New Starter Questions

My exchange is being upgraded in a few weeks, and I currently have Home
Highway. I'm thinking about the best way of moving over and would
appreciate any feedback or advice.

One of my concerns is that with HH I have two telephone numbers and I'm
happy to lose one but want to make sure I choose which number goes and which
stays. If I simply register with an ISP is there a stage in the process
where I'll be asked which number I'm going to keep - or is this likely to be
"cocked up"?

Also I wonder is this a two seperate stage process ie (1) HH > Back to PSTN
and then (2) PSTN > ADSL or do they do these two actions all in one go?

Finally I'm thinking about 1/2mb compared to 1 mb services. Is one really
twice as gast as the other on downloads? I understood speed depended on
contention ratio at the exchange. Does this mean that some users on a 500k
service will enjoy faster speeds than another user on a 1mb service? Is the
double speed service actually provided in other words?

Hope for some advice!

K

On Sat, 3 Jan 2004 08:25:17 -0000, "Kathy Burke" <leavemealone> wrote:

>My exchange is being upgraded in a few weeks, and I currently have Home
>Highway. I'm thinking about the best way of moving over and would
>appreciate any feedback or advice.
>
>One of my concerns is that with HH I have two telephone numbers and I'm
>happy to lose one but want to make sure I choose which number goes and which
>stays. If I simply register with an ISP is there a stage in the process
>where I'll be asked which number I'm going to keep - or is this likely to be
>"cocked up"?
>
>Also I wonder is this a two seperate stage process ie (1) HH > Back to PSTN
>and then (2) PSTN > ADSL or do they do these two actions all in one go?
>
>Finally I'm thinking about 1/2mb compared to 1 mb services. Is one really
>twice as gast as the other on downloads? I understood speed depended on
>contention ratio at the exchange. Does this mean that some users on a 500k
>service will enjoy faster speeds than another user on a 1mb service? Is the
>double speed service actually provided in other words?
>
>Hope for some advice!
>
>K
>

Contention ratio seems vary rarely to enter the picture when it comes
to download speed. What does matter though is any upstream bottleneck
which can occur at any point on the Internet connection. You can't do
anything about that.

Most, but by no means all download sites seem to be capable of
maintaining full speed in a 500k connection, but I have no real idea
how that would be maintained if you swapped to 1M. Don't think that
all speeds would instantly double, though, because they won't.

d

_____________________________

http://www.pearce.uk.com

"Kathy Burke" <leavemealone> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> My exchange is being upgraded in a few weeks, and I currently have Home
> Highway. I'm thinking about the best way of moving over and would
> appreciate any feedback or advice.
>
> One of my concerns is that with HH I have two telephone numbers and I'm
> happy to lose one but want to make sure I choose which number goes and
which
> stays. If I simply register with an ISP is there a stage in the process
> where I'll be asked which number I'm going to keep - or is this likely to
be
> "cocked up"?
>
> Also I wonder is this a two seperate stage process ie (1) HH > Back to
PSTN
> and then (2) PSTN > ADSL or do they do these two actions all in one go?
>
> Finally I'm thinking about 1/2mb compared to 1 mb services. Is one really
> twice as gast as the other on downloads? I understood speed depended on
> contention ratio at the exchange. Does this mean that some users on a
500k
> service will enjoy faster speeds than another user on a 1mb service? Is
the
> double speed service actually provided in other words?
>
> Hope for some advice!
>
> K
>
>

When I had HH converted to ADSL, I was not given the option of which number
to retain; it was the original number. However, it is possible to keep the
other number as an additional (different ring pattern) number on your main
number. Call 150 or 151 and talk to them about this - they are most helpful.

I have a 2mbps ADSL line. I can always get a rock solid 2mbps download speed
from Microsoft's download site, but others vary.

Cheers

Nick

"Kathy Burke" <leavemealone> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> My exchange is being upgraded in a few weeks, and I currently have Home
> Highway. I'm thinking about the best way of moving over and would
> appreciate any feedback or advice.
>
> One of my concerns is that with HH I have two telephone numbers and I'm
> happy to lose one but want to make sure I choose which number goes and
which
> stays. If I simply register with an ISP is there a stage in the process
> where I'll be asked which number I'm going to keep - or is this likely to
be
> "cocked up"?
>
> Also I wonder is this a two seperate stage process ie (1) HH > Back to
PSTN
> and then (2) PSTN > ADSL or do they do these two actions all in one go?
>
> Finally I'm thinking about 1/2mb compared to 1 mb services. Is one really
> twice as gast as the other on downloads? I understood speed depended on
> contention ratio at the exchange. Does this mean that some users on a
500k
> service will enjoy faster speeds than another user on a 1mb service? Is
the
> double speed service actually provided in other words?
>
> Hope for some advice!
>
> K
>
We have just moved from HH to ADSL, if you can, try to use a ISP which can
manage the move from HH to ADSL. We went with NDO and although we realise
now they could have managed the change the person on the help desk did not
advise us that it was better for them to manage the change. We then asked
BT to take away HH (it costs £50 by the way). Only when the line had been
converted could NDO process our ADSL order which took a week but was
carried out exactly as they promised. The NDO help desk has been good when
we contacted them, the only criticism we have is that some of the details
i.e. the pop3 & smtp addresses and the NDO mail server details were not sent
when we went live, we had to ring up for the details.
Regards,
Nick & Barbara Wiseman

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, leavemealone (Kathy
Burke) wrote:

> One of my concerns is that with HH I have two telephone numbers and I'm
> happy to lose one but want to make sure I choose which number goes and
> which
> stays. If I simply register with an ISP is there a stage in the process
> where I'll be asked which number I'm going to keep - or is this likely
> to be
> "cocked up"?
When one of our lines was converted, we had a BT engineer come out to
remove the ISDN box and replace it with a standard POTS front panel
socket. He asked me which number we would like to retain.

>
> Also I wonder is this a two seperate stage process ie (1) HH > Back to
> > PSTN
> and then (2) PSTN > ADSL or do they do these two actions all in one go?
>
Yes, you have ISDN taken off, and ADSL put on. In our case the ADSL was
done first, and although we were able to use the net, it was about 20 mins
before he got the dial tone for POTS.

> Finally I'm thinking about 1/2mb compared to 1 mb services. Is one
> really
> twice as gast as the other on downloads? I understood speed depended on
> contention ratio at the exchange. Does this mean that some users on a
> 500k
> service will enjoy faster speeds than another user on a 1mb service?
> Is the
> double speed service actually provided in other words?
>
> Hope for some advice!

The depends on a lot of factors.
i. number of people on your exchange, some of which might want to do P2P
24/7 at 10/10ths !!

ii. the server you are connecting to. It's possible to get full speed from
big FTP sites, but if you are going to do a big .bin download, best wait
for late at night.

iii. time of day. You will notice Stateside trips taking longer during the
afternoon than they did during the morning.

Do you really ned 1Mb ? My average download rate over a 24 hour period is
rarely more than that of a dialup modem !!!!!!!

- Steve

On Sat, 3 Jan 2004 08:25:17 -0000, "Kathy Burke" <leavemealone> wrote:

>My exchange is being upgraded in a few weeks, and I currently have Home
>Highway. I'm thinking about the best way of moving over and would
>appreciate any feedback or advice.
>
>One of my concerns is that with HH I have two telephone numbers and I'm
>happy to lose one but want to make sure I choose which number goes and which
>stays. If I simply register with an ISP is there a stage in the process
>where I'll be asked which number I'm going to keep - or is this likely to be
>"cocked up"?
>
>Also I wonder is this a two seperate stage process ie (1) HH > Back to PSTN
>and then (2) PSTN > ADSL or do they do these two actions all in one go?
>
>Finally I'm thinking about 1/2mb compared to 1 mb services. Is one really
>twice as gast as the other on downloads? I understood speed depended on
>contention ratio at the exchange. Does this mean that some users on a 500k
>service will enjoy faster speeds than another user on a 1mb service? Is the
>double speed service actually provided in other words?
>
>Hope for some advice!
>
>K
>

Hi see my later posting on conversion

I went with BT/Yahoo and the conversion was seemless. The process took
10 minutes from the engineer calling me from the exchange. ADSL was
available immediately and the phone service was back on line after 30
minutes. The ISP should ask which number you want to keep.

I was not expecting a charge for the conversion but was also billed
for the line I don't have any more following conversion. I hope this
is a simple administrative error otherwise it is a very expensive way
to get BB.

On downloads and stuff there is always a weak link in the chain. Even
with a theoretical 1mb download you will be contended and there will
be a web/ftp/p2p/pop etc server that is overloaded and therefore canot
supply at anywhere near to your link speed. If it is quality you are
after then go for a business strength package that offers a lower
contention. I have been told that there is little real contention
being imposed at the moment. This will probably change.....

Thanks for your advice. Forgive me - I was a bit confused when you said:

>>I was not expecting a charge for the conversion but was also billed
for the line I don't have any more following conversion. I hope this
is a simple administrative error otherwise it is a very expensive way
to get BB.<<

What were you charged for that you weren't expecting exactly? Was a
discontinuation charge, or was it the normal BT line rental?

K




"Erpkid" <erpkid_noodles@tiscali_rice.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3ff8c9c8.499714734@192.168.6.100...
> On Sat, 3 Jan 2004 08:25:17 -0000, "Kathy Burke" <leavemealone> wrote:
>
> >My exchange is being upgraded in a few weeks, and I currently have Home
> >Highway. I'm thinking about the best way of moving over and would
> >appreciate any feedback or advice.
> >
> >One of my concerns is that with HH I have two telephone numbers and I'm
> >happy to lose one but want to make sure I choose which number goes and
which
> >stays. If I simply register with an ISP is there a stage in the process
> >where I'll be asked which number I'm going to keep - or is this likely to
be
> >"cocked up"?
> >
> >Also I wonder is this a two seperate stage process ie (1) HH > Back to
PSTN
> >and then (2) PSTN > ADSL or do they do these two actions all in one go?
> >
> >Finally I'm thinking about 1/2mb compared to 1 mb services. Is one
really
> >twice as gast as the other on downloads? I understood speed depended on
> >contention ratio at the exchange. Does this mean that some users on a
500k
> >service will enjoy faster speeds than another user on a 1mb service? Is
the
> >double speed service actually provided in other words?
> >
> >Hope for some advice!
> >
> >K
> >
>
> Hi see my later posting on conversion
>
> I went with BT/Yahoo and the conversion was seemless. The process took
> 10 minutes from the engineer calling me from the exchange. ADSL was
> available immediately and the phone service was back on line after 30
> minutes. The ISP should ask which number you want to keep.
>
> I was not expecting a charge for the conversion but was also billed
> for the line I don't have any more following conversion. I hope this
> is a simple administrative error otherwise it is a very expensive way
> to get BB.
>
> On downloads and stuff there is always a weak link in the chain. Even
> with a theoretical 1mb download you will be contended and there will
> be a web/ftp/p2p/pop etc server that is overloaded and therefore canot
> supply at anywhere near to your link speed. If it is quality you are
> after then go for a business strength package that offers a lower
> contention. I have been told that there is little real contention
> being imposed at the moment. This will probably change.....
>
>

Will the 1Mb service affect 500k user speeds?
The 500k and 1Mb services share the same 'virtual path' (VP) from the
exchange to where the individual users are split onto thir ISP network. This
means that if every heavy bandwidth user migrated to 1Mb and doubled their
network usage, an overall slowdown may be seen.

BT Wholesale are pro-actively monitoring the traffic levels on their network
and can re-size the virtual paths to ensure that the Quality of Service is
maintained.





"Kathy Burke" <leavemealone> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> My exchange is being upgraded in a few weeks, and I currently have Home
> Highway. I'm thinking about the best way of moving over and would
> appreciate any feedback or advice.
>
> One of my concerns is that with HH I have two telephone numbers and I'm
> happy to lose one but want to make sure I choose which number goes and
which
> stays. If I simply register with an ISP is there a stage in the process
> where I'll be asked which number I'm going to keep - or is this likely to
be
> "cocked up"?
>
> Also I wonder is this a two seperate stage process ie (1) HH > Back to
PSTN
> and then (2) PSTN > ADSL or do they do these two actions all in one go?
>
> Finally I'm thinking about 1/2mb compared to 1 mb services. Is one really
> twice as gast as the other on downloads? I understood speed depended on
> contention ratio at the exchange. Does this mean that some users on a
500k
> service will enjoy faster speeds than another user on a 1mb service? Is
the
> double speed service actually provided in other words?
>
> Hope for some advice!
>
> K
>
>

On Sat, 3 Jan 2004 14:45:34 -0000, "Kathy Burke" <leavemealone> wrote:

>Thanks for your advice. Forgive me - I was a bit confused when you said:
>
>>>I was not expecting a charge for the conversion but was also billed
>for the line I don't have any more following conversion. I hope this
>is a simple administrative error otherwise it is a very expensive way
>to get BB.<<
>
>What were you charged for that you weren't expecting exactly? Was a
>discontinuation charge, or was it the normal BT line rental?
>
>K
>
>
snip...snip

Yes it is a little unclear. I went with BT/Yahoo as I assumed there
would be no charge for disconnection and they would make sure that
the billing/conversion was straight. As it stands they have billed me
for the conversion at £50.00 inc vat and for a further quarter of
isdn. I have had isdn for 4 years so did not expect any sort of
penalty. I will let the board know how I get on with BT and BT/Yahoo
on Monday.

Thanks, the implication is that they wanted a 1 month's notice of
cancelling ISDN - but didn't tell you when you cancelled - is that correct?

k

"Erpkid" <erpkid_noodles@tiscali_rice.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3ffaefdc.509463265@192.168.6.100...
> On Sat, 3 Jan 2004 14:45:34 -0000, "Kathy Burke" <leavemealone> wrote:
>
> >Thanks for your advice. Forgive me - I was a bit confused when you said:
> >
> >>>I was not expecting a charge for the conversion but was also billed
> >for the line I don't have any more following conversion. I hope this
> >is a simple administrative error otherwise it is a very expensive way
> >to get BB.<<
> >
> >What were you charged for that you weren't expecting exactly? Was a
> >discontinuation charge, or was it the normal BT line rental?
> >
> >K
> >
> >
> snip...snip
>
> Yes it is a little unclear. I went with BT/Yahoo as I assumed there
> would be no charge for disconnection and they would make sure that
> the billing/conversion was straight. As it stands they have billed me
> for the conversion at £50.00 inc vat and for a further quarter of
> isdn. I have had isdn for 4 years so did not expect any sort of
> penalty. I will let the board know how I get on with BT and BT/Yahoo
> on Monday.