it's your choice.
Either pay €50 for a router worth more than €50, with a free installation, or buy your own, and set it up yourself.
Either way, learn how to maintain your network yourself, if UPC are that bad, it saves you rining them.;)


(Note to self, no more drunken posting!:D)

TestTransmission

OP,order the 20mb instead of the 10mb/6mb

You get a free router with that,downgrade after the month,you pay the extra tenner for the month and a tenner downgrade free so the router only costs ya 20 euro.

This is what I did,it was a chorus salesperson who recommended it to me.

lambchops

Wow Sidhe what a post. I for one am one of those that would say the router supplied by NTL/Chorus(UPC) is useless and is not worth the price they charge for it or even worth being free on the 20Mb package. I've worked in IT the last five years and know exactly how to setup a home wireless network. I've replaced my supplied router and as soon as i set it up properly i saw a significant increase in speed and network stability. Of course I do point out it all depends on the conditions the wireless network is expected to work in i.e thick concrete walls, numerous floors etc.

vibe666

lol, good post Sidhe, old habits die hard I guess.

but it's not just the one forum, it's lots of forums.

i already have 2 linksys routers that I've been using for several years, but i looked into the WGR614 when i started looking at getting ntl and the majority of what i saw was bad news, so i stuck with what i knew worked well for me.

complaints generally around wireless speed, regardless of the location, be it 20 feet away or sitting right next to the thing. wired speeds seem fine, it seems to be the wireless performance that's the main issue.

just out of curiosity, does anyone know what version of the WGR614 ntl are giving out?

my box is still sealed and i won't want to break it in case I ever decide to have a big ebay auction, I can still say it's new if it's shrink wrapped.

it's just there's rumours of 3rd party firmware compatibility (open-wrt, dd-wrt, tomato etc.) with the v8 WGR614 and possibly impending support for other versions eventually which would change the game immensely.

DingDong

It was V7(about a year ago) that was being supplied last time I checked. It usually tends to be latest. I have no problems with my WGR614 I usually get decent speeds of it. Either way it looks like they are moving away from the netgear router and going for an all in one modem/wireless router soon.
Link

vibe666

i just bit the bullet and just checked mine which they gave me when they installed the modem in november last year and it's a v7.

just done some more digging and there's no 3rd party firmware yet.

unfortunately it looks like the wgr614 v7 runs the vxworks firmware on a rather puny 2mb flash and 8mb ram which makes it pretty much unsuitable for any 3rd party firmware in the future, with the *possible* exception of dd-wrt 'micro' if they get hold of the hardware to test at some stage in the future, which isn't going to be a huge amount better than the stock firmware. ah well.

EDIT: the DD-WRT website has the v7 listed as 'not possible'.

com7

great post sidhe !

MIN2511

Quick update, i got a text off NTL saying they have cancelled my installation. I have contacted them 5 times in the last 24hrs, thrice they hung up on me and the other two i was 'transfered' this is not the first time we are trying to get connected with ntl... Bloody pain in the ass!

hightower1

vibe666 wrote: »

ntl employee then?

there's a lot of threads here talking about the ntl supplied router being brutal and not worth the money or hassle.

most, if not all routers come with a quick set up guide that will take 5-10 minutes to go through, depending on how many devices you are going to connect to it and as far as the router to modem connection goes, it's a 30 second job of plugging the power and ethernet in.

frankly, if you have any problems with anything to do with your broadband or wireless connection the last people you'll want to speak to are ntl as they are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to support. any router support number will give you better support than ntl, if for no other reason than they would have to try extra hard to be any worse!

For want of more tact on my behalf it would seem like you've a bone to pick with ISP's Vibe. Anyone who are happy with their service and express that (including myself) seem to accused of working for an ISP by you?! Not only is it rude (I certainly would not have the ignorance to ask anyone here where they work) its also not helpful.
Also do you not think its very insulting to anyone who would work for UPC to read that? I am sure should one of their employees post a grievence on
you there would be insults and blood pressure ahoy.
I'm sure they are people like you doing a job and what their bosses would tell them and I think they dont need you insulting them.:eek:


I apolagise for getting off topic there, I use one of their routers and find it can handle the speeds and data com perfectly. Not once has it dropped a connection in a year. For something I got for cut price form them as opposed to buying one of the shelf and then my own set up thats a deal and a half.lol.

_Sidhe_

No worries Vibe.
Like I said, drunk posting tends to make me ramble a bit.;)

I've never had a problem with UPC's service, and it was the most painless install I've ever had.
Can't say anything about the service until I'm unlucky enough to have a problem.

The way I see it, UPC have a horrible reputation because of NTL, in particular and Chorus.
The fact that it's ran by different people, seems to be overlooked.
Old habits die hard I suppose.

As in if something bad happens from one service provider, they get judged on that.
If something bad happens with UPC, they get judged on the years of shít with NTL.
People complain about UPC lying to them, but accept Eircom doing the exact same thing for instance.
(My mother recently tried to cancel her Eircom BB, was passed halfway around the world, before being told that UPC BB wouldn't work when her TV was on!:rolleyes:)

I try and judge them on the new owners only, but then again, that's probably cause I've been lucky enough to never have a problem!:P
If Eircom were bought out in the morning, I'd have to try and wash the bad memories I have of them out of my mind too I suppose.


Anyway, back to the OP.
Min, what do you mean it wass cancelled?
Did they call you and tell you it was cancelled or something?
That seems very strange.


P.S: DingDong, where did you get the info on the Cisco wireless modem.
Heard nothing about that.

vibe666

hightower1 wrote: »

For want of more tact on my behalf it would seem like you've a bone to pick with ISP's Vibe.

i've a bone to pick with anyone who can't do a proper job. not just ntl/upc and not just ISP's. you should too.

hightower1 wrote: »

Anyone who are happy with their service and express that (including myself) seem to accused of working for an ISP by you?! Not only is it rude (I certainly would not have the ignorance to ask anyone here where they work) its also not helpful.

oh i'm ever so sorry, did the nasty man on the internet hurt your little feelings?

hightower1 wrote: »

Also do you not think its very insulting to anyone who would work for UPC to read that? I am sure should one of their employees post a grievence on you there would be insults and blood pressure ahoy.

for calling them shiit? they'd have a hard job proving slander with THEIR reputation. next thing you know gordon ramsey will have me up in court for calling him a chef. :rolleyes:

hightower1 wrote: »

I'm sure they are people like you doing a job and what their bosses would tell them and I think they dont need you insulting them.:eek:

well, I DID used to work for an ISP several years ago so it's something i know a bit about. unlike most of the people you have to put up with now, i did a good job and i still do a good job in the position i'm in now and take pride in my work so i have very little time for anyone who can't be bothered with theirs, regardless of if they earn 10€ an hour or 100€.

i don't think a decent level of service and a decent level of customer service is too much to ask.

hightower1 wrote: »

I apolagise for getting off topic there, I use one of their routers and find it can handle the speeds and data com perfectly. Not once has it dropped a connection in a year. For something I got for cut price form them as opposed to buying one of the shelf and then my own set up thats a deal and a half.lol.

good for you, count yourself amongst the lucky few.

hightower1

oh i'm ever so sorry, did the nasty man on the internet hurt your little feelings?


If you would not like to be booted off here for aggrivated trolling I'd advise you mature your level of speech Vibe, again its not helpful or constructive . It just comes off plain arrogant and bitter.

vibe666

hightower1 wrote: »

If you would not like to be booted off here for aggrivated trolling I'd advise you mature your level of speech Vibe, again its not helpful or constructive . It just comes off plain arrogant and bitter.

you know my sides are actually hurting from laughing so much right now, you're absolutely priceless, you really are!

thanks so much, you just totally made my day.

21 posts in and you think you run the place? you really are new aren't you?

here's the thing. it's called an "opinion", you'll see a lot of them if you keep reading the forum, in all their many different guises and round here and everyone is entitled to voice there's, so unless you want a very short stay here you'll just have to get used to people not agreeing with yours from time to time, or quite possibly A LOT if you keep this sort of attitude up.

but seriously though, thanks for cheering me up, I'm still giggling.

oh, and you need to click on the 'quote' button if you plan on quoting someone else's posts.

and you spelt aggravated wrong.

hightower1

vibe666 wrote: »

you know my sides are actually hurting from laughing so much right now, you're absolutely priceless, you really are!

thanks so much, you just totally made my day.

21 posts in and you think you run the place? you really are new aren't you?

here's the thing. it's called an "opinion", you'll see a lot of them if you keep reading the forum, in all their many different guises and round here and everyone is entitled to voice there's, so unless you want a very short stay here you'll just have to get used to people not agreeing with yours from time to time, or quite possibly A LOT if you keep this sort of attitude up.

but seriously though, thanks for cheering me up, I'm still giggling.

oh, and you need to click on the 'quote' button if you plan on quoting someone else's posts.

and you spelt aggravated wrong.

very mature Vibe. very mature.

vibe666

ah bless.

lets see how you feel when you have a few thousand more posts under your belt. :pac:

hightower1

Oh Right so what you mean is that if you have a certain amount of posts you are entitled to ask random strangers where they work?
I'm sorry but if anyone came up to me in the street and asked that I'd call them a looper.

You seem to have a server superiority complex. opinion is one thing, when its at the expense of others its an expresssion of low self esteem.

I am no longer going to entertain you childish d**k measuring, its a forum not your life, although by your reaction to people you've never met I'd wonder.

Very best regards Vibe.

Scruff

go vibe! :pac:

vibe666

hightower1 wrote: »

Oh Right so what you mean is that if you have a certain amount of posts you are entitled to ask random strangers where they work?
I'm sorry but if anyone came up to me in the street and asked that I'd call them a looper.

sorry, maybe you hadn't realised that this is the internet, not the street. the whole point is you can ask people whatever you want.

on the other hand, if two people were having a conversation on the street and some knacker just walked up to them and butted in spouting a lot of shiite at one of them randomly because he thought he had a point, they'd rightly think HE was a bit of a looper. :rolleyes:

hightower1 wrote: »

You seem to have a server superiority complex. opinion is one thing, when its at the expense of others its an expression of low self esteem.

sorry, but what? a "server superiority complex"? sorry, but i even googled it and didn't get any hits. what are you on about. I do have a couple of servers here, but they're pretty average specced, so I'm not sure what you're getting at or it's relevance.

hightower1 wrote: »

I am no longer going to entertain you childish d**k measuring, its a forum not your life, although by your reaction to people you've never met I'd wonder.

no dick measuring going on here sorry, i just like winding up people who think they're clever.

hightower1 wrote: »

Very best regards Vibe.

ah thanks, love you too mate, look forward to your next attempt at whatever it was you were attempting here.

Scruff wrote: »

go vibe! :pac:

yeah baby, you know it! :pac::pac::pac:

hightower1

"when i was a teenager and it was just me and my mum, i used to have to sneak out into nearby fields and steal spuds so we'd have something to eat for dinner" - Vibe on how broke is broke....

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=59973596#post59973596


lol oh so thats where the superiority complex comes from and the assosiated low self esteem lol! You can post on about the 3rd level server support all ya like but it seems you will always feel like the boy sneaking out robbing spuds forever lol.


In relation to the actual topic here... A list of al well known user compiled reviews of the mentioned router. All good.

http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/wgr614-cable-dsl-wireless/4505-3319_7-21218238.html

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/Reviews.asp?ProductID=539

http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-WGR614-Wireless-G-Router/dp/B00008SCFL

http://www.ciao.co.uk/NETGEAR_WGR614_Cable_DSL_54_Mbps_Wireless_Router__Review_5696449



Seems like most actuall users like it, some people leave it in the box and think it gives bad performance. Unpacking it might help, thought that would be included on all your 3rd level support experience? hmmm. lol

vibe666

HA! i knew you couldn't let it go, well done, you're learning young one. you can use the 'search' and 'view profile' buttons on the forum, you'll be an old pro in no time!

the next lesson will be on how to use the 'quote' tags in a post. it's really easy, just click on the quote button of a post you want to reply to if there's something specific you have to say and it will 'quote' that post in your new post., it's really easy to do, you should try it, it will make your posts so much more readable and stop it looking like you're talking to yourself.

a few basic errors in your post though, we'll have to work on it a bit more, but you're getting there.

a basic understanding of psychology would have told you that growing up poor wouldn't give me a superiority complex. it might turn me into a serial killer, or the nicest bloke in the world (depending on my predisposition towards other people's suffering, but it's very unlikely to give me a superiority complex. now for instance if I kept a decent sized collection of pretend guns and ran around in camo gear shooting at people on the weekends that might be considered (psychologically speaking) a precursor to doing it in real life with real guns, but since i don't do anything like that, I think everyone is safe from me for now.

the truth of it is, i just enjoy fcuking with people on the internet, it helps sharpen the mind.

I'd be the first to say i'm wrong when I AM actually wrong, and I ave plenty of times in the past and I'm no stranger to the odd apology where it's merited, but other than that I'll keep arguing a valid point till the cows come home, it's just something I find fun to do when I'm not busy doing other things.

how cool is that though, you've become someone's hobby.

back to the router anyway, we've wandered off topic a bit here (another important rule!)

the problem with the WGR614 (specifically the v7 which is the one NTL/UPC provide) is that for every positive review there's a negative one. it depends very much what you're using your router for. if it's just for surfing the net then you'll probably be able to buy any one of a couple of dozen routers and never have a problem, but if you hook it up to a 20mbps broadband connection and start pushing a couple of hundred gb of data through it on a monthly basis as well as a heap of LAN traffic then you're going to have problems with a large percentage of those routers.

the thing is, that everyone knows (whether they're saying it or not) that nobody is just going to be doing a bit of casual web browsing with a 20mbps internet connection, just like you're not going to buy a Ferrari to do the school run and pick up some shopping in Lidl.

also, one of the main points of the thread was that NTL selling you the router for €50 was a good deal. every one of your links was selling it for around £25, $40 or equiv. to €30 which kind of makes my point about them not being worth the money NTL are charging too.

you shouldn't post links that help the cause of the person who's posts you are attacking. I don't mean physically attacking of course, but metaphorically speaking, that's what it's called. a rebuttal if you will.

oh and I left it in the box because it couldn't do half the stuff my current routers (yes there's two) do, even half as well.

anyways, I'm off to bed now I'm up early for work in the morning. have a poke through some more of my posts though and we can chat tomorrow if you're not too busy doing whatever it is you do. actually you never did say what you do. what is it?

and definitely more smilies. you're getting better, but there's always room for improvement.

jor el

The end.