Tiscali

[Matthew.]

I have an urge to write this, i do not know exactly why...it shall not achieve anything, however, here we go.

We (my family) are on tiscali, slowish connection (512kbp/s), but whatever...it does the job. Or does it?

For months now msn has been signing in, out, messages not being sent/received, etc etc...basically it was useless. This was initially at peaks time only, however then spread in the latter months to being virtually 24/7.

Unbeknown to me at the time, this was, is, also the cause of my p2p and other application problems. Fantastic news!

After being extremely fed up after a while i began to look into it and it seems 90% of other tiscali (UK) users have been having the same problems. Something that has not kept its way out of tiscali's poor excuse for a forum.

SO promise after promise comes, and i stay a distant by stander just reading through the forums occasionally...not making much of a fuss as my father will not change ISP, if it doesn't affect him...as usual...he doesn't take much interest. Ironically of course it was me 9 12 months ago who encouraged him to go with tiscali. Fate is not without a sense of irony in the great words of morpheus.

So, on may the 1st what seems like a break through:
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127270&page=1

I found that topic after noticing MSN works fine now. Hooray! But all is not well, because to gain my msn "service" back i now have to put up with connections like these:


Oh but it does not end there, not only do i get a fraction of the mediocre speed we pay for every month (which btw is £14, $28)...now p2p programs never work and (this is the kicker) iTuines access is limited to NONE. I cannot load the store, access the cddb or anything. And it's a good thing i gave up gaming, because i couldn't if i wanted to.

Moral of this story? Do not use tiscali.

The latest date in which this is all suppose to be fixed (although the issues to be fixed is now only part of my problems) is the 23rd of this month. Would anyone care to place bets on that?



Matt

 

[dgridley]

If you're using P2P excessively, best to check your TOS.. ISP's will often cap your download speed/allotment or block ports if they find you're utilizing too much bandwidth..

 

[Matthew.]

If you're using P2P excessively, best to check your TOS.. ISP's will often cap your download speed/allotment or block ports if they find you're utilizing too much bandwidth..

I will use p2p maybe once, twice, a week maybe. I have not received any FUP or anything, although tiscali are known for handing them out like candy

If you read the forums i linked to they are having problems with the "LLU", whatever that is - i only know the definition which does not help me understand...but this has been going on for months now, and you know what, i actually do not care.

This is not just affecting me anyway, so it's not us being punished under the FUP.

Luckily we are moving house soon...and we shall not be using tiscali again. My dad has now noticed the slow speeds and is taking more of an interest in their crapness

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127270
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=128101
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=128000
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=128091
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127933
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=128020

Merely a sample.

Matt

 

[Dan]

512kbps is ridiculous to begin with.
If there is any other ISP that is better (which it seems like there should be) just keep asking to switch.

(It might be time to go outside.)

 

[Matthew.]

512kbps is ridiculous to begin with.
If there is any other ISP that is better (which it seems like there should be) just keep asking to switch.

512kbps isn't ridiculous...like i say it does the job, if i was one of these people who was sat at their keyboard 24/7 downloading movies, albums and so on then i would agree...but frankly, bitesize, namepros, godaddy, college files area and any sites i use for development or have developed is about my daily limit. Ergo, it's more than adequate.

There are better ISPs now, but at the time tiscali was the only one available to provide us broadband (I am luckily a country dweller) aside from AOL, and we all know AOL.

This has been going on for a while., but tonight when im trying to revise using interactive flash sites, trying to talk t friends on msn and get some work done...it has really gotten to me.

As for switching now, well like you would have read in my original post my dad is not that interested in doing so (it's his decision of course) and also as you could have read in my second post we are moving soon so it would be a fruitless activity.

(It might be time to go outside.)

Explain?

Matt

 

[RickM]

You need NTL/Virginmedia...I know people slag them off...and upto 2 years ago they were right. Currently I'm on their 4meg plan (soon to be boosted to 100meg unmetered) and haven't had any downtime for well over 2 years...plus the speed and quality of service is great.

 

[nu-money]

For months now msn has been signing in, out, messages not being sent/received, etc etc...basically it was useless. This was initially at peaks time only, however then spread in the latter months to being virtually 24/7.

Aha.

Thanks for that, i thought i was the only one having problems. I also assumed the problem was due to my wireless router..

The latest date in which this is all suppose to be fixed (although the issues to be fixed is now only part of my problems) is the 23rd of this month. Would anyone care to place bets on that?

Nope. But you can bet i will change ISP before the 23rd...

 

[Hitch]

I was having problems with Tiscali too (Others in my area was aswell)

I would get signed out of Xfire, NP Chat, MSN.
Some sites wouldn't load.

My connection should be about 2000, and it was on 369

 

[AGS]

More people are beginning to figure out that Tiscali is the worst ISP in the UK.

@ rmwebs, 100meg unmetered.
Any idea when that will be coming and will there be an extra charge?
I know they have a 1,2,4 and 10meg at the moment.

 

[Matthew.]

You need NTL/Virginmedia...I know people slag them off...and upto 2 years ago they were right. Currently I'm on their 4meg plan (soon to be boosted to 100meg unmetered) and haven't had any downtime for well over 2 years...plus the speed and quality of service is great.

Actually i have been hearing some positive stuff about them just asking around, when we move i will look into it more but they look like the most likely people to move to.

Matt

 

[kev]

i have a tiscali connection and anytime i sign onto MSN, it signs out every 5 mins
not only this but Tiscali was down for "routine maintenance" which lasted 5 days and i was without a connection for this time. there customer service is a joke as it is redirected to India and half of them cant understand a word of english, let alone my accent

 

[Matthew.]

A tip off from another forum to all Tiscali users, file a complain with the ISPA (of which Tiscali are a member)

http://www.ispa.org.uk/cgi-bin/complaints.cgi

Everyone who has done that has got a call from them (tiscali) very quickly. I am not in aposition to do that myself as my issues are more 'general' (something to do with this LLU thing) and also i am at school when they would ring, no one else is computer "literate" enough to know what to say unfortunately. But like i say, we are moving soon.

I would not be able to use that connection. I can't believe the connection is so slow, even for everyday use. With crappy service like that, they should at least refund you. Maybe they will give you a free upgrade??

Neither me or my dad are worried about the money as our tiscali package means are phone bill is virtually £0 which is worth it anyway. (Aside from my 2 hour calls to mobile numbers lol...seem to be doing that a lot recently...).

As far as im concerned, I'll stick with it for now as p2p isnt essential and msn is working "OK" right now. But as soon as we move I'm out of there.

Matt