Broadband Consultant

thanks for this.

I am concerned that I seem to be being "censored" in some way here - as you are representing MS.

There are far more serious issues - and misplaced comments I have seen on this forum that have gone unchallenged.

However - I will now retire gracefully from the forums of Moneysupermarket.


Thanks for everyone's comments (and support).


Eric ISP

Hi Broadband consultant.


can I ask - Are you writing as an employee., or other "associate" of Moneysupermarket ? - (in reference to "can only recommend National Providers)

Readers are always able to undertake a credit check on any company they wish to deal with.

Anyway - I Think this is now getting a bit out of hand, and off the point.


Regards

Eric ISP

Hi There Silverline -

This most certainly is not an advert for us.

We have all the business we need through recommendation and referral.

You will note that I have expressly avoided giving ANY reference to who we are - for the PRECISE reason of not using this forum as a platform to advertise - as I believe that would be unethical - and in any case - I know we couldn't handle the deluge of potential customers that might result

The example you give of a £120,000 car - to half that, i.e £60,000 is extreme, and out of context.

I am just trying - as I've said in the other reply post to "broadband expert" - to be helpful, and put over some techncially complex issues (in my other posts ) in a simple, easy to understand way - so that people can make a more informed choice.

It is becoming clear to me that these posts of mine are not appreciated by some , in the context that they are given, and, as I've said in the other reply post, - if that is the case - I will withdraw from the MS forum.

I have better things to do .

Kind regards

Eric ISP

Hi There broadband consultant.

I Aggree with you. -And As MD of our internet service provider business - I'm very aware of the competition.

And I have never said that there are no "good providers" - In fact a nationally well known ISP who operates in this area offers excellent service - in fact we buy hardware from them - And I worked with the founder owner /chairman cc 1980. - and known many of the technical staff.

However - within these posts, I've tried to adopt a friendly easy to understand approach to problems that people are obviously having.
I feel passionate about this - and as a Chartered engineer, with several professional qualifications in this field - I also wish to try to uplift, and raise public appreciation of the "engineering and related disciplines in IT"

With over 40 years experience in the electronics, IT, computing, software, telecoms, and latterly the Internet - maybe some of my approach is outdated. - and - maybe that's not how the business world now works - But - virtually all of our business comes from referral - and a lot of that is gained from my regular attendance at business networking groups where I regularly exchange views with other business owners of small to large multi million pound enterprises - and that gives me a very clear view on methods of doing business.

If it comes to pass that my posts are not appreciated - then I will quite happily withdraw from this forum

Regards

Eric ISP

What is this? An advert for yourself!!!

You get what you pay for - yes you do, sometimes. Would you pay £120,000 for a car from one supplier, when you can get exactly the same thing elsewhere for half that price. Of course you wouldn't (or going by your logic, would you?).

I dont pay for a service that I am not getting though (nor do I think anyone does), and for what I use my connection for (mainly on-line banking), why would I want to pay £20 a month for a sevice I use maybe 30 minutes a week. Just because something is cheaper, doesn't mean you should expect to get ripped off, or even that it makes it ok.

If everybody thought like that, there would not even be eBay.

Hi,

I just can't believe that a simple broadband migration should take so long. -well - I can actually ......................

because, as , you will see from my other post on this and other major low cost providers is that the bottom line here is PRICE

I run an internet service provider business, and we provide a wide range of internet services, such as website hosting, webserver hosting, managed server solutions, domain name registrations , website design etc .
We also have our own Broadband service, and as such we see directly , via our management system, all the "activity" from start - to completion - that occurs on new orders, and migrations. - So -
This means we know precisely what the status of an order is at any time. - ( And you may ask yourself that ......... if the other "major providers" - who are much larger than us - also have this facility which I'm sure they do ..... why can't they tell you whats going on ???? ..........)

Our broadband service is a high grade product aimed at the business user - not cheap - but we give really good service -backed up by solid technical advice, experience, and knowledge.

I can tell you that, in virtually all caes, a migration takes no longer than 6 -10 days maximum. And of the rest, no more than 14 days.
The only problem usually encountered is a short interruption of service (usually only hours maximum) whilst switching from the old to the new provider.

and then once migration is complete .....

.... Finally requiring of course a change of username and password setup in the customer end ADSL (broadband) modem. -which a very small number of customers have "finger trouble" with. A short phone call from us is all that is required to sort these sort of problems out -
This, incidentally is a phonecall we make TO the customer once we see on our porrtal that migration is complete - AND - we cannot see any successful login attempts on our radius server - This means either the customer hasn't tried logging in yet, or more likely - ....... having trouble - so surprisingly for the customer - we are there "already" anticipating the problem !!!

(for advice and solutions to other problems - see my other posts)

So - my friend - it's as I said at the beginning - its all down to price, and - I'm afraid you've got precisely the service level you've paid for !!!.

But - If you want a reliable service with good, sound technical backup - from knowledgable people who can really help you - and give you a service in days, not weeks or even months - then go to a smaller provider who won't be cheap - but can provide you with the service you deserve.

regards

eric-isp

What a nightmare.

As soon as I got information that I could purchase sky broadband I did. That was the 11th August and paid a £20 fee as I only wanted the mid service. I got the MAC code off BT and away we went (so I thought).

8th September - 1 Month later - still no joy and my MAC code had expired. Sky put it down to BT telling them tht my phone was not a bt line, and BT blamed Sky and offered me a discounted price to stay (eventually ooffering me £15.99 to stay on the top tier. I refused a £5 with sky seemed a bargain.

2nd October - 2 months later - My second MAC code expired and still no joy. I was told they should have cancelled my original order and put a new one through with a new MAC code, but no-one had. At this point all I could do was laugh. I told them I wanted a refund on the £20 I paid, but would like to move up to the max service. "No Problem" I was told. Famous last words indeed.

10th October - Phoned Sky to see what was happening. "Everything is going through Ok". I still hadn't received my refund but they were going to do tht immediately after I hung up and someone would phone to confirm the refund.

Today 25th October. Still no service or refund. Have phoned BT. told them to cancel mt service in the hope this will help sky. After a lot of hassle trying to cancel rather than getting a new MAC code or going down to a lower service at a higher price that the £16 I was originally offered, they finally cancelled it so I should be clear from the 30th November.

Phoned Sky. The guy on the phone was v. helpful to be fair. He checked my account and issued the refund over the phone to me (just have to wait and see if it goes through). Explained the situation to him and he didnot have any reason why it had not gone through. He has now sorted everything and my Sky connection should go live on the 1st December. I think we will have to wait and see on this.

I mostly blame sky for a lot of this, as they could have contacted me at any time to tell me what ws going on, and if it was anyone else I would cancel, but their prices can not be beaten. But BT should have behaved better. As far as I am concerned, they were just trying to make more money out of me. Especially when paying for a call when I am on hold for 30mins at a time.

If anyone needs it, the quickest way to get through to BT to cancel or get a MAC code is via an unadvertised number - 0800 800 030.