BT Broadband - How to pay more and get the same

As BT is discontinuing their ISDN service I needed to find an alternative solution. So I decided to switch to VOIP. Concerned not getting enough bandwidth I upgraded my broadband connection to 8Mbs via Internet transaction.

Everthing went fine, mails confirmed my request and I was upgraded on a Tuesday right before Christmas.

The only problem was, that my speed did not improve. Colleagues and the web now teached me that the upgrade takes time. So I measured my speed daily and waited for an improvement. My modem showed a solid 6Mbs connection for the downlink, so there was some headroom. Signal/Noise ratio looked fine in combination with the attenuation tells that the throughput should be ok.

The only problem having all this potential was not delivered.

Finally I found out with the help of several phone calls to the BT help desk that my profile was set to 2Mbs - the old value! A great business model - charge 10 pounds more and deliver the same service. This is fantastic.

... and the resolution still pending.

This is not a unique problem as one can see from some forums on the web:

See what happened to Thomo1 just at the same time and documented on the PC-Advisor forum.

If you want to check your speed and analyze why you do not get what you pay for, test with these links: www.Thinkbroadband.com and BT Speedtester. If you like posh Web 2.0 apps use: Speed tester or Speak Easy.

How to repair a satellite receiver?

As satellite reveivers have become more complex incorporating Internet Access, PVR functionality with large (200+GB) harddisks, more things can go wrong. On one hand we expect them to be an appliance - we push a button and everything works, on the other hand we demand the flexibility, firmware upgrades, software upgrades etc. They should be PC and appliance at the same time.

Having such a nice engine ridden with software bugs and unpredictable crash behavior an upgrade was overdue.

On my PVR upgrades have to be performed via an old style RS232 Null modem cable which can cause all kind of havoc. First of all: Which current state laptop has a serial interface in the world of wireless and USB? So only an old notebook will do the trick. But then those tiny utilities from the IT stone age with close to zero error handling can ruin the machine and take their time to do it, as the connection is slow. And there are myriad of binaries to chose from.

So I asked the manufacturer for help and got a nice 3MB attachment - upgrade utility and binary.

Unfortunately my Receiver decided to go into hibernation after this upgrade procedure.

The learning: Do not expect that a Satellite receiver behaves like a PC ... and call the dealer.

Why start a blog?

The only reason is my New Year's resolution: "Start a blog!".

I still do not know why and how this resolution came about. May be I expect that 2007 will be a special, a defining year with changes and new choices and therefore warrants documentation, may be it is just the countdown to a brand new start in 2008.

So lets see how it develops, maybe this blog gets a life of its own.

The challenge will be to keep a fine balance between the risk of revealing the inner self, the repercussions on the the daily activities, observations, news and thoughts and the wise council given to the potential reader.

Anyhow - it's late now - and the first entry finishes with the recommendation of my website of the day, which really shows the big picture including sleep and is fun (at least for me as a physicist).

Context setting is important before attacking the real problem, which is yet to be defined in this big picture. More about this tomorrow.