Tiscali? You decide.

Despite all the current advertising, Tiscal continue to rate very
poorly. Be aware if you take out a contract then your sevice is not
unlimited, they adhere to what they call a fair use policy and if this
gets applied to your account then you will suffer a connection speed
that does not even compare to dial up.

I was put onto this policy due to use of an xbox 360 (i had always
used the same browsing habits, the FUP came into force when i
purchased this hardware). Despite me phoning them and them telling me
that this was not what the FUP is for (they say it is to stop P2P
software and users downloading large files) during busy periods, i was
still put onto this bracket of users. Basically their argument is if
you are a 'heavy' user then you will share your bandwidth with other
heavy users during peak hours (18.00 to 23.00).

Anyway, the 'FUP team' are not contactable by telephone, you cannot
get a number for them from any other department and your only option
is to mail them, shortly after you will receive an automated response
telling you they will deal with your issue within 3 working days.

So 9 days after me composing a full and detailed mail to them
desputing the fact that i should be in this bracket i received a
standard mail basically saying that i am limited because of usage and
if i didnt like it i could apply for a MAC code.

They also say that my bandwidth is not limited outside these peak
hours, however since the FUP has come into force (10 days now) my 1mb
connection between 09.00 and 16.00 has ranged between 7kbps and 74
kbps. Now the mail says that my service isnt limited outside peak
hours so i telephoned Tech support to report an obvious fault. When
you finally get through (to india) you will chat to a service
technition who only has limited understanding of english and even
poorer understanding of anything connected to broadband faults. After
some 'tests' i was told there is nothing wrong with the line and it
must be my router. ( I am an MCP qualified in networking and i have
tested my router and there is no fault). In addition the connnection
'picks up' during the small hours of the night so its clearly my
bandwidth dropping, not a LAN fault. The router has been tested with
wired and wiresless connections and on a friends home network and its
fine. Having spent nearly 30 minutes of my time on the phone and doing
various other tests and convincing the 'tech support' that there is no
issue he then told me my bandwidth was being restricted due to FUP.
How can it be i asked, it clearly states that its only restricted
during peak hours and i also have a mail from them telling me its
unaffected during the day. His response was that there was nothing
further he could do and my only option would be to, yes you guessed
it, mail the FUP team. And so the circle begins again.

Just for a laugh i called their sales team last night pretending to be
a new customer, i asked if they could supply me with unlimited
broadband. "Yes" was the answer. "So i can download what i want, when
i want and there will be no penatlies whatsoever" i asked. "Thats
correct sir". "What about the FUP you impose" i said? "The penalty of
being a 'heavy' user and having to resort to dial up speeds and
departments that never reply with anything but standard letters which
take over a week?" She hung up.

If you browse around the net you will find many similar stories. If
you want a cheap connection and you soley want to use the connection
for email and browsing then maybe they are suitable. If you dare go
outside these boundaries then dont say you weren't warned.

The funny thing is that they give you a telephone number in the FUP
letter to ring if you want a MAC code. Its is clear they cannot supply
a decent speed and their networks are struggling. Tell me, what
company makes it easier to terminate your contract for free rather
than give you a number to try and sort out your problem and therefore
keep the business?

Needless to say i have the MAC code.

vmixture wrote:

> Despite all the current advertising, Tiscal continue to rate very poorly.

My neighbour gets a very acceptable 1 Mbps service from them.

Sure, if you want unlimited service to dowload MP3s and DVDs you're not going
to be happy.

Your ilk should be banned in fact.

Graham

"Eeyore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> vmixture wrote:
>
>> Despite all the current advertising, Tiscal continue to rate very poorly.
>
> My neighbour gets a very acceptable 1 Mbps service from them.
>
> Sure, if you want unlimited service to dowload MP3s and DVDs you're not
> going
> to be happy.
>
> Your ilk should be banned in fact.
>
> Graham
>
And you're a twat who can't read.

On 15 Feb, in article
<(E-Mail Removed) .com>
(E-Mail Removed) "vmixture" wrote:

> The funny thing is that they give you a telephone number in the FUP
> letter to ring if you want a MAC code. Its is clear they cannot supply
> a decent speed and their networks are struggling. [...]

My general experience is nothing like as bad as yours, and I've never
had any FUP letter (can you confirm how recently you got that? I've seen
things get worse after Christmas--more XBoxes?), but my own experience
strongly supports the conclusion that they're struggling. They may also
be applying restrictions which aren't mentioned in the FUP.

They don't seem to be blocking P2P traffic as such--I've downloaded a
Linux distro that way recently, putting some limits on my BitTorrent
client so it didn't grab all my capacity--but I have seen complaints of
some specific BitTorrent IP addresses being blocked. At least, I've
inferred that from queries I've seen on forums.

But, yes, I can imagine just how frustrating a phone call to the
helpdesk can be. I know how dumb the email responses can be, and I'm not
paying connect time for them.

I'm not so frustrated that I'm planning on moving to avoid the current
Tiscali situation, but if things get much worse I reckon I'll be looking
around, and keeping an eye on the options.

Remember, folks, there are legitimate uses of P2P, just as there are
legitimate downloads of music and movies. You can buy software online.
Big downloads, CD-equivalent and bigger, are something any broadband
user might want.

--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.

On the horizon, a carrier task force of the Salvation Navy was
turning into the wind, preparing to launch Zeppelins.

On 15 Feb, 15:16, Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelati...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> vmixture wrote:
> > Despite all the current advertising, Tiscal continue to rate very poorly.
>
> My neighbour gets a very acceptable 1 Mbps service from them.
>
> Sure, if you want unlimited service to dowload MP3s and DVDs you're not going
> to be happy.
>
> Your ilk should be banned in fact.
>
> Graham

You really dont have a clue do you? I suggest you read it again. For
your information i dont download music or videos, i prefer the
superior quality of buying them on disk. Now crawl back into your hole
unless you have anything desent to write.

On 15 Feb, 17:54, d...@zhochaka.org.uk ("David G. Bell") wrote:
> On 15 Feb, in article
> <1171548040.915044.247...@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups .com>
> vmixt...@hotmail.com "vmixture" wrote:
>
> > The funny thing is that they give you a telephone number in the FUP
> > letter to ring if you want a MAC code. Its is clear they cannot supply
> > a decent speed and their networks are struggling. [...]
>
> My general experience is nothing like as bad as yours, and I've never
> had any FUP letter (can you confirm how recently you got that? I've seen
> things get worse after Christmas--more XBoxes?), but my own experience
> strongly supports the conclusion that they're struggling. They may also
> be applying restrictions which aren't mentioned in the FUP.
>
> They don't seem to be blocking P2P traffic as such--I've downloaded a
> Linux distro that way recently, putting some limits on my BitTorrent
> client so it didn't grab all my capacity--but I have seen complaints of
> some specific BitTorrent IP addresses being blocked. At least, I've
> inferred that from queries I've seen on forums.
>
> But, yes, I can imagine just how frustrating a phone call to the
> helpdesk can be. I know how dumb the email responses can be, and I'm not
> paying connect time for them.
>
> I'm not so frustrated that I'm planning on moving to avoid the current
> Tiscali situation, but if things get much worse I reckon I'll be looking
> around, and keeping an eye on the options.
>
> Remember, folks, there are legitimate uses of P2P, just as there are
> legitimate downloads of music and movies. You can buy software online.
> Big downloads, CD-equivalent and bigger, are something any broadband
> user might want.
>
> --
> David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.
>
> On the horizon, a carrier task force of the Salvation Navy was
> turning into the wind, preparing to launch Zeppelins.

The FUP came into place after the purchase of an xbox 360 which gives
you the option to download demos for the games which i did. Online
gaming also would appear to bracket you as a heavy user. They give no
indications of what the heavy usage limit is, it seems that if you are
in an area that has several 'heavy' users then you are more likely to
be restricted. They should adverstise their service as such, a
browsing and mail connection. Clearly if you use the connection for
anything more substantial and yes legal then you must be prepared to
pay the consequenses. On a happy note i have had a call from a senior
representative who has refunded me the money for the last month and
will ensure i am billed for nothing else. There was no attempt to keep
me on board however, which would proved my point that they only want
'light' users on their already struggling network.

vmixture wrote:
> There was no attempt to keep
> me on board however, which would proved my point that they only want
> 'light' users on their already struggling network.
>

this is true of any uk isp that gets their broadband from bt wholesale.
BT have oversold their broadband services assuming that most customers
are light users ("short bursty traffic" is the term, it means web
browsing and email) and heavy users are rare.

this can only get worse as more people turn to the internet for media
distribution. I have no doubt that at some point a critical mass of
customers will be reached and BT will be forced to increase the
bandwidth available or face going out of business.

If available in your area you might consider a LLU isp like BE (which i
believe is unlimited and not in the tiscali sense), they are setting
themselves up as the next BT, they install their own equipment in the
exchanges which means they potentially can provide enough bandwidth to
satisfy heavy users.

But you are correct that Tiscali do not want you, neither do the vast
majority of UK isp's. If you do not have access to a decent LLU
provider then your only option may be to pay business prices, look up
the price of SDSL and leased lines if you want to give yourself a shock.

--
E[s

"vmixture" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> Despite all the current advertising, Tiscal continue to rate very
> poorly. Be aware if you take out a contract then your sevice is not
> unlimited, they adhere to what they call a fair use policy and if this
> gets applied to your account then you will suffer a connection speed
> that does not even compare to dial up.
>

What you forgot to tell everyone is that as qualified as you claim to be,
you are confusing connection speeds with throughput. You also knew about
the FUP and terms and conditions as you had to read and agree to them before
signing up. With Tiscali you are sent an email the first time which advises
you that you were downloading to much in peak hours. 6 to 11pm. It also
explains if you do it again you will be sent a further email, after that you
will be sent a letter as you have.
So it's not as if you haven't had two warnings for downloading excessive
amounts of data between 6 and 11pm.
Tiscali has been rubbish lately and I will be going to another ISP soon, but
you are likely to have problems whichever ISP you choose - mainly because
you either don't read the terms and conditions or you agree, refuse to stick
them and think by moaning you will be let off.
If you don't want a warning, stick to the terms of the contract.
Tiscali is very slow compared to how it was last year, that's because of
more customers. Tiscali haven't invested in improving their system and try
to do it on the cheap or the service would be able to cope.
I will be leaving them as they have a non-UK based and speaking call centre.
I refuse to speak to people that can't understand me speaking English, I
find it very offensive.

"vmixture" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> On 15 Feb, 15:16, Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelati...@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>> vmixture wrote:
>> > Despite all the current advertising, Tiscal continue to rate very
>> > poorly.
>>
>> My neighbour gets a very acceptable 1 Mbps service from them.
>>
>> Sure, if you want unlimited service to dowload MP3s and DVDs you're not
>> going
>> to be happy.
>>
>> Your ilk should be banned in fact.
>>
>> Graham
>
> You really dont have a clue do you? I suggest you read it again. For
> your information i dont download music or videos, i prefer the
> superior quality of buying them on disk. Now crawl back into your hole
> unless you have anything desent to write.
>

That's quite funny coming from someone that can't even read and understand
the terms and conditions of an agreement he signed up for ! Then can't read
and understand the first warning email and the second, then a letter!
Oh dear, what is the world coming to. No wonder the ISP will not speak to
you.

"vmixture" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> On 15 Feb, 17:54, d...@zhochaka.org.uk ("David G. Bell") wrote:
>> On 15 Feb, in article
>> <1171548040.915044.247...@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups .com>
>> vmixt...@hotmail.com "vmixture" wrote:
>>
>> > The funny thing is that they give you a telephone number in the FUP
>> > letter to ring if you want a MAC code. Its is clear they cannot supply
>> > a decent speed and their networks are struggling. [...]
>>
>> My general experience is nothing like as bad as yours, and I've never
>> had any FUP letter (can you confirm how recently you got that? I've seen
>> things get worse after Christmas--more XBoxes?), but my own experience
>> strongly supports the conclusion that they're struggling. They may also
>> be applying restrictions which aren't mentioned in the FUP.
>>
>> They don't seem to be blocking P2P traffic as such--I've downloaded a
>> Linux distro that way recently, putting some limits on my BitTorrent
>> client so it didn't grab all my capacity--but I have seen complaints of
>> some specific BitTorrent IP addresses being blocked. At least, I've
>> inferred that from queries I've seen on forums.
>>
>> But, yes, I can imagine just how frustrating a phone call to the
>> helpdesk can be. I know how dumb the email responses can be, and I'm not
>> paying connect time for them.
>>
>> I'm not so frustrated that I'm planning on moving to avoid the current
>> Tiscali situation, but if things get much worse I reckon I'll be looking
>> around, and keeping an eye on the options.
>>
>> Remember, folks, there are legitimate uses of P2P, just as there are
>> legitimate downloads of music and movies. You can buy software online.
>> Big downloads, CD-equivalent and bigger, are something any broadband
>> user might want.
>>
>> --
>> David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.
>>
>> On the horizon, a carrier task force of the Salvation Navy was
>> turning into the wind, preparing to launch Zeppelins.
>
> The FUP came into place after the purchase of an xbox 360 which gives
> you the option to download demos for the games which i did.

So AT LAST we now have the answer, you were downloading excessive amounts of
data in peak hours. That's why you got the warnings. At least you have now
admitted you are at fault.
It wasn't online gaming that caused the problem, it was downloading
excessive amounts of data in peak hours. Gaming does not use excessive
amounts of data.
For someone claiming to be qualified you don't even know the difference
between downloading and gaming now either.