View Full Version : migrating broadband
I am looking to change my braodband and as mettalattacks UKFSN look quite promising, what I need to know now is... I have always been with eclipse and am getting an abysmal rate 1.07 download and 0.18 upload and the service is junk these days. I have never changed, is there likely to be a disruption in service during a changeover and how do I go about changing?
I am looking to change my braodband and as mettalattacks UKFSN look quite promising, what I need to know now is... I have always been with eclipse and am getting an abysmal rate 1.07 download and 0.18 upload and the service is junk these days. I have never changed, is there likely to be a disruption in service during a changeover and how do I go about changing?
Hi unicorn,
Every ISP these is required to provide a MAC (Migration Authorisation Code) code for transferring to another provider.
To change to another provider, all you need to do is:
Contact Eclipse and ask them for your MAC code.
When they send it through, contact whoever you have chosen as your new broadband provider and give them the code.
They will switch over your broadband from Eclipse to whoever you choose.That's it.
The downtime is likely to be anywhere from 20 minutes to a few hours. Shouldn't be any longer than that.
When I changed providers it took about 4 hours for the switchover.
Because of the new rules, switching providers is now very straightforward. Assuming of course Eclipse are not being funny and delay sending your code out.
Your speeds are very slow so it may be better to try and see if it's your line or something else before switching. A lot of the time it's not the provider that is slow, but some other factors somewhere and therefore changing to a new provider isn't going to fix it.
If you have problems with your broadband, it may be an idea to try the BT speedtest (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://speedtester.bt.com/). You'll need Java for it to work.
Thanks for the info it is greatly appreciated. I am trying to do the speedtest but it just says an error has occurred when I enter my telephone number.
The system is currently busy. Please try again shortly, however if this problem persists, raise the issue with your service provider.paintProgressAndMessageTestBar(-1,"");paintProgressAndMessageOnBar(-1,'An Error has Occured! ');
Thanks for the info it is greatly appreciated. I am trying to do the speedtest but it just says an error has occurred when I enter my telephone number.
The system is currently busy. Please try again shortly, however if this problem persists, raise the issue with your service provider.paintProgressAndMessageTestBar(-1,"");paintProgressAndMessageOnBar(-1,'An Error has Occured! ');
Hi unicorn,
Two questions (I've had problems with it in the past):
Are you sure you have Java installed?
Assuming you are using Windows, are you doing it through IE (I couldn't get it working in Firefox)?
yup it installed java when I went into the site and internet explorer7
yup it installed java when I went into the site and internet explorer7
Just tried it myself and it immediately came up busy (from memory the last time I tried it there was a delay after entering my number).
I'd try it again later outside of the peak period - there is a message at the top which says this 'you may experience system busy messages during our even peak period'
ok I will give that a try.
I know I don't have the greatest phone-line as there are times I can hardly hear for the crackling, I got BT out and they charged me £50 and said it was my digital phones (which I replaced) my filters (which I replaced) and my broadband interfering with my phone-line.
Needless to say I never got them out again and just put up with a rubbish line as I am not paying £50 each time for the engineer to not even go out and check the line. He literally took one look at the pc and blamed it.
ok I will give that a try.
I know I don't have the greatest phone-line as there are times I can hardly hear for the crackling, I got BT out and they charged me £50 and said it was my digital phones (which I replaced) my filters (which I replaced) and my broadband interfering with my phone-line.
Needless to say I never got them out again and just put up with a rubbish line as I am not paying £50 each time for the engineer to not even go out and check the line. He literally took one look at the pc and blamed it.
Hi unicorn,
If you have a bad crackling line then you may have the culprit for your slow broadband speeds. Changing broadband supplier isn't going fix that and you're still going to have the slow speeds.
If your phone line is crackling after you pull out the broadband and the filters and only have an analogue phone plugged in then it's a faulty line and needs to be fixed by BT. The engineer can come out and take one look at the PC all he likes, if it's not plugged in it's not the problem.
Broadband signals interfering with the phone line is BT's responsibility as they manage it at the exchange. A broadband modem / filter etc. interfering with your phone line is your responsibility. Disconnect them and they can't be affecting anything.
A good rule of thumb is that anything inside the phone box on your wall back towards the exchange is BT, anything plugged into the box (including hard wired extensions not wired by BT) are your responsibility.
If it's a relatively new box then it has a small socket underneath that is used to connect directly to the line bypassing everything else. Take that faceplate off and plug your broadband into it and see if you get a better result. Also plug your analogue phone directly into that port and see if the crackling goes away. Remember it needs to be an analogue phone and preferably one you know works perfectly to satisfy BT.
Putting the broadband problems to one side, crackling on a phone line that causes you to hardly hear the other end isn't normal. Is the phone bad at particular times of the day / night?
It comes and goes. I had the same problem about 8 years ago and it traced back to the main box in sir archibald road as my connections down there are close to the ground and had rusted, I did tell the engineer this but he said no its your broadband. My main outside phoneline was replaced at the same time as they couldn't figure out the problem but eventually traced it back.
It comes and goes. I had the same problem about 8 years ago and it traced back to the main box in sir archibald road as my connections down there are close to the ground and had rusted, I did tell the engineer this but he said no its your broadband. My main outside phoneline was replaced at the same time as they couldn't figure out the problem but eventually traced it back.
I'd report it again but report it based on your phone line rather than your broadband. I'd be interested to know exactly what and why the engineer thinks it's your 'broadband'. They control the broadband connections so any speed problems are usually (not always) down to BT somewhere.
The speedtester will tell you what your line will support as a maximum outside of your ISP. If this tells you that you can get a much faster speed than they are providing then I would also complain to them as they can get BT to check things that us mere mortals cannot.
I know there are a fair few engineers on here who have experience with BT. However after a visit by a BT engineer in October 2006 who told me one thing, replaced the box (as it was faulty) and then told the BT billing people another who kindly charged me £120 + VAT for all of this. It took me 6 months, a phone and then a complete line disconnection before I was able to get the service restored and the bill removed (as I never paid it), I can completely understand your reasons for not getting them out as they rarely listen to what we say. Get a bundle of evidence that it's their line and not your equipment that is at fault.
ok got results
595 kilo bits per second (Kbps), your service bandwidth will have been quoted to you in kilo bits per second.
BT would regard the speed ranges shown below as normal service: For 250kbps End Users speeds between 50 - 250kbps. For 500kbps End Users speeds between 100 - 500kbps. For 1000kbps End Users speeds between 200 - 1000kbps. For 2000kbps End Users speeds between 400 - 2000kbps.
now I need a translation :lol:
ok got results
595 kilo bits per second (Kbps), your service bandwidth will have been quoted to you in kilo bits per second.
BT would regard the speed ranges shown below as normal service: For 250kbps End Users speeds between 50 - 250kbps. For 500kbps End Users speeds between 100 - 500kbps. For 1000kbps End Users speeds between 200 - 1000kbps. For 2000kbps End Users speeds between 400 - 2000kbps.
now I need a translation :lol:
What speed are you paying for (ie. what if your broadband package)?
It's a kind of redundant question as your speed falls within all of those ranges. While I think 595k (0.5Mb) is quite a poor speed regardless of your package (unless it's a 512k one!), BT consider it normal.
I would continue to monitor the crackling on your phone line and make a complaint based on that. That's something they cannot dispute as easily as a slow speed test.
I'm testing my own line speed just now and will post it here when I get the results (it's still busy just now).
It was the crackling I called about and he walked in looked at the pc and said it is your internet :eek: I am on eclipse evolution 2 which is 8 meg [lol]
It was the crackling I called about and he walked in looked at the pc and said it is your internet :eek: I am on eclipse evolution 2 which is 8 meg [lol]
Sounds like the engineer didn't know what he was doing or he was trying to fob you off.
Unplug it this time and they can't blame it. I can't understand how he can think your internet can cause the line crackling - the filters and the modem maybe, but that is easily checked by unplugging them and then checking it ... maybe it was his last shift and he wanted to get home for Neighbours (now on channel 5 apparently)!
The 8Mb connection package you're on will be an ADSL Max package which gives a maximum (currently) of 8Mb down the line. It is all dependent upon distance from the exchange, line quality, what else is on the line, who else is on the line etc. You will never get 8Mb unless you live in the Exchange itself :-) Theer has been a call for more transparency and accurate advertising with broadband as they all seem to advertise 8Mb Broadband and don't tell you that yo are unlikely to actually get that!
Bobinovich
08-Feb-08, 00:05
It was the crackling I called about and he walked in looked at the pc and said it is your internet I am on eclipse evolution 2 which is 8 meg
That peeves me off so much [disgust] Can't be bothered doing a couple of simple tests to determine what actually is the cause. Considering it takes maybe 10-15 minutes to do a pretty conclusive test it's just pure laziness.
That peeves me off so much [disgust] Can't be bothered doing a couple of simple tests to determine what actually is the cause. Considering it takes maybe 10-15 minutes to do a pretty conclusive test it's just pure laziness.
... and they had the cheek to charge £50.00 for the privilege. I found this when searching for something earlier:
"
At BT, we make the customer central to everything we do ...
"
... especially the billing. Ahem.
I couldn't believe I got charged £50 for it :eek: I did phone to complain and they said they could send the engineer out again but it would cost another £50 so I just changed the phones and filters.
I couldn't believe I got charged £50 for it :eek: I did phone to complain and they said they could send the engineer out again but it would cost another £50 so I just changed the phones and filters.
They usually say that if the 'fault is found to be with your equipment then we will charge you', not it costs £50.00 to get an Engineer out. A fault on the line is their responsibility, not yours. You are paying £10.00+ per month for rental of a line (the rental part is something BT seem to forget about when it suits them - the line is not yours, it's theirs).
maybe there is a wee note beside my name on the account that says MUUUG:roll:
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