Broadband special offer!
 

No harm in telling those interested in ADSL, that Pipex are offering Broadband at £23.44 per month (inc VAT) with a free modem and two free micro filters plus free activation and free installation.

I have a modem so I signed up for their second offer which includes the above without the modem and filters but with the THIRD month free.

Only one month contract too.

Like I say, I think that it is worth letting you know because it is a serious benefit to PPRuNers if you are thinking broadband.

Sounds like a good offer. I'm getting seriously pi$$ed of with BT spending millions advertising broadband when I live in an area that doesn't have an enabled exchange. Why can't they spend the money making the service available to all?

wub

I think you will find that Pipex and other service providers use BT's equipment and exchanges, so if your BT exchange isn't ready then other provider can not give you a service.

I have to sympathise with wub. I am seriously concerned that by the time BT enable my local exchange for ADSL, broadband will be obsolete!! :( ;)

Sadly 'tis true! You cannot have broadband unless BT has made ADSL available at your particular exchange. It is also true that BT are seriously aware that this shortcoming within their house causes much ado.

They have, therefore, in a lot of areas, made it known that if 400-450 people register their specific interest in broadband they will make it available. You will need to enquire at your exchange to find out the answer to that one.

By logging on to a broadband ISP you can do a quick check to see if your exchange has it already.

For me! I get connected on Wednesday. Sorry, I am not gloating - just pleased :D

Thanks guys, I'm aware of the registration for ADSL and did it months ago but there still aren't enough 'votes' for BT to upgrade the exchange.

The other thing that bugs me is that every week there is at least one mail shot drops through my door urging me to sign up to Blue Yonder, yet we don't even have cable in this area! It's not as if I live on the moon, I'm only eight miles outside Scotland's capital city :mad:

After a particular exchange has reached its trigger level, BT require ISPs to convert at least 75% of pre-registrations into firm orders before they will enable the local exchange. Some 388 exchanges have recently had their required trigger levels lowered. However, some of the more rural exchanges have yet to be set any trigger level by BT, mine included. :(

Interesting that BT will require 75% conversion of interest into firm orders before they will convert the exchange even if it reaches the required trigger level. I would have thought that it is pointless ordering it is it still isn't available.

My exchange trigger recently was lowered from 400 to 350 and as of today we are just 21 short! I wouldn't trust BT as far as I could throw them as they are dirty rip-off bunch of scumbags, especially their marketing department and internet division. All I need now is for them to tell me that although my exchange has reached the trigger level they won't actually be doing anything about it for another six months to a year.

They inundate you with advertising about how good their broadband is yet they throw in all the requirements that prevent anyone from actually obtaining the service. Two faced and typical of the lying excrement that is BT.

If I had another option where I live I know that I would change tomorrow but being in a rural area I have no choice.:*

How do I find out what the trigger level is? The BT website only says my exchange's trigger level has been set, it doesn't quantify it.

Couldn't we e-mail each other a few telephone numbers and addresses out of each other's local directories and try to bump up the registrations of interest? ;)

wub

Try this:-

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/

Thanks SS
 

Doh! :* 52% (182 out of 350 required) :{

broadband probs
 

Whilst on the subject of broadband, I currently use AOL and signed up for their BB package (free modem etc). However on setting it all up, no 'link' light avail on the modem, after a lot of head scratching it turns out that my phone connection for the pc is too far away from the primary phone socket (some 30 mtrs of cable some of it buried in the wall).
So be aware incase you have a similar setup.
All credit to the staff at AOL though, all freephone customer service and tech help with only a 4 min wait listening to Shania Twain.
Only downside I'm back on narrowband :(

Just noticed the following:-

Oftel's January 2003 ADSL Factsheet

Broadband Registration Scheme: "BT has decided to remove the 42 day confirmation process from its registration scheme. Once trigger levels are met and confirmed by BT, work will begin to upgrade the exchange"


If I understand this correctly, it hopefully means that my earlier comment about converting 75% interest in to firm orders no longer applies. Good news for those whose local exchanges are at, or approaching, their trigger levels.

Danny
I sort of get a feeling that you are not best pleased with those nice people at BT but I think you'll have to get off the fence and tell it like it really is!! :D :D :D
gas path
I've been considering the aol setup but given their 'iffy' narrowband service, I have mega reservations. Have you, or has anyone out there got any useful words of wisdom, please?

Well, like I said. Pipex are doing a deal at the moment for £23.44 per month inclusive of: Modem, 2 micro filters, activation and installation. The second offer, if you have your own modem, which I do, is for £23.44 per month and you buy the filters but activation and installtion is still free. Then in this deal you get the third month free. You get 12 e-mail addresses, 50mb of webspace too.

I am delighted with it. It shows that I am connected at 576kbps and downloads are a breeze. I leave it on all the time. No problems at all after a week.

In the interest of PPRuNers getting a good deal I posted this because I have done it. I certainly wouldn't go for BT at all. I just do not trust them.

Well some light at the end of the tunnel ; trigger levels are being brought down at certain exchanges.

Not before time in my opinion. BT were trialling a new 16 port Alcatel box to enable more remote exchanges to be ADSL enabled at an affordable cost. What they dictate as affordable is very questionable of course.

This is the box (I-MUX, DSLAM or whatever you want to call it) that aggregates all the ADSL traffic up from consumer lines into the exchange on to the BT backbone. Seems that some good has come out of the trials.

It has taken far too long. However, regardless of which ISP you sign up with, chances are you will still require a BT line into your residence. Even if you have cable it's only at far as the nearest BT exchange. So much for not still having a monopoly !

I still think that the BT backbone and gateways have too many bottlenecks and reliability issues. Something of course, that they will never admit too whilst still taking your hard earned cash !

Yup, my exchange was triggered last week and build has started. Hopefully in about 6 weeks I should be able to experience an improvement in access times.

I have signed up with Nildram based on the reports from the ADSL Guide website. As I am currently on BT HomeHighway ISDN incurr the extra charge of having my line converted back to PSTN and then over to ADSL. The charge is about £50 which Nildram organise with BT and provided the conversion goes OK that's it. If it doesn't work then they put me back on ISDN and refund all charges as do Nildram for their connection fee.

According to Nildram, because I am an Apple Mac user I have to use an ethernet router instead of a USB modem but I am not sure. I know that using a router is slightly better because of CPU cycles being assigned to the USB port causing a very slight degradation but apart from that I cannot see the need for their requirement. Academic really anyway as I planned on using a router because I can share the line between two computers.

Anyone else got any experiences on changing to broadband they'd care to share?

Danny

Have been using broadband from Bt for about 8 months. No problems at all (honest !!!), simple to install using USB,very fast downloads etc. and reliable. Currently have two PCs linked together (the price one pays for having three kids !) and Internet Connection Sharing without the ned for a hub or router.

Good luck with the upgrade.

Has anyone tried Gio Internet- only £18.99/ month? It’s been advertising this price for several months now. However, since the BT wholesale price to other ISPs is something like £15/ month, how long can they keep this price, before having to put up prices (or go bust?)

Just started my third year of ASDL, and boy it's dam good, only had problems in the first 4 months, but have had happy motoring ever since.

Can't believe a smokey northern town having ADSL for so long.
:p :p