Madasafish Questions/answers (merged threads)

frankie

Samara

You're a star super star!

Thanks

harryhound

harryhound wrote:

Thanks Samara,

Someone phoned me about 18:30. All we needed to do was go through the quick start routine on the router and that brought back the internet connection.

Problem solved; another satisfied customer.

I will try and list the learning experience converting to Broadband has been and post it here in the near future.

Kind regards,

Harryhound.

Hi Samara,
Here is the story of a pensioner’s conversion, from occasional use of 1998 dial-up, supplemented by the local library’s 7 day a week service, to “up to 8 meg” broad-band on a new Dell PC and a part time Sony lap-top.
I offer these thoughts as a possible inspiration to other broad-band newbies launching themselves into the alphabet soup of acronyms.

Anticipating the arrival of the new PC, I realised that installing any new technology is never as simple as it says on the box; so I thought where can I get unbiased advice?

1. Email friends asking for their experience (& future support ?).
2. Check the Consumer Association’s Which? Magazine.
3. See what the users of Google have put into the top 10 UK sites.
4. Check what the Moneysavingexpert community advise.

The feedback was as follows:

1. Friends divided into 4 camps: “Stick with reliable BT”. “BT are rubbish (rant....)”. “Go for Cable….(not an option at hound hovel)”. “Try a new “free” service eg Talk Talk “.

2. Signed up for a 3 month 3 GBP trial with Which?; mainly to get access to the database, as the magazine is in the local library (Though “Computing Which?” is not available, a pity as it is aimed at about my level of limited understanding). Frankly, Which? was a disappointment, the information seemed to be little more than a simple survey of members’ ‘happiness’ with their purchase, coupled to tables compiled from suppliers’ data.
I was particularly disappointed by the lack of an explanation of the rival technologies, an analysis of the market and its suppliers by segment and any forecast of future developments. Top suppliers were Zen, Global, Waitrose, Utility Warehouse, Eclipse etc. with an average of 7 out of 10 users being “very satisfied”. This compared with the well known names (in descending order) Telewest, BT, AOL, NTL scoring 5 down to 2 out of 10 customers as “very satisfied”. (There was no explanation of primary, secondary, and tertiary suppliers for example: What does a Waitrose customer get, that a Brightview (MAAF) customer does not and what can Brightview add to the BT line it is renting? Nor is there any advice on who owns whom and, more importantly who is likely to take over whom as the market consolidates, for example: just ask an opinion from a customer of Diamond Cable (better than BT) what they think of the service then supplied by NTL (words fail me – good luck Branson Google to "cableforum" .)
3. Google, which ranks its results by the popularity of the web sites it finds, steered me towards ADSLguide (now thinkbroadband, by the way if you half remember a web address, go to advanced Google enter into “…..exact phrase” and search “in the URL of the page” and get http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ .) Several sites link into the BT availability page. This site gives a result by phone number & post code http://www.adsl-business.co.uk/adsl_checker.asp (Interestingly my original query gave “up to 6 Mbps” by number BUT the current results are “up to 2 Mbps” my actual current average speed and the post code gives “up to 4 Mbps” – so don’t believe everything you see on the net!) This service combines ‘phone number and post code and guesses your distance from the exchange (3km in my case) it also allows you to right click and take a copy of its findings:
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php.

4. The MSE community was less intimidating than the posters on thinkbroadband, more my level. I had even managed to work out that PM meant Private Message by myself! A friend, who had ranted about BT, recommended MAAF “I know …….. in their senior management” and so did lots of MSE’s . I read more or less the whole of this thread and HERE I AM a paid up member of the Samara fan club after a month.

WAS IT PLAIN SAILING & WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY ?

A. The initial number check revealed that I had a “line sharing device”. With the help of the community of thinkbroadband people, I was able to understand that this device, the size of a letterbox stuck up a pole, turned my line into a party line with a maximum dial up speed of 33kb (so much for my struggles with a 56K modem). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Access_Carrier_System

B. The box of tricks from MAAF was reasonably self explanatory especially Samara’s advice to fit a filter across all telephone equipment & plug into the BT master socket, which has a detachable front and looks like this: http://www.adslnation.com/support/extensions.php Avoid using one of the extension sockets and then use the Ethernet connection to cable to the PC rather than the USB one. BUT I would make the following suggestions to BT . Emphasise the wiring regulations requirement to keep ‘phone lines 50mm (2”) away from any power lines, on the quick start guide. Put the advice to mount the Voyager 210 router 1000mm (!) away from any other electrical equipment on the quick start guide, as well as hidden away on the disk. Finally a template showing the mounting screw positions relative to the “feet” and outline of the router, would be useful. (In my case, I wasted half a day mounting the router on the outside of the hall fitted cupboard only to realise it was less than 50mm from the front door bell transformer inside the cupboard. I used a 4 band transistor radio to identify a reasonably interference free position for the router above an arch in the hall.)
C. I have a chalet-bungalow so routing wires in the loft space is relatively easy, after untangling BT’s wire from its rats’ nest on top of the ring main. However I needed much longer Ethernet and USB cables, than those supplied. The Ethernet cable came from http://www.screwfix.com - part of a larger order delivered in 24 hours. It was called a patch cable in builder’s terms. The USB cable came from http://www.usbstore.co.uk/ at less than half the price of “PC world“ but it did take 5 days to arrive.
D. My most intractable problem was having an exterior bell (a big bell within a bell with a clapper vibrating between the two). This was hard wired from the slave extension socket, so I had the problem of fitting its wire with a plug so that the BT bell circuit to which it was wired could pass through the second of the two filters supplied by MAAF. (Both the BT engineer, who came searching to remove the “line sharing device (DACS)” and the man on the Maplin shop counter thought I would get away with it BUT THEY WERE WRONG !). I managed to find a BT style plug at http://www.maplin.co.uk/ that was made of clear seethru polycarbonate (?) plastic. Armed with a razor blade and a pair of pliers and a magnifying glass I managed to wire the plug correctly following these instructions recommended by the users of thinkbroadband. http://www.wppltd.demon.co.uk/WPP/Wiring/UK_telephone/uk_telephone.html (watch out, there is a sort of “mirror image” problem between plugs and sockets, where the socket reads terminals 123456 the plug reads 654321 for the same wires).
E. Let me finish with the explanation of how the telephone system works supplied by “Zebedeee”:
Let me try to explain. The incoming wire from the exchange is two wires, the "A wire" and the "B wire". When the phone is on the hook, and the phone is disconnected from the line, there is about 50 Volts DC between the A and B wires. To make the phone ring, an AC signal of about 70V AC is superimposed over the DC signal. This was originally supplied inside exchanges by a crude AC generator turned by a motor, but on field phones it could be generated by turning a handle connected to an AC generator.

The ringer of a phone is fed from the A wire to the ringer via a capacitor, and the purpose of the capacitor is to allow the AC signal through, whilst blocking any DC to the ringer. Originally this capacitor would have been inside the phone, but to allow for telephone extensions and extension bells, the capacitor was later fitted to the master socket, so the ringer signal came out on a third wire. This meant that older equipment with an internal ring capacitor and bell could still be used, but you could also connect a ringer directly to the ring wire and the B wire. Switches inside the phone ensured that the earpiece was disconnected when the phone was on the rest, and the AC signal was switched off as soon as the phone was picked up to be answered.

When ADSL is installed, a filter has to be installed on all phones and ringers, to stop the ADSL signals interfering with (and being interrupted by) the phone equipment

One final thought thinkbroadband offers a speed test and then will display a graph of the saved readings - most useful.

Madasafish_Customer_Care

This is just a quick thank you to you Moneysavers who helped us Beta test our new webmail application last year. :T

Last night at the 2007 ISPA's Madasafish won best consumer email, we wouldn't have been able to do it without all the help and feedback we got from you Moneysavers. Thank you all for taking the time for us.

Kind regards,
Samara

you_llneverwalkalone

frankie wrote:

""If anyone has just finished there 12 month contract with Madasafish and are thinking of moving it would certainly be worth your while asking Samara what the best offer is. Trust me you wont be disappointed! ""

How do I go about asking Samara for a new deal? My contract with MAAF expires soon.

Trust me you will be disappointed because all they offer you is a 1 POUND a month reduction in your bill....Yipee!!

I suggest you look elsewhere as their are cheaper ISP,s around at the moment.

The_Bloodster

richiethekid wrote:

I'm now experiencing major problems - connection has been dropping out every few minutes for several weeks now - and the last four days I haven't had any connection whotsoever. The DSL light is on but the Internet light isn't. I'm not an expert on home broadband but this seems to me like a problem with the ISP. Tried phoning Madasafish but all I get is the usual "try disconnecting your Sky box, try swapping the microfilters, make sure you're connecting to the master socket" guff. They seem very reluctant to escalate the call to BT. What can I do to get these muppets to actually do their jobs and try and sort this out? I reckon I'll have to do what I did within about a month of signing up with Madasafish when I'd had no connecion whatsoever - ask to cancel and insist on paying nothing until it's sorted.

Sounds like my problem, especially over the last couple of days when its been a nightmare

The_Bloodster

Gambler wrote:

Bloodster, mind if I ask what contract you have. I have a £30 contract with Orange (4 months into a 12 months deal), would I qualify?

Sorry for the delay in answering. My 18 month contract is £35 a month and yes I believe it is available with £30 and above.

The_Bloodster

Madasafish_Customer_Care wrote:

Hi Guys,

There are so many posts on here from last time I checked, I'll try to address them all in this post!

The_Bloodster - Every broadband provider is different - and you may have a great time with Orange! I wish you the best of luck with whoever you decide to go with. Until then I'm still here to help you with your connection!

Kind regards,
Samara

See this is why I'm a bit disappointed to leave MAAF, the great customer service and they actually take the time to hear what peoples problems are on here.

However saving £12 or £17 a month makes leaving worthwhile but I certainly will be considering MAAF again if it comes to that. Many thanks Samara

Steven

PS what would happen with my madasafish email address?

sloughflint

you_llneverwalkalone wrote:

Trust me you will be disappointed because all they offer you is a 1 POUND a month reduction in your bill....Yipee!!

I suggest you look elsewhere as their are cheaper ISP,s around at the moment.

Well I was happy with what I was offered. Not quite the same as you were offered.
My advice to people is to ask and see what you get. If you don't like the sound of what is offered, go elsewhere.
I weighed up cost with customer service and Samara on here too of course.

fiddiwebb

I agree with sloughflint.

After my 12 month contract (I was on the 5Gb package) I got in touch with Samara to see what the best deal I could get and I will say again that I was not disappointed with the offer and which I took up there and then.

I had checked out various other packages because I wanted more bandwidth but after contacting Samara I decided to stay with no misgivings at all.

I have always found Madasafish to provide a excellent stable connection ( I have never had any problems) with an excellent customer service especially with Samara.

#856 I think it may depend what package you were on after your 12 months and of course you have to ask nicely.

Madasafish_Customer_Care

Hi Guys,

I'm going to be away from the office until this Friday. I'll periodically be checking in, but if there is anything pressing - could you please PM Gill_Madasafish and she'll be able to help you out!

She'll also be checking this thread if you need her!

Kind regards,
Samara