FTTC and the problem that wasn't

[#1]

I'm on the trial hooray.
BT turned up installed the VDSL modem in about 10 minutes tested the connection and said I was getting 40Mb down and 10Mb up wow. The poor guy then admitted that where he lives he can’t even get ADSL2+ what a bummer going round installing FTTC and living with up to 8Mb and what sounded like a house full of internet users.
Now for the problem when I tried to use my new super fast broadband I couldn't I was connected but was getting no data up or down. I reached for the phone, tech support agreed I was connected but no data was being transmitted. They suggested turning off the modem & router whilst they played at their end wait 30 minutes for the changes to take effect and then turn them back on modem first. Still not working phoned again this time a very sensible techy said have you got a laptop you can try. Yes it worked Oh bum I thought (or words a bit like that)  it's me after all.
Yes it was but it took a while to work out what was causing it. What I had supidly done was to leave my PC which lives upstairs on whist the man from BT was playing with the new modem & router downstairs and Kaspersky internet security 2010 didn't like the change in routers one little bit. I could get the stats from the Thompson but nothing else was going anywhere. A simple reboot of the PC and all was fixed. Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees well I know I can't.
So before the man from BT FTTC pays you a vist turn off all of your computer kit that way you can avoid wasting the odd hour or two as I just have.
Still all's well that end's well I suppose
Colin

[#2]

Hi Colin,
Glad that it's all up and running and useful feedback about the internal setup. It's complexities like this that's invaluable to get to grips with in these early days as everyone has different equipment and software at home. Thankfully the Openreach is there to help with issues DSL side so that cuts down a lot of the faults where there's issues with sync for example but you can never account for the home environment. I'll see if I can put something in the setup sheet.

[#3]

Hi Dave
Yes it took a reboot to get Kaspersky to rescan the network connections and then prompt to allow access to the Thomson router. I had already tried disabling Kaspersky's protection but that didn't help for some reason. You always tend to focus on the new instead of looking at the old because it worked ok before you added the new pieces of kit didn't it.
Did you get my PM about Plusnet Pro and how much extra it would cost to host and renew my domain name and who to talk to about changing over if the price is right?
Thanks
Colin

[#4]

Dave
I have been setting up the Thomson router to work with my LAN which among other settings require's setting up static network address for my two Silex print servers. I downloaded a set of instructions frrom the web but these refer to auto and manual ADSL setup which is not needed and would require the Thompson being reset if used and probably a support phone call.
So I was thinking that it might be a good idea to have a sanitized set of instructions on one of your servers and to put a link on the instruction sheet you send out. This would help  someone like myself that need more detailed instructions than you supply with the router but wouldn't confuse them with things that should be left alone.
Also is there any way to get the connection stats out of the BT modem? I thought it might be interesting to see how much the VDSL connection from the cabinet slows down as more people are moved over to FTTC on my cabinet, as of tuesday there was only one other person connected and the man from Openreach said I was getting 40Mb down & 10Mb up.
Colin

[#5]

Thanks Colin, good idea. Will have a look what I can do.

[#6]

Hi Dave
You seem to have missed these questions from my earlier post's.
1. About me changing over to Plusnet Pro and how much extra it would cost to host and renew my domain name and who to talk to about changing over if the price is right?
2. Is there a way to get the connection details out ot the BT modem?
Thanks
Colin

[#7]

Sorry yeah I did. Regarding the domain we'd probably actually leave it as is so it would stay the same as now (I presume it's a free domain) so there'd be no extra charge on that.
You can't get any details out of the BT modem, I can get sync speed from the tests I can do but can't see any stats apart from that unfortunately.

[#8]

Hi Dave
Yes it is a free domain from back in the days of Freenetname,co.uk. I've managed to change ISP's quite a few times without asking to funny realy.
That sounds great about Plusnet pro how do I go about changing over?
That's a bummer about the modem I was hoping to keep an eye on the sync speed etc from my end as I used to with my old Voyager 2110.
How do i go about changing to Plusnet Pro?
Thanks
Colin

[#9]

Sorry about the late reply, you can request an account change from this link

[#10]

Hi Ben
Thanks for your reply even if it did take a while.
Unfortunately the link is no use to me as I'm a Madasafish customer.
What I was trying to sort out was moving my account accross to Plusnet (Plusnet Pro perhaps) whilst keeping my free domain name.
Dave seemed to think it was doable but didn't tell me how to actually go about doing it.
If you read the whole thread you'll get the idea.
Thanks for the reply
Colin

[#11]

Whoops, sorry about that. Please sign up for your preferred broadband product from the Plusnet front page, ignore any initial fees and the MAC key request. Once complete, raise a ticket on your Plusnet account saying that you'd like to transfer from Madasafish, giving your Madasafish username and do the opposite on the Madasafish account. We'll then be able to action it for you and get rid of any initial fees that the website said you'd have.

[#12]

Quote from: Ben

Please sign up for your preferred broadband product from the Plusnet front page, ignore any initial fees and the MAC key request. Once complete, raise a ticket on your Plusnet account saying that you'd like to transfer from Madasafish, giving your Madasafish username and do the opposite on the Madasafish account. We'll then be able to action it for you and get rid of any initial fees that the website said you'd have.

Hi Ben
Just wanted to check before I jump that the free domain name and renewal will transfer over ok and will remain free regardless of which product I chose.
Plusnet Pro is the closest match to what I have now with its lack of traffic shaping or throttling etc. So I think I'd probably go for that one.
Also being on the FTTC trial won't cause any problems will it?  I'm a bit worried about ending up with two connection's or no connection at all.
Colin

[#13]

You won't end up with two connections, we'll make sure you're up and running on Plusnet before we close your Madasafish account. I'll need to check up on the process for moving your domain over, this is a tad complicated but is something for us to worry about, not you We can't continue running it for free but can run it for £1 per month. Alternatively, you could transfer the domain name to another host but that will cost £25 as a one-off fee.
Please let me know if you'd like to go ahead so I can sort your domain.

[#14]

Quote from: dave

Sorry yeah I did. Regarding the domain we'd probably actually leave it as is so it would stay the same as now (I presume it's a free domain) so there'd be no extra charge on that. You can't get any details out of the BT modem, I can get sync speed from the tests I can do but can't see any stats apart from that unfortunately.

Hi Ben
As you can see Dave seemed to think the domain would remain free. Who's right?
Colin

[#15]

Sorry, I missed that bit!
We'll need to change the domain over to Plusnet, so you'll need to set up mailboxes and webspace on the Plusnet account when it's created (if not already done). Please let me know when you've created the account and sorted this and I'll enact all the changes for you so that we don't get mixed up.