NTL 'Always-On' 600 Speed problems

MickFarr · 29-09-2003 1:07pm #1

I have just signed up to NTL 'Always-On' 600 but it runs at more like 'Always-On' 150. A technician came out and check the installation and said that it was a bad install (was running through 2 splitters where it should run straight form the box to the computer) and would have to be re-installed. That was 2 weeks ago and I still haven't got a date for the re-installation. If I go to http://promos.mcafee.com/speedometer/test_0150.asp and run the test I normally get a connection speed of 63 Kbps (7 KBps) and I get the same result on www.dslreports.com/tests. If I run the same tests on my friend’s computer (he also has NTL 'Always-On' 600) around the corner he gets speeds 10 times faster than me. When playing Enemy Territory online we both get the same ping times of about 45ms. What’s up!!

KilOit · 29-09-2003 1:22pm

i have the exact same connection as you and i get 577.52 kbps.
ntl are really bad at what they do, i dread even ringing them the 40 min or more wait is enough to drive you mad. keep ringing them. and yeah i had the 150 connection b4 the 600 and pings are uselly the same in europe but with the 600 you can get a 120 ping or so in the u.s.a dont think you can do that with a 150

lotas · 29-09-2003 2:03pm

i have the 600k connection too and my connection is 580k. my experiance on the phone is not as bad over the last while. it took only 2 min to get though. weird! ping times are about 10ms. hmmm. weird. im going though 2 splitters (TV/Digital/Cable modem).

milltown · 30-09-2003 2:32am

Been thinking about getting NTL BB for the past two months, two things holding me back.
1. BB connection through IrishWAN was steady enough and only €25/month.
2. Mate got it installed last month and his speeds are good but the installation was cack! NTL engineer I spoke to said it has to go direct from the street to the PC and thence to the tellies but my mates connection is taken from his bedroom TV point, through the wall and up and over door frames to the box room where his PC lives.
What are peoples experience here of the installation. Am I right in saying that NTL sub out the installs to ICL or somebody? Did they just drill through your house and tack cables around your door?

lotas · 30-09-2003 5:34am

well for me i allready had NTLs phone service in my house and the access point for that was in my room. it took them 4 hours to install that about 3 years ago and 20min for cable modem with i got it 2 years ago. the cable modem is just connecting to my main NTL box in the house, and as i said, its under my desk. i think it is ICL who do installs. that who did my digital a few weeks back.

mrblack · 30-09-2003 4:45pm

I have the 600k package as well. I bought my house new 3 years ago and had the builder install a tv point in 2 bedrooms, kitchen and livingroom and I use the boxroom as the computer room. So as there was an existing box the installation of the modem took about 30 minutes. The engineer showed up on time and it was all quite painless. So from the main cable into the house there are 4 splits at the main junction. Initially I did that split myself to avoid paying rental for the extra points every month-but when the digital TV engineer came out last year he politely called me a cowboy and did a more professional installation. So far the USB cable modem is working fine and I usually get D/L speeds of 73K to 78K. There is some variability in the speeds but generally I am happy with the installation and thankfully as I rarely call NTL I cannot criticize their current service level.

MickFarr · 01-10-2003 1:02pm

Will you run the speed tests from the post at the top and post your connection/download speeds. Thanks for the replies

lotas · 01-10-2003 2:09pm

on the mcafee site im getting 468kbits/s or 58.53kbytes/s. on DSL reports using the java applet and speakeasy, im downloading at 532kbits/s and uploading @ 123kbits/s.

mrblack · 01-10-2003 7:55pm

On Mcafee I am getting 326Kbps or 40.7 KBps at moment. On DSL reports I am getting D/L speeds of 3b84kps and U/L of 122kbps

MickFarr · 01-10-2003 11:34pm

NTL came out today and did a reading on my line and it was -3DB (what ever that means) which is not good. After doing a reinstall I got him to check the conncetion into the modem to make sure it was good. The reading was +9DB the highest he said was +10DB.

I did the speed tests on both sites and got 3KB and 10KB download speeds (Not good). I rang support (lol) and got put through to somewhere in the UK. He asked me to check my proxy settings. They were not set so he gave me some numbers to enter. BINGO!!

McAfee
434.16 Kbps
(54.27 KBps)

bandwidthplace
539.1 kbps
(65.8 KBps)

So now I am very happy

Thanks for all your post

MickFarr · 01-10-2003 11:39pm

Forgot to put this in my last post. Here is a super site for any problems you might be having with your NTL modem/broadband connection. Tons of tweaks for making your surfing/download faster!!

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/cmtips/

Check the Ethernet card duplex setting.

lotas · 01-10-2003 11:45pm

out of curiosity, whats the addresses of the proxy he gave you? im going though a local proxy on my lan which is just connected directly. i may speed up my browsing if i get NTL proxy servers!

MickFarr · 02-10-2003 12:06am

Proxy settings are 52.254.96.5 : 8080

good luck with your test. Post a reply to let us know how it goes!!

lotas · 02-10-2003 12:27am

thats 62.254.96.5. just tried 52 and it dident work! doing the tests now! mcaffee: 495.68 Kbps/61.96 KBps. just testing the other one with the java in it now. actually. shouldent make a difference cause it doesent run though a proxy. and im downloading something in the background! so that 61 is fast! :P

MickFarr · 02-10-2003 12:33am

sorry

Some one swaped the 5 & 6 keys on my keyboard

lotas · 02-10-2003 12:43am

ArphaRima · 02-10-2003 1:04am

I have the original 128k connection. My rates seem to vary from the following:

541.04 Kbps
(67.63 KBps)

to

243.04 Kbps
(30.38 KBps)

Is upgrading to 600k worth it? especially for gaming and pings. Is the upload speed any different?

at bandwidthplace i get the exact same scores as my mate with 600k.

lotas · 02-10-2003 2:00am

NTL seem to have a problem with their cap. a friend of mine ordered the 128 connection and has 600k/s download. im being charged for 128, but get 600. dont look a gift horse in the mouth. you probably wont see a difference if you upgrade. just your bill will go up!

mrblack · 05-10-2003 10:42am

I just tried those LAN settings and now I am showing speeds of:

Per Mcafee: D/L 548Kbps or 68.5KBps
Per DSL reports: D/L 557Kbps or 68KBps , U/L 132Kbps

Thats a nice improvement!

ro_G · 05-10-2003 2:25pm

before applying the proxy settings I was getting speeds of 200-300Kb.
Since applying I am getting speeds of 550-595Kb

And interstingly, with Zone Alarm engaged I am getting an average of 554Kb.
Without it I am getting 594Kb.

not sure whether i should be accepting or rejecting all those ICMP pings from addresses that end in ntl.com - i wonder are they from customers or server?

MickFarr · 05-10-2003 7:37pm

Glad to see that the proxy address settings are working for you as well!
:cool:

NTL 'Always-On' 600 Speed problems

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