Hey

I am writing on this forum as i would like some advice on my situation.
The situation is thus, we are with Tiscali upto 8mbps Broadband package, but we find the speeds to be far, far below the advertised 8mbps. I have taken numerous speeds tests through out the day and night on many occasions and find that during the hours 9-12 our internet speed seems to average out at around 400kbps and sometimes even dipping to around 200kbps not even 5% of the advertised speed! Then after 12 the speed slowly ramps up usually hitting a peak of 4mbps at around 4am, which of course isn't a time that i am often needing to use the internet.
I have tried to contact the customer service line but i was just told this was normal, although the operator did not seem to be particularly knowledgeable. I have also tried to contact Tiscali via email but have received no reply.
So now i am at a loss to the next step i should take. If Tiscali can sort out the speed issues and give us internet during the day (9-12) averaging at around 2mbps then i would be fine with staying with them, but if they cannot i would like to know if we would be able to cancel the service without having to pay off the rest of the contract as i feel i have be grossly misled.
Thank you for your help.
Ben

Hi Ben,

I am no expert but last year I had simular issues with Orange. We did a number of tests at home and we got on average about 1-1.5mb rather than 8Mb and the performance peak of 2.4Mb. After further conversations and tests with Orange (at peak rate phone calls), I found out that my contract with Orange protects them, the issue is the local Hub (close to my house) and is managed by BT. Orange said BT were upgrading the local Hub to improve performance and I would have to wait (that was 12 months ago, not seen an improvement). Further work identified that the local Hub is full and hence at peak times you get a degrading of performance but also if you switch providers, you free up space in the local Hub and replace it immediately with your new provider and hence don't see any improved performance. Hence today (12 months after my contract started with Orange), I am switching providers to a cheaper service (no better performance) but also one which has a better customer services department.

Paul

hmmm well i need to find a way to contact Tiscali and find out if the problem is them or would be the same for all ISP's

but i cant believe that BT would have the exchange so packed that the whole area couldnt get above 400kbps during the day.

Also for you perhaps Virgin media's fibre optic network may benefit you?

Does any one else have any ideas?

I have the same situation with Tiscali. However, it is because I'm so far from the BT exchange. I've also been given vague promises of exchange improvments, but so far 3 years on they've never appeared. This took a long time to confirm and sort out though thanks to Tiscali's truly abysmal customer services. Part of the problem of course is that it's a non-UK call centre albeit with very polite operators who simply cannot assist really, & who insist in going through the same solutions you tried with them a hundred times already. Tiscali tech support will simply NEVER reply to your emails either I'm afraid, and the overseas call centre is truly a nightmare. I seriously reckon I've spent 50 hours or so (plus) in total wasting time talking to thier call centre over the years. Thats a week out of my life! I would change ISP's but if you read the Tiscali forums, people end up offline for months waitjng for a change over! We're effecitvely trapped with them. I'd move to one with a UK call centre tomorrow if I could. ...We get 100kbps on average on a 8meg contract! Slooooooow!

well i've done the checks through a couple of sites and on tiscali's website which said

"We estimate the maximum speed your line can support is between 6Mb - 8Mb."

and with the line reaching 4mbps at 4am then i think that the lines fine but the i am limited when there are large numbers using tiscali during the day.

But surely i must have some sort of legal right to internet speeds of above 400kbps from 9-12?

Has any one tried going through CISAS?

or know of any other routes?

i have heard that 020 70872000 is good route to complain, not tried it yet though.

I have the same problem, due to the fact that I live over a certain distance from the "Exchange". I take my solace from the fact that I was hamstrung with BT (Bloody Terrible) for about 2 years at a combined price of £65.00 for Broadband (upto 1MB) and telephone, which included free local call after 6PM. Thanks BT.

My point being that I had to accept poor download or upload speeds but wanted better value for money, Tiscali have done this by providing a package of WIFI Broadband upto 8MB never gets to 1MB which I can live with, Free line rental, Free Telephone 24/7 to 10 international destinations, National and Local.

My average monthly cost after the initial set up cost is £27.00 a no brainer for me.

Obviously users who download DVD etc would struggle with this but for me to get rid of BT is a joy.