With TalkTalk, looking to save AND get faster Internet

50Twuncle

MickeyDaMouse wrote: »

Talktalk were aware. They told me the maximum speed I could get was 15mb on their fibre service and they were right. It was. I never went over 15mb with them.

When I was on to their retentions team they claimed that BT would probably be quicker and accused them of having an unfair advantage owning Openreach and often giving faster speeds to their own customers that Talktalk customers didn't get. I didn't believe it at the time but I get a much faster service with BT fibre compared to Talktalk. I've asked on a couple of sites and it seems that this isn't unheard of and a few others have had this happen to them. Not sure what causes it but BT infinity at my house is certainly quicker than Talktalk fibre.
ive seen that advert however I'm certainly not basing my opinion on it.

I am speaking about facts I have seen with my own eyes.

The wifi from the Talktalk router failed to reach my conservatory or rear garden. The wifi from the BT hub reaches here without issue. On top of this I also get a full signal and no drop outs on the top floor where the Talktalk router had issues.

So in my experience the BT router performs significantly better in terms of wifi compared to the Talktalk router.

But you have still failed to answer two important questions :
Exactly what model router are you using ?
Do you regularly reboot the router ?

MickeyDaMouse

50Twuncle wrote: »

But you have still failed to answer two important questions :
Exactly what model router are you using ?
Do you regularly reboot the router ?

The router was the HG633 and seemed very unreliable with its wifi. Wired connections were obviously better but I found the wifi performance lacking and unreliable. And yes it was rebooted often. We had to die to its lack of reliability.

We were also supplied with two routers. The second was the same model but sent out to rule out faults with the first. We had the same poor wifi issues.

The BT hub in my experience has better wifi performance than the Talktalk router we had. And the service in terms of speed on the exact same line is quicker with BT too. Upload is also faster. And this was tested on a wired connection.

50Twuncle

MickeyDaMouse wrote: »

And yes it was rebooted often.

That is the problem - you should not reboot routers regularly
You are supposed to leave them running - mine dropped considerably lower than yours before I realised the cause !!

MickeyDaMouse

We had no choice. We HAD to reboot the Talktalk router because it was unreliable and would freeze. First thing their tech support team told us to do each time was a reboot. Some weeks no reboots, other weeks several. The Talktalk router was very poor and caused issues for us.

I've put your theory to the test today however. I've rebooted my BT router four times in this day. It didnt need it but I didn't believe reboots would slow my internet speed. The speed is still over 22mb down. The reboots haven't slowed the speed at all. It's still considerably faster than Talktalk.

Seems my speed is set by the service provider. Talktalk had it set to 15mb down. BT when I moved to them set it to 25 and said it may go slower or faster in the first few days as it finds a mix of reliability and speed. It settled at 22mb down. Quite a bit quicker than the 15mb down Talktalk set it at.

The router is obviously important but the speed difference here is clearly a service provider difference. BT have provided me with a faster serviceman Talktalk on the same line - and for less per month too which is a nice bonus.

It's win win for me. Cheaper bills, faster broadband and a more reliable hub with better wifi coverage. The move to BT from Talktalk seems a good one in my view.

MurkySurfy

I would somewhat agree that the HG633 as a combined router is rubbish. I find that it reboots every few weeks if I decided to only have the HG633 as my modem, router and wireless access point. i guessing it may be overheating causing reboot or something. The moment I decided to use a separate wireless access point and leave the HG 633 as the modem and router, it hasn't reboot since and the line is stable.
Talktalk may not necessary use the same line or equipment as BT. Fibre speed pretty much depends on your line connection to the cabinet and how congested/well-maintained the line/equipment is within that cabinet.

50Twuncle

The HG633 appears to be well known for errors (https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Computers/HG633-Super-Router-WiFi-Errors-Known-Fault-Slow-Throughput/m-p/1726418#M11128) - perhaps an HG635 is the best option ?
I am using an HG635 and have no problems with this model !

Fengshui1971

I wished to change broadband service providers as TalkTalk could not offer fibre broadband in my area for another three months. Vodafone my new company advised me to use easy switch, and said they would do all the work. Received a bill from TalkTalk yesterday who refused to refund me. Took 3.5 hours of phone calls including several to TalkTalk who called Vodafone"lazy" and told me they were providing me with wrong information and they couldn't cancel my account. When i threatened ofcom as i was exhausted by the whole process i was eventually put through to a manager and the uncancellable account was suddenly cancelled. This was not an easy switch, which i believe is a scheme advocated by ofcom. Very disappointed in the fact i was actually lied to by what i thought was a reputable phone company. We are getting fantastic speeds with Vodafone, don't let TalkTalk mess you about.

50Twuncle

Fengshui1971 wrote: »

I wished to change broadband service providers as TalkTalk could not offer fibre broadband in my area for another three months. Vodafone my new company advised me to use easy switch, and said they would do all the work. Received a bill from TalkTalk yesterday who refused to refund me. Took 3.5 hours of phone calls including several to TalkTalk who called Vodafone"lazy" and told me they were providing me with wrong information and they couldn't cancel my account. When i threatened ofcom as i was exhausted by the whole process i was eventually put through to a manager and the uncancellable account was suddenly cancelled. This was not an easy switch, which i believe is a scheme advocated by ofcom. Very disappointed in the fact i was actually lied to by what i thought was a reputable phone company. We are getting fantastic speeds with Vodafone, don't let TalkTalk mess you about.

The trouble with vodafone is that you are forced to use Vodafones own "Locked Down" Router with no control at all over your connection !!
plus: a biggy
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/vodafone-bill-warning

pewe

leitmotif wrote: »

I'm with TalkTalk. My 18-month contract has expired and the monthly payments are creeping up towards £45! I want to save money and get faster Internet (have just run a test and my download speed over normal phone line is just 2.5 MB, though I am using a wireless connection).

With the speed you are getting I'd think that you are on an 'all' copper connection and a fair distance from the exchange.

Fibre will only benefit you if the cabinet is fibre enabled and if you are less than 1.5-2 km from the cabinet, fibre will not work over longer distances so there is no benefit in considering it unless you are within that distance.

As far as speed is concerned, a lot of TalkTalk customers will find their speed reduce over the coming weeks - a large number (including me) have already experienced this.
TalkTalk are 'upgrading' their exchange equipment and the 'upgrade' will result in all profiles being set automatically by the equipment and also eliminates the possibility for staff to alter a customers profile to help boost speed when the customer has issues (due to distance from exchange etc).

My exchange 'upgrade' reset my custom profile which reduced my speed from 1.2MB (long line of 7KM) to 0.6MB - and the 1.2MB I was getting from TalkTalk was low compared to my previous ISP speed of 1.6MB on the same line.

So before considering a move - particularly if you are considering fibre - check your line length from the cabinet (there are various checkers on different suppliers sites) as a lot of ISP customer service/sales people do not understand the limitations.

lee111s

Or just put your address into the address checker at http://www.dslchecker.bt.com and see what estimates for VDSL you get. This will give a very good ide alf what speeds you can expect from the barious technologies.

All these references to fibre aren't actually fibre. They're fibre to the cabinet and then VDSL2 from there to your home, over copper.