Talk Talk will not let you use Skype during the day

[luddite]

Just over a month ago I signed up for Talk Talk broadband. They said I could have up to 8megs download speed and 40 gigs download limit. Joy, I could game on-line and my daughter could talk to her boy friend in New Zealand using Skype - Wrong.

How wrong could I be! On day one without warning we lost our connection to the web. Our previous supplier Tiscali locked me out of my e-mail account so I lost all my mail. TalkTalk did not contact me to tell me that they were changing over so I was not able to get the mail before the service died. I did think the Tiscali would down grade the account to a dial-up so that I could use the old modem to log in - No.

I phoned them and they said the account had been closed, not by me! It was like hitting a brick wall, no way could I get my e-mails.

I changed all my accounts to point to my new TT account, and I got my current e-mails but not the old ones, I'm looking at it from the point of view that it was all spam

On day one the account ran more slowly than Tiscali! My daughter said she was having trouble with Skype, I was disconnected(DCed) from my on-line game twice and our browsing speed fell to 28k the speed of an old modem.

Day two the same but I was DCed three times and Skype was unusable, and so on for the next two weeks.

We looked on TalkTalk's webpage to find out what they had to say about the slow speeds and in all the waffle it said that we would not get the full speed they offered as the exchange had not been upgraded yet.

We used our own wireless router as the TT modem had not arrived on switch over day, nor for that matter had the log-in details to use the service. Their modem didn't arrive for another week, and it was pants.

Over the last two weeks we have had problem after problem and we have found out that they are classing gaming and Skype as a P2P service. This is utter rubbish, as another ISP has just told us that gaming uses only a small amount of bandwidth. The use of Skype is restricted and will only work properly between the hours of 1:00am and 8:30am.

TalkTalk have cut the speed of gaming down to 2.5% of the bandwidth, even though they say that P2P is throttled so that the people on-line gaming can have the speed.

There is also talk inside the industry that TT have a secret download limit that is set far below the speed they quote and this is the speed that they work to when the throttle the link. How you would prove this I don't know, but it looks about right when on day one I had no past record but was still throttled.

People playing Eve-online have found they are blocked completely

This is a quote from TT's own website "We restrict P2P activity in peak hours to make sure that other general Internet use takes priority (including surfing, email, shopping, gaming and commercial downloads)."

Even staff at Carphone Warehouse are changing their ISP to anything other than TT.

The service that TT/Carphone Warehouse are providing is not a service at all they are telling people one thing and doing another.

My advice to people who have signed up to this "Deal" is to dump it and ask TT for your money back. Switch to another provider as soon as you can, or don't sign up in the first place.

[Karnevil]

That is utterly ridiculous. They are restricting skype useage so you use their phone service to make calls.

Thankyou for bringing this to the attention of everyone - Talk Talk are pants !

[Rich44]

Unfortunately I could see this coming, Talk Talk broadband is basically supported by the call package that goes with it and if you're using Skype you aint paying them money to make phone calls hence their business plan goes belly up.

They have pretty much done what Plusnet have done and installed Ellacoyas to inspect the data being passed thru and prioritise and deprioritise to their rules. Basically this means if they setup their own VoIP service (dont know if they do or not) they can deprioritise every other companies systems making them pretty much unusable and making their own the highest priority so it works properly.

Over at dslguide we discussed this in length when plusnet started it and we suspected that an unscrumpulous company would go down this route.

Luckily if you have all that in writing from Talk Talk yourself you could argue your way out of the contract and as you are not on a LLU exchange you can get a MAC out of them and head off elsewhere, perhaps if you have Sky you could have a look at that as it seems very reasonable and unlike Talk Talk they actually have the experience of being an LLU ISP since LLU was first introduced.

[Rich44]

You might also like to look at:

ADSLguide: Judgement!!!!

ADSLguide: Viewing a list of posts

[luddite]

I have now sent a letter to the MD of TalkTalk to ask for my contract to be terminated without the £70 fee and my MAC number to be released to me within 7 days.

I listed all my complaints and quoted statements from his own company website showing him where the company was in breach of contract.

I'm sick to death of the garbage we are being fed day after day by companies like TalkTalk.

TalkTalk's help line is a joke, they told me they don't block ports and throttle their service, a down right lie. This cretin even suggested I didn't know what I was talking about! I've been involved with the Internet for a long time, pre 1994.

The first computer I used was a large mainframe ICL 1903 before some of these tech support staff were even a twinkle in their grandparents eyes.

They read from a script and if you throw a question at them that's not on it they are lost. They won't even pass you over to someone with more knowledge than them! This tells me that none of them have a clue about the subject they are paid to help you with. I'm tempted to rename the company DumbDumb, after 3 hours on the phone this morning I was still not getting any help even with the 0871 tech support, they seem to be running on stupid. I only wanted a few simple questions answered. Maybe the questions were just to simple, or maybe the they were just to simple.

The only support they know is BS support, just pay me and I'll tell the customer any lies you want me too. I even say I use TT and Skype and it works during the day. Yep that's what they told me! Strange that, she works during the day so how would she know? Oh you don't think this was more BS do you?

Right now I've got that off my chest, I'll just nip off and stick my head in the freezer to cool off

[Thirdworlddebt]

Greetings
I signed up with TT in April, They promised me, I will have Broadband by July, (it's on my contract)
Now I have got to understand that I will not recieve BB till Nov 06,
their sales pitch is "sign up and you get free BB for life" , well it's not free if you have to pay someone else for your BB service; for several months,
Do you think, we as comsumers have the right to claim back from TT the charge for BB we incure while they get their S**t together, I am now looking to file for breach of contract, because July is not Nov, and if I cannot use my Skype It is interfering with my Previous communication setup.

Am I right.

[luddite]

From what I can see Talkalk have broken their contract. I don't feel they have been truthful with you, just like thousands of other people. It's the same with me, this morning I did a check on my speed for an 8meg service and this is what I am getting :-
Broadband Speed Test Results
Results from broadband speed test recorded on Sunday, 13 August 2006, 10:20.
Your Connection
Speed Test Results

Downstream 982.2 Kbps ( = 1.0 Mbps )
Upstream 238.3 Kbps ( = 0.2 Mbps )

See it's running at the full 8 megs they promissed - hang on I'll take off the rose tinted specs - 1 meg ????? 1 meg where's my 8 megs, or for that matter where the hell is my 2 megs I was getting from Tiscali before I switched?

I know the speed my local exchange is capable of is 5 megs but as you can see I'm not even getting that. They forget that with the Internet we all have access to details of speeds and dates ie: Carphone Warehouse:RFS date set: 31/08/2006

So when they told me they would switch my BB to 8megs at the end of July the were not telling the truth, again.

TalkTalk I don't think so!

[luddite]

At last DumbDumb answer an e-mail but do they know what they are talking about?

Dear Luddite,

Thank you for your email.

Sorry for the delay in response.

I can confirm that Skype is classed as peer2peer as it uses Kazza to transfer its traffic and Kazza is a peer2peer program.

If you have any general queries, please call customer services on 0870 444 1820.

For technical queries, please contact broadband technical support on 0871 226 7146 or email broadbandsupport@talktalk .co.uk. Calls to this number are charged at 10 pence per minute (call charges may vary from mobile phones and other telecom operators).

Both of these numbers can become busy during peak periods and TalkTalk apologises for any inconvenience caused by the delays.

Regards,
Jon Taylor
Broadband Support

TalkTalk - I don't think so

[spartagates]

Haha! You can get them on so many breaches of contract. Demand your mac key, get it and go elsewhere till sky broadband comes along. Murdoch will be throwing so much money at this as a loss leader that it'll be fine. If they play silly buggers and refuse, send them a LBA with 14 days them moneyclaim them. One way or other, you will be shot of them soon. TalkTalk have bitten way too much off. they can't cope with what they promise.

[Rich44]

1. It's spelt Kazaa (not very clever for a representative of an ISP)
2. Kazaa is p2p not VoIP

Skype and Kazaa did sign a deal where the Skype software is bundled with Kazaa but it does NOT use the Kazaa network.

Kazaa works by you downloading files from other users, if Skype was to use the Kazaa network the call quality would be appalling and people would quickly notice their bandwidth being gobbled up even when they weren't downloading/uploading anything.

I imagine that Skype/Ebay would be very interested in that email as its potentiall libel making a statement like that.

I would send it to them and tell them theyre being blocked as a result of this by Talk Talk and see what they say

[luddite]

So after reading Rich44's post this was sent to DumbDumb slightly altered as you can't libel a company



Dear Mr Taylor,

You seem to be reading from the wrong script! Kazaa is p2p not VoiP

Skype and Kazaa did sign a deal where the Skype software is bundled with Kazaa but it does NOT use the Kazaa network.

Kazaa works by you downloading files from other users, if Skype was to use the Kazaa network the call quality would be appalling and people would quickly notice their bandwidth being gobbled up even when they weren't downloading/uploading anything.

Please make sure you have your facts correct before you make what could be maligning a reputable company, I'm sure Skype/eBay would take a very dim view of this.

The service your company has provide me with over the last few weeks has been the worst I have had from any ISP, in fact it's worse than NTL and that is saying something.

Disconnections while gaming, yet your company says that it manages accounts that P2P share a lot, so that gamers can have a better service, that's laughable.

I was told I would be getting 8megs download speed at the end of July!!!

Was your company being economical with the truth? I think so!

Todays speed
Speed Test Results
Downstream 886.8 Kbps( = 0.9 Mbps )
Upstream 239.0 Kbps ( = 0.2 Mbps )

This is worse than was getting with Tiscali from the same exchange over the same wires. So where is my Eight Megs? Why am I being disconnected all the time ?

Why does your Broadband Support say that TalkTalk are not port blocking and disconnecting when it's common knowledge that you are doing just that.

I have no intention of calling your company using the number you have so kindly given me. I have no wish to listen to someone who clearly has no knowledge of the subject to which I am referring. Why shpuld I waste my money and time, when they try and tell me total garbage, and pass it off as the truth.

Your company's service is the pits, how can you defend the indefensible?

I have written to your company's Managing Director asking for my MAC number and to release my line.

One small item, my message to you clearly stated my name is Mr Luddite. If you cannot read an e-mail that clearly says who I am and cannot spell the name of a file sharing program. How can I take you seriously ?

Yours sincerely,

Mr Luddite.


My other half fired this off

[Thirdworlddebt]

Greetings
the Talk Talk fiasco is now dead and buried, informed them about their breaches of contract and how "unproffessional" their outfit was, they had no comeback, contract terminated, END OF STORY.

One, for the people.

[blueskies]

It just goes to show the old saying of "If it looks too good to be true then it probably is" still works.

I looked at Talk Talk when it first came out. It was undercutting the competition by a massive margin, a margin I believe was only sustainable by making drastic cuts to the service provided. I thought this would turn out one of two ways. Either a) It would have high contention ratios and/or limit service during peak periods or b) go bust like so many before it.

I pay BTYahoo a not very competitive rate for my broadband service for a number of reasons.

1. It came strongly recommended by many friends when I joined 4 years ago (when it was still BTinternet)
2. In the 4 years I have been with them I have NEVER lost connection or failed to connect.
3. Each time I renew my contract I threaten to leave and get my new contract slightly cheaper (although still above some of the competition)

My advice to anyone thinking of signing up for a new internet product is to wait a while and read the reviews to see if they are any good and never go for the cheapest.

[luddite]

[quote=Thirdworlddebt]Greetings
the Talk Talk fiasco is now dead and buried, informed them about their breaches of contract and how "unproffessional" their outfit was, they had no comeback, contract terminated, END OF STORY.[quote]

Thirdworlddebt, how did you get your MAC number out of them - I've sent letters, but not even had a reply.

[Rich44]

2. In the 4 years I have been with them I have NEVER lost connection or failed to connect.

Connection failures are rarely the fault of the ISP its the quality of the line and exchange

[Thirdworlddebt]

Greetings To Luddite!
I called them up, although it took several attempts,
I listed the amount of breaches, and informed them in VERY strong terms that I want nothing more to do with them, threatened them with legal action, and Legally they have not got a leg to stand on, (oh and this is the good bit)
"I am a member CAG":
They agreed to terminate my contract within 48hrs, which they did, of course I made sure I spoke to some of my relations in various parts of the world over a
2 day period.

The only drawback was my previous provider could not connect me for 14days,
But what the hell, I still have my Skype,and my mobile

Power to the People.

[Stopthethieves]

Hi.

On the point of ditching Talk Talk.

Signed up for the broadband offer in June, was told that I would be connected by end of August. My order status says there is a problem but when I rang up they said there was none.

I have since rang up so many times, I am sick to death.....they tell me there is high demand and a problem with my exchange!!! Hmmmm....

My partners cousin lives literally around the corner and applied a few weeks after me and has had the broadband for FOUR weeks!!!

I used to spend £2 a month on calls but am now being charged £10 for the privilege, the only reason I signed up was for this 'Free' broadband.

My friend who is a solicitor believes that this is an issue for trading standards etc... I intend to bill Talk Talk for the difference of £8 a month since I joined. Their customer service is a joke, Mumbai, South Africa...anywhere but ENGLAND.

What laws govern this situation, anyone know? Obviously the only reason I signed up for this overpriced package is that I would receive free broadband.

Regards and thank you for your help.