Dropouts and line speed

[#1]

Well, with BTW seemingly incapable of telling PN when the work to resolve this issue is expected to be put in hand, this could take another five months (or more) to be completed for all I know. And I am tired of pressing for updates. I have today heard that moves are afoot for an independent provider to supply wireless broadband to this village using SDSL (radio) technology with prices for domestic 8Mb speeds being reasonable. One is charged for the speed you get, not the speed you would get if you lived opposite the exchange. Even though set-up costs for the rooftop aerial, box, etc. are higher, it will be worth it to get decent speeds and to get shot of BT. Has anyone any experience of this technology?

[#2]

Quote from: birdman

I have today heard that moves are afoot for an independent provider to supply wireless broadband to this village using SDSL (radio) technology with prices for domestic 8Mb speeds being reasonable.

Quote from: Matt

They've advised that they're currently regrading the VP path to 20Mb

Am I being a cynic or a realist in suggesting that the latter is a direct result of the former?

[#3]

we used to have something like that in East Anglia, the Haedquarters were on the Cambridge business park and converses with the houses via microwave, for me about 30 miles.  ( I didnt have it)  the reciever was an octagon dish about  half the size of a sky dish.
There a a lot around me in Braintree, any way a good five years ago or more, the firm went belly up, less than a weeks notice,  the receivers are still stuck up on the chimney pots, just like a few 425 TV sticks.

[#4]

@Just for Barry
I wondered that too. Welcome to Cynics Anonymous.

@pierre_pierre
Thanks for that. You are not too far from me, I live in a village to the NW of Colchester. This provider is in Coggeshall and provides several villages in your direction. The antenna is a small rectangular 'white metal' affair which fixes to chimney stack/tv aerial pole and is much smaller than a sky dish. As for going 'belly up', I suppose that's always a risk one has to bear in mind.
My ticket has still not been updated  from which I conclude that BTw are still failing to get their act together.

[#5]

Unfortunately you're correct, we're still awaiting further info from BTw capacity on this. We'll get back to you as soon as we hear anything.

[#6]

Chris, with respect, the situation has become totally intolerable. Surely there is someone at PN with the muscle to kick a**e with BT instead of  waiting to hear something that is not forthcoming.My patience has run out after wasting hours and hours waiting for pages to load over several months.and I now wish to make a formal complaint to your CEO. Please advise me of Mr V's email address for this purpose.

[#7]

Send him a PM
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=10551

[#8]

Hi, Apologies for highjacking your thread Birdman, but I have just read this for the first time and can't believe what I reading - it is pretty much exactly the same scenario that I have been experiencing since October. 
I started out experiencing intermittent connection drops which have been getting progressively worse. Add to that a significant drop in my broadband speed which kicked in earlier this week. Due to the distance from my local exchange, I used to "enjoy" a speed of around 1.6 - 1.8 Mb. I am now stuck at 132kbps (0.16 Mb, around 10% of what I have been used to).
Like Birdman, I can no longer stream programmes from BBC iPlayer and am forced to wait for what seem like a interminable amount of time waiting for pages to load.
I have also jumped through all the hoops but I have to say that CSC have been pretty good so far. Every time I chased the problem of the intermittent drop-outs, it seemed to go away for about a week but unfortunately always returned again. My speed has been unaffected though until this week.
I had to resort to ringing CSC this afternoon as I had no internet connection at all and was informed that my ticket has been passed back to the appropriate people for re-testing.
To say the least, I have been frustrated over this but I am now feeling quite dismayed and depressed at the thought that, if Birdman's experience is anything to go by, I have at least another 2 months of ongoing problems.
Birdman, you have my admiration for sticking it out for so long. I just hope I have your patience.

[#9]

Welcome to the forums,
if you want more viability of your problem it should be in a separate thread, if you do ask and a Moderator will do it for you

[#10]

Hi nilsatis
I'm sure your experience will not be as bad as mine and I wish you well in getting the problem sorted-out.
For what it's worth, my perception of the way this fault has been handled is that nothing much seemed to be happening for the first month - it seemed as though PN were hoping that the fault would sort itself out. There then seemed to be a lot of passing the question to and fro between the various teams. Eventually, after a lot of jumping through hoops, a BT engineer was sent without being able to solve the problem, followed by five more visits over a period of months. Each engineer had not been briefed about the problem, had a two hour time slot and seemed, for the most part, to be carrying-out the same tests as previously. A few changes were made, to the line which didn't have any lasting effect. Eventually, it was referred to BT's Complex Faults Team who diagnosed it to be a contention issue with the Virtual Path for my line at the exchange. At last we seemed to be getting somewhere. Now the problem is getting BT to carry out the necessary work to upgrade or migrate my line to a new VP, but no - it just seems to have come to a standstill waiting for the departments at BT to get their act together.
The turning point in PN's handling of this issue came when I had this rant on the forum. Jameseh (now sadly left) picked it up and ran with it - otherwise I don't know where we would be now. Any future problem I will know to get it on the forum PDQ.
Now, nearly 6 months after raising the first ticket, I still don't know when the fault will be corrected - it could be days, weeks, or years for all I know.
A personal message to the CEO will be sent today in the hope that he has the muscle to kick a**e at BT.

[#11]

@Oldjim
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. A PM is now winging its way to Mr V through the virtual ether and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will have the desired effect, its all gone on long enough.
(BTW, I was a rambler for many years until the knees gave up.   Dorset is my favourite county and I have often stayed in the Lulworth area to get my Lepidoptera fix.)

[#12]

Did you not get my PM with his email address?

[#13]

@jelv
Sorry jelv, that one seems to have passed me by, perhaps because I was not expecting to receive any PMs.   Seen it now. Link now saved. Many thanks.

[#14]

According to PN, my connection/speed problems are due to the Virtual Path for my line being highly contended at the exchange.
I have just looked at the Exchange Status Checker which shows:-

Quote

Virtual paths: Green There are currently no known capacity problems on your exchange. There may still be an exchange problem, however BT are not currently reporting that they are aware of it. Please contact Support if you are having speed problems, who can advise further.

Am I missing something obvious?

[#15]

Well yes, it seems I have been missing 'something obvious'. I am told that:-

Quote

This section of the exchange status checker only relates to the overall capacity of all VP's at the exchange and not to each one individually and certainly not the one that we have had confirmed from BT as over capacity.

Oh dear, I think I am losing the will to live.
I am also advised that BTw have prioritised the weather-related exchange failures over VP upgrades in general and this might further delay the upgrade process until after Christmas. So, it seems BTw do sometimes prioritise some people's problems, just not this one. (Just a moment.......oh, the young lady is muttering something about multi-tasking.)