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Old March 16th 10, 07:04 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.general
Shane[_14_]
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 17
Default ping Mike and Noel

Mike,

You can only use one router/modem at a time on a single line so I
can't see the problem about being asked to return a router/modem when
you change supplier since the new supplier will provide another. That is
assuming you aren't factoring in the second hand eBay value
of the modem when deciding which ISP to use. :-)


Yes. Good point. But one should still factor in the lack of a router of your
very own (to have and to hold) when comparing the price of their service
with that of competition who do let you keep it. Even if it is effectively
worthless. There again the marketplace is changing: you no longer get the
Netgear from Sky. That would have been one worth keeping to use when
switching to O2/Be. In fact that has to be part of the reason Sky have
stopped supplying that one, as they must have been subsidising O2/Be - a
situation I find so funny I think it would have been worth going back to Sky
TV in order to get the Broadband service in order to leave it 12 months
later and keep the Netgear!


As for Be having introduced a new cheaper limited service, albeit
with the same or similar name to your current service, have you tried
ringing Be and asking to move to the cheaper service? You might be
pleasantly surprised although it might involve starting a new 12
month contract.


Yes. I've thought of that. Apart from the fact the contract'll be up soon
anyway so it's a bit late - unless they backdate it - I don't expect to be
here too much longer. And their coverage is still limited, especially if I
go further out into the sticks. I certainly don't want to pay for an 8Mbps
service where I'd be lucky to get 2Mbps!

Alternatively, if you use an O2 mobile, consider
moving to O2 - Be don't hold users to contracts for Be - O2
transfers.


No, I'm strictly PAYG. If I don't keep forgetting not to send multiple MMS I
can make a £20 voucher last a year! Happy enough with the Motorola KZR too
(which just the other day coming out of Sainsbury's struck me as being a
'Communicator' - which I know supposedly they were inspired by Star Trek
anyway, but they never actually felt that way before!).

And I'm sick to death of the connection being dropped if not using it
for an hour or two.


This has nothing to do with the DNS servers you use and remember that
no-one is forcing you to use the Be DNS servers just as they aren't
forcing you to use one of their modems. Have you checked whether the
problem is due to a modem misconfiguration? Some adsl modems have a
box that needs to be checked to stop them from dropping the
connection when there is no traffic. Have you raised a ticket about
this and if so, what did support have to say?


No, I've been right through this router. I couldn't even get it to accept a
long password before updating the firmware and setting it via telnetting to
it. Yes, I did raise a ticket (after having read dozens of posts from other
people with the dame or related problems - and the consensus seems to be
that it is the Be DNS servers). They suggested a lot of stuff I'd already
done and knew couldn't be the problem. Then I found I'd omitted a command
when setting the OpenDNS servers via telnet which meant that the primary
server was still a Be one - and probably iirc the old one that they warned
us to stop using back about November. So I ran the omitted command and had
(and still do) just the two OpenDNS servers and the router immediately
stopped dropping the connection. I'd leave it on, unused, all day and it
would stay connected. I waited until it was clear the connection was no
longer being dropped, then updated the ticket with this info and closed it.
This lasted a few weeks but now the problem has returned.

Also I routinely remove their remote access ID, so there should be no way
they could have done anything to revert the settings. Though I'm going to go
into it shortly and verify the servers again!


Shane


Meanwhile I really want to ditch BT altogether, i.e. stop paying for
the landline,


That makes a lot of sense as you could then put the £11-12/month line
rental towards the alternatives although I suspect that going "all
mobile" for both voice and broadband is currently more expensive for
all but the lightest of users.

Mike
BTW did you get my e-mail re N?


Shane wrote:

That's simply crazy, dumping a decent ISP because of the
router/modem they loan you for free. It's not as if they are
forcing you to use their router.


My position here is that other ISPs give you the router for
more-or-less the same deal and Be come over as cheaper without making
clear that you *don't* get a free router. Perhaps ISPs are
increasingly loaning the router - so iow they appear to be putting
prices up by stealth. So I'll have to shop around more than before.

I also dislike the fact the BeValue service I'm on has come down
almost half price - with a 40G limit (which I've never approached
even in my heaviest internet use). I don't like having to continue
paying almost twice as much. Okay that is because it is a contract.
Likewise I'll be going elsewhere when the contract ends. Unless they
refund the difference.
And I'm sick to death of the connection being dropped if not using it
for an hour or two. It did seem to be the Be DNS servers. When I
switched to OpenDNS it was ok for a while. But now it is just like
before. I have to cycle the router off and on again. And they are not
lending it to me, they are renting it to me, aren't they. I'm paying
for the insert expletive here. You're paying for yours. Maybe it is
less of a concern for you in the smoke with that vastly greater
speed. I don't suppose it would bother me quite so much.

Meanwhile I really want to ditch BT altogether, i.e. stop paying for
the landline, though options are limited out here. I don't care too
much for the 3G alternatives. Virgin is far from satisfactory of
course. We'll see. I don't want to stay in this country any longer
anyway.