Moving To Broadband

So Rachel and I are finally moving to broadband. You may wonder why it's taken so long, but generally we're late adopters, and the sheer hassle of trying to choose one from the hundreds of shouting voices saying

"PICK ME!!! PICK ME!!!"

seemed over-whelming.

Still, our existing supplier of internet connectivity has finally exhausted their supply of good will, so we're taking the plunge.

Here's what's happened so far ...

2008/01/19

We've picked Tiscali, as they provide

Broadband connection with free router
Line rental

in their single, simple package.

2008/01/20

We signed up. The first thing that happened is they sent a 1MB email to our existing dialup account. Not a good start, especially when the content was a PDF containing a picture that could be in a GIF at less than 1/4 the size. They could even put the image on the web and point us to it.

Never mind, we'll see what happens next.

2008/01/??

We've had a letter from BT saying they're ever so sorry we're leaving them, and perhaps we might like to 'phone and see if there's a better package, or better deal, or even just to tell them why we're leaving.

So I did that. After 5 attempts I gave up. It's clear that they really didn't want to know. When I said that I use Linux, 4 times they said they can't supply broadband, and the fifth said it should be no problem, and then got cut off.

So we're moving.

I did 'phone one last time to try to get an address to write to explaining why, but that call also got cut off.

Oh well.

2008/02/04

Things should be happening, so we go to the page that lets us track our order. Except it doesn't Attempts to access it throw us to their products page.

Helpful.

'Phoning them to tell them this results in a confused conversation with someone who seems not to know that there's supposed to be an order tracking web page.

2008/02/05 (possibly earlier)

Our phone line has clearly been changed, but there's no sign of the modem, two days after the projected date.

2008/02/07

We've received a letter telling us that the 'phone line switch-over has happened. Still no modem. Actually we have our own and we're going to see what happens if we plug it in. It might all simply work.

Of course, it might not.

(later)

I've tried 'phoning Tiscali to ask what my username and password are, and while they can tell me the username, they say they have to pass me to technical support to reset my password. I'm confused. Don't I get supplied a default password which I then change?

And I was on hold for 20 minutes. They say they have an extremely high call volume and suggest 'phoning another time. Interestingly, they always say that.

2008/02/08

Brainwave! I actually gave them a username and password when I signed up, and this morning I've got broadband. Just plug in the wireless modem I already have, turn on the laptop, and there it is. Not sure why I have it even when I haven't yet put in my username and password, but it still works after I've done that.

Also, the Tiscali box has arrived now, so we can spend the weekend playing ...

2008/02/10

So without using any of the Tiscali software or hardware, we're now on broadband. We're managed to get our email, browse the web, and connect via ssh to work. I'm writing this wirelessly while watching our video of "Atom", by Jim Al Khalili.

Now we need to start migrating from CIX, moving our web pages and email boxes. So far it's been fairly painless, despite the occasional frustration.

2008/03/04

Not all is well. More than once telephone calls have failed to be connected. There have been enough cases now, so we'll start documenting them here. Remember, there have already been several, and with BT there hadn't been any.

2008/03/04 13:50
- Incoming call failed to connect. They could hear us, we could not hear them.
2008/03/08 17:20
- Incoming call failed to connect. They could hear us, we could not hear them.

2008/09/25

It's been six months since my last report, and although mostly everything is fine, there are on occasion times when the call simply doesn't connect. Today, for instance, for over an hour there was simply no service. Calling Tiscali is proving completely useless. You can't get to talk to someone, and they claim there are no faults.

Also, frequently the system disconnects the broadband and reconnects with a different IP address. Using the web this is no problem, but if you're connected via ssh to another machine your connection just, goes away. That is the most annoying thing.

I wonder if anyone else gives better guarantees and better service.