UPC offering 30Mbps broadband and problems with upgrade

Snake Plisken

fionny wrote: »

I have got sick of this i havent heard from UPC in ages regarding this and they have the nerve to bill me in full with the extra standalone charge!

I have written a short email to Matt Cooper on TodayFm with reference to this thread, he has been good at dealing with UPC in the past hopefully he'll pick it up!

I think we have to wait for UPC to offically launch the product which I think is the beginning of March all UPC will say is the product hasn't launched offically yet and customers upgraded before the launch of their own free will and that they will have it all sorted when the product offically launches. Don't get me wrong I'm as upset as the rest of you regarding the crappy speeds, I can actually see them pushing out the offical lauch date of this product until they sort out the contention issue.

dub45

Snake Plisken wrote: »

I think we have to wait for UPC to offically launch the product which I think is the beginning of March all UPC will say is the product hasn't launched offically yet and customers upgraded before the launch of their own free will and that they will have it all sorted when the product offically launches.

Rubbish! If a company is selling a product it is 'launched'. If it is not ready for public consumption then it should not be on the market (whether is it broadband or conflakes) It is the public accepting such nonsense (and regulators too of course) which allows companies to behave as they do.

It is being advertised on the UPC website without any qualification whatsoever at least as far as I can see. And are they giving a reduced pre-launch price to anyone?:rolleyes:

Don't get me wrong I'm as upset as the rest of you regarding the crappy speeds, I can actually see them pushing out the offical lauch date of this product until they sort out the contention issue.

Isn't that exactly the type of thing that should be addressed before a product is brought to the market?

bonoman66

30Mbps Celbridge Area...

This morning (Sat Feb 6th 2010 9:38am)




Tonight (Sat Feb 6th 2010 9:49pm)



In both cases my modem registered the following power settings..

My modem transmit power is +46.5dBmV

My modem receive power is +6.0dBmV


Just mentioning that (as originally an Engineer had told me that if they could get the transmit power from its original +58.0dBmV to around +52.0dBmV or lower, then my issue with speed drop in the evening would be resolved!)

I had moved my modem in my house to an alternate UPC point (I have 3 points) & so was able to get figures within the more acceptable range..

Wish UPC would sort out their network or start crediting/refunding customers for a service not being delivered... I've been ringing regularly but never get half the promised call backs - its a pain. Almost impossible too to get through to tech support - they're always too busy...

soeren

Gaeldor68 wrote: »

Does the phone use a totally different connection to it instead of the regular phone cable? or does the tv cable go into some kind of box that then lets out a regular telephone cable?.

internet + phone use the same box (modem), so if you have a power loss the phone is not working.

knucklesnoonan

Technician from UPC called on Thursday evening and informed me that we will never be able to get 30mb in D12 as there are too many users. Its running from 4mb in the evening to 25mb in the mornings. Its a contention issue for sure.

I wish someone would inform the accounts dept in UPC. You should be charged per mb instead of charging for a 30mb and providing a 15mb average. I have no problem paying for something if its running properly, but come on its a ripoff and they know it wont work.

Its the same as selling a High Performance sports car with a Honda 50 engine.

My Fibre Powered Bradband Over Coax Cable = 30mb Broadband Dublin 12

Running at 26.9 Downlaod (Sunday Morning while the world sleeps)
2.65 Uplaod

http://www.speedtest.net/result/708707601.png

theteal

here's the worst i've seen from mine



i just signed up the sky player on the xbox and i was looking forward to some spanish football this evening, i really don't think it'll be working now, i may chance my arm and try add these costs into my adjustment claim

edit: hold the phone, it gets worse - reminder 20mb, dublin 12



final edit: as thought, sky player won't work with those current stats - it's stopping to buffer on the lowest quality setting and actually completely disconnected once with an error message

i fear i may lose my cool on tomorrow's call to UPC

hightower1

knucklesnoonan wrote: »

Technician from UPC called on Thursday evening and informed me that we will never be able to get 30mb in D12 as there are too many users. Its running from 4mb in the evening to 25mb in the mornings. Its a contention issue for sure.

I wish someone would inform the accounts dept in UPC. You should be charged per mb instead of charging for a 30mb and providing a 15mb average. I have no problem paying for something if its running properly, but come on its a ripoff and they know it wont work.

Its the same as selling a High Performance sports car with a Honda 50 engine.

My Fibre Powered Bradband Over Coax Cable = 30mb Broadband Dublin 12

Running at 26.9 Downlaod (Sunday Morning while the world sleeps)
2.65 Uplaod

http://www.speedtest.net/result/708707601.png

Its actually more like buying a high powered sports car then trying to drive it in the city center @ 1730


I do agree with dub45 in the sense that a marketing and network department def needed more in depth testing of something which is a nationwide product after all.

dub45

hightower1 wrote: »

Its actually more like buying a high powered sports car then trying to drive it in the city center @ 1730

I do agree with dub45 in the sense that a marketing and network department def needed more in depth testing of something which is a nationwide product after all.

Hold on now I am not able for such shocks:)

Seriously though it is baffling as to why any company should behave in this way.

They have obviously rushed out this product before it was ready and there does not appear to have been any reason to. There as no one demanding a new product (ok everyone wants faster speeds but in realitly a few more months would not have made any difference).

No other company was going to get something to the market before them.

Forget all about the customers for the moment (who in a lot of cases were getting pretty satisfacory speeds and now aren't) and consider the practical effects for themselves.

They appear to have generated an awful lot of extra work for themselves in having to deal with even more disgruntled customers than usual - they appear to be giving some people reductions in their bills and generated at least some bad publicity (not that they appear to care about this too much in spite of all their marketing) so they would not seem to be making any money from it and are putting extra pressure on their staff.

So why behave in such a way? Whether you are in the bb business or the cornflake business it makes no sense whatsoever.

What it does seem to prove is:

They dont test their products sufficiently before bringing them to market.

They dont care if a prestige product flops. (not only flops but worsens the 'customer experience'

They have nothing to worry about from Comreg (nothing new there) or the ASA or the consumer affairs' people.

They dont worry what their customers (or at least the early adapters) have to put up with as a result of poor decision making. If they did they would have suspended sales of the product until they got it right (marketing spin - due to unprecedented public demand we have to temporarily etc etc )

Their technical people are either not up to it or were overruled by some other department. (either way definitly not a good sign for the customer)

Monopoly like behaviour (as likewise in their recent price increases)

And they will go on making loads of money!!!

knucklesnoonan

Dub,

I phoned the so called tech support department to complain about the speeds. The girl that answered my call told me she could see what the problem was. Happy Days

She said that I should be on wireless channel 1 in the wireless settings. Even though I was plugged into the router and informed her that I was not using the wireless. She then reset the router and erased all my settings. She hadn't a clue and just kept saying that should be faster now. I ran a speed test and got 2.4mb on a 30mb circuit. She then informed me that I would need a tech callout.

The tech arrived at the house and asked where the router was located. I told him its in my comms cabinet in the attic. I have the house wired in Cat 5e back to one location. He told me it would never work in the attic as the signal wont travel around the house. I informed him that everything is hardwired. He then asked me "sure what do you need a 30mb for". I told him that you would be suprised what I would need a 30mb for. The kids use it for gaming and Internet

He done the same speed test that I had carried out and told me that the D12 area will never handle 30mb as there are too many users on the circuit. He would need another crew to take a look at it. I asked him do you report it or do I, he just said Yeah I will get it looked at.

He rang the office and asked was I on a 15mb or 30mb as If I was chancing my arm. They informed him that I was on a 30mb.To be honest I dont see how they can sort out the speed in a built up area. There are 2 x Coax cables running accross my house, one feeds the tap box and the other feeds the amps. To split everyone up they would need to run additional cables to the amps or even feed them with a fibre as advertised.

Sure what do I know,
Just keep complaining and keep the pressure on.

CS Hasuki

Looks like the 15meg is the way to go. Question Guys.

If I get Blueface(VOIP). Have a handset, can I use the NTL cisco router? Lust load the software?

Anyone in Dublin 2 getting good speeds?

JDxtra

CS Hasuki wrote: »

Looks like the 15meg is the way to go. Question Guys.

If I get Blueface(VOIP). Have a handset, can I use the NTL cisco router? Lust load the software?

Anyone in Dublin 2 getting good speeds?

No, you will need to purchase your own ATA. You can't reconfigure the NTL router for this - it can only be used for the NTL phone service.

There is no software required for BlueFace handsets, unless you want to use a softphone on your PC.

T-b0n3

I'm sure it says it in this thread somewhere but its a lot of stuff too read through, so forgive me for asking, but I filled out the form to get upgraded to 30mbs last night, is there anything else I need to do? Should I ring? And how long will should I expect to have to wait?

Thanks!

south

no thats it. took me over a week for them to reply and get it sorted..(its thats what you'd like to call it)

dub45

CS Hasuki wrote: »

Looks like the 15meg is the way to go. Question Guys.

If I get Blueface(VOIP). Have a handset, can I use the NTL cisco router?

Lust load the software?

Anyone in Dublin 2 getting good speeds?

Definitely not the recommended way to load software!:)

dub45

T-b0n3 wrote: »

I'm sure it says it in this thread somewhere but its a lot of stuff too read through, so forgive me for asking, but I filled out the form to get upgraded to 30mbs last night, is there anything else I need to do?

Yes cancel the upgrade immediately:) Have you read through the thread at all?


Should I ring?

Provided you have a long book to read or a film to watch maybe:)

And how long will should I expect to have to wait?

Thanks!

The 'upgrade' apparently happens pretty quickly for the acual increase in speed God knows!

T-b0n3

Thanks for the replies lads. Have read bits a pieces, thankfully I haven't had any problems with speed issues as of late. Had loads of problems a while back though, think there was a lot of us in that boat then!

Thanks again. Hopefully I'll get the speed boost soon!

ozmo

Has anyone got some script that can run Speedtest.net say once every 60 minutes - and record the results?

Just curious - I would like to get a graph of when its slow over a few days.

bonoman66

ozmo wrote: »

Has anyone got some script that can run Speedtest.net say once every 60 minutes - and record the results?

Just curious - I would like to get a graph of when its slow over a few days.

Sorry I've no script but here's what I'm finding with my 30Mbps service in Celbridge Area:

No issues with speeds is if check between 6am - 11am ish.
28MbpsDL / 2.2MbpsUL

Start to see a 'slow down' approx 5pm'ish.
20MbpsDL/ 2MbpsUL

Worst download speeds at approx 9pm-10:30pm'ish
3 to 10Mbps DL / 1.6Mbps UL

Repeatable almost daily when I check - I do 4 checks at any given time I run a test - by using speedtest.net, then magnet speedtest, then an iso download, also checking the modem status - power levels etc, so I'm recording that type of data almost daily & can provide it to any UPC Rep - still pursuing this with them since Jan 7th.

south

after our upgrade :rolleyes:

AntiVirus

ozmo wrote: »

Has anyone got some script that can run Speedtest.net say once every 60 minutes - and record the results?

Just curious - I would like to get a graph of when its slow over a few days.

Speedtest.net records all your speed tests for you, just click on "Your Results" at the top of the page and you can see all your speed tests.

mickger844posts

Very poor speeds tonight, its been getting worse for me as the days go by. Should be getting 30megs

driversk

Hey all i have upgraded 4 weeks ago from 20 to 30mbps... Was getting crazy low speed in evening hours (2-5Mbps) better throughout the day (18Mbps).. I was pi*sed, but i was patient and waited it out... For the past week speeds are steady between 20-25Mbps all day.

Problem im having now is my router keeps disconnecting me every now and then (6 times in last 4 hours) and then i need to restart the router and wait 5-10 minutes before it reconnects me again... this is driving me crazy more then low speeds. I cant play a game or anyone else in my house online, cos u never know when the connection is gonna drop.

Is anyone else having the same problem?

UPC 30Mbps
D7, Phibsboro Area
Speed is not great but with this i can live, not like 2-5 Mbps for past 4 weeks.
London Server

Dublin Server


Any advice appreciated.


(Not a native English speaker, so i hope u understand me :P)

AntiVirus

driversk wrote: »

Problem im having now is my router keeps disconnecting me every now and then (6 times in last 4 hours)

Yes, I was having the same problem. My UPC modem would keep disconnecting and then reconnect. I would be on the phone (voip) and all of a sudden my phone would stop, a couple minutes later it would work. Happened 4 times during a one hour phone call.

This was happening for weeks but I only figured out it was UPC when I was going through the modem logs. I had an engineer out on Saturday who change some hardware outside so I'll see if there is any improvement over the week

theteal

knucklesnoonan wrote: »

Technician from UPC called on Thursday evening and informed me that we will never be able to get 30mb in D12 as there are too many users. Its running from 4mb in the evening to 25mb in the mornings. Its a contention issue for sure.

where abouts in D12 are you knuckles? info i received today may interest you. . .i should probably just copy and paste all the mails back and forth today (:eek: yeah, crazy, they were in pretty much constant e-mail contact with me today :eek: although almost 2 weeks after my initial mail :cool:)

anyhoo, it's definitely contention here in D12 (i'm in walkinstown), this segmentation project won't be finished until the end of 3rd quarter this year - so basically this issue could persist all year!

they will be unable to adjust all my bills for this future period so the girl (she came across quite helpful) offered to downgrade my connection to the cheaper 5mb connection for free (how nice :rolleyes:)

funniest part was, it was a different rep who replied to my response to this and stated that it would cost €15 to downgrade

Is it just the people who have upgraded that are having problems? I was told as a new customer I would be ok.

IrishTonyO

Deleted User wrote: »

Is it just the people who have upgraded that are having problems? I was told as a new customer I would be ok.

I reckon that is sales bull****

theteal

Deleted User wrote: »

Is it just the people who have upgraded that are having problems? I was told as a new customer I would be ok.

i haven't upgraded, i've been on 20mb since it launched just over a year ago i think

Emerson

Must say, I'm still getting a steady 13mbit on the 15mbit service I got connected to a few weeks ago in Killiney Area 2 floors above router connected by Wifi.

I was one of the first customers on this ring though as we were literally just enabled. I'm led to believe this area, since brand new has a higher end backhaul to the curb.

The only problem I have is the often a website won't load or for instance the images won't load on the BBC News website and it takes a few refreshes. Windows also sometimes tells me there is a problem comunicating with the DNS server?

AntiVirus

(30Mb) Mines crap again tonight, so the engineer fixed nothing.

dunworth1

i'm on the 15mb pack and i'm getting good speeds