I have to agree with you im afraid! I have noticed this even on their "business" packs :-(

I am now looking at moving away - BE are now in my area - so I am going to look at them!

Hi,

I just wanted to re-iterate that people are leaving eclipse in droves me being one of them and I'm almost out of the door. I think as mentioned above a good forum to look at for eclipse is :-

http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=eclipse

I am not a heavy down loader but do so occasionally and the speeds are atrocious at any time of the day. I could put up with that but when you have to wait for a web page to load it makes you think you have a dial-up modem connection. I have been with eclipse for 2-3 years and before they were taken over they gave an excellent service for a good price but not long after they were taken over by Kingston things went down hill.
Anyway hope this helps you get a "rounded" view of this ISP as I would hate to think of people joining up in their droves to find out once they are tied in for 12 months that they are not as good as expected.

Cheers

Hi,

No problem. Just found another useful link - look who is bottom!!!

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_speed.php?test=8128&month=12&year=2006&submit=View+average+speeds%21

Oh well only 6 more days 'til I can wave goodbye to them :-)

I think that graphs like that don't tell the whole story though - it does not tell you anything about the ISP's policies on throttling, traffic shaping, bandwidth usage etc - you always need to read loads of reviews and come to sites like this and make an informed decison.

More info on traffic shaping here:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_shaping

Cheers

Hi Adamski

This information is really useful, thanks very much.

I'm half tempted to create a new thread specifically about Traffic Shaping when I have some time to highlight this issue.

I'm also going to look at Aquiss as they sound really good value for the consumer and see if we can get them on the site.

Cheers

Jason

H Jason,

I don't know of a 'good' ISP list that shows ISPs that don't throttle bandwidth or don't implement traffic shaping but the 'bad' list is here:-

http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/Bad_ISPs

Apparantly Eclipse never used to do this - it's only happened since Kingston Communications took over (as you stated). There are also reports of them lowering standards of customer service on other sites.

I think everybody has a right to know if their ISP is involved in this traffic shaping and it's so frustrating when they deny what they are doing.

To not even address my concerns and just give me a MAC release code says it all - they clearly want to 'sell' 8meg but not provide it. I used to get faster speeds downloading on my old NTL 1 meg connection.

Check this link out to see I am one of many!:-

http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=eclipse&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0

Aquiss don't traffic shape and are very clear about it in their forums - they seem very transparent about their packages, have very high usage allowance limits and I like the fact they have a user forum where they actually answer people's complaints. They even publish the stats on how quickly support tickets are answered. I think they are still in the top 10 ISPs on ispreview.co.uk

After alot of research, they are my choice and looking at their forums I don't think I'll be disappointed.

I will be very glad to leave Eclipse.

If you get a chance to check out Aquiss and go onto their forums, they look like they should perhaps be on your list, although as I don't migrate over to them until the 19th, I can't yet comment on whether the service lives up to its promise. I'm very confident it will though.

Cheers

Hi Adamski

This is really interesting and a massive shame since I had a lot of faith in Eclipse being one of the few not to do this.

You mentioned they have new owners, are you refering to Kingston Communications?

According to the Azureus listings who are on the 'good ISP' list?

Cheers

Jason

I joined Eclipse a few months ago after reading some positive reviews on ispreview.co.uk. I joined at exactly the wrong time. They have now been taken over by a different company, and many users are now complaining about the poor service.

You should look at the independent reviews on ispreview.co.uk - many users are now very unhappy with this ISP. My (and many others) biggest complaint was the traffic shaping and bandwidth throttling, all of which they completely deny and don't cover in their fair usage policy.

Downloads through P2P apps are now restricted to around 30k/s at certain times during their off-peak hours - at the very same time you can get full 8meg speeds through 'normal' http downloads. Every time I have contacted them they have said this is due to contention ratio - blatantly not the case if you can get blazing fast speeds through http at the same time.

Many others have found similar problems. I would seriously avoid this ISP particularly if you have any intention of actually using the bandwidth for any sort of P2P use. Eclipse is now on the Azureus P2P client 'bad ISP' list which confirms that traffic shaping is in place. By not informing users of this 'stealth' technology which limits the speed of P2P data packets and then denying it even exists despite proof that it does, they are in breach of their own fair usage policy and on this basis alone should not be considered.

I have switched to Aquiss and loads of people on the Aquiss forums have done the same, migrating from Eclipse due to the above issues.

When I complained to Eclipse they just gave me a MAC code and basically told me to get lost!!! AVOID.

Eclipse to start unbundling lines in Milton Keynes.

My friend who is also on Eclipse in Milton Keynes received a letter this month informing him that they are to start unbunbling his line.
They are to upgrade to ADSL2+ at the completion of this work.

So, now Eclipse move up in the market! I am still wanting to find official confirmation of this since it does not mention this on their website yet.

Just to reiterate, we've heard a lot of good things about Eclipse too which is why they're now on board our broadband channel.

The only problems I have ever had where due to BT screwing up my line when I signed up!

I am on the business 1 pack (up to 8MB/s a second - getting about 3.5/4MB/s.

Always stable and always on when ever I need it!!

They do not block ANY ports (like some ISP's) and offer free multiple IP's even on the home packs!

On the business pack i am on, they don't complain about my over 100gb a month download usage (legal downloads/file transfer to and from work networks (2 of them - and the files can be HUGE (1Gb a time sometimes!)) Oh, and I downloaded Office 2007 (RC1 and RC1TC1) and Windows Vista Beta 1 and Beta 2 (some very large downloads there LOL). I also download *NIX iso's for myself and friends - Also running a Windows 2003 file server from home (so I can listen to my music collection at work and get my files). All this adds up to huge usage that they do not and have not yet complained about!

I have been with them for about 15 months now - and can't see my self moving to another provider (even free ones that would get me free phone stuff)

You can regrade your pack online 24/7 and the online control panel is very easy to use.

The only other stuff I could say is - BUY! If you go for a 1 month rolling contract there are NO cancelation fees - though you will have to pay an install fee (catch 22 situation - if you know you can live with them for 12 months (and you can) I would advise to go for the 12 month contract).

Oh, and there customer service is BRILLIANT (remember though - im on a business pack - so better level of service then home). I would think though, there service for home users will be just as good! When ever I have asked a question (email) i get an answer the same day!

Anyway, I could go on about Eclipse all day (and have done to other people before - I can be a bore sometimes LOL) so I will stop now!

Any more info - lemme know!

hi there kingdeb8r

i have had my eye on Eclipse for a long time and stumbled across them after i had signed upto my present ISP Madasafish who are quite good.
Have you ever had any issues with the speed or bandwidth at all, i was interested in the Opt 1 £14.99 package.

cheers tony t

In answer to your question.

We are currently in discussion with Eclipse Internet to bring them on board our channel. Eclipse have a very good service record and are highly rated by ADSLGuide. Our intention is to get them listed as soon as possible but that process can take a bit of time, so watch this space.

Cheers

Jason Lloyd

Why have you missed off, what I feel is the best broadband provider?

100% brilliant support!
Good prices
Unlimited Bandwidth
1 Month or 12 month contracts

www.eclipse.net.uk