O2 customer - getting online takes AGES...

LillieFlower

Have any other O2 broadband users had trouble getting online over the past few weeks?

2 or 3 months ago it started taking longer and longer to get connected after plugging everything in (we use an ethernet cable to connect our router rather than the wireless option so know it's not a wireless issue). It's at the stage where it sometimes takes over 30 minutes to get online.

We checked the PC and our equipment, which seemed fine. Phoned O2 a couple of times and they sent a new router but didn't seem to have any ideas about why we're having this problem.

My contract's now at an end, and I'd like to stay with O2 for all the obvious reasons (free tech calls, UK call centres), but don't know if this issue is linked to their network in particular or something else. Don't want to re-sign (we were on a special deal and I've haggled but we'd still be paying substantially more) to get another year of this problem...

Any ideas???

Scrounger

LillieFlower wrote: »

... started taking longer and longer to get connected after plugging everything in ...

One possible solution would be to keep the router permanently connected (to the BT socket) and powered up?

Scrounger

LillieFlower

Thanks for the advice, but I'm reluctant to do this for security reasons. Don't want to give hackers any more opportunity than I have to. A friend of mine had a rather unnerving experience with someone getting access to their laptop and I don't fancy it myself. :-(

Scrounger

LillieFlower wrote: »

... we use an ethernet cable to connect our router rather than the wireless option (so know it's not a wireless issue)...

It is very easy to disable Wi-Fi on the O2 box and then there would be no risk of hacking (you can still switch off your computer when not in use).

Scrounger

Spikefan

I have had o2 connection problems for about 2 months. We have a new router also. The internet drops off - speed can be anywhere between 2 and 6 meg, also dropping out completely for no reason. Can have internet downstairs but not upstairs. When they have tried to help the situation the speed has dropped considerably to around .5 meg (worse than dial up used to be). My husband works from home, we stream content and game, download music/video from iTunes so it is high usage, but this has always been the case. No idea what has changed.
When speaking to o2 they started telling you about how wireless works etc. and that it is a wireless problem. That so, how come my ethernet wired machine has the same problem. I would consider changing to Sky but read mixed reviews about them as well. If it continues then I will change. On the plus side most of the 'gurus' have been very pleasant on the phone even if we have been unable to get to the bottom of the problem. Everyone has a different theory.

macman

If you are connecting via ethernet and not using wi-fi, then hacking is not an issue.
Every time you switch off your router then it has to resynch when you switch it back on, this is likley to slow your line speed down.

macman

Spikefan wrote: »

I have had o2 connection problems for about 2 months. We have a new router also. The internet drops off - speed can be anywhere between 2 and 6 meg, also dropping out completely for no reason. Can have internet downstairs but not upstairs. When they have tried to help the situation the speed has dropped considerably to around .5 meg (worse than dial up used to be). My husband works from home, we stream content and game, download music/video from iTunes so it is high usage, but this has always been the case. No idea what has changed.
When speaking to o2 they started telling you about how wireless works etc. and that it is a wireless problem. That so, how come my ethernet wired machine has the same problem. I would consider changing to Sky but read mixed reviews about them as well. If it continues then I will change. On the plus side most of the 'gurus' have been very pleasant on the phone even if we have been unable to get to the bottom of the problem. Everyone has a different theory.

Which tariff? Could it be traffic shaping if you're not on an older legacy tariff?

Spikefan

Macman - on a tariff they no longer do. I was going to change to change to get a better router, but when i read the terms and conditions about 'fair usage' I chose not to as there are 4 of us in the household and the amount of usage we use between us, we would be switched down in the first week ... lol. The tariff is an old tariff that I have had from the start (about 5 years maybe). Most of our equipment is new, the latest being less than a month old - all have a similar problem intermittently. It might be easier to diagnose if it was constant. The fault is the same but no events leading up to it are. Does my head in at times. We do the usual, reset the router, reboot the machines, try changing channels etc.