Metropol

We are using a Linksys router. Over the last couple of months it has been disconnecting after a few hours.

Everytime this has happened we have been phoning Tiscali to ask them to 'refresh' the connection as they advised us.

It is not possible to reconnect using the router or modem when this happens and the only way for it to be fixed is by 'refreshing it'.

I'm not sure if timing out is the correct phrase but when we phoned them this time they told us to avoid it happening again we would have to downgrade our package to 512kbps from what we are on now (2mbps) because where we live in Milton Keynes, the exchange can only manage 512kbps. Is this true because MK is the only 'planned' city in the UK and is only 40 years old this year.

Should we downgrade? DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND COULD PERHAPS SUGGEST A SOLUTION?

Thanks
Matthew

I've heard that Tiscali are notorious for coming up with crazy excuses for their unreliable service, but this one has to be up there with Railtrack's "wrong type of snow" from years ago.

The fact that MK is a relatively new area is irrelevant. As long as you are on a digital exchange, which I imagine you are, then you should be able to get up to 8Mb/s out of the line.

If I were you I would explore the speed options with some other ISPs - try BT and AOL for starters.

Thanks, anyone else got suggestions?

PS Should I downgrade to 1mbps package rather than 2mbps as we can get 1.1mbps?

StuartPlymouth wrote:I've heard that Tiscali are notorious for coming up with crazy excuses for their unreliable service, but this one has to be up there with Railtrack's "wrong type of snow" from years ago.

The fact that MK is a relatively new area is irrelevant. As long as you are on a digital exchange, which I imagine you are, then you should be able to get up to 8Mb/s out of the line.

If I were you I would explore the speed options with some other ISPs - try BT and AOL for starters.

There was a problem with many people on Tiscali recently in which many were not receiving any sent mail by Tiscali. They decided all knowledge for months before realising there was a problem.

Dare I admit (for personal reasons) that I'm on Tiscali here in Milton Keynes. For me personally it seemed to be stable, the email problem hasn't affected me. I've gone from 512mb to 2gig and seems fine. I download around 100-150k per second. Mind you, I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing compared to other broadband suppliers.

As for a digital exchange which I have no idea over but I don't think we have, we are still on analogue cable here as it's BT who supplies the lines and Virgin who supplies the service and neither won't to co-operate or pay up to go digital.

The problem with broadband in Milton Keynes is worse than you think
http://www.bb4mk.org/

Yes, Tiscali are Ghastli, and expensive. If I were you I'd switch.

Kempy wrote:Thanks, anyone else got suggestions?

PS Should I downgrade to 1mbps package rather than 2mbps as we can get 1.1mbps?

Depends on how near you are to the exchange. As you found out if your only getting a maximum of 1.1mbps on a regular basis. Why pay more. Broadband in MK won't get any better for the time being.

cdd wrote:Yes, Tiscali are Ghastli, and expensive. If I were you I'd switch.

Trust me, I will. I read so much bad press about them.

The problem usually lies with Tiscali and not your equipment.

Tiscali, in their infinite wisdom, will happily cut off your modem/router if they think you're using too much bandwidth on a particular day.

They will BLOCK the mac address of your modem for up to 12 hours. If you have another ADSL modem you can plug that in and it usually works.

Sometimes, you can disconnect the filter and the cables going to your phone socket and turn off the router for 10 minutes. That can sometimes 'refresh' the synchronisation with the telephone exchange.

Jamez wrote:The problem usually lies with Tiscali and not your equipment.

Tiscali, in their infinite wisdom, will happily cut off your modem/router if they think you're using too much bandwidth on a particular day.

They will BLOCK the mac address of your modem for up to 12 hours. If you have another ADSL modem you can plug that in and it usually works.

Sometimes, you can disconnect the filter and the cables going to your phone socket and turn off the router for 10 minutes. That can sometimes 'refresh' the synchronisation with the telephone exchange.

That seems a ridiculous way to run an ISP. I bet the telephone number he had to call to "refresh" the synchronisation wasn't local-rate or freephone.

My sister had Ghastli for a while. After 2 attempts at broadband (and they still kept blaming BT) she switched to someone else.

Last year I kept a diary of events when I signed up to Tiscali:

http://www.provox.plus.com/fiasco.htm

Jamez wrote:Last year I kept a diary of events when I signed up to Tiscali:
http://www.provox.plus.com/fiasco.htm

Were you telling them of your ISP problems or was it simply a diary of your sexual exploits?

Seriously though, that shouldn't be necessary. Ultimately my sister cancelled the 12 month contract with Ghastli* (after her forceful screeching on the phone - which no one can ignore) and they refunded what she had already paid.

*They had claimed she was on a "party-line" from BT, the other part of which was using most of the bandwidth. She lives in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, where most of the neighbours have properties in excess of £2M in value, I doubt they would have a party line with anyone, least of all my Sister's farm!