NTL Support

paulm17781

Since the NTL upgrade I have been having issues with my BB. I mailed support who asked me to contact their BB Support.

I sent an angry but polite message back saying that this was not acceptable.

I had a message left on my voice mail saying it is a contention issue in my area and that they are doing something about it now.

This is the first time I have had to contact NTL support and I can't see why people always complain about them. Perhaps it is your attitude.

dathiultaigh

Since my upgrade I have also found a definite reduction in the QoS I get from my NTL connection. Previous to this I a pretty good connection.

CiaranC

Its amazing how local contention has suddenly become an issue since the network changes, when for 6 years on the old network it was never a problem. What a coincidence.

giddyup

Apologies in advance for long one. Before the upgrade I always had the modem on and I was always able to fire up the PC or the Laptop and hey presto I was online - never any major problems.

In the last month or so there is always a problem when I try to connect anything. I have to power cycle the modem a couple of times or turn it off and give it a 'rest' for 10-15 minutes. It's basically hassle. Last night I missed an assignment deadline because I couldnt get a connection between 10-12 so I couldnt submit the assignment.

I've been thinking it was the modem (overheating?) but maybe its something related to the other problems mentioned on this thread - QoS, contention etc. Can anyone clarify what these are and how they present.

Also, what can I do about it - I'm imagining ringing NTL and trying to explain to the highly skilled phone people that "sometimes" this thing does not work. I think for €25 per month I just want something that will work all the time with little or no intervention from me.

paulm17781

Giddyup, that is exactly what I had. Contact them anyway and explain it is not your modem and it is contenetion etc. see what they say.

D8 boy

Don't hold your breath getting any joy from NTL Support on the phone...

We've had trouble with BB since about Aug 4. The pattern is that you are surfing away, then page loading hangs, the "Ready" light goes out on the cable modem and all the lights on the modem flash in a wave. The "Ready" light then comes back some seconds/minutes/hours later and the connection comes back up. In the evenings this can happen every 3 minutes but during the day the connection seems to stay up fine.

So far 2 engineers have been out and have changed the (apparently corroded) connection from the local junction and the cable into the house to no avail.

I phoned them a few evenings ago, and after spending the standard 15 minuts on hold, started explaining the problem for the 3rd time. When I mentioned that it was impossible to ping any address during the connection down time, the technical support guy replied "ping? - you've lost me there".

So I have to stay of work for another 1/2 day to wait for another engineer to come to replace the modem.

Maybe I am naive to expact that a tech support person working on BB support will know something basic about networks, but it certainly gives me the impression that NTL are clueless....

fatherdougalmag

Have you by any chance got a 120 modem? (Look underneath)

D8 boy

Yes, it's a 120. Is that a known dodgy model? If so why don't NTL know ??! They've sent 2 people out and neither has changed. Tehy are supposed to change it on Tuesday - about a month about the problem was reported...

fatherdougalmag

A few of us here have the same problem with the 120. Just ask them to replace it with a 250 and you should be sorted.

giddyup

I rang them yesterday. Got straight through - tech guy seemed to know what he was talking about but he wasn't 100% sure on what the problem was. He is sending out an engineer next week to replace the modem and check everything out. Fair enough. Presume it will be a 250.

FrankGrimes

I have a 250 modem and have been having the exact same on/off service as giddyup since around end of July.

Haven't bothered ringing them due to the pathetic level of support I received when I did so in the past and the fact they'll expect me to take a half day off work to wait for their engineer to show even though it's pretty clear the problem is not in my house, its to do with their network. Will be leaving them soon.

MartMax

i had this issue for 3 weeks (see in July thread), they kept blaming the signals, missed out an appointment, and one other visit made no difference after few hours. and i suggest that never easily waste your half day work, insist of getting weekend or after 6pm visit. finally sorted the problem at last just by replacing the 120 modem with the 250. imagine of 3 weeks with no broadband, days on the phone arguing with support and to find out the reason was only the modem. not too mention last year, we had 10-days outtage because they switched our connection to the wrong house during a maintenance.

Marty

D8 boy

Engineer called today (the 3rd visit to sort out a single problem) and replaced the 120 modem with a 250.. No problems since, apart from the fact that it has taken them 6 weeks to rectify the problem...

dathiultaigh

Hope it works. I have a 250 since signing a long while back and as mentioned before I had no problems till my upgrade.

D_8 stands for dublin 8? If so you are prolly in a high usage area

D8 boy

dathiultaigh - you are correct - I am in Dublin 8. The engineer mentioned that there are a number of other users on our street.

2nd day with the 250 modem and no problems, though needless to say no reply to the email I send to Customer Support seeking a rebate for the last month, apart from an autoreply with the surprising signature
" Please note that following completion of the merger of ntl and Telewest, we are migrating our email addresses to a standard company wide address of "@ntl.com". Accordingly, you may see that the sender's email address has changed. If you are sending to a Telewest email address your email will be directed to the intended recipient."

dub45

D8 boy wrote:

The engineer mentioned that there are a number of other users on our street.

Imagine that!!! :rolleyes:

capistrano

I just want to add my own sorry story.

I have a 120 modem too and exactly the same problems reported elsewhere on this page, probably since around the end of July.

So they decide to change the modem and when the engineer comes out I had no connection at all - the ready light would not come on. So he couldn't swap the modem. Apparently, when he first connects the new modem he has to phone back to base to get a user and password to enter to enable the modem. But becasue he couldn't get a connection he left me with the old modem. He said the signal levels inside the house were perfect and the problem was definitely outside the house.

So what was I supposed to do? Wait until the ready light comes back on and then phone 1800 321321 and make another appointment to swap the modem.

Jesus wept!

A word to anyone from NTL perusing this forum: Get your act together, your serivce sucks!

giddyup

Wanted to give an update...

Engineer called Thur 14th. Decided the modem needed replacing but he didnt have one with him as he'd replaced 'loads' already that day! Said he would call back Friday. No problem. Get text from NTL to say eng call is booked for Saturday. Ring NTL to tell them no one will b there Saturday so dont bother. Eng calls Saturday and leaves a card to say he called and missed us! Ring NTL Mon 18th - they cant send anyone until 25th. Engineer calls out today (different bloke from 12th) and says everthing looks ok and he wont replace the modem. He says its a contention problem and that NTL have oversold in my area (Clonee). So wtf am I supposed to do with my €29.99 per month - I dont really fancy any of the other options. It has been ok for the last week'ish but I dont like paying 30 blips for something that I cant rely on.

Cuddlesworth

Why in Gods name are you all letting them come out and change your modem? They sold out, lost their network administrators, had the entire exchange go to **** and you are wasting time letting them come out and look at the problem?

I live in a house with 2 other people, 1 a network admin the other works as 2nd level tech support like me. Our Ntl line has also gone bad, time outs, droped connection. And I can tell you this much, its not on our end its on theirs.

Vote with your feet, if Ntl cannot provide the service the contract is void. Hell I'v done it to Ibb before.

Oh yeah, if they say its a contention issue there are a few things to note. First is Peak times are from around 6 to 9, so problems should be relegated to those times. Contention should not affect your connection, just your latency and download speed.

Cuddlesworth

Why in Gods name are you all letting them come out and change your modem? They sold out, lost their network administrators, had the entire exchange go to **** and you are wasting time letting them come out and look at the problem?

I live in a house with 2 other people, 1 a network admin the other works as 2nd level tech support like me. Our Ntl line has also gone bad, time outs, droped connection. And I can tell you this much, its not on our end its on theirs.

Vote with your feet, if Ntl cannot provide the service the contract is void. Hell I'v done it to Ibb before.

Oh yeah, if they say its a contention issue there are a few things to note. First is Peak times are from around 6 to 9, so problems should be relegated to those times. Contention should not affect your connection, just your latency and download speed.