UTVip XL - Atrocious!

DirksDiggler

After months,nay years of waiting for a flat rate package isn't it typical that two arrive at once.Anyway money talks and all that so I opted for the UTV package and how I regret so.

How many times I've been disconnected these past two weeks requires a pocket calculator to estimate whilst Einstein himself couldn't possibly keep track of the number of sites my connection has seemingly ground to a halt whilst loading.

That particular treat occurs especially when I attempt to browse multiple pages simultaneously.And for multiple read two,three at the absolute most.

Honestly,I'm fuming at the shodiness of the service I've so far received and should the problem not be rectified UTV won't see my arse for dust once the initial 3 month contract has expired.

So....

how's everyone finding the IOL Anytime equivalent?


Oh and Hi.

First post.

flamegrill

Originally posted by DirksDiggler
After months,nay years of waiting for a flat rate package isn't it typical that two arrive at once.Anyway money talks and all that so I opted for the UTV package and how I regret so.

How many times I've been disconnected these past two weeks requires a pocket calculator to estimate whilst Einstein himself couldn't possibly keep track of the number of sites my connection has seemingly ground to a halt whilst loading.

That particular treat occurs especially when I attempt to browse multiple pages simultaneously.And for multiple read two,three at the absolute most.

Honestly,I'm fuming at the shodiness of the service I've so far received and should the problem not be rectified UTV won't see my arse for dust once the initial 3 month contract has expired.

So....

how's everyone finding the IOL Anytime equivalent?


Oh and Hi.

First post.

<slants eyes>

Have you contacted UTV about your problems? Probably not, well to be honest a problem can't be fixed until its raised as a problem between you and the service provider.

I've been using UTV since its inception as UTVip back in september last year. It's been fine, surely had its ups and downs, but certainly been a breeze to deal with and any problems I've had sorted in hours, not days, weeks etc like others.

</slants eyes>

sci0x

I have to say that i have experienced a few problems but nothing too serious. Sometimes I connect and i cant surf or it wont receive mail until i disconnect and connect again maybe upto 4 times but that problem seems to have sorted itself out. But yet this still isn't complete flatrate though is it. With flatrate you dont have 180 hours a month to keep under!

Urban Weigl

Getting constantly disconnected, web pages stalling or not downloading properly and so on usually indicates a problem with your phone line, i.e. Eircom, and not UTV. If you can, get ISDN. For downloading web pages it isn't that much faster than a good 56k connection, but especially if your line isn't the best it is a dramatic improvement, not to mention you will never get disconnected! (at least in my experience)

eth0_

Originally posted by denis_o_leary
But yet this still isn't complete flatrate though is it. With flatrate you dont have 180 hours a month to keep under!

Flatrate is NOT the same as always-on. But that's an argument for a different thread.

As for UTVxl, i'm on UTVip and have noticed it's been quite a bit slower since XL launched.

bizmark

its hell getting iol

but by god their products rule once on

i had netsmart for around a year no problum,s with connection at 48kbs

now iol broadband at 512kbs aaaaaaaaall the time

DMT

Originally posted by DirksDiggler
How many times I've been disconnected these past two weeks requires a pocket calculator to estimate whilst Einstein himself couldn't possibly keep track of the number of sites my connection has seemingly ground to a halt whilst loading.

You have a software controlled PCI Winmodem and may even be using Windows 98.
I had this same problem - disconnects every 5 minutes, webpages timing-out etc - I then bought an external serial hardware-controlled modem which solved the problem, giving consistantly good connections.
I'd blame 90% of these type of problems on Winmodems.

PiE

Yea defintely sounds like a line or modem problem. Try getting a lend of an external modem to test it out.

eth0_

Originally posted by DMT

I'd blame 90% of these type of problems on Winmodems.

I don't think winmodems are as bad nowadays. And you can't blame this problems on this guys winmodem, there have been quite a lot of complains about disconnects and general lag on utv since XL launched. Check out their support forum for a little proof

eth0_

Originally posted by PiE
Yea defintely sounds like a line or modem problem. Try getting a lend of an external modem to test it out.

Or he could try setting up a free isp account and connecting to that for a wee while and see if he gets the same problem. Oceanfree is generally the best to use to test.

RicardoSmith

Personally I'm also getting huge amounts of disconnects, and it can take a few attempts to logon. I've haven't risked moving my email across. It could be my settings - hardware - line but I don't think so. Especially as I never had this with my old ISP or any of the free ISP's I use as a backup. (should I need a backup?) I haven't had the time to chase up the issue with the support people yet.

PiE

But that'd cost money eth0 :[

Ricardo, have u downloaded the latest dialler? The new one fixed that for me... (until it stopped working altogether :rolleyes:).

DirksDiggler

I've got E*rcom and IOL's Free ISP installed on my PC.

Both of them firmly leave XL in the shade.

I dunno.Maybe I'll pop along to the Credit Union later this summer and borrow a few shillings for this new fangled BB thingy.

conZ

I have to laugh. I knew everyone would jump at this, without hearing what it was like.

UTVip on ISDN average 80-160 ping in CS (Eircom averages 50), now this is even worse. It is a 5hite service.

I dont think ye should be accepting this, and dont really think ye should have gone for it in the first place, knowing that the higher the contention, the worse your connection will be.

sci0x

Yah good point conZ. Loadsa ppl are obviously gonna go 4 it seeing that UTV advertised so much. And i dont even get pings that good! I think i'll contact UTV alright about this. They are constantly comparing their prices to Eircom's but they dont compare the quality of service. The different in pings between the two is just not on. I'll start e-mailing. Maybe we all shud they'd listen if there was a load of ppl complaining!

Eurorunner

That particular treat occurs especially when I attempt to browse multiple pages simultaneously.And for multiple read two,three at the absolute most.

well, my experience since coming back to 56k land is that i have to be carefull how heavy the pages are that i'm browsing simultaneously...cos really it doesnt work as a practise with a 56k line. I was used to having a taskbar full of pages open, switching between them - when i had access to a good dsl line...but a couple of months of 56k and i dont bother multiple paging any more.

RicardoSmith

Well I thought I had the latest dialer and if I don't it should at least prompt me that theres a newer one. Half the time it says I've entered the wrong password and username. Doh! the dialer does that...

I'm don't play games online so really ping times aren't too much an issue. Its a little slower than my previous connection but I simply can't afford connecting via the other ISP's anymore and I don't pass the BB line test. basically UTVipXL is my only option. Especially I dial in at peak time quite a bit.

sci0x

oh dear god, browsing mupltile web pages is not possible with a 56k unless the pages u are browsing have only text in them lol or if you have LOADS of time on your hands! What were u thinking coming down to a 56k from a DSL line. The price difference is huge though is it?

sci0x

Hey Ricardo that happened me too. Go into the dialer and make sure u are connecting to the UTV Internet connection and not UTV.

If you upgraded to the new account then the username and pass wont work for the old one. Maybe thats the prob.

DeVore

They'll prise my broadband from my cold clammy dead hands.

DeV.

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by denis_o_leary
Hey Ricardo that happened me too. Go into the dialer and make sure u are connecting to the UTV Internet connection and not UTV.

If you upgraded to the new account then the username and pass wont work for the old one. Maybe thats the prob.

Except that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't it will the next time I redial (using the dialler). So it must be correct.

Giblet

Something should be done about this:

Pinging games2.iol.ie [193.120.201.112] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 193.120.201.112: bytes=32 time=96ms TTL=243
Reply from 193.120.201.112: bytes=32 time=110ms TTL=243
Reply from 193.120.201.112: bytes=32 time=123ms TTL=243
Reply from 193.120.201.112: bytes=32 time=110ms TTL=243

Ping statistics for 193.120.201.112:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 96ms, Maximum = 123ms, Average = 109ms


My 56K modem pinged as well on Eircom as my ISDN does now on UTV.
Something has to be done.

PiE

They are trying to improve pings. Every time someone mentions it on the newsgroup, poor old Carl goes and chases it up. They've even done a few hardware upgrades in response to the complaints.

So it's not like they're ignoring the complaints, like say... a certain other duopoly would.

Eurorunner

What were u thinking coming down to a 56k from a DSL line. The price difference is huge though is it?

i relocated back to this soggy island:rolleyes:

Chowley

oh dear god, browsing mupltile web pages is not possible with a 56k unless the pages u are browsing have only text in them lol or if you have LOADS of time on your hands!

I have absolutely no problem with multi page browsing on iol free, and normal pages too not text only, try Opera 7 its great I hate IE now its a terrible browser everything about opera is better.:D

Stonemason

They'll prise my broadband from my cold clammy dead hands.

My version would be

Ill have cold clammy dead hands before i ever get BB somehow not so funny .

Staying with the thread i must admit that the only problem ive noticed is that i get dropped allot more quickly these days when im reading long posts so either im reading more slowly (possible )or they have reduce there idle time.

Gavin

Originally posted by Giblet


My 56K modem pinged as well on Eircom as my ISDN does now on UTV.
Something has to be done.

What are your pings to uk machines like ?

Gav

LoBo

Originally posted by denis_o_leary
They [UTVi] are constantly comparing their prices to Eircom's but they dont compare the quality of service. The different in pings between the two is just not on. I'll start e-mailing. Maybe we all shud they'd listen if there was a load of ppl complaining!

Just a poke in the dark here - but I gather you were not in Ireland for the last oh I don't know .. 6-8 years? Watching our beloved Eircom charge 5c a minute for 'free' internet access? Watching them refuse, fight and deny flat rate internet access and BB until we're so far behind the rest of europe its laughable? (The UK (just as an example) has had flat rate dialup for cheaper for the last .. 5+ years [?] and BB cheaper and faster for 2-3 yrs?)
"I'll start emailing you say" - well please do, i'm sure UTVi will be more than willing to sort out the problem (and in fact they probably already know - they read this forum - and provide feedback here). But please don't compare Eircom's "quality of service" without thinking about what they've done to internet access in ireland.

elsoldemayo

I can't say I haven't noticed any dip in service since switching from UTVip to XL - still connecting at about 42kbps and getting consistent download speed of between 3.7k to 4.3k.
Connection can be a bit slower between 8pm & 11pm but I usually connect during the day now that it doesn't cost any extra.

gandalf

Hmm no problems with UTVip XL here but then again I am using ISDN. I'd suggest contacting them to see if they can help you, anytime I have had a reason to contact UTV support they've been very helpful and they do know their stuff (unlike some other nameless Irish ISP's).

Gandalf.

trap4

I definitely *have* noticed a dip in performance since moving to UTVip XL. It now regularly takes numerous attempts to login and then often slows to a crawl with some disconnects.

And this has nothing to do with my Windows 98 or winmodems or anything like that because when it becomes unbearable I login with my old backup IOL free account without a problem.

I'm going to stick it out with UTV though because I've been very happy with their customer service, both here and on the phone, so I know they'll get it right. Well they'd better anyway :rolleyes:

elsoldemayo

Not sure if it is relevant, but I don't use the dialer when I connect to XL. Every fourth or fifth login (I use autologin) it rejects the password and I have to type it into the settings again. Other than that no probs at all.

flamegrill

I don't use the dialer and I've had no problems what so ever. Connects first time anytime and the performance has increased for me, re-trains seem to have stopped aswell.


Paul

_Kaiser_

No real problems here either - if anything things are better (now get 46.6 - 50.2!! kbps connection rates on my LT v92 Hardware modem whereas I previously got no more than 45.2 usually - tho thats probably more to do with the fact that I've moved house recently)... still, very satisfied with the service and for me its 15 quid cheaper (I had the peak saver option on UTVip) and 30 hours extra so I'm happy

oscarBravo

Another happy customer here, also on ISDN. I got ISDN before I got XL, but using 56k on UTVip before that I was happy pretty much all the time.

I'm not using the dialler 'cos I'm dialling from Linux. Almost every connection attempt is successful, I almost never get disconnected, and speeds are almost invariably consistently high.

I don't play games, so I'm not that worried about latency.

mike65

Just to make DirksDiggler feel a little worse I'm on dial up
and apart from the occassional multi dial up attempt I've had no particular problems beyond a couple of occassions where UTV had
brief systems failure thier end. Its cetainly no worse than any other service regarding data through put (I dont game either).

Mike.

DirksDiggler

I stand by my original statement.

It's utterly,utterly ****e.

Despite good log-on times (45 - 49kbps) download speed is poor (3.5kb per sec at the most) and browsing a pitiful two pages simultaneously is simply not possible without some kind of freeze up.

And as I mentioned earlier,the IOL Free and E*rcom dial up accounts I also have leave XL sucking their dust.

Whatever that means.

Thank you and Goodnight.

Or afternoon.

Mark

Originally posted by DirksDiggler

Despite good log-on times (45 - 49kbps)

/me nods

download speed is poor (3.5kb per sec at the most)

Tbh I find that good on a 56k.

and browsing a pitiful two pages simultaneously is simply not possible without some kind of freeze up.

I have none of those sort of problems. However:

I AM SICK OF THE FIGGING DISCONNECTS

SORT IT OUT LIKE. It's preventing me from effectively getting my Tetris On.

Chowley

3.5 k Dl is bad on 56k I usually get 5k dl speeds.Although the line in my house seems to be excellent for some strange reason.

Eurorunner

Another happy customer here, also on ISDN. I got ISDN before I got XL, but using 56k on UTVip before that I was happy pretty much all the time.

Ditto

Martin-UTVi

My 56K modem pinged as well on Eircom as my ISDN does now on UTV.

Regarding the ping issues. The games server pinged below is currently sitting on Esat's network. So pings when logged onto IOL or Eircom (who directly peer with Esat) are going to be better. We are continually pushing Energis to improve their peering (from our servers games2.iol.ie is only 50ms away...) and we have new modem/terminal server firmware that we have happily tested and should go live with in a few weeks......but it won't drastically improve pings to servers that physically live on separate networks. Don't forget we also run some gameservers at www.dnagames.net.

Regarding the consistant disconnections and issues with downloads. The firmware upgrade mentioned may help those epxerincing this issue. One other thing to check is that regardless of the type of modem you are using, ensure you are running with both the latest firmware and drivers. Because of the many different types of modems and terminating equipment as well as the varying quality of analogue lines in service, there can be differences between providers. For instance I regularly check our services from Belfast. Now this involves an international analogue call, yet my modem always connects at minimum 36kbps and seems to remain connected at a fairly constant rate (no retrains). Downloads during these tests all seem fine (for an analogue connection anyway )

But if you are having consistent problems, give our support desk a call (1890 926111), post to our support group utv.support or email us at support@u.tv. Please make sure that you have all the pertinent info to hand including the output from an ipconfig /all command to help us track down any problems.

John R

Originally posted by DirksDiggler
I stand by my original statement.

It's utterly,utterly ****e.

No it simply isn't. If that were true this board would be full of people complaining, it isn't. Your connection might be bad, but that is not necessarily a failing of UTV. Check your own system out first, as Martin said update your drivers or try a different modem or re-install your os.

I have been with UTV IP since it started and have only had one serious problem, when they updated their system my modem stopped working properly (a software upgrade fixed that).

I do seem to get a failed logon (username/password not recognised) once every 7 or 8 attempts since switching to XL (I use DUN not the supplied dialer) which is a slight irritation but it always works on the next attempt. It always connects at 48kbps or above with download speeds of around 5kB/s and in the 10 months I have had it i doubt I have had more than 5 or 6 disconnects. The pings wer noticeably slower than some isp's in the beginning for browsing but it is much better now. I don't game so I can't comment on that.

I have had business with just about all the main communication companies operating in Ireland and UTV are the only one that have not blatantly ripped me off or renaged on promises.

bk

Originally posted by DirksDiggler
I stand by my original statement.

It's utterly,utterly ****e.

Dirks, it is completely unfair on UTV for you to come in here and bad mouth them without even contacting them first and seeing if they can help.

It would be fair enough for you to say this if everybody was having the same problems and UTV where completely ignoring them. However most people seem to be finding the service excellent and UTV respond very fast to any problems on their service.

No service is ever going to be 100% perfect for 100% of the people, there will always be some people with problems. But at least UTV has the best tech support in the industry, respond very quickly to complaints and really try to run the best service possible.

BTW I have experienced the exact same problems on both Eircom and Esat Nolimits over the years. When NoLimits first came out it had very bad disconnections and slow speeds for months on end and despite repeatedly complaining about it I never heard anything back from them, unlike UTV.

BBTW More recently I had bad disconnection problems with NoLimits, at first I thought it was the service, because of all the new Netsmart customers. I was wrong, it urned out that a Euro 2 phone adapter thingy (allows you to plug two devices, phone and modem into the same line) had gotten damaged, I replaced it and now it is working perfect. My point is it just goes to show that you never know what might be to blame, don't jump to conclusions too fast.

DirksDiggler

Dirks, it is completely unfair on UTV for you to come in here and bad mouth them without even contacting them first and seeing if they can help.

First of all I did contact UTV and to be perfectly frank I think I was speaking to some kind of zombie who could barely muster a reply to a couple of simple questions.His solution was to (a) download a new dialer which I done and nothings changed (b) buy a new modem (for f*ck sake!) and (c) reformat my 80GB hard drive.

Secondly I'm paying for a service which I have (yet???) to adequately receive.I think that entitles me to bitch about it.

Thirdly if you actually bothered to read one or two of my posts I highlighted the fact on more than one occasion that supposedley inferior products (Eircom Net/IOL Free/IOL gold) are infinitley better than UTV's offering.Therefore it can't be that difficult to get a decent service up and running.

And finally I'm not the only person experiencing the aforementioned problems.

John R

DirksDiggler do you actually want to fix your problem or do you just want something to bitch about?

more than a few people have already said that their UTV IP service is good so you know that there is no complete system fault on their end. As you say that you get good connections with other isps then there must be some problem between your pc and UTV's server.

Have you tried to narrow down the problem?
Have you updated your modem's drivers?
Tried a different modem, I suggest you borrow one rather than buy one
Tried re-installing your OS, believe it or not windows doesn't always work perfectly.
You could use a different pc, again I reccomend that you borrow one rather than buy one, to check that the line is ok.

I am not saying that it is impossible that UTV are not at fault but until you rule out the most likely causes at your end you are not going to get anywhere.

spongebob

It could be a spider nesting in his PC , have you checked for that too Dirk?

It could be anything as a matter of fact.

M

ando

in regards troubleshooting the problem, I think formatting his harddrive is bad advice

Urban Weigl

Judging from all the information available here, especially with the regards to disconnects, this does sound like a modem issue (as Martin pointed out, there are dozens of different modem types, and some work better with each other than others).

The first thing I would therefore try is borrow an external mode. If you continue to experience these issues, at least you will know it isn't your modem.

Paddy20

DirksDiggler,

Listen I know how frustrating it is when you have what seems too be an insoluble problem with your computer, but in my experience UTV Internet have proved to be a Godsend.

They imho have opened up the ISP market in the Irish Republic to some real competition and they have saved me personally a small fortune now that I am out of the grip of Eircom.Net.

The advice that Martin Lyons of UTV has posted on this thread seems excellent and I can not think of another ISP who would have even bothered trying too help you openly by posting on a public forum.

The title of your thread is a bit OTT to say the least, and as for you leaving the UTVip XL service after the 3 Months. I doubt if they would hold you to the three Month contract, if it would really help your problem.

Maybe, contacting 1890 926111 once again might just be worth a try?.. I had a problem when I first downloaded the new dialler, but after I gave up trying too fix the problem myself and getting nowhere, I rang UTV support and my problem which was mixed and complicated!, was solved in about five minutes.

I sincerely believe your problem can be resolved if you contact them again and keep contacting them until you are happy.

Good luck.

Paddy20,;)

NIBBS

DirksDiggler - if your problem is really so bad and you think you are getting no support from UTV (who without a shadow of a doubt have the best and some of the friendliest support people I've dealt with in Ireland), then why don't you go to you're precious Eircom.

Have you ever actually tried to get support from them - now that is a challenge.............

By the way, I'm using XL, using the dialler and have had absolutely no problems with either the dialler or the service.........and for anyone who is complaining about gaming over a 56k connection, get real - not really the scenario that games are designed to be played over in 2003........

though I agree if you were told by support that you should format you HDD, that's not right.......

gandalf

Dirk if your actually serious about sorting out your issues contact Martin directly.

Gandalf.