The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
As most BT customers will know by now (announced in September) BT are going to start charging for previously free services - 'Caller Display' and 'Answer 1571'.
They are going to charge £1.75 each per month - so an additional £42 per year!
It's a shame Freeola don't offer a phone service to go with their broadband as having a separate phone provider isn't so efficient.
I'm guessing many Freeola customers will be using BT for their line and phone service.
I've been with BT *forever* and for the first time am thinking of moving away.
Is anyone here using the Post Office?
Comparing them with BT they look a lot cheaper - unless I'm missing something???
Post Office:
Line rental: £12pm, Anytime calls: £5.75, free Caller Display and free Voice mail.
Total: £17.75
Anytime calls says it also includes UK mobiles at weekends.
Against BT's £15.99, £7, £1.75 + £1.75
Total: £26.49
I can opt in to a 12 month BT contract and get 'Caller Display' free for a year and buy an answer machine to avoid the other charges but I thought I would ask to see what others here do :¬)
They are going to charge £1.75 each per month - so an additional £42 per year!
It's a shame Freeola don't offer a phone service to go with their broadband as having a separate phone provider isn't so efficient.
I'm guessing many Freeola customers will be using BT for their line and phone service.
I've been with BT *forever* and for the first time am thinking of moving away.
Is anyone here using the Post Office?
Comparing them with BT they look a lot cheaper - unless I'm missing something???
Post Office:
Line rental: £12pm, Anytime calls: £5.75, free Caller Display and free Voice mail.
Total: £17.75
Anytime calls says it also includes UK mobiles at weekends.
Against BT's £15.99, £7, £1.75 + £1.75
Total: £26.49
I can opt in to a 12 month BT contract and get 'Caller Display' free for a year and buy an answer machine to avoid the other charges but I thought I would ask to see what others here do :¬)
[s]Hmmm...[/s] Page:
Hmmm, seeing as my colleagues TT connection is rubbish (and it is rubbish!) would another providers connection be any different if it were to be carried on their line?
pete_21 wrote:
Hmmm, seeing as my colleagues TT connection is rubbish (and it is rubbish!) would another providers connection be any different if it were to be carried on their line?
But have they had another ISP and phone line to compare it to?
It may just be the distance to the exchange or the wiring? If it's a physical issue then be telecom company won't make a difference.
Hmmm, seeing as my colleagues TT connection is rubbish (and it is rubbish!) would another providers connection be any different if it were to be carried on their line?
But have they had another ISP and phone line to compare it to?
It may just be the distance to the exchange or the wiring? If it's a physical issue then be telecom company won't make a difference.
pb, 2 of my Freeola connections are supplied from the same exchange as the TT one I mentioned. 1 of these is slightly closer to the exchange the other about a mile or so further away. The TT connection is noticeably inferior.
pete_21 wrote:
pb, 2 of my Freeola connections are supplied from the same exchange as the TT one I mentioned. 1 of these is slightly closer to the exchange the other about a mile or so further away. The TT connection is noticeably inferior.
Ok. That rules out the exchange, then.
pb, 2 of my Freeola connections are supplied from the same exchange as the TT one I mentioned. 1 of these is slightly closer to the exchange the other about a mile or so further away. The TT connection is noticeably inferior.
Ok. That rules out the exchange, then.
Hi Pete,
If your colleagues' TT connection is via their LLU product then it is using different equipment in the exchange to those using BT Wholesale. So there could be an issue there or with their 'line management' which works differently to BT's.
Having said that, TT LLU has a decent reputation - it's just let down by customer service as far as I can tell.
So there's a chance the line from the exchange to the home or the internal wiring is a problem. If there's some damage to the line then getting any provider to fix it (via BT Openreach) can be tricky.
I would start by proving it's not the internal wiring which is all you have control over, by using the TEST Socket.
It does take time to do things properly.
I'm a fair way from the exchange and manage to connect just over 6Mb/s when most of my neighbours are around 2-4!
This will either show they can improve things themselves or if they are happy the wiring/equipment isn't at fault they should ask their ISP to test things to see what they find - but it's often not easy. Could be aluminium phone lines or dodgy joints or damage caused by a tree etc., etc. They'll only get if fixed if the ISP can 'see' a problem.
EDIT:
If they aren't on LLU then of course they may only by on standard ADSL (up to 8Mb) rather than your ADSL2+ (up to 16/24Mb) - so that's worth checking!
If your colleagues' TT connection is via their LLU product then it is using different equipment in the exchange to those using BT Wholesale. So there could be an issue there or with their 'line management' which works differently to BT's.
Having said that, TT LLU has a decent reputation - it's just let down by customer service as far as I can tell.
So there's a chance the line from the exchange to the home or the internal wiring is a problem. If there's some damage to the line then getting any provider to fix it (via BT Openreach) can be tricky.
I would start by proving it's not the internal wiring which is all you have control over, by using the TEST Socket.
It does take time to do things properly.
I'm a fair way from the exchange and manage to connect just over 6Mb/s when most of my neighbours are around 2-4!
This will either show they can improve things themselves or if they are happy the wiring/equipment isn't at fault they should ask their ISP to test things to see what they find - but it's often not easy. Could be aluminium phone lines or dodgy joints or damage caused by a tree etc., etc. They'll only get if fixed if the ISP can 'see' a problem.
[s]Hmmm...[/s]EDIT:
If they aren't on LLU then of course they may only by on standard ADSL (up to 8Mb) rather than your ADSL2+ (up to 16/24Mb) - so that's worth checking!
pb wrote:
pete_21 wrote:
[i]pb, 2 of my Freeola connections are supplied from the same exchange as the TT one I mentioned. 1 of these is slightly closer to the exchange the other about a mile or so further away. The TT connection is noticeably inferior.
Ok. That rules out the exchange, then.[/i]
So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...
pete_21 wrote:
[i]pb, 2 of my Freeola connections are supplied from the same exchange as the TT one I mentioned. 1 of these is slightly closer to the exchange the other about a mile or so further away. The TT connection is noticeably inferior.
Ok. That rules out the exchange, then.[/i]
So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...
DL wrote:
pb wrote:
[i]pete_21 wrote:
[i]pb, 2 of my Freeola connections are supplied from the same exchange as the TT one I mentioned. 1 of these is slightly closer to the exchange the other about a mile or so further away. The TT connection is noticeably inferior.
Ok. That rules out the exchange, then.[/i]
So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...[/i]
It might be. It might be the service too, but obviously best to diagnose the issues by removing the things that can be tested.
I hear lots of bad stories about TT but they are mostly incompatibility with consoles, peer to peer and steam or their terrible customer service.
That said, a friend moved from them to Sky and improved his broadband no end.
pb wrote:
[i]pete_21 wrote:
[i]pb, 2 of my Freeola connections are supplied from the same exchange as the TT one I mentioned. 1 of these is slightly closer to the exchange the other about a mile or so further away. The TT connection is noticeably inferior.
Ok. That rules out the exchange, then.[/i]
So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...[/i]
It might be. It might be the service too, but obviously best to diagnose the issues by removing the things that can be tested.
I hear lots of bad stories about TT but they are mostly incompatibility with consoles, peer to peer and steam or their terrible customer service.
That said, a friend moved from them to Sky and improved his broadband no end.
DL wrote:
So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...
I've absolutely no idea DL, all I do know is her connection is rubbish and TT's engineers reckon there is nothing wrong. I was merely asking if moving my phone to a provider such as these could mean getting tied in for 12/18 months with a crappy broadband connection as well (even if I decided to stay with Freeola). The TT connection in question averages about 4-6 Mbs and experiences regular dropouts (usually evening times) while my 2 Freeola connections average around 8-11 Mbs with virtually no dropouts (all 3 are ADSL 2+ connections from the same exchange).
So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...
I've absolutely no idea DL, all I do know is her connection is rubbish and TT's engineers reckon there is nothing wrong. I was merely asking if moving my phone to a provider such as these could mean getting tied in for 12/18 months with a crappy broadband connection as well (even if I decided to stay with Freeola). The TT connection in question averages about 4-6 Mbs and experiences regular dropouts (usually evening times) while my 2 Freeola connections average around 8-11 Mbs with virtually no dropouts (all 3 are ADSL 2+ connections from the same exchange).
pete_21 wrote:
DL wrote:
[i]So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...
I've absolutely no idea DL, all I do know is her connection is rubbish and TT's engineers reckon there is nothing wrong. I was merely asking if moving my phone to a provider such as these could mean getting tied in for 12/18 months with a crappy broadband connection as well (even if I decided to stay with Freeola). The TT connection in question averages about 4-6 Mbs and experiences regular dropouts (usually evening times) while my 2 Freeola connections average around 8-11 Mbs with virtually no dropouts (all 3 are ADSL 2+ connections from the same exchange).[/i]
I cannot and will not make comment about BB connections/ISPs ... just observations.
In the case of your 'colleague' ... she changes to Freeola and you stay with Freeola :¬)
@pb
You said ...
"I hear lots of bad stories about TT but they are mostly incompatibility with consoles, peer to peer and steam or their terrible customer service.
That said, a friend moved from them to Sky and improved his broadband no end."
This then would depend on what you require on your service ... for me, I wouldn't touch them with a 'barge pole'
DL wrote:
[i]So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...
I've absolutely no idea DL, all I do know is her connection is rubbish and TT's engineers reckon there is nothing wrong. I was merely asking if moving my phone to a provider such as these could mean getting tied in for 12/18 months with a crappy broadband connection as well (even if I decided to stay with Freeola). The TT connection in question averages about 4-6 Mbs and experiences regular dropouts (usually evening times) while my 2 Freeola connections average around 8-11 Mbs with virtually no dropouts (all 3 are ADSL 2+ connections from the same exchange).[/i]
I cannot and will not make comment about BB connections/ISPs ... just observations.
In the case of your 'colleague' ... she changes to Freeola and you stay with Freeola :¬)
@pb
You said ...
"I hear lots of bad stories about TT but they are mostly incompatibility with consoles, peer to peer and steam or their terrible customer service.
That said, a friend moved from them to Sky and improved his broadband no end."
This then would depend on what you require on your service ... for me, I wouldn't touch them with a 'barge pole'
DL wrote:
pete_21 wrote:
[i]DL wrote:
[i]So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...
I've absolutely no idea DL, all I do know is her connection is rubbish and TT's engineers reckon there is nothing wrong. I was merely asking if moving my phone to a provider such as these could mean getting tied in for 12/18 months with a crappy broadband connection as well (even if I decided to stay with Freeola). The TT connection in question averages about 4-6 Mbs and experiences regular dropouts (usually evening times) while my 2 Freeola connections average around 8-11 Mbs with virtually no dropouts (all 3 are ADSL 2+ connections from the same exchange).[/i]
I cannot and will not make comment about BB connections/ISPs ... just observations.
In the case of your 'colleague' ... she changes to Freeola and you stay with Freeola :¬)
@pb
You said ...
"I hear lots of bad stories about TT but they are mostly incompatibility with consoles, peer to peer and steam or their terrible customer service.
That said, a friend moved from them to Sky and improved his broadband no end."
This then would depend on what you require on your service ... for me, I wouldn't touch them with a 'barge pole'[/i]
Neither would I based on what I've heard from people. I need a fast, stable and trustworthy connection and TT seem to be anything but that.
pete_21 wrote:
[i]DL wrote:
[i]So ... to continue your diagnosis, it's the 'wiring' then ...
I've absolutely no idea DL, all I do know is her connection is rubbish and TT's engineers reckon there is nothing wrong. I was merely asking if moving my phone to a provider such as these could mean getting tied in for 12/18 months with a crappy broadband connection as well (even if I decided to stay with Freeola). The TT connection in question averages about 4-6 Mbs and experiences regular dropouts (usually evening times) while my 2 Freeola connections average around 8-11 Mbs with virtually no dropouts (all 3 are ADSL 2+ connections from the same exchange).[/i]
I cannot and will not make comment about BB connections/ISPs ... just observations.
In the case of your 'colleague' ... she changes to Freeola and you stay with Freeola :¬)
@pb
You said ...
"I hear lots of bad stories about TT but they are mostly incompatibility with consoles, peer to peer and steam or their terrible customer service.
That said, a friend moved from them to Sky and improved his broadband no end."
This then would depend on what you require on your service ... for me, I wouldn't touch them with a 'barge pole'[/i]
Neither would I based on what I've heard from people. I need a fast, stable and trustworthy connection and TT seem to be anything but that.
Page: