UPC BROADBAND AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Ranicand

For the 2ND time in a month they are having routing problems with makes my connection next to useless for want I want.

This went on for the best part of two weeks now it has happened again.

Last time is was mostly ping times being high.

This time its certain sites not loading or only loading sometimes

Playstation Network is unusable at the moment.

The fact that this company won't even admit they are having problems leaves me with zero confidence that they care about solving.

UPC leave their customers in the dark and treat them like morons.

Ranicand

And the good old days.





UPC fix it or I am gone.

quiche

Ranicand wrote: »

For the 2ND time in a month they are having routing problems with makes my connection next to useless for want I want.

This went on for the best part of two weeks now it has happened again.

Last time is was mostly ping times being high.

This time its certain sites not loading or only loading sometimes

Playstation Network is unusable at the moment.

The fact that this company won't even admit they are having problems leaves me with zero confidence that they care about solving.

UPC leave their customers in the dark and treat them like morons.

i've got a separate thread here asking about it - but try switching to opendns on your pc. helped with the issues i was having (not all though, seem to be very similary situation to you).

my prob is that the 'quality' cisco router wont allow me to save the opendns dns servers, i set them and it continually defaults back to the upc ones.

but yeah, try opendns and see if that helps.

Ranicand

quiche wrote: »

i've got a separate thread here asking about it - but try switching to opendns on your pc. helped with the issues i was having (not all though, seem to be very similary situation to you).

my prob is that the 'quality' cisco router wont allow me to save the opendns dns servers, i set them and it continually defaults back to the upc ones.

but yeah, try opendns and see if that helps.

Have tried the open DNS it helps a bit but it not much use for PS3.

I think the problems go beyond DNS issues.

Thank you for the reply.

su_dios

Not great speeds here tonight either but still decent enough. I'm on the 20mb package.

Ranicand

This is from just now almost half speed I could live with it for a while if it was not so unstable.

No Playstation Network.

Ranicand

su_dios wrote: »

Not great speeds here tonight either but still decent enough. I'm on the 20mb package.

Yes but have you noticed its not just the speed issue or a DNS problem some sites wont load or you have to keep on trying to get them to load.

Playstation Network is not usable perhaps somebody with Xbox would like to let us know how they are getting on with Xbox Live tonight.

Ranicand

Maybe Speedtest is trying to tell me something.:D

Ranicand

And another one.

People might think I have nothing better to do and they would be right I was looking forward to playing online tonight.

Kevin!

Ranicand wrote: »

And another one.

People might think I have nothing better to do and they would be right I was looking forward to playing online tonight.

That's well enough to play ps3, i have 3MB broadband, and it's speedy enough

Ranicand

Kevin! wrote: »

That's well enough to play ps3, i have 3MB broadband, and it's speedy enough

Its not just the speed there are other problems too PSN will not connect and when it does its not usable.

quiche

Ranicand wrote: »

Its not just the speed there are other problems too PSN will not connect and when it does its not usable.

Latency is the big worry - used to have smart which was great, only 4mb but with 1:1 contention and minimal latency. Moved, so now on UPC, and I keep getting drops - when it connects its fast, but then I'm getting similar routing/dns issues and it makes online playing a PITA.

Maybe try in the PS3 in your network settings trying opendns, but your right, in your case dont think it will help much, as it seems to be a more base routing issue.

edit: my speedtest results - but again the prob I have is the routing issues, so whilst these numbers appear ok, i can never hold a connection for any length of time

Lenny

Crap here in tallaght too. its been crap all weekend, its nearly permantly crap now all the time

dogpile

Are people getting a little spoiled with their BB?? 5 yrs ago some of these speeds posted on here would be manner from heaven and you'd probably have been paying the same if not more..


what in another 5 yrs will people be on here complaining about their crappy 50mb speeds

quiche

dogpile wrote: »

Are people getting a little spoiled with their BB?? 5 yrs ago some of these speeds posted on here would be manner from heaven and you'd probably have been paying the same if not more..


what in another 5 yrs will people be on here complaining about their crappy 50mb speeds

yes/no - raw speed not everything, i'd be so happy to go back to my smart 4mb connection at the moment as it was stable, had stuff all latency and no routing issues. 10mb is no good to me if upc cant do any form of packet routing reliably*.

* always chance of PEBKAC error here as well though....

Outkast_IRE

Im with upc/chorus for the last 4 years the upload speed has always been bit slow but reliable enough if anyone can tell me in cork who has as good as or better speeds then please do tell ????

eamonpendergast

Has anybody done a trace route to see where the bottlekneck is?

Ranicand

eamonpendergast wrote: »

Has anybody done a trace route to see where the bottlekneck is?

How do we do that?

eamonpendergast

Open the command prompt and type tracert www.randomwebsite.com

You're looking for the IP addresses with the highest ping times.

Play around with a couple a sites to find the high time, the sites you're having trouble with maybe.

Ranicand

In progress hold on.

How do I copy and paste it?

el dude

I've been having issues today with certain sites not loading or only loading very slowly.

I'm presumingthis is coming from UPC's end as i've run extensive spyware checks, have tried a few different DNS servers and tried different browsers.

el dude

eamonpendergast wrote: »

Open the command prompt and type tracert www.randomwebsite.com

You're looking for the IP addresses with the highest ping times.

Play around with a couple a sites to find the high time, the sites you're having trouble with maybe.

What would that tell us.

Irishpimpdude

Had some problems earlier today, maybe there working on there system maybe for upgrades lol (well thats what i keep telling myself to keep me from getting annoyed) seems fine now though

Kintarō Hattori

For the folk here who might not know what we're giving out about. It's not all about speed. Certainly download speeds are not what they should be but the other problem is simpy connectivity and stability. Many of us are having alot of difficulty actually opening regular everyday websites. At the moment I can't access my worksite, something which shouldn't be an issue.

Trying to play a game online with the Playstation is a major pain in the ass, in alot of cases you might sign into the PSN but you can't go online with the game - - - -> BF 1943, haven't been able to play this for most of the day.


So it's not all about speed, more the fact that actually trying to access alot of websites simply isn't happening.

Ranicand

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

For the folk here who might not know what we're giving out about. It's not all about speed. Certainly download speeds are not what they should be but the other problem is simpy connectivity and stability. Many of us are having alot of difficulty actually opening regular everyday websites. At the moment I can't access my worksite, something which shouldn't be an issue.

Trying to play a game online with the Playstation is a major pain in the ass, in alot of cases you might sign into the PSN but you can't go online with the game - - - -> BF 1943, haven't been able to play this for most of the day.


So it's not all about speed, more the fact that actually trying to access alot of websites simply isn't happening.

Well said.

rizzla

Been fine for me all day. PSN too.

eamonpendergast

Ranicand wrote: »

In progress hold on.

How do I copy and paste it?

Right click and choose "Select All", then use Ctrl + C to copy.

el dude wrote: »

What would that tell us.

Trace root works by starting at the nearest destination (you router), and going 1 hop further each time, the last hop before a time out may give you some idea what is causing the problem.

Also if the responce time from one particular IP address is very high (greater than 150ms - 200ms) it may explain what is causing your problem also.

ric516

Ranicand wrote: »

Its not just the speed there are other problems too PSN will not connect and when it does its not usable.

Which part of Dublin are you in if you don't mind telling?

I am in D2 myself and I am planning to switch from smart to upc!

Any input is appreciated guys

calmoo

eamonpendergast wrote: »

Open the command prompt and type tracert www.randomwebsite.com

You're looking for the IP addresses with the highest ping times.

Play around with a couple a sites to find the high time, the sites you're having trouble with maybe.

This is what I got.

C:\Users\####>tracert microsoft.com

Tracing route to microsoft.com [207.46.232.182]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  F5d8233-4v3 [192.168.2.1]
  2    34 ms    36 ms    19 ms  10.91.160.1
  3    38 ms    61 ms    21 ms  089-101-173097.ntlworld.ie [89.101.173.97]
  4    37 ms     7 ms    22 ms  84.116.238.6
  5     8 ms    14 ms    47 ms  84.116.238.21
  6    23 ms    25 ms    29 ms  uk-lon01a-rd3-10ge-15-0-0.aorta.net [213.46.160.
89]
  7    90 ms    92 ms    89 ms  us-nyc01b-rd1-pos-10-0.aorta.net [213.46.160.154
]
  8   131 ms    90 ms    92 ms  us-nyc01b-ri1-xe-3-1-0.aorta.net [213.46.190.94]

  9   115 ms   107 ms    91 ms  198.32.160.199
 10    96 ms   116 ms   110 ms  209.240.199.194
 11   121 ms   162 ms   122 ms  207.46.43.156
 12   118 ms   142 ms   163 ms  ge-7-0-0-0.chg-64cb-1a.ntwk.msn.net [207.46.43.1
54]
 13   193 ms   179 ms   170 ms  ge-3-3-0-0.co2-64c-1b.ntwk.msn.net [207.46.43.15
3]
 14   187 ms   180 ms   204 ms  ge-6-0-0-0.co1-64c-1b.ntwk.msn.net [207.46.43.18
2]
 15   182 ms   220 ms   190 ms  ge-6-0-0-0.tuk-64cb-1b.ntwk.msn.net [207.46.43.1
77]
 16   172 ms   195 ms   183 ms  ten2-4.tuk-76c-1b.ntwk.msn.net [207.46.46.23]
 17   178 ms   209 ms   187 ms  po15.tuk-65ns-mcs-1a.ntwk.msn.net [207.46.35.138
]
 18     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 19     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 20     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 21     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 22     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 23     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 24     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 25     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 26     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 27     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 28

Here's my speeds. UPC 20mb Dublin 14. Been **** connection all day.

rainbow kirby

Crap connection all day for me too, not connecting at all to certain sites, and a lot of stuff being dropped. (20Mb, Dublin 24)

Primus01

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

For the folk here who might not know what we're giving out about. It's not all about speed. Certainly download speeds are not what they should be but the other problem is simpy connectivity and stability. Many of us are having alot of difficulty actually opening regular everyday websites. At the moment I can't access my worksite, something which shouldn't be an issue.

Trying to play a game online with the Playstation is a major pain in the ass, in alot of cases you might sign into the PSN but you can't go online with the game - - - -> BF 1943, haven't been able to play this for most of the day.


So it's not all about speed, more the fact that actually trying to access alot of websites simply isn't happening.

Running on UPCs 20mb package myself. Your points are all totally accurate of the problems. If the connection was 3,5,7 etc MB all the time, it would be fine. The problem here is that the connections UPC are providing currently, are completely erratic. Sometimes you'll get 3mb, sometimes 5mb, rarely you'll get 17-19mb. The problem here is that moment to moment your connection will change and if you're trying to play any online game as some people in this thread were trying to do, that's going to be a nightmare. What's more, perhaps the worst part of my upc connection at the moment is that it almost feels like it's trying to make me avoid specific websites. What i mean by this is; Google won't load up no matter what i do at certain times of the day. Yet if i try another site, it'll work. If i plug in one of my other connections, i can go to google just fine. (This problem isn't only limited to google either.)

quiche

ric516 wrote: »

Which part of Dublin are you in if you don't mind telling?

I am in D2 myself and I am planning to switch from smart to upc!

Any input is appreciated guys

Personally having made the switch because of a move, i'd stick with smart. Although i'm not sure what their recent unfortunate news about financial troubles might impact upon things. Heard there was talk of them leaving the residential market - but that might mean not taking new connections on and maintaining the existing. Again though can't remember where I read that - but personally I found the connection far superior*.

* This could also be an artifact of the move and quality of previous local exchange vs. current location, so YMMV.

Ranicand

Back working for now.:rolleyes:

rcunning03

Hi,

I just got upc bb on Saturday and it's very slow speedtest couldn't finish but when it was working I was getting .07 MB max. I'm suppose to get 20MB.

Is this just setting up problems or am I better off handing it back (within seven days colloing off period) and getting Eircom bb?

I mainly want BB for playing world of warcraft. Hopefully it will be working when I get home

anonymousjunkie

Anyone called them about this?

Be interesting to hear what line the customer support section are giving the customers at the moment!

D-Generate

Been having great download speeds but the connection is too erratic to play games and as others have said, some websites can't be visited. Thankfully I have yet to sign a contract so think I will cancel the service.

vibe666

anonymousjunkie wrote: »

Anyone called them about this?

why would anyone want to call their ISP and risk having a problem fixed when they can give out about them anonymously on the internet? :rolleyes:

1. Plug computer directly into modem with ethernet cable (not wireless).
2. Ring tech support dept. of ISP.
3. Troubleshoot issue with ISP.
4. Point ISP to thread on boards.ie showing lots of people complaining of issues.

now what happens is either A they fix it, or B they escalate it and the people it gets escalated to will fix it.

option C "give out about ISP and call them all the names under the sun" does nothing except wind yourself and other people up with no constructive result.

anonymousjunkie

vibe666 wrote: »

why would anyone want to call their ISP and risk having a problem fixed when they can give out about them anonymously on the internet? :rolleyes:

1. Plug computer directly into modem with ethernet cable (not wireless).
2. Ring tech support dept. of ISP.
3. Troubleshoot issue with ISP.
4. Point ISP to thread on boards.ie showing lots of people complaining of issues.

now what happens is either A they fix it, or B they escalate it and the people it gets escalated to will fix it.

option C "give out about ISP and call them all the names under the sun" does nothing except wind yourself and other people up with no constructive result.

Maybe we don't all have the time when we get in from work to spend 30/40 mins on the phone to upc idiot support, that is if you get through at all.

I've spent plenty of time talking to these people, rarely does it get you anywhere.

Did I complain about them in this thread?? No

And why not? Because I know what they're like! Its pointless!

But I'm entitled to ask if anyone has been on to them, and what excuse is being given to the average joe soap.

Heres two little rolley eye faces for you! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

jozi

Noticed I was getting slow speeds recently, put it down to flatmates downloading. Only one online now and get this from speedtest

Thats a 10meg connection I should have. Used to max out my connection dl now it's only going at about a quarter the speed.

Has anyone called and complained/made them aware of issues?

I'm in D9 btw, glasnevin area, connection has been great since march or so this year

Ranicand

Ranicand wrote: »

Back working for now.:rolleyes:

Gone to sh*t again UPC are a bloody joke.

Ranicand

UPC you have just lost a customer Phone tv in 3 rooms and broadband.

I am going to cancel the debit with my bank and make you haggle for the money the way I have to haggle for a service.


Let this be a warning to anyone out there thinking of getting UPC DON'T.

Ranicand

Ranicand wrote: »

UPC you have just lost a customer Phone tv in 3 rooms and broadband.

I am going to cancel the debit with my bank and make you haggle for the money the way I have to haggle for a service.


Let this be a warning to anyone out there thinking of getting UPC DON'T.

Oh dear there multi million euro company will be devastated.

UPC is being a bit picky for me with some sites alright, but its the 1st time in a long while anything of the sort has happened.
Nothing in comparasin to eircoms DNS disaster.

My Download speed is infact excellent, perhaps UPC are doing some upgrades causing the problems.

Nothing in comparasin to eircoms DNS disaster.

Heres a speedtest i took 5 mins ago

Ranicand

cisk wrote: »

Oh dear there multi million euro company will be devastated.

UPC is being a bit picky for me with some sites alright, but its the 1st time in a long while anything of the sort has happened.
Nothing in comparasin to eircoms DNS disaster.

My Download speed is infact excellent, perfaps UPC are doing some upgrades causing the problems.

Nothing in comparasin to eircoms DNS disaster.

Heres a speedtest i took 5 mins ago

Lot's of people read these boards so people like me being so public will hurt UPC.

As regards your connection I am glad for you however I doubt you would be as forgiven if you had put it with this crap for the last week.

If UPC are doing work why can't they inform us?

As it stands my connection it next to useless every night for the last week and I have had no explanation from UPC despite many calls to their customer support.

graham13

Ranicand wrote: »

Lot's of people read these boards so people like me being so public will hurt UPC.

As regards your connection I am glad for you however I doubt you would be as forgiven if you had put it with this crap for the last week.

If UPC are doing work why can't they inform us?

As it stands my connection it next to useless every night for the last week and I have had no explanation from UPC despite many calls to their customer support.

Quite true.I'm only with them since Saturday and i'm already pulling my hair out.Thinking of getting Eircom back in:eek:

miralize

are you able to use any router with the UPC line or do you need a different one/adapter. Will my belkin work?

vibe666

anonymousjunkie wrote: »

Maybe we don't all have the time when we get in from work to spend 30/40 mins on the phone to upc idiot support, that is if you get through at all.

it doesn't matter if 1st line support are any good or not, if you don't report the problem, how are UPC supposed to know how many users are affected and how badly? if you don't report it then you can expect zero sympathy here and all the sarcastic smilies you can manage on your choppy connection aren't going to change that one bit.

this country is chock full of whingers who'd rather moan about a problem till the cows come home than actually call somebody and do something about it and it's exactly that sort of person who bears the brunt of the responsibility for customer support in Ireland being the shining beacon of shiite it is today.

personally, if i was having a problem with my internet access, i'd want someone to fix it, but if you'd all rather just moan about it and drag it out as long as possible, then go for it, but I'd rather having it working again, each to their own.

upc 20mbps working perfectly in navan btw. maybe UPC know who you are from your posts here and are specifically not fixing yours until you actually call to complain.



why don't you change to eircom, i hear their service is great and never has any problems.

Ranicand

vibe666 wrote: »

it doesn't matter if 1st line support are any good or not, if you don't report the problem, how are UPC supposed to know how many users are affected and how badly? if you don't report it then you can expect zero sympathy here and all the sarcastic smilies you can manage on your choppy connection aren't going to change that one bit.

this country is chock full of whingers who'd rather moan about a problem till the cows come home than actually call somebody and do something about it and it's exactly that sort of person who bears the brunt of the responsibility for customer support in Ireland being the shining beacon of shiite it is today.

personally, if i was having a problem with my internet access, i'd want someone to fix it, but if you'd all rather just moan about it and drag it out as long as possible, then go for it, but I'd rather having it working again, each to their own.

upc 20mbps working perfectly in navan btw. maybe UPC know who you are from your posts here and are specifically not fixing yours until you actually call to complain.



why don't you change to eircom, i hear their service is great and never has any problems.

VIBE666 I have phoned them loads of times in the last week it does no good.

I hope your connection drops to crap now just for that post.

Your so unhelpful maybe you should look for a job in their call center.:D

Ranicand

One last thing VIBE666 we are paying the money and UPC are well aware of these boards I have told them often enough.


Why don't they join an give us an answer.

Sky joined the Digialspy boards to answer their customers.


I am not asking for the moon all I am asking is what is wrong with my connection and is it been worked on?


Simple bloody question and calling people wingers is quite childish.

I have called and called UPC and I still have no idea what is wrong with my connection and if and when it might be fixed.

hightower1

Vibe is talking perfect sense and is being helpful. Just because its not what you want to hear dont label it unhelpful. You may not want to hear "stop whining and get on to the only people who can actually do something about it". yes it harder to do that than have a go on boards but it will get you a LOT farther.

Real mature mate.... real mature. I can see why their support wouldnt want to be bothered with you straight away. You get the same attitude you give.

Ranicand

hightower1 wrote: »

Vibe is talking perfect sense and is being helpful. Just because its not what you want to hear dont label it unhelpful. You may not want to hear "stop whining and get on to the only people who can actually do something about it". yes it harder to do that than have a go on boards but it will get you a LOT farther.

Real mature mate.... real mature. I can see why their support wouldnt want to be bothered with you straight away. You get the same attitude you give.

Wrong I have phoned them many times and been very patient gone through loads of modem reboots and the like.

Every time I phone I have to go through same story again and again.

The first thing I did was get onto them.


I was never rude on the phone and have done everything right and by the book I have now lost it that is why I am on the boards as a last resort.




Download speed is less then 20% of what it should be some sites won't load and Playstation Network is not usable.

I have explained this over and over again to UPC I am not the only person having this problem.

Where do you get off saying I have an attitude problem?



Also I stated this thread to warn people about the nightmare they might expect from UPC it was not a wine.

inforfun

OP

For the biggest part of 2007 i have been fighting with UPC. My connection in the evenings back then was non-existent.
As i didnt have any other option than using them, i kept calling their helpdesk.
After not too long i have been asking to escalate my calls, have teamleaders or managers call me back. Basically used every bit of knowledge i had how call centres work.
I had engineers visiting me ( if they bothered to show up) who could not find anything wrong.
Eventually my problems disappeared or were solved.
What all those calls brought me was that in 2007 i paid only 3 months in the end.
So... problems i had were not solved fast at all but at least i got money returned to me.

Just keep calling them. get them as annoyed with you as you are with their service. it shouldnt have to go that way but for me it did pay out, somewhat.

And oh.. this is the current situation:

[URL="[URL=http://www.speedtest.net][IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/571328156.png[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]