netsmart/utvip with ISDN

CodeMonkey

Which off-peak flatrate service do people recommend I sign up for to use with my isdn line? I've read somewhere that people who are using netsmart had problems getting the isdn work on the service. The problem was never resolved but I don't see any mention of it here. There also appears to be lots of people here complaining about disconnect problems with utvip and not being able to connect at the fastest possible speed on an analogue modem. Do isdn users see these issues too or would I expect to always get a 64kbps connection? Do the connection speed gradually decreases on isdn like the analogue users are reporting? Anything I need to be aware of like stuff in the small print about how long I have to stick to the service before I can drop the service? Thanks in advance for anyone who might have answers to some of my questions.

Pimp Ninja

Youre prolly better off posting this to the Nets/Comms board instead of this board.

I'll quickly try to answer one or two of your questions all the same.

Netsmard.. dunno never tried it.

UTV-IP and Analogue modems.. dunno, but usually if you connect over 56k, and dont get your highest speed, just disconnect it and reconnect, usually sorts itself out.

You wont see similar with ISDN as is not the same type of technology. ISDN always connects at 64K per channel.

sceptre

Originally posted by Pimp Ninja
Youre prolly better off posting this to the Nets/Comms board instead of this board.

Agreed - I'll even be a good mod and move it there

ando

once you have a good isdn modem you will be rocking with Utv. I use the internal Asus terminal adapter, £30. The only thing with Utv is that it suffers with high pings compared to other Isp's, but download's and surfing cannot be beaten

I've never had any disconection problems or slowouts

Robbo

I signed up for Netsmart with ISDN 3 weeks ago and I've yet to get the infernal thing going. I'm pretty close to telling the monkey on the other end of the phone where to go and get into bed with UTV.

Tazzle

If you're into gaming than utvip will fork you over, giving >120 pings. I've heard that netsmart gives superior pings, less hours though, so if you want gaming and less hours netsmart, if you want to just browse and download then utvip.

Highway61

Who ever you choose to go with don't choose Netsmart!
It should be called NetCrap.
I've been subscried since october and in all my years of surfing this one is the worst .Slow as hell .DNS problems every night .Only for Gozilla I'd be gone compleatly mad. I tried to download a 10 meg file last night and barely got over 1k/s .Disconnected and dialled into Indigo (yes they are still there) and got a blistering 4.4k/s .All in all it's pretty crap .There is no support site .Try finding the dial in number anywhere on either the IOL support site or the EsatBT website .You don't need to dial custumer support and wait for half an hour to know they are having serious problems. I'm gonna give it 'till the next bill and jump ship over to UTV for want of an alternitive....
Moan over ...

oisin

I've been using Netsmart with ISDN for the past month and I've found it OK. I don't play games online so I know nothing about ping rates although there is plenty of info from online gamers if you check the Flat Rate/Netsmart thread. I get download speeds of 7.5/8k although I have noticed the connection just stops sometimes but it only takes a second or two to log off and on again. It suits me fine but read through the thread mentioned for potential problems.

Be careful if your siging up make sure you use your main phone number (original number) and NOT your second number as ISDN here only sends the CLI of your main number.

hamster

I have been with UTVip now for 2.5 months and found them quite good for downloading and browsing. I usually get 7.5k/s on my ISDN. Rarely I get the odd slow periods but on the whole quite good. Connects nearly all the time and ISDN makes it quite quick to do so.

I haven't tried online gaming with them but I wouldn't guess it's the fastest. I'm getting average pings of around 99 - 150ms.

saik

cheers ois, didn't know that about the isdn CLI sht. anyone tellme, i have a private number, not listed, fierce trouble with isdn and esat, im subscribed on the second line, what do i do :O

oisin

The unlisted number isn't a problem as far as I know. Esat use your number to identify your account. I remember reading here there is a prefix (I think its 142 to force CLI) you can insert in front of the number to get around the problem of an unlisted number. I'm sure any of the real experts here can explain it better.

I made the mistake of subscribing using my second number too and could never get it to work. It was only experimenting by dialing my mobile from both ISDN analogue lines that I discovered ISDN only sends the CLI of the main number, I eventually got someone in Eircom to confirm this. Esat Tech Support seem totally unaware of this. I eventually had to write to Esat cancelling my original application and re-applying by resubmitting a new application form with my main number.

CodeMonkey

Yeah, sorry for posting this in the wrong forums. Was wondering why there was a lack of netsmart/utvip threads on irelandoffline forum. Thanks for all the help people. Seems like ISDN don't get the same slow periods and disconnect problems as analogue users so I might just go with the least hassle free one. Going to read go read through the small prints now.

Dcully

Im using isdn with nolimits only for a few days now.
For me its awesome compared to when i was on 56k.
Nolimits only support single channel 64 k which is fine for me anyways.
I find its a bit faster for browsing and downloading.
For gaming i find it superb 50-100 ping on most European servers,i even hosted 12 players on Medal of honour spearhead lastnight and all had good pings.
On 56k i could only dream of this.
Counter-strike and Dayofdefeat i get as low as 35-40.
Im surprised at how good isdn is for gaming ,it could be that i live about a quarter of a mile from nearest exchange.

ando

Originally posted by Dcully
i even hosted 12 players on Medal of honour spearhead lastnight and all had good pings.

First of all, wow, I didnt think you could get 64k with nolimits....

OT
Second of all, WOW, 12 players on medal of honour.. with good pings? I tried to setup a dedicated server, just for the buzz of it with medal of honour. The lowest pinger that joined was 170.. some went upto 1700mileseconds. Was it a dedicated server you setup?

saik

well ois, thx for the continued help and support.. unfortunately NO combination of isdn line or prefix works, when i try to make a call to my mobile, no matter what i do, it says private number. and it works on my 56k modem, the number shows up. this sucks, anyone know a workaround, esat are totally clueless like.

eth0_

Originally posted by oisin
Esat Tech Support seem totally unaware of this. I eventually had to write to Esat cancelling my original application and re-applying by resubmitting a new application form with my main number.

No they're not, same as any ISP which offers time bucket services. That customer generated problem is well known. I'm pretty sure it will ask you on your signup form to put the CLI of your MAIN number, not the 2nd ISDN no.

oisin

Not on the form I completed eth0_,

I'm looking at a copy of it now, and it says:
TELEPHONE NUMBER THAT YOU WILL BE ACCESSING THE INTERNET FROM: ( ) Important: This is the line that
your computer is connected to.

No mention of ISDN or phone numbers apart from what I mentioned above.

NóMur

I'm not that familiar with ISDN (line failed DSL), but I'm after ordering it from Eircom with the intension of using Netsmart/UTVip.

I was hoping to use my second new number for internet access but after hearing about the CLI problems I'll probably have to use the main number. Just a few questions about this.

1)If I'm on the internet (64k) using my main phone number and someone dials it will I be able to answer it, or will the person calling get an engaged signal?

2)The same applies to outgoing calls, will someone else in the house be able to dial out if I'm only using the single channel ISDN on the main number?

Does anyone recommend a good modem? I only plan on using 64k access. I've seen one on Komplett for about €37, here

eth0_

Originally posted by oisin

No mention of ISDN or phone numbers apart from what I mentioned above.

Ok my mistake. I just realised there won't be anything about ISDN on a no limits form because ISDN isn't officially supported with the service AFAIK.

Dcully

Ando no it wasnt a dedicated server ,I got some guys getting 70-100 pings and some around 150 .
Certainly better than i was expecting, i dont intend hosting too much anyways .
I tried Battlefield yesterday which is notorious for steep connection speed requirements and all went excellently.
On all the big servers like Jolt,Blueyonder,Velocity games,pings were much the same as MOH .
To me thats impressive as those servers host between 32- 64 players.What an experience Battlefield is online absolutely incredible.

ando

Originally posted by Dcully
To me thats impressive as those servers host between 32- 64 players

not to mention the super internet connections they have !

NóMur

I posted the below message earlier in this topic but got no replies. Can anyone help? Thanks


I'm not that familiar with ISDN (line failed DSL), but I'm after ordering it from Eircom with the intension of using Netsmart/UTVip.

I was hoping to use my second new number for internet access but after hearing about the CLI problems I'll probably have to use the main number. Just a few questions about this.

1)If I'm on the internet (64k) using my main phone number and someone dials it will I be able to answer it, or will the person calling get an engaged signal?

2)The same applies to outgoing calls, will someone else in the house be able to dial out if I'm only using the single channel ISDN on the main number?

hamster

NóMur,

I with UTVip and have ISDN setup by Eircom. When I joined UTVip I gave them my main number. What happens is that if the main number is free then the net connects on that number otherwise if someone is using it then the net uses the other number.

1) The call should be diverted to the second number.

2) Of course unless you get a sudden need for 128K