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TalkTalk - GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!

It must be a record, less than 7 days and I want out of TalkTalk..

52 mins on hold for customer services....then cut off...further 23 mins on hold - cut off again...

I was with ADSL24 and also paying BT for unlimited anytime calls on landline but the combined cost was nearly £50 a month.

Decided ( in error ) to move to the TalkTalk Pro package with anytime calls and unlimited download.

My download speeds have dropped dramatically, and I mean from 200kb/s to 0.5kb/s.

I'm looking for a better provider that offers unthrottled connection and possibly the phone calls as well.

Anyone have any experience at all that can advise who to go for?
 
A speed of 0.5Kbps (assuming this is Kilobits and not KiloBytes) looks like a line fault, can you post your router stats (attenuation, noise margin, sync/profile speed) so we can examine what's happening?

Also if you put your phone number into our checker then what Estimated Speed result is returned for the BT ADSL MAX category near the top?

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/checker/
 
SPEED TEST RESULTS
BT Land-Line Broadband Service Availability (NOTE: 1000Kbps = 1Mbps)

* YES - Standard ADSL @ up to 2Mbps (BT Wholesale IPStream / Datastream)
Estimated Best Speed (Kbps): 1024
LineCode: AGEZ

* YES - ADSL MAX @ up to 8Mbps (BT Wholesale IPStream / Datastream MAX)
Estimated Best Speed (Kbps): 3000
LineCode: AEGEGEZ

* NO - ADSL2+ @ up to 24Mbps (BT Wholesale Broadband Connect / 21CN)
Estimated Best Speed (Kbps):
(Estimated speed only shows for supporting exchanges or those with an activation date)

* YES - SDSL @ up to 2Mbps (BT Wholesale IPStream / Datastream Symmetric)
Estimated Best Speed (Kbps): 256
LineCode: 1111AARRZZZZNNNN


Router Stats - DLINK DSL-2740 R

Mode: ADSL2

Type: ANNEX_A

Status: Showtime

Rate (Kbps): Downstream 4275 kbps Upstream 897 kbps

SNR Margin (dB): Downstream 2.2 Upstream 6.4
Attenuation (dB): Downstream 54.0 Upstream 33.2
Output Power (dBm): Downstream 0.0 Upstream 12.3

Super Frames: Downstream 734103 Upstream 734104
RS Correctable Errors: Downstream 33263 Upstream 109
RS Uncorrectable Errors: Downstream 241 Upstream 8

HEC Errors: Downstream 4107 Upstream 0
Total Cells: Downstream 33339 Upstream 10157
Data Cells: Downstream 10427385 Upstream 12134317
Bit Errors: Downstream 0 Upstream 0
 
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considering that talktalk would have moved you to their LLU and to my knowledge not all routers can handle LLU correctly what router are you using?

I am on bulldog LLU tested three different routers now Belkin N1 Vision has slowly crept to 7MB, Draytek 2800 manages 4MB cheap one of Ebay reached 1MB. The router for the best needs to have the broadcom chipset the others are unpredictable on LLU.
 
D-Link 2740R isn't a broadcom chipset its a trendchip chipset the 2740R is replacing the 2740B which is a broadcom chipset.
 
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I'd say it's definitely worth a try, though you should also consider some of the tips in the article below (especially the one about installing a filter / BT iplate on your mastersocket).

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/articles/adsltips/

Now, looking at your stats, the downstream rate of 4275Kbps seems a bit too high for even an ADSL2+ with a downstream attenuation of 54db. I'd say a profile of 3800Kbps (3.8Mbps) is about the best you could hope for, resulting in real-world download speeds of just over 3Mbps.

In relation to this your SNR Margin is way.. way.. WAY! too low. Anything below around 6 to 7db tends to result in line instability. Indeed you say that before TT you only got a download speed of 200Kbps, when it should be more like 3000Kbps, so it seems like the problem may not be entirely TT but with your line or router.

So try a different router, make sure EVERY phone extension box in your home has a microfilter/splitter on and see if you can install a BT iPlate / Broadband Accelerator on the socket you use to connect your router with.
 
I had the BT engineer out when I used to be on a BT package, he fitted a plate with the DSL filter built in. I only have the one line into the house.

I have fitted the "original" Dlink 2740B and again tried Utorrent to download a TV program. Again, download speeds of 0.6kb/s, upload is 1.2kb/s

Port is open and working fine.

All this started though when I moved to TT......

Here are the router stats for the 2740B (Original router)

stats.jpg


I tried changing from PPP oA to PPP oE and the speed did slightly increase to 6Kb/s

stats2.jpg
 
Darth,

Just for clarity, so its just P2P that is slow?

Likewise, with a Line att of 53.5db, you really should be in ADSL1 mode, not ADSL2+. Anything over 50dB is likely to see a lower sync and more problematic experience.
 
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Ahhh only P2P, so what do you get when conducting a normal speedtest?

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/speed/

TT is a budget ISP and clamp down on P2P usage quite hard.

Even despite that, I'd still say like Martin that your line is being pushed too far and I'm surprised you're not also seeing a lot of pauses/disconnections while using it. That Noise Margin even at 6db is too low. Sometimes asking the ISP to cap the line at a low rate (maybe 3.4Mbps) can help or maybe even draw back to ADSLMAX/1.
 
Detailed Results

Date 05/01/10 14:48:05

Download speed 3323.44 Kbps (3.25 Mbps)
Upload speed 721.30 Kbps (0.7 Mbps)
Server Port 8095 (tcp)
 
Last edited:
I guess it depends on your router, some like NetGear and D-Link's can handle lower margins, while others throw up if they even so much as wobble a little. Personally I am not comfortable unless my margin is stable (no big dips every so often) at 7db+ as a minimum, you tend to notice problems around 6db.

Anyway it seems like your problem is more that TalkTalk is your ISP or it could be the Firewall rules on your router, hard to say. Normal non-P2P performance for you seems to be good.
 
Yes, it would seem that it is only P2P.

I'm looking to get out of Talk Talk and move elsewhere. They transferred me to their Talk Talk LLU so I'll have to move the line back to a BT one and then look for a better ISP that offers unthrottled P2P as well as phonecalls in the package.

Otherwise I'll just get an independant ISP for Broadband and another supplier for the Phone Calls. Depends what is best and most cost effective.

Previously I was with ADSL24 for the Broadband and BT for the unlimited free calls but in total this came to over £50 monthly....
 
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If you don't mind taking out a TV subscription too then the Sky Broadband Unlimited package is a good deal, though the vast majority of other ISPs will still impose some sort of Fair Usage Policy or restriction on even "unlimited" deals. TalkTalk's price is an otherwise tough one to beat.

Virgin Media's Cable Modem (DOCSIS) based packages are also reasonable (but avoid the alternative Virgin National ADSL / Virgin.net service) but they do limit your top download speed if you download more than a certain amount within a given timeframe.

Generally you'll find it hard to beat TT's price when combined with a phone line and demanding unthrottled downloads at the same time - without losing reliability, that costs money.. usually quite a lot.

Take a look at our phone line and broadband bundles list for a small example (note, some prices not yet updated since the VAT change):

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/listman/exec/bundles.shtml
 
Well, managed to get away fron TT BUT........

Although I had only been online with them for 12 days, they say the 14 day cooling off period starts from the day you place the order, in my case 4th December 09. The service didn't actually start till 31st December 09. I tried the service and hated it, rang TT to cancel and the snotty Cancelations guy reckoned that the 30 Day no quibble, hassle free trial did not apply to my account (no reason given) and that I'd have to pay £70.00 to leave TT.

I left it a good 20 mins then called again, got a totally different trained monkey this time who agreed that there would be no cancellation fee.

So it's worth ringing again and again. I also checked the website that also confirms a 30 day, no quibble period with no cancellation fees.

Have now actioned BT to get the line taken back from the TT LLU, have lost about £65.00 in total. £30 connection fee to TT, £11.50 line rental and £15.00 for the package, even though I only used it for 11 days.

I'd NEVER EVER recommend Talk Talk to anyone - once bitten, twice shy!

Thanks for all the advice.....
 
Last edited:
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