TalkTalk problems

ripplyuk

My broadband has recently started losing connection repeatedly. I can get it working it for about half an hour or so by turning the router off/on but even then, I can only get speeds of 0.6mb. It's a very rural area so it's always been really slow (around 2mb) but it was fine for basic internet browsing etc. However, I'm not happy with having NO useable broadband at all a lot of the time and paying for it.

Worse still, just a few days before this happened, I signed up to a new 12 month contract.

When I rang TalkTalk, I was told various things. Mainly, they said that I should upgrade to fibre which apparently would definitely sort the problem. This doesn't explain how it was working fine previously. Could anyone tell me if FTTC where the cabinet is 7 miles away will solve this connection problem?

Other TalkTalk reps said it was probably the router but didn't offer a new one. Another offered an engineers visit which I will have to pay for so I declined. They keep saying they've tested the line and it's fine. I'm just reluctant to pay for a new router and an engineers visit when it may end up costing more than the entire contract and still not solve the problem.

Is there any way I can get out of this contract if they keep messing me about? I remember reading something about how you can cancel if they don't fulfil their side of the contract but I'm not sure how to go about that. Any advice appreciated. I'm dreading another phone call to them!

rwalton159

Just email their CEO, something I did when I had a problem. Received superb service following this.

JJ_Egan

>>>Is there any way I can get out of this contract if they keep messing me about? I remember reading something about how you can cancel if they don't fulfil their side of the contract but I'm not sure how to go about that.>>>

You would need to proof the fault is the ISP .
Try the TT forum and you may get a direct CS response,

ripplyuk

No reply from the TalkTalk forum. I'm not sure how I'd prove the fault is with TalkTalk. I understand they often say it's the fault of Openreach etc. It's just so frustrating. Worked fine for a year and as soon as I sign up to another contract, it quits working.

Have rang them again but just keep being told to upgrade to fibre. I don't want fibre, I just want it back to normal! Or, to get out of this contract.

JJ_Egan

Problem areas
Your wiring
Router
Router settings
Master socket
Phone line
ISP

Post your line stats .

ripplyuk

Sorry, I have no idea what line stats are. I'm quite hopeless technically. One of the customer service reps got me to log in to the router through some 192.....? Huawei website and change the log in details and password. (If that's any help). She said that would solve the problem but it's much worse today. When I can connect, I'm getting 0.3mb and it's on and off constantly, then quits completely after 10-15 mins.

baby_frogmella

Re: fibre what does the BT adsl checker say? (use 'address' option since your Talktalk number won't be recognised by BT)
http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

ripplyuk

baby_frogmella wrote: »

Re: fibre what does the BT adsl checker say? (use 'address' option since your Talktalk number won't be recognised by BT)
http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

It says FTTC is available though I'm not sure what the 'Range A,clean' and 'Range B, impacted' mean but the numbers range from 4.1 to 11.4 Mbps.

Strangely, I've checked other broadband availability sites and they either say fibre isn't available yet or show the cabinet as being so far away from where I live that I imagine it wouldn't be that useful due to the amount of copper wire it'll still have to go through. The cabinet is almost 7 kilometres away.

baby_frogmella

ripplyuk wrote: »

It says FTTC is available though I'm not sure what the 'Range A,clean' and 'Range B, impacted' mean but the numbers range from 4.1 to 11.4 Mbps.

In that case you can definitely get fibre and your speeds would be around the 10 meg mark so if i was in your shoes, i would upgrade without hesitation. AFAIK talktalk only charge an extra fiver a month to upgrade to their up to 40/10 fibre service.

edit: ignore other broadband fibre checkers, they won't recognise your TalkTalk number. Treat the BT one as gospel

ripplyuk

Thanks, It's good to know its possible. Will upgrading to fibre really solve this problem with the connection? If it's the router that's faulty, I'm worried that I'll still have the same problem.

I'm just nervous because my mum got fibre installed from TalkTalk when a similar problem occurred with her standard broadband and it's just as bad as ever. Before mine went wrong, it was often faster than her fibre broadband, despite the fact that she lives in the middle of a large town and I'm in the middle of nowhere!

I still feel a bit miffed that I was happily using my standard broadband and now have to pay out to sort it when I still haven't a clue what's gone wrong. But also, it might be my only option.

ripplyuk

Spoke to another TalkTalk rep this evening. She said she's changed my router's channel. I think she said to 11 or 12. It was on Auto previously. Apparently it will take at least 10 hours to 'stabilise'. If it doesn't work, I'm meant to ring back again.