Topic: ISP

[JK]

Hi Simon
I am on a standard 1M connection. My modem shows a 4.7M connection 44dB att 9.3 Sig to noise.

[Simon]

Hi JK,

I'm afraid the numbers don't mean a lot to me, but Rik will probably be around later and he will comment.

If you already have your MAC, then there's no reason not to go ahead.  Pipex will still charge you, if you are still within the 30 day cancellation period (they hide this well in their T&Cs), but you should then get a refund pro-rata in the form of a cheque in the post.  I did when I migrated away from them.  Once you've made the last payment, make sure you cancel the direct debit with your bank, as they won't do it, and are quite likely to continue charging you otherwise, then it's a hassle getting it back.

[JK]

Hi Simon the guy at Pipex said nothing to me about a 30 day period. If fact he was more worried than me that I would be charged again afer I left. I have had a look at the pipex site and can see no 30 day period in the contract. I have been with them since 2005. Are you sure about the 30 day thing , I will have to look into it.

[JK]

Hi Simon
Can you pay Idnet by direct debit. Pipex was paid by debit card payments which you cannot cancel. On only the payee can cancel.

[JK]

Sandra can you offer advice as Simons gone for today?

[Sandra]

Pipex want a 30 day notice of cancellation, although depending how far you are into that month you may get away with a few days less.
I think they took my last payment a few days before I cancelled and they said that they taken the request for the MAC number as notification of the 30 day period.
It probably depends on who is handling your billing on the day as to how they interpret the cancellation rule, as a MAC request would usually infer that you were leaving them within 30 days as thats all it is valid for.

No payee can overrule your instructions to the bank as far as I know.
Email Pipex to say that you are cancelling the DD/Debit Card Payment and send a copy of that to your bank, along with a request for them to cancel your DD/Debit Card Payment, that should stop the DD/Debit Card Payment from the date you say you want to cancel it.

You will have t owait for Simon or Rik for the info on IDNet

 

[Simon]

I can only concur with Sandra about the 30 day cancellation period, and can say that Pipex also gave me conflicting advice, but the 30 day term is valid.
 
You can pay IDNet by direct debit, which is much easier to cancel than card payments.
 
If you're still unsure about the 30 day thing, I will try to find it on their site later, but I'm not on my PC at the moment.

[JK]

Hi Sandra and Simon.
The Idnet man confimed to me that pipex want 30 days notice. I was going to get the free trial, but I not going to pay pipex for another month whilst I am on idnet. I hope Idnet extend the offer.

[Simon]

Hi JK,
 
IDNet are usually very sympathetic to these situations.  If you ring and speak to Simon, he will delay your migration so that you can 'pay off' Pipex, and you'll probably still get your free month if you register before the 29th.  They will probably also adjust your billing cycle, so you don't end up paying twice in a month.  Just explain the position, and IDNet will do their best to accomodate.  That's why I like them so much!     

[Simon]

Just to add, it's actually very difficult to avoid paying the extra month to Pipex, because of the 30 day thing.  They always seem to manage to work it so that the next payment falls within the 30 days. 

[Rik]

Your notice period will be in the terms & conditions, JK, it's usually 30 days with most ISPs, and it runs from the date on which your requested your MAC, not the date on which you got it. Give IDNet a ring on 0800 0267237 and they will take you through the migration process and probably give you a date on the spot. If you do it by phone, you can get any questions you have answered and choose your username.

[Rik]

Hi Simon
Can you pay Idnet by direct debit. Pipex was paid by debit card payments which you cannot cancel. On only the payee can cancel.

Yes, DD, standing order, EFT or a CCA on a card.

[JK]

Thank you all for your kind help.
I am waiting now till my notice period is nearly up. My ISP Pipex has already placed me on ADSL max line (download connection to ISP limited to 1M), but I can upload at up to 448K. My modem status shows connection speeds up to 5.8M.
I have looked at the sites relating to ADSL max services and the 10 day period. I have also been monitoring the line and note the the
SNR margin is quite low at high speeds and also note that in the evenings this goes down to near zero. My modem then reconnects at a lower rate, last time 4960K. I would like to know the down SNR margin that BT use's.I was told 6 is this correct? Then if I forced my modem to reconnect if the value goes lower, I would then have an idea of my stable speed on the new service. Was also told that the stable speed is rounded down to the nearest 0.5M?
Stats now:    Down   Up
SNR margin     6        25
Line Attn       39       24
Data rate     4960    448 
The SNR margin has been down to 4 today.
Thank you.

 

[Simon]

You have a very nice SNR margin Down, but it seems a little high Up.  That's about as far as I dare to speculate, but I can guarantee you will get better than 1Mb download speed with IDNet, if you choose to go with them.  I'll point Rik over here, as he's good at all this stuff.  May not be tonight though. 

[Rik]

Hi JK

Max is a rate-adaptive service, which means that it will run as fast as your line allows. That's the theory. In practice BT uses a system it calls profiles to reduce load on its computer systems. This system groups sync speeds (which step in 32k increments) into bands, for which a profile (or throttle) is allocated. The profile is always below the minimum level for the group and well below the maximum. For this reason, if you live on the cusp, so to speak, a 32k sync speed change can change your throughout by 500k.

For your current sync speed, you would get a profile of 4000kbps.

It is normal for the noise margin to change during the day. It will be at its highest in the mornings and lowest at night. This effect is due to increased electrical activity at night and the increased propagation of radio waves - ADSL operates in the MW band.

TBH, for a 39db attenuation, I'd expect you to be seeing speeds around the 6000kbps mark or a bit higher. It may be that there are things that you can do to improve your speed. Do you know if you have an NTE5 master socket, the kind where the bottom half of the faceplate can be removed? Do you have multiple hard-wired extensions? What router/modem are you using? What else is connected to the line, eg phones, Sky box, fax machine etc.