Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning

Subject: Tech: UK Broadband (ands Fasthosts) Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 06:46 AM

I've been having problems with Fasthosts for over a month. It used to excellent but levels of service now are such that the Internet is unusable for long periods, particularly in the evenings. The only times that are completely reliable are sort of 12am-9am of peak hours. During the worst periods, I alternate between download speeds comparable to dial up connections and losing the ASDL connection completely.

I have tried thier technical support and found them useless. They didn't even seem interested in that at the time I first started encourtering a problem, there was a regular pattern, ie. problems starting 8:30pm through to 11:30 but instead kept asking me for further speed test results.

Anyway, I finaly enough was enough and to switch suppliers. I tried to get a MAC (migration autorisation code I think) from them this morning and found (apparently it is in the small print...) that they can not supply MACs and my only route is to cancel with them, wait for that to go through and then reconnect with another supplier, a much slower and "messier" process which I believe could leave me without broadband for a few days.

I suppose my biggest warning for anyone considering broadband suppliers is make sure they do provide a migration out route before signing up with anyone.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 07:06 AM

I was considering changing ISPs recently & had a lot of trouble finding out how. So much that I eventually decided to stay with then as changing & telling the world my new email address was just too much.

will all this affect The Annex, Jon?

sandra

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 07:07 AM

I've just looked at their cancellation options. One is a month's notice.

The other is "immediate" to which it warns me:

"Note: If you cancel immediately, your broadband service will stop straight away. However, BT will continue to mark your phone line as broadband enabled for another seven days. During that time, you will not be able to sign up for another broadband service."

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 07:13 AM

No Sandra, the Annexe is hosted elsewhere and this only affects my broadband connection to the Internet.

I'm still considering my options for folkinfo. I set things up in a way that should enable me to switch folkinfo to the same shared hosting as the Annexe and it may be that I decide to try to put that plan into action. My limitation with doing that is that I can't run the abc conversions on that particular server.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 07:38 AM

Plus they charge £8.69 + VAT for the priveledge of cancelling with them giving them 1 months notice.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Pete_Standing
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 08:03 AM

Hi Jon

It's worth checking out adslguide.org. They may have some advice on switching ISP. You might also find that another ISP could extract the information that they need on your behalf.

Best wishes

Pete

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 08:05 AM

Thanks for the advice Pete. I've gone ahead and cancelled now though. I hadn't realised how akward they could make life...

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 08:47 AM

I find f2s very helpful. Try telling Fasthosts about the Unfair Contract Terms Act, and the unlawfulness of penalties at English law, and you might want to mention ISPA and/or OFCOM

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 08:52 AM

Thanks Richard. I've cancelled and set the move in motion but we do intend following the matter up with OFCOM/ISPA(I've not heard of them but will look it up). It's best left until tommorrow though when I'm not feeling wound up...

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Nick
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 09:05 AM

Jon - if you haven't decided on a host have a look at madasafish (Madasafish broadband). I have used them for years with no problems over that time. 5gb a month seems to be enough for me and 8mb is available.

They have the first 6 months at £11.99 then at £17.99. I believe they also won an award last year

If you decide that you may go for it let me know by PM - if I give you a referral code I believe you can get £10 more off (and so can I!) but my recommendation is not based on that directly as I genuinely have had no problems at all for years. The original broadband offer has been improved (and offered to existing customers) over time and the limits increased.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 09:36 AM

Thanks for the advice, Nick. I'll do that if we do have a change of plan but I think we are going for pipex with anytime (pipex with anytime) which should help with phone calls too...

Speed available btw doesn't mean much to me at the moment. 512K is our lot in this area. Essentials are reliability and a static IP.

------

I'm mentioned folkinfo in my reply to Sandra. I've just uploaded things and run a quick test and things are running OK there so here is my plan.

The contract ends with fasthosts on 11/11/2006. In the early hours of 10/11/2006 I will switch folkinfo to run on the shared hosted services. There will be no changes of URL/bookmarks needed. I will restore to home hosting when I get the new broadband connection. In the interim period, I will be providing a "barebones folkinfo", ie. there will just be the forum and song database and the song database will not provide pngs, midi, etc.

As luck would have it, I'd planned performing some upgrades to my server, eg. a move to php5 in November (annual maintenance if you like) and I will perform these operations while folkinfo is running on the shared hosting services.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 10:01 AM

Ah, I see now this MAC business is all voluntary... this page profides a list of suppliers who use the related Ofcom code of practice.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Bernard
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 10:14 AM

OFCOM are supposed to be getting legislation passed to make MAC disclosures a legal requirement... too late to help you, Jon, but may be of interest to others.

A friend of mine had a similar experience with Wanadoo/Freeserve - it took six weeks to migrate his broadband to a new ISP, and BT could do nothing. Something to do with Wanadoo having the contract with BT, not the customer, and BT had to have authorisation from Wanadoo. Hopefully now Orange own Wanadoo it will be somewhat different...?!!

Anyway, good luck, Jon.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 10:18 AM

Maybe too late for me Bernard but it is still great news to me.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Bruce Baillie
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 10:31 AM

...In answer to Bernard, I too used to use freeserve, when they became wanadoo they also became terrible, I had occasion to call their 'helpline' and I was put through to a Chinese bloke who had a less than bare command of the english language and was about as much use as a de-humidifier in a rainforest. Since then I've used BTyahoo and they've been fine!

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 10:32 AM

I hope everything goes well, Jon

sandra

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 04:58 PM

BTYahoo operate a monitoring/blocking service called "cleanfeed" - whether you like it or not. If you try to access a blocked IP address it gives you 404(not found). It is supposed to be used only to block known kiddiporn sites, and allegedly BT keep no record of the identity of subscribers who try to access blocked sites.

But if they can do that for porn sites they can do it for any other sites they choose (or that the government tells them to). And, if they keep no records of who they block, isn't it odd that they can supply the government with statistics to brag how many attempts to access forbidden sites they have blocked.

Noble motives: sinister possibilities.

China and Google anyone?

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 07:30 PM

"keep no records of who they block, isn't it odd that they can supply the government with statistics to brag how many attempts"

No contradiction - it's technically possible to just nudge a single counter every time you block a site, without having to keep record of what the incoming IP is - much easier and faster in fact.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 07:56 PM

True foolestroupe but I think I'd still be on the "paraniod side" with this one...

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 08:52 PM

ISPA concerns about Cleanfeed

An academic paper on cleanfeed

University of Southampton on Cleanfeed

a rant from www.spy.org

http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2006/02/07/twisting-the-facts-to-fit-the-story-child-porn-nonsense/    Note the reference to the number of individuals allegedly seeking to access porn. How is this possible unless theusers are identified.

Note elsewhere in the above articles the worrying concern that the UK government is considering making the use of Cleanfeed compulsory.

Big Brother is quite possibly watching you...

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: dermod in salisbury
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 04:58 AM

Interesting to note that someone moved to BTYahoo to get away from Freeserve. I moved to AOL to get away from BTYahoo. ISPs are a bit like banks. One is basically as bad as another, so in the merrygoround of switched accounts by irate customers, the trade has no netlosers.   Slow broadband due to web congestion is a growing and universal problem. Some sort of metering system which would graduate the charge according to the real speed experienced would be nice, but not likely. As far as blocked sites is concerned, anything which curtails such sites must be good. But as regards tracking, I think I am right in understanding that on a computer anything you do from the moment you switch it on is recorded somehow or somewhere and remains so until your disk is pulverised or your ISP is nuked. And maybe not even then.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 05:14 AM

As far as blocked sites is concerned, anything which curtails such sites must be good

I'm not sure I agree there. Don't get me wrong, if I knew anyone was dealing in that sort of stuff I'd report them, am all in favour of people doing it spending a long time in prison etc. but I have strong doubts about this move.

Child porn is easy to persuade most peope, particularly with hysterical over-reaction and media hype, that it needs blocking but I fear it will be just the stepping stone for other material that is considered bad. At worst, we end up with, as Richard put it, "China and Google anyone?".

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Bernard
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 07:05 PM

The only ISP I know who I have yet to hear a bad report about are Pipex. We use them at work and have had no trouble at all in over ten years from dial-up to broadband.

I decided a couple of years back to sort my daughter out with broadband. She's a two-child, one-parent family, and stuck for brass, so I wanted to make sure I was paying to ease her load as she was wasting a fair amount on dial-up.

I went online, registered her with Pipex but using my bank for the Direct Debit. This would be around the beginning of February... they said she would be online at the end of March, but it happened within a couple of days. I didn't have a DD through until April, and they didn't object to me paying on her behalf.

Their tech support are very helpful (not that I've needed much), and don't witter on through all the mumbo-jumbo scripted jargon you get from the others.

Not often one can sing someone's praises, but there you are. If it wasn't so much hassle, I'd migrate from Orange (who had a massive breakdown on Monday evening, right through Tuesday for some people) to Pipex.

So now someone is going to tell me different, I suppose!!

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 09:23 PM

Well, I have had zero probs with f2s. They did have an smtp outage about a week ago, and I raised a ticket and they put their hands up to the problem and apologised. In English. Yes, English English. That's a first for an ISP on three counts!

Phone answering time has got longer since taken over by .... drum roll...pipex

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Mr Happy
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 09:50 PM

remember madasafish coupla yrs ago - connexion with Keith Donnelly??

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Folkiedave
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 04:45 AM

I have used Plusnet for many years. This last six months their service has been appalling and frankly I had no intrernet access over the summer.

I do not understand the technical aspects of this but the "wholesaler" was Tiscali instead of BT and this what what couaed the problem.

They also made a huge cock up over emails, the help line was taking an hour to answer calls (which will give you an idea of how many complaints they were receiving) etc. etc. etc. etc.......

Don´t use Plusnet is my advice. I understand they might be subject to a take over bid.

If you want an idea of how bad they are, they sponsor Sheffield Wednesday.

Subject: RE: Tech: UK Broadband Fasthosts Warning
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 03:20 PM

Avoid Tiscali like the plague.