Be (Bethere.co.uk) anygood (require unlimited service with static IP)

Hi there,

I was looking for an ISP for broadband.
I was going to go for Freedom2 surf who have static IP addresses and quite a
large download limit at 50 GB peak.

Then I noticed Be. Very fast download speed, static IP available free modem
and for the cost of £28 per month (with static IP).

Anyone know if I'll have any issues with them? Any opinions?

Thanks

On Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:37:36 GMT, "cluthz" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi there,
>
>I was looking for an ISP for broadband.
>I was going to go for Freedom2 surf who have static IP addresses and quite a
>large download limit at 50 GB peak.
>
>Then I noticed Be. Very fast download speed, static IP available free modem
>and for the cost of ò8 per month (with static IP).
>
>Anyone know if I'll have any issues with them? Any opinions?

You WON'T have any issues regarding usage if you only use 50GB a
month.

You WILL have issues with outages - every week, lasting anything up to
a day.

You WILL currently also have issues attempting to contact Be via phone
(for anything). You should be prepared for at least 30 minutes hold
time (more like 60+ minutes at peak times).

You MAY have issues with slow transatlantic links (dialup speed). This
seems to vary and depends (IMHO) on who provides the backhaul. If you
are in London or Manchester you'll likely be OK - anywhere else and
good luck.

Worth joining now? I wouldn't, not knowing what I do now.
Unfortunately there's a 3 month notice period, or you can pay 50 quid
to leave immediately. Not an option for me sadly as Be is the last
option open to me as both BT and VM "networks" are in varying degrees
of disintegration here (think seconds of latency and you'll be close)
and I'm not quite desperate enough to try Bulldog.

Caveat emptor.
--
John Naismith

"John Naismith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

> You WON'T have any issues regarding usage if you only use 50GB a
> month.
>
> You WILL have issues with outages - every week, lasting anything up to
> a day.
>
> You WILL currently also have issues attempting to contact Be via phone
> (for anything). You should be prepared for at least 30 minutes hold
> time (more like 60+ minutes at peak times).
>
> You MAY have issues with slow transatlantic links (dialup speed). This
> seems to vary and depends (IMHO) on who provides the backhaul. If you
> are in London or Manchester you'll likely be OK - anywhere else and
> good luck.
>
> Worth joining now? I wouldn't, not knowing what I do now.
> Unfortunately there's a 3 month notice period, or you can pay 50 quid
> to leave immediately. Not an option for me sadly as Be is the last
> option open to me as both BT and VM "networks" are in varying degrees
> of disintegration here (think seconds of latency and you'll be close)
> and I'm not quite desperate enough to try Bulldog.

That is a surprise. Because on ADSL guide.org and another rating website I
looked at they all have good customer feedback (4 stars on ADSL guide - more
then most).

But I have been trying to phone their sales line all day but getting an
engaged tone. That can't be good.

On Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:43:04 GMT, "cluthz" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>That is a surprise. Because on ADSL guide.org and another rating website I
>looked at they all have good customer feedback (4 stars on ADSL guide - more
>then most).
>
>But I have been trying to phone their sales line all day but getting an
>engaged tone. That can't be good.
>

Oh don't get me wrong, when you find a source which you can download
from at near enough line speed - usenetserver.com at 18Mbps anyone?
;-) then it is quite staggeringly good.

However "Member Services" (customer services) are currently based in
Bulgaria and I suspect they are seriously under-resourced plus there
have been recent problems with the VoIP link. CS used to be in India
not so long ago which is where the "currently based" part comes in. I
can't see O2 funding another CS dept when they launch this summer so I
suspect the current CS is temporary but that is just speculation.

When you get through you will find them genuinely helpful.

I just feel that unless you have a really pressing need to move to LLU
then you'd do better to see what happens when O2 launch their
broadband service in the summer. Despite protestations to the contrary
I don't see O2 continuing to market Be* as a brand.
--
John Naismith

> Oh don't get me wrong, when you find a source which you can download
> from at near enough line speed - usenetserver.com at 18Mbps anyone?
> ;-) then it is quite staggeringly good.
>
> However "Member Services" (customer services) are currently based in
> Bulgaria and I suspect they are seriously under-resourced plus there
> have been recent problems with the VoIP link. CS used to be in India
> not so long ago which is where the "currently based" part comes in. I
> can't see O2 funding another CS dept when they launch this summer so I
> suspect the current CS is temporary but that is just speculation.
>
> When you get through you will find them genuinely helpful.
>
> I just feel that unless you have a really pressing need to move to LLU
> then you'd do better to see what happens when O2 launch their
> broadband service in the summer. Despite protestations to the contrary
> I don't see O2 continuing to market Be* as a brand.


Very interesting insights. I had no idea that they were owned by o2.
Hmmm, where does this leave me then. Your advice is backed up by the fact I
have been unable to phone them all day.

Personal frustration with bad service has taught me that despite me
thinking, it can't be that bad, I know it can be!

Shame it looked so great. Looks like I'm going back to freedom to surf (then
again that was not an unlimited service which would have been a bonus (they
do do one but it costs a lot more).

So open to suggestions on an ISP that can give
* Static IP address
* Good reliable service
* Ideally unlimited bandwidth
* Ideally fast speed (but 2mb acceptable anything more is a bonus).

Thanks

On Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:59:31 GMT, "cluthz" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Very interesting insights. I had no idea that they were owned by o2.
>Hmmm, where does this leave me then. Your advice is backed up by the fact I
>have been unable to phone them all day.

About the only mitigating factor is that the support number is a free
call. Tickets are usually responded to much faster than
problems/whatever reported via the phone but that isn't a lot of use
if you aren't a customer.

>Personal frustration with bad service has taught me that despite me
>thinking, it can't be that bad, I know it can be!

Oh tell me about it :-D

>So open to suggestions on an ISP that can give
>* Static IP address
>* Good reliable service
>* Ideally unlimited bandwidth
>* Ideally fast speed (but 2mb acceptable anything more is a bonus).

I don't think there is anyone left really is there? Not for unlimited
bandwidth anyway......
--
John Naismith

John Naismith wrote:

> On Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:59:31 GMT, "cluthz" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:

>>So open to suggestions on an ISP that can give

>>* Ideally unlimited bandwidth

> I don't think there is anyone left really is there? Not for unlimited
> bandwidth anyway......

Especially as BT's SIN for IPStream says "The products are not suitable for
End Users who require continuous bit-rate, full-bandwidth services".


--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) ((E-Mail Removed))
18:49:19 up 5 days, 10:36, 2 users, load average: 0.02, 0.13, 0.12
Yes. I'm just guessing.

"cluthz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
newsXPQh.5782$(E-Mail Removed) k...
>> Oh don't get me wrong, when you find a source which you can download
>> from at near enough line speed - usenetserver.com at 18Mbps anyone?
>> ;-) then it is quite staggeringly good.
>>
>> However "Member Services" (customer services) are currently based in
>> Bulgaria and I suspect they are seriously under-resourced plus there
>> have been recent problems with the VoIP link. CS used to be in India
>> not so long ago which is where the "currently based" part comes in. I
>> can't see O2 funding another CS dept when they launch this summer so I
>> suspect the current CS is temporary but that is just speculation.
>>
>> When you get through you will find them genuinely helpful.
>>
>> I just feel that unless you have a really pressing need to move to LLU
>> then you'd do better to see what happens when O2 launch their
>> broadband service in the summer. Despite protestations to the contrary
>> I don't see O2 continuing to market Be* as a brand.
>
>
> Very interesting insights. I had no idea that they were owned by o2.
> Hmmm, where does this leave me then. Your advice is backed up by the fact
> I have been unable to phone them all day.
>
> Personal frustration with bad service has taught me that despite me
> thinking, it can't be that bad, I know it can be!
>
> Shame it looked so great. Looks like I'm going back to freedom to surf
> (then again that was not an unlimited service which would have been a
> bonus (they do do one but it costs a lot more).
>
> So open to suggestions on an ISP that can give
> * Static IP address
> * Good reliable service
> * Ideally unlimited bandwidth
> * Ideally fast speed (but 2mb acceptable anything more is a bonus).
>
> Thanks
>


Youre right to miss be, i signed up and their customer serivces and
downtime is appauling. Theyre network is clearly not up to it. I dont why
they are taking on new customers the whole system s going to crash soon
I even got the below email from them today which says it all. I so regret
moving to them
================================================== ===

Unfortunately your broadband service will soon be disrupted while network
enhancement work is carried out.

Here are the details;



Start of outage: Friday 6th April at 10pm

End of outage: Saturday 7th April 8am

"Andy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "cluthz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> newsXPQh.5782$(E-Mail Removed) k...
>>> Oh don't get me wrong, when you find a source which you can download
>>> from at near enough line speed - usenetserver.com at 18Mbps anyone?
>>> ;-) then it is quite staggeringly good.
>>>
>>> However "Member Services" (customer services) are currently based in
>>> Bulgaria and I suspect they are seriously under-resourced plus there
>>> have been recent problems with the VoIP link. CS used to be in India
>>> not so long ago which is where the "currently based" part comes in. I
>>> can't see O2 funding another CS dept when they launch this summer so I
>>> suspect the current CS is temporary but that is just speculation.
>>>
>>> When you get through you will find them genuinely helpful.
>>>
>>> I just feel that unless you have a really pressing need to move to LLU
>>> then you'd do better to see what happens when O2 launch their
>>> broadband service in the summer. Despite protestations to the contrary
>>> I don't see O2 continuing to market Be* as a brand.
>>
>>
>> Very interesting insights. I had no idea that they were owned by o2.
>> Hmmm, where does this leave me then. Your advice is backed up by the fact
>> I have been unable to phone them all day.
>>
>> Personal frustration with bad service has taught me that despite me
>> thinking, it can't be that bad, I know it can be!
>>
>> Shame it looked so great. Looks like I'm going back to freedom to surf
>> (then again that was not an unlimited service which would have been a
>> bonus (they do do one but it costs a lot more).
>>
>> So open to suggestions on an ISP that can give
>> * Static IP address
>> * Good reliable service
>> * Ideally unlimited bandwidth
>> * Ideally fast speed (but 2mb acceptable anything more is a bonus).
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>
>
> Youre right to miss be, i signed up and their customer serivces and
> downtime is appauling. Theyre network is clearly not up to it. I dont
> why they are taking on new customers the whole system s going to crash
> soon
> I even got the below email from them today which says it all. I so
> regret moving to them
> ================================================== ===
>
> Unfortunately your broadband service will soon be disrupted while network
> enhancement work is carried out.
>
> Here are the details;
>
>
>
> Start of outage: Friday 6th April at 10pm
>
> End of outage: Saturday 7th April 8am
>
>

My experience has been very very very good
The problems have only been occurring over the last couple of weeks,
starting with a major outage on 25th March affecting most of the north of
the UK (fault of a supplier, possibly BT but only Be know) combined with a
fibre link carrying voice between UK and Europe going down and needing
repair (BT) affecting calls to the call centre in Sofia, Bulgaria
The only real mistake Be made was releasing a BeBox firmware update that
caused a mass of problems (wise me decided not to touch the firmware and
that decision saved me and a lot of others a lot of grief). There were
still problems with the phone lines to the call centre in Bulgaria at this
point, so this all had a rather large knock on effect. This in the history
of Be Unlimited is a rather rare occurrence.

I'm on a London exchange (Highams Park) and have had very few outages,
planned or unplanned and when there have been problems Be have been
forthcoming fast with information. They had contention issues with links to
the US - this was fixed with more bandwidth added in about 2 weeks (it had
been ordered, but they bought installation, config and testing forward). No
other ISP in UK would be able to move that fast (on IPStream and exchange
showing "Red" for months!!!!!!!!!)

I'm fairly happy with my sync speed at about 9.5Mb on average, although I
should be getting a bit higher, but I know this to be down to poor quality
cabling between the cabinet and my house somewhere (probably the drop line
from the pole)

On the official forums, there is a wealth of info from other Be users
including myself who are happy enough to work through problems and try and
get any issues sorted. The forums are also monitored by Be staff in the UK
and from the call centre who are the able to escalate any issues.

There have been some provisioning issues recently, but these have been
wholly down to BT Openreach and the fact that BT system's are absolutely
diabolical.

The service is unlimited, but does carry an FUP. This FUP has never been
applied to anyone in any capacity. There is no traffic shaping or capping
on Be Unlimited and you get what you see so to speak i.e. no training
period, BRAS or other limiting factors. They also offer Annex M with upload
speeds up to 2.5Mb depending on line length and quality. I think the
closest any other ISP offers is up to 768 kbps upload/

There is a rapidly growing club of users with syncs at 24Mb or slightly
above. The major problems are with lines that are over 4km in length
(roughly 50db downstream attenuation upwards), although most when they have
sorted out their internal wiring have fairly stable connections.

Yes, us "Londoner's" have it better at the moment, but when Be first
launched there were teething problems which seem now to have been sorted.
DNS is a bit dodgy, but you can get around this easily by using OpenDNS or
Treewalk

Have a look here to get an estimate of likely sync speed
http://www.beforum.co.uk/forum/default.aspx?f=2&m=3875

All in all, I'm very happy and wouldn't even consider moving elsewhere at
the moment

Nicola Redwood wrote:

....
> My experience has been very very very good
> The problems have only been occurring over the last couple of weeks,
> starting with a major outage on 25th March affecting most of the north of
> the UK (fault of a supplier, possibly BT but only Be know) combined with a
> fibre link carrying voice between UK and Europe going down and needing
> repair (BT) affecting calls to the call centre in Sofia, Bulgaria
> The only real mistake Be made was releasing a BeBox firmware update that
> caused a mass of problems (wise me decided not to touch the firmware and
> that decision saved me and a lot of others a lot of grief). There were

I'm thinking of moving to Be at the end of May when our exchange gets
enabled. Do you know what they're doing about the Be Boxes they will be
sending out? Are new boxes having the old s/w fitted until it's resolved??


--
Chris