Ongoing problem with Pipex connection - any thoughts?

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13 Nov 2005
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Hi,

Sorry, this is a long one, but if you have time I'd appreciate your thoughts...

I have been with Pipex since 2004, and up until July this year the service had been fine. As I was paying over the odds per month, I phoned them up in July to ask for one of their new packages - more speed, less cost etc. They said it was no problem, and I should start to notice an increase in speed within a week or so. At the same time, they told me it was a renewed contract for 12 months. This didn't worry me.

By the end of July I was having terrible problems with slow speeds. I connect to various servers with streaming data for my work, and this was where I first noticed the problem - it kept stopping and starting etc. At first I thought it was a software problem, or a problem with the servers. I changed to a different software package, but had the same problems. Then I tried my computer on a friend's broadband line with no problems. Then I tried a different computer on this line, and ran into problems. I also tried a different router and still got slow speeds. This process of elimination meant it was the connection. I contacted Pipex. They asked me to do speedtests etc, and I have had all sorts of readings, some as low as 36kbps!

To cut a long story short, they sent a BT engineer out on Wednesday. He checked the line and said it was showing 4.2mbps between my house and the exchange, and he said the line was fine. I spoke to Pipex the same day, and they asked for 48 hours to look into it further, and also said they might end up having to turn off Interleaving (what is that?).

Well, I did speak to them again yesterday when they told me that BT had fixed the problem ("what problem?" I thought! There wasn't a problem on the line). They asked me to monitor the speed for the next 72 hours, but that it should be fine and I will see speeds up to 3.3mbps. Last night I got a reading of 49.65kbps just after 11pm.

I have already spoken to them numerous times about coming out of the contract to go elsewhere but they have said I only signed up on 16 July, so I'd be liable for the remainder!! Can they do that, taking into account the service I'm receiving?

I'd appreciate anyone's advice on what I might do next. Thanks :-)
 
Make sure you speak to a senior tech support guy. Their junior tech support people are crap.

Kick up a serious fuss and ask to speak to a manager if that doesn't help.

Back when they were punting people out with their FUP my speeds dropped down to around 50 kb/s. Almost everyone I spoke to at Pipex said it was because I was in violation of the FUP (usage limits), which I thought was crap. Eventually I got through to someone who said that bandwidth throttling wouldn't work like that and that there was a fault on the line. Only to be told by another technician that this wasn't the case.

After a lot of complaining from my part I got an apology from a manager and a promise that it would get resolved and the staff would be told the correct information.

I'm not with Pipex any more btw, but if you want them to fix your problem your going to have to give them a lot of hassle.
 
Do you know if you are on a Pipex LLU service or if it is a BT wholesale service ?

Hi,
By the end of July I was having terrible problems with slow speeds. I connect to various servers with streaming data for my work, and this was where I first noticed the problem - it kept stopping and starting etc.

Are you experiencing disconnections or just the slow speeds ?

Can you provide your line stats from the router ? (sync rate, SNR and line attenuation)

I have already spoken to them numerous times about coming out of the contract to go elsewhere but they have said I only signed up on 16 July, so I'd be liable for the remainder!! Can they do that, taking into account the service I'm receiving?

Unfortunately yes as you did agree to a new 12 month contract back in July. What speed were you on before July or was it just a change in billing that happened ?
 
Thanks for the replies. I've been out today, and have only just come back, so I'm sorry for the delay.

I've pasted below the information from 'DSL status'. Does that give the information you asked for? Sorry, I'm not great with all this stuff.

DSL Status: Up
DSL Modulation Mode: GDMT
DSL Path Mode: INTERLEAVED
Downstream Rate: 4864 Kbps
Upstream Rate: 448 Kbps
Downstream Margin: 9 db
Upstream Margin: 21 db
Downstream Line Attenuation: 42
Upstream Line Attenuation: 24
Downstream Transmit Power: 0
Upstream Transmit Power: 0
 
I think I must be on a BT wholesale service as they are blaming everything on BT. They even say that if it's a server problem, they're still BT servers. What is LLU?

I am only experiencing slow speed. Last speed test at 16:34 came back with 160.26kbps. It was 2757.69kbps at 9:15 this morning.

If they advertise a connection of 8mb, stating that I will probably get 4mb on my line, do I not have any comeback when the service gives me as low as 36k?!
 
Can you run a speed test at www.speedtester.bt.com this will show the IP profile on your line.

The stats of your line are OK and you should not really be experiencing massive slow downs.

If the speeds are continually slow then you should be able to cancel in my opinion but ythe opinion of Pipex will probably be that they are providing a contented service so speeds will flutuate. However they should not change to as low as 36Kb which is slow dial up speeds.
 
One thing I have noticed that fixes the problem temporarily is if I do the following:-

Switch off the router
Switch off the computer
Leave it for 5 minutes
Switch on router and give it a couple of minutes to find itself
Switch on computer

I've just done this, and my speed has gone back up to 2.7mb

It seems to work more often than not.

I will do the speedtest you mentioned and post the results.

On my pasting earlier it says there is a downstream rate of 4864 Kbps - what is that? Should it be that high if I am getting results so low?

What is interleaving? Can it be switched off? One of the Pipex engineers said this might be an option. What would it do?

What would you do in my position? Is it worth me paying to leave Pipex or do you think it is not actually a problem coming from them? Would I have the same problem elsewhere?
 
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