SSE broadband feedback

deanos

You need to put in an official complaint like i have done, don't wait do this by calling them

Use other speed test sites and keep taking tests and logging them some will automatically do this for you so you have a record

I find the BT test and the Ooka ones are falsely giving results particually high ones, when others give slow ones and the you tube buffering and very long download time backs the other sites up to be correct

voxmagna

I'm heading that way and I'm saving screen grabs. The one piece of information you get from the BTW test after inputting your phone number is the 'acceptable range of speeds' . I think that isn't coming from any active test on my line, but is a control agreed between the ISP and BTW which can be changed. Mine went from a single figure to the wide window it is now, which might be Daisys package contract with BTW?

I've repeated tests at 01.00am and still get similar figures. I don't think this is a congestion isssue and I am yards from their cabinet, it is the ISP software controlling my download speeds.

Complaining about speed tests and results brings in technical arguments and justification on both sides. If the Daisy contracts with BTW are using the 'acceptable speed range' as wide as mine to support their ultra fast broadband, then I think somebody is pulling the wool over SSE. On paper think they can market and sell their broadband packages competing with BT and PlusNet, but in practice the service model could be inferior. That doesn't sound like fair competion for the consumer who wants to compare apples with apples and can't find out they bought a melon until they get connected. Neither is it fair competion to other ISPs who deliver and maintain a consistent good service.

The fundamental problem with consumer broadband is you don't know what you are getting until they turn it on and then you are stuck complaining or extra costs to get out of the contract. The 14 day 'cooling off period' should apply AFTER the service is switched on, not when the contract documents are agreed. During a following period of switchover back to another provider it would be reasonable for the ISP to charge for limited use and return of their box, but not offer an inadequate service then hide behind their terms for an 18 month lock in.

I'll include the link here for anybody not aware, but it is the second diagnostic test that reveals more information specific to your phone line:

http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/

There is more work for Ofcom to do.

dnpark38

Plusnet just advised of price increases and say I can leave without penalty in the next 30 days, comparison shows me to go with SSE BB and anytime calls would be almost half the cost.
Is it too good to be true?

deanos

dnpark38 wrote: »

Plusnet just advised of price increases and say I can leave without penalty in the next 30 days, comparison shows me to go with SSE BB and anytime calls would be almost half the cost.
Is it too good to be true?

don't even think about it

dnpark38

Why Deanos?

deanos

dnpark38 wrote: »

Why Deanos?

Read the 87 pages here


http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sse-76mb-broadband-any-time-calls-inc-line-rental-21-18-months-378-2443394#comments

voxmagna

Just think what you might be getting into, what happens if it goes bad and what situation you are in to exit!

So you think phone is your highest priority over broadband? Are you assuming your phone service will be just like it used to be? Think again because most service providers don't use plain old analogue wires any more point to point. Call traffic is digitized, multiplexed and routed through their fibre leased networks as VOIP. They have the handle on how much bandwidth and bit rate is assigned to call traffic which can change according to congestion. Where you can start to get problems is making calls and receiving calls to or from mobile phones or receiving and making calls via cordless phones which use their own digital encryption, coding and decoding. If service providers start allocating less bandwidth to voice traffic, the concatenation distortions of coding and decoding gets worse and you can get muffled, distorted, low volume or even Donald Duck speech. This is a hard one to pin down on your cheaper service provider, because the effects can appear random.

As consumers of these services we can compare the offerings and think we are comparing like with like when the actual delivery can be disappointing.

If you are buying into the SSE deal, are you expecting a phone and broadband experience as good as others but cheaper? Cheaper it may be but the technical playing field is not necessarily level. Therefore, consider what jumping off could involve if like some others you get a bad start up.

I haven't even thought what effect Brexit and the Scottish political wrangles might have on future trading between Scottish companies and the rest of the U.K.

dnpark38

Sorry Voxmagna can't use your comments as you use the term repeatably "might be".
To be helpful you would have to say positively that SSE were on different systems and which for each.

VisionMan

dnpark38 wrote: »

Plusnet just advised of price increases and say I can leave without penalty in the next 30 days, comparison shows me to go with SSE BB and anytime calls would be almost half the cost.
Is it too good to be true?

Yes, it is.

Doc_N

dnpark38 wrote: »

Plusnet just advised of price increases and say I can leave without penalty in the next 30 days, comparison shows me to go with SSE BB and anytime calls would be almost half the cost.
Is it too good to be true?

Another guarded answer, I'm afraid. I switched recently to SSE and would make the following comments:

1 The phone service is exactly as it was with BT. There is no discernible difference - apart from the much lower price.

2 Broadband is fine for my purposes, but I'm not a user of torrents or much online TV.

3 Daytime speeds are reasonable (about 28mbps, not quite as good as BT) but evening speeds can drop to as low as 10mbps. You may find that unacceptable.

4 Several of the speed testing sites have been whitelisted by Daisy, who provide SSE with the service, and they all show 28mbps all of the time. Others, which have not been whitelisted (read that as fixed, perhaps), show what is probably the true speed of 10mbps.

5 SSE deny that they are traffic shaping/throttling but they clearly are. If you plan to switch, get some written assurances from them first, and be prepared to use them if you want to get out of the contract.