Internet problems - Anyone else on Pipex?

[NikonL]

Possibly this belongs in the tech help forum, but still it seems important to bring to peoples attention.

I've been on pipex ADSL for 2 years now, and for the most part it was a great service to be on with very few problems. Just recently though my net connection has really been suffering. A few months ago i had a problem where basically i would regularly get two lag spikes. As in i would lag once, then everything would snap back, and then without fail 2-3 seconds later there would be another lag spike, and then it would snap back again, and the connection would be fine for 5-10 minutes until it would happen again. I started making lots of ping plots of this, but really i dont know anything about them, so im not sure what to look for. Pipex tech support was utter rubbish and said they wouldnt do anything til we could prove it was their fault.

Anyway after a few weeks this particular problem went away, and it was plain sailing for a week or so until we reached the current problem. This is a new breed of problem to me. On peak hours i lag incessantly.. and i know thats to be "expected" because of other people using the bandwidth. But even offpeak hours now, i can't play any fastpaced online games like Counter-Strike because when i join a server my choke goes up to 50+. Now i dont know what causes choke exactly and google searches werent very helpful to me. But all i'd like to know is: is this a problem with some peice of hardware our end? i.e the phoneline or similar, or is this all the fault of Pipex and should i just hop off them and join a better service?

Edit: another thing to note. If you ARE on pipex, according to forum posts ive read, theyve started throttling back connections to p2p programs. meaning that you'll never achieve a high download rate when using one. apparently this was done totally under the radar as well and theyve no intention of informing people that theyre doing it :| sneaky fuckers.

 

[Gamah]

It can be a problem with any part of the service between YOU (Your computer) and the central pipes of Pipex.

You're probably experiancing the delights of congestion. Go here to check the status of you exchange.

The best thing to do is run the Speed test located at this site @ different parts of the day. Then run a tracert to a CS server you experiance choke on..while you are playing.

What you are looking for is high delays at a "pipex" router, if you can run them and post them here we could help you find out where the problem lies.

Bad choke could also come from a faulty router/modem or bad wiring in your house casuing interferance. Try picking up the phone when playing and seeing if it makes your problem worse, also if you have access try another router and see if that makes it any better.

Best thing to do is run pingplots at multiple times of the day. You could also run a command in "cmd" called "pathping" this will tell you about the loss you get at each stage of your journy to the server.

To run a pathping Start > Run > type cmd > in the cmd box type "pathping <ip>" without the quotes and <>.

Screenshot this at several times of the day and use these results to show pippex where the problem lies.

 

[megadave]

on pipex but got no lag spike problems. p2p programs are pretty restricted tho, thought it was a NAT problem til recently when i looked into it, not sure tho :|

 

[Influenza]

They restricted p2p programs to 20k/s download speed no matter what connection your on , its apparently part of thier "fair use" policy.

Ive been getting alot of lagspikes today and the past 3 or 4 weeks have been utter crap compared to the previous 4 years with them which have been trouble free.

Ill post a pingplot tomorrow when im not on my laptop but the pipex network seems pretty normal , the problems ive had were with the london and paris opentransit links with the paris one coming up as error everytime i got a spike.

Heres a decent site for info if you can find it through alot of crap that is posted

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/

 

[psyco]

Edit: another thing to note. If you ARE on pipex, according to forum posts ive read, theyve started throttling back connections to p2p programs. meaning that you'll never achieve a high download rate when using one. apparently this was done totally under the radar as well and theyve no intention of informing people that theyre doing it :| sneaky fuckers.

uber thanks, im on pipex, and ive noticed poor download speed thought it was just the seeds, im going to tell the bill payer(my dad) see what he thinks

personally were having trouble accessing the proper speeds advertised to us... using there very own bandwidth test, its been like this for several months(ever since they should have upgraded is to 8mb(or 2mb i forget)

i agree they have shit customer service, often my father has blown his top talking to there customer service techys, hopefully we'll switch to a more reliable service after your thread, thanks once again

 

[Afran]

personally were having trouble accessing the proper speeds advertised to us... using there very own bandwidth test, its been like this for several months(ever since they should have upgraded is to 8mb(or 2mb i forget)

Indeed I'm supposedly on 8MB and barely noticed a difference since I was upgraded from 2MB some months ago.

 

[psyco]

Indeed I'm supposedly on 8MB and barely noticed a difference since I was upgraded from 2MB some months ago.

cause were not on a cable service the the speed we get is relevant to the phone lines ect it could be because your out of range

a year ago, we had bt come round to test our current speed limit, they came up with 2mb-ish, but its probably more now, and were only getting 1.5 or so(but its very static)

 

[Gamah]

You are aware these services are "Up to 8mb" and not 8MB, + your speed @ 2mb will not have changed, there is no new tech which causes line speeds to be increased if your length is the same.

 

[psyco]

i am, i dont know if afran is... like i said it depends on how far away from the internet towers (or what ever there called) are

 

[Naffets]

Migrate from pipex, they suck.

I moved before xmas and they're still taking money out. Twats.

I have to keep calling them to nag them for a refund...worst customer service ever.

 

[Naetha]

Migrate from pipex, they suck.

I moved before xmas and they're still taking money out. Twats.

I have to keep calling them to nag them for a refund...worst customer service ever.

Ditto - been with then for 4 years, then all of a sudden when they started getting popular, had trouble with t'internet dropping (momentarily, but enough to LD you) and really poor download speeds. Then, we asked to be upgraded to an 8meg line (which we can have) and they refused on the grounds that it would cost too much, even though we were paying more than new joiners and had been customers for 4 years.

We moved to Nildram - brilliant ISP.

 

[Marc]

Without doubt, Pipex has the worst customer support I have ever experienced, even worse than HSBC. However, I never had any problems with my connection. I am now with UKonline though

 

[Yeke]

if your length is the same.

Made me chuckle

On topic: I was with pipex for about 3 years and it was a great service, then they started restricting p2p (probably so they could oversell there bandwidth) and like others said the tech support is a total joke they basically lied to customers when they introduced traffic shaping for about 3 weeks they denied having it even though it was as plain as the nose on your face it was in place.

My advice is as others change provider

 

[Bahumat]

uber thanks, im on pipex, and ive noticed poor download speed thought it was just the seeds, im going to tell the bill payer(my dad) see what he thinks

Psyco:- And Daddy Daddy with a throttled P2P i cant download as fast *sniff*
Dad:- Does this mean you cant keep downloading...what was it you called it? Pr0n?
Psyco:- *sob* yup...
Dad:- *grins* oh well, nevermind.

 

[Gamah]

i am, i dont know if afran is... like i said it depends on how far away from the internet towers (or what ever there called) are

Telephone Exchanges ..Not Internet towers

 

[Naffets]

Ditto - been with then for 4 years, then all of a sudden when they started getting popular, had trouble with t'internet dropping (momentarily, but enough to LD you) and really poor download speeds. Then, we asked to be upgraded to an 8meg line (which we can have) and they refused on the grounds that it would cost too much, even though we were paying more than new joiners and had been customers for 4 years.

We moved to Nildram - brilliant ISP.

Nildram = pipex

 

[Roalith]

http://www.aquiss.net/

(No, I don't work for them and no I don't use them either - have heard only good things about them though)

 

[psyco]

Psyco:- And Daddy Daddy with a throttled P2P i cant download as fast *sniff*
Dad:- Does this mean you cant keep downloading...what was it you called it? Pr0n?
Psyco:- *sob* yup...
Dad:- *grins* oh well, nevermind.

its not only me that downloads from torrents

 

[Gamah]

Nildram = pipex

Owned by Pipex but run as a seperate entity with seperate main pipes.

I am on Nildram, they are great.

 

[cHodAX]

I use Aquiss, costs a bit more but they have superb tech support people and my speeds are amazing. I often get the full 8mb on torrent downloads, I am lucky though because my telephone line is underground from the socket all the way to the exhange, no overground line means alot less interferance.

 

[cHodAX]

http://www.aquiss.net/

(No, I don't work for them and no I don't use them either - have heard only good things about them though)

Aye Uncle Delket recommended them to myself, best tip off I have ever been given. 3 months in and the service has been beyond my wildest expectations so far.

 

[megadave]

Aye Uncle Delket recommended them to myself, best tip off I have ever been given. 3 months in and the service has been beyond my wildest expectations so far.

Is there a limit to how much you can download a month? ;d

 

[Roalith]

Is there a limit to how much you can download a month? ;d

Seems to be various packages, £24.99/month for 30gb peak time + 300gb offpeak. Peak time is defined as 8am to 10pm.

 

[cHodAX]

I am on the £40 a month buisness package, I get 90gb peak and 330gb offpeak plus loads of other services and 20:1 contention which means very little congestion at all so I regularly get porn flying down at 8mbits/sec. I downloaded over 40gb one night in November, woke up in the morning and was gobsmacked to see all my downloads had completed My telephone line is exceptional though, very very rare to get the full 8mb on an 8mb line, even rarer when you live a mile away from the exchange like I do

 

[megadave]

bah, fuck upload limits

 

[cHodAX]

bah, fuck upload limits

Aye, not bad on my package though because I just do all my seeding offpeak. The highest monthly usage so far has been 290gb and I really hammered the downloads. I doubt I will ever get beyond my 420gb a month limit, there just isn't enough stuff worth downloading

 

[Roalith]

290gb of pornography in one month

 

[Tomehb]

on DAOC, i have the same problem.. its crazy im going to move ISP.. im with nildram btw.. in peak times i get loss and go LD in the end.... it really pisses me off.. there support is utter crap.. they have been dealing with my case for 8 weeks now... and they still have not looked at it.. they just keep telling me its been passed along.... So i would like to go to an ISP with no traffic filtering, that is stable as hell.. i dont mind paying more.. as long as i get what i pay for...

 

[Flintlock]

Hi

I have an awesome IP. No limits and rock solid. Ain't gonna post details here though as it could lead to the same trouble as all the other over congested IPs. Want details? PM me then.

 

[Naffets]

internet towers?
lol!

On another note, pipex suck

They started traffic shaping about 8 months back for heavy users.

Oh, also, my isp is www.bethere.co.uk - limited availability on exchanges, but i sync at 16mb and dl at 15mb

Thats ~700mb in six minutes.