Talktalk to offer fibre optic?

Mr_Oink

Hammyman wrote: »

Thats the maximum throughput regardless of network congestion and is done using test servers on BT. It doesn't have anything to do with the ISPs lack of bandwidth.

Indeed, or the fact that FTTC usually involves a 12 month lock in. So when you find that FTTC service from your ISP (be it BT, IDNET, ZEN et al) is pants - you are stuck with it for a year.

That said, as TalkTalk have not yet lauched this product, and no metrics are known, it's impossible to comment on the quality of the service. TalkTalk mostly have their own kit in OLO hostels where the exchanges are unbundled. However, it's not clear if OLO's will be using their own backend when implementing FTTC in the local loop.

IDNET - who offer FTTC - appear to just be an extension to BT and suffer all the BT problems known to man with their FTTC services.

But you touch a very correct point. Whereas in the old days we were given that 'up to' caveat with the sale of the broadband product, FTTC will do away with that and instead network throughput / bandwidth & QoS becomes the issue. I can be pretty sure that won't be unique to TalkTalk customers given that those using similar infrastructure services from Virgin have suffered like it for years.

Hammyman

Well Mr_Oink, I think you probably share the same level of cynicism as I do and I know I want cold hard proof pf Sunday evening figures.

At the end of the day, an ISP can have whatever bandwidth it pleases on the back end but if its got a subscriber base wanting 256MB/s and its only got a 128MB/s pipe to the t'internet then there's going to be a lot of people getting 50% or less of their max bandwidth. The back end network is the cheap part, its the pipes that are the expensive ones. No ISP adds another segment without real serious need and Talktalk to date have proven they won't even though they have horrific network congestion.

Mr_Oink

Hammyman wrote: »

Well Mr_Oink, I think you probably share the same level of cynicism as I do ..... No ISP adds another segment without real serious need and Talktalk to date have proven they won't even though they have horrific network congestion.

The plain simple truth is all ISP's have issues. Different people have different takes on it. Two people may have polar opinions based on their experience.

At this time with TalkTalk it would be impossible to slate their FTTC service, because it does not exist! Sure, we can both hold the opinion that it may turn out to be a pile of cack, but saying it with certainty at this point is a little out of scope. However, I'm sure plenty of folk will jump up here if it fails to live up to expectations!

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Mr_Oink wrote: »

The plain simple truth is all ISP's have issues. Different people have different takes on it. Two people may have polar opinions based on their experience.

.....and this will always be the case. Because of the numbers using the likes of TalkTalk and BT, there will always be more people complaining when things go wrong. On the other hand there are obviously lots of people out there who're using their service and never had an issue.

I've been with Plusnet for 8 years now and done 2 house moves. The CS did take dips over that time, but the overall reliability and support through their forums is what's made me stay. I still read complaints on here (and other sites) about them, but for me, I'm happy with the service.

Mr_Oink

Phantom_Flan_Flinger wrote: »

.....and this will always be the case. Because of the numbers using the likes of TalkTalk and BT, there will always be more people complaining when things go wrong. On the other hand there are obviously lots of people out there who're using their service and never had an issue.

I've been with Plusnet for 8 years now and done 2 house moves. The CS did take dips over that time, but the overall reliability and support through their forums is what's made me stay. I still read complaints on here (and other sites) about them, but for me, I'm happy with the service.

Can't agree more. To me, with my awful experience with one of the smallest and most expensive ISP's in the UK is a more concerning metric than an ISP with a customer base measured in the millions. A number of complaints about IDNET -v- a number of complaints about BT/TalkTalk represent very different issues.

I'm glad you are happy with Plusnet. People slate them on and off but usually for no real fault of their own. 10 years ago when they were 'Plusnet/Force9' they were *the* ISP of choice. I had many happy years of Business Highway service with them. You can still get a response from their tech man, Bob, on Usenet and he is pretty proactive in dealing with issues. I can't really fault them as an ISP.

In a nutshell, there are customers who have unreasonable expectations as to what a pile of 40-80 year old wet copper cable is capable of doing. There are customers who seek to do technical 'stuff' they just don't understand or comprehend. They then moan about the ISP because they don't provide enough backside wiping or hand holding. There are customers who will always complain of speed and bandwidth issues - but choose to stick with a cheap domestic broadband packages. Best of all (my pet hate), there are customers who shout and scream about faults only to find it's their router, filters or wiring and if they *had* followed the basic troubleshooting information provided to them, they would have cleared their own fault in minutes.

I would not like to guess just how many complaints fall into these categories, but I'd put my Christmas Pudding on it that many, if not MOST, are of this nature.

GunJack

There are customers who will always complain of speed and bandwidth issues

This is sooo true, but unfortunately they are also usually amongst the least tech-savvy....they expect 24 meg and complain when they don't get it, but when they show you their line stats (after much hand-holding in order for them to find them) the fact that they're actually getting the max their line will support is totally beyond their comprehension :mad: