Zardon

This isn't "breaking news" however im sure some of you guys currently on NTLworld 3mbit will not be aware NTL are making available free trials until the end of the year.

I put this into test today and called ntl customer support asking if I could avail of the free upgrade trial and was immediately put on the plan. The customer services representative informed me that between now and the end of December the speed may fluctuate but it will in time be rolling out across the board. Im currently getting the full line speed on my ancient motorola surfboard however it will depend on the modem NTL have supplied.

More information is available from http://www.ntlhell.co.uk/

MIG-31

Good to see someone having some F**king luck with ntl's cs..... Tried 3 times now to be upgraded and basically been shrugged of each time

sorry to sound a little peeved at this.....but im tired of hearing "New customers only" when i have paid nearly 2 years bb with them....

What about existing customers!!!!!!!

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Zardon

I am not a new customer, I have been with them since the start, I think 5-6 years now........

Well I dont understand this, I called the customer support telephone number and quietly said to the girl who answered (who was a TOTAL flirt), if I could be put onto the 10mbit free trial, she immediately said it wasnt a problem and within literally 20 seconds the modem lights reset and I was on the plan. I am not sure if it is to do with your location or the modem you have however it was the most painless 5 minute conversation ive had.

MIG-31

I have seen on that forum Nottingham does have it ready (apparently) and i have the ntl 200 modem,so effectively neither of those should be the problem...I guess it could just depend on Who you get on the other end of the phone.

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Zardon

Maybe I got lucky, but if I were you I would call in again, and then tomorrow until you get it, just basically state you would like to go onto the free 10mbit trial. Be assertive yet polite, always works. Dont sound as if there "might" be a trial as the person on the other end might fob you off. Before I called I was partly expecting a "ermm no sir I havent heard of that", but the girl I got was really impressive! and its not often i say that when dealing with women in Customer care. the last guy I got on NTLworld sounded like he was on valium.

Also I think I heard from someone that the ntl 200 modem is limited to 5mbit?

MIG-31

The following are capable of 10Mb now:
ntl 250 (blue Ambit manufactured modem)
ntl 200 (silver Ambit manufactured modem)

The following could be capable of 10Mb, but require a firmware upgrade:
ntl:home 120 (silver Ambit manufactured modem)

The following are not capable of 10Mb:
ntl:home 100 (silver Ambit manufactured modem)
Terayon Terajet 210
Motorola Surfboard 3100/4100
3com Tailfin
3com CMX
All Pace STBs

Testing has not completed on the Samsung STBs, however current results suggest around 8-9Mb may be possible. Higher speeds may be achieved with an upgrade to the uBR - but this has yet to be confirmed.

PLEASE do not call Customer Services/Faults/Technical Support requesting an upgrade for your Cable Modem. Technical Support cannot change your speed, and have been told not to send engineers for customers who are not receiving the full 10Mb downstream speed unless there are other factors involved.

If your modem requires an upgrade to receive the 10Mb service, ntl will contact you to advise you what to do.

Edit: Taken from ntlhell forums.

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Zardon

Well for a start your list is wrong, the surfboard 4100 is capable of 10mbit with the latest firmware flash, its actually capable of 25mbit as we have one in work running via LAN connection at that speed. I also have one at home and I am getting 1200k on newsgroups as I type this.

Motorola surfboards are brilliant modems, however if they are connected via USB with the XP drivers ive heard horror stories.

MIG-31

Forgot to add This is where they are taken from

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MIG-31

Z which cs number did you call? the one i used the previous 3 times (0800 052 2000) has been pulled. Guess they got tired of the numourous calls.

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Zardon

I dialled 0800 052 2000, then after keying in my local number (as they ask for it on the automated service), hit 5 (I think) for "everything else", this put me through after a 2 minute wait time to a support girl who seemed to know everything about the upgrade before I even asked. Once I gave her some security information while we were talking she said, give it a minute she was going "into" my account setup and the modem lights all went out and it rebooted.

It really was as simple as that.

shteve

According to this thread:

http://forums.ntlhell.co.uk/index.ph...ic=17469&st=20

the ntl:Home 120 is limited to 5meg, which is a tad pants as that's what I'm using :/ . Not too much of an issue as the test doesn't extend to 2meg users yet, and to be fair, an uncapped 2 meg is good enough.

Zardon

Yes, I do think the list mig31 posted is highly inaccurate. i have heard from a few people I know in england on the ntl200 modem that they arent getting above 500k on the 10mbit line. To be honest if I hit that speed id probably be quite happy I think we are all spolit now ! then again if its a free replacement I guess its time to give NTL a call.

I was surprised my ancient motorola works so well but im damned if im changing it, even if I had problems getting the full 10mbit. This modem has been the most reliable piece of equipment ive owned and has been turned on 24/7 since 2000. One of my friends in ireland has had 3 modems (weird name eastern makes) since 2002.

Ok after saying all this I guess now ill go offline as the modem will mysteriously blow up

shteve

Yeah, seeing a 240k dl is very nice anyway, especially when i think back to the old dial-up days when a 4.5k dl was noteworthy.

MIG-31

Ok i tried yet again....This time i have been told my account has been set up for 10mb.... so far i'm happy untill..

I have been asked to reboot the PC & to manually reboot the modem (which i know should of been automatic) Both has been done.And yet my normal speeds are now lower than usual at worst and the same 378kbs (give or take a little) at best WTF.

I guess i'm either going to have to give it a little time or to see if i can request an upgrade of modem to the ntl 250.

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Zardon

Strange, there should really be no need to reboot your pc. are you only getting just over 3mbit?

Ok here is a tip, go to nvidia.com or ati.com and try downloading a file. nvidia.com is a good test as they have some kick ass servers, then go to the download section and download one of the demos like the mike 150mb demo. I get peaks of around 1.15mb on that, averaging just around 1000k. seems steady too.

Zardon

yeah I spent years of my life on modems so I dont take any of this stuff for granted like many kids online today, things to me seem amazing recently, I mean I would have killed years ago for a download speed equivalent to my current upload speed. I was just getting used to 3mbit !

MIG-31

Nope i'm most certainly not having any luck with ntl's cs....... i know damn well i have been given another story to pass the buck! (previous call has been noted).But this last cs worker did say it could take a day or two to be visible (Bull if you ask me)

I wonder if the next stage may well be "i wish to cancel my account and look else where for net service"... may soon come into play. I'm now seriously getting to be a little pissed with ntl.

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Zardon

a Day or two? thats utter crap it takes a few seconds to resolve - the girl told me their system would take 10 minutes MAXIMUM !. All they have to do is force your modem to retrieve a new config file detailing the new download and upload caps. The only way this would make sense is if they are still working on the configuration file for your specific modem. but as far as I know they have made it, several people I know are on the trial with your modem.

Matth

I don't know what deity I managed to invoke, but with a broadband problem yesterday, I got through almost immediately to an English call centre ... didn't know NTL still had them!

I know, Indian call centres are cheaper to run, but some accents are just not that easy for native english speakers to follow, the same as an excessively broad regional accent would not be ideal for anyone at a call centre with national coverage.

Zardon

Really? i have called NTL about 10 times in the last year about various things and always got through to either a scots or england woman. I have to say they have always been really helpful to me, although I do hear the horror stories.

pr0digal jenius

all the tech support calls I ever make now end with me being mad, and the person on the other end sounding like Apu from the simpsons and telling to "have a nice day" or "thank you, come again"


But that aside, 10MBit is very very nice indeed, they are rolling out 6 MBit cable and 3-4 MBit DSL here, but Comcast seems to add a megabit or 2 every 3-4 monthes now, so we'll be caught up on the cable front soon enough

MIG-31

Every single call i made were either english or scot.....so you must be the unlucky one.

And talking of luck i NTL still refuse to upgrade my net access.

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niceguyrichy

shout a little.
won't make a blind bit of difference, but you'll feel better.

I had to make a lot of call's to call-centers when I moved regarding ISP's (bit of a nightmare) and almost all I got through to were scottish!
it's nice to hear a familiar accent on the other end of the line, always makes me think at some level that my problem/complaint will be taken more seriously, despite the obvious fact that they're all reading from the same script regardless what country they're from.
sure this had a point........oh yeah!!
appeal to their human side. especially if they're from the same country as you.
Failing that, (and if you haven't already) ask to talk to their manager.
talk-center staff are mostly all gimps who'll do anything to get you off the phone as quick as possible, so try to talk to someone who has a bit of weight on his shoulders, he'll respond more positively to threats of recriminations.

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@/2ct!<

WTH. a few years ago I was reading how far behind U.S. UK was with their standard 256k broadband packages vs. U.S. 1.5 mbit. now U.S. is even further behind the curve

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Matth

Another thing to mention, it seems that the optouts from 300k to 1Mbit upgrade are now to get the 512k / unlimited tariff (the "gluttons" tariff that the over-users get put on) ... that'll do me nicely!

MIG-31

Did not see any point of opening a new thread...I now have to give some praise after all to ntl..

They have finally came through and gave me my 10mb connection upgrade....Even though the was a roll out date to start today...

Gave it a test to,download the q4 demo 324mb,average at 1.15mbs and were steady at that,only ventured down by a few kbs.all under 5 minutes..

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niceguyrichy

damn!

I'm wired to my router right now, and even then that kinda size file would take an hour!

way to go ntl for finally coming through!

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