Internet And Yiffs

[lupestripe]

I co-manage an Internet company that has no Internet connection. Tomorrow will be day 16 of a protracted affair regarding the installation of a broadband and phone line into our new office (which we moved into on Monday). When I say day 16 - this is the 16th day since the first day that they said they would come.

Since then the job has been cancelled four times without us even being informed. Incompetence doesn't come anywhere near it.

In other news, the fish and chip shop right next door to where I live has closed down. The premises is going to form an extension of the pizza shop next door to it (sadly the poorer quality pizza shop of the two near me).

This means that the nearest chippie is ten minutes walk up the road - a far less convenient proposition. Granted the proprietor of the chip shop next door was a pushy bastard and the fish was flavourless but at least it was convenient, particularly at closing time.

I have also found out that in addition to the new bed shop that opened a few weeks ago, a new computer shop has opened too. This makes my neck of the wood some sort of furry heaven: Internets, yiff and yiffing potential...

Comments

[godzuki.livejournal.com]

I dont think I would ever hear someone in middlesbrough saying there were too few takeaways et al - I remember walking down Linthorpe road and seeing more of them than pubs in that town when I first arrived.

Hmm Boro chip shops tend to be a bit ropey, but they do have good parmesans, if you like clogged arteries. Im sure living there 10 years took 20 off my life ;)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Ooh how long did you live in the Boro hun? And where did you live? I wish there were more furs living around here, at times it feels like a plough a very lonely furrow. It sucks.

There are loads of takeaways here, that's true. So many in fact that we have produced our very own takeaway culture, with the parmo at the very top of that. Granted, it's cholesterol in a box but it is so goddamn tasty!! The town is more parmo based than fish and chips based but Barnacles (on Linthorpe Road, opposite Bedford Street) is a fantastic chippie :)

[godzuki.livejournal.com]

I lived there fowr 10 years about umm...hmm moved out around 2003? I think my first post on this journal was about a fur meet I hosted in my house on parliament road hehe!

Only one other boro fur then, Marston and he has moved to newcastle..there are about 6 furs i know of in Newcastle tho...the old NotzAnthros guys.

I do kinda miss parmos sometimes >.< I remember giving one to an american who visited me, and he had to go back to his hotel, boro needs a cast iron stomach.

I love that new kebab place they have there up the top of linford road, and there used to be a great thai place on there too but it closed :/

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Shame you moved hun, it would be great to have a greater furry presence here. Parliament Road is very near where I live, it's a shame that there are no more furmeets around here.

I know Marston well, he's a very cool guy. Parmos rock and most of the furs who have come to visit have thoroughly enjoyed their stodge in a box. But as you say, a cast iron stomach is necessary.

I don't know Linford Road, never been there. There are loads of cool takeaways in Boro though, as you say it's takeaway central :)

[godzuki.livejournal.com]

Hehe! Aww hon, it is true, boro seems a bit of a wasteland for the furry, even milton keynes has 3-4, but maybe you just need to wait, they all seem to be coming out of the woodwork everywhere.. *snugs*

I think i mean Linthorpe road, lol i do forget things alot >.<

I found a pic of us dancing together at CF!

http://flickr.com/photos/zukizilla/2611158169/in/set-72157605702629381/

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Ooh cool pic hun, I like a lot hehe.

Indeed there are furs coming out of the woodwork everywhere - this was one of the reasons why I decided to run the Newcastle meet - to see if there are more in my area. However, in Boro there are very few and I would like them to be more.

Linthorpe Road, ah yes I know it well. Loads of cool shops and the takeaways at the top end are fantastic. You can't beat a parmo at times. Shame you don't live in Boro now. Where are you based?

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Incompetence doesn't come anywhere near it.

Sky? Talk Talk? Orange? Virgin?

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Bastard Telecom. The latest ruse is that it's going to take them another eight days to activate our broadband, even though we have it in writing that it will be activated tonight. It WILL be activated tonight, we've lost too much income and business for it not to be.

[rustyfox.livejournal.com]

Sounds like BT dragging their heals over the phone line..?

At least it's only two weeks. We had to wait almost a year before they dug up the car park to install fiber.

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

They've cancelled the order four times without reason (or without telling us) and seven engineers have been round to visit. Beyond a joke doesn't describe it.

We're an internet firm and we have already lost considerable amount of money and business over this. We will be asking for compensation.

[rustyfox.livejournal.com]

Even in service, I don't think there's any such thing as an SLA on ADSL. If your business depends on internet connectivity, you should have a leased line of some sort.

Or at least an LLU DSL service (such as with Easynet), and let them deal with and pressure BT on your behalf. After far too much fannying about at one of our venues between an ISP and BT, I went down this road. Much easier to deal with (and the line cost is part of the service, no account with BT necessary).

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun, I'll look into the options. Hopefully the Internet will be back on tomorrow and all will be sorted. However, they have now said it may not be until NEXT Friday and if that's the case, Ofcom will be phoned. Either way, this situation is going to be resolved tomorrow. The future of the business depends on it.

[rustyfox.livejournal.com]

I doubt you'll get anywhere with Ofcom. If you're waiting for a normal BT line to be installed, that's wholly separate from any internet issues. They're just obligated to install a voice circuit, and I doubt Ofcom will even care if you suffer any losses through lack of internet service. BT certainly won't care that you're itching to run DSL over it. I'm not sure they'll even care if the quality is too poor to support it, as long as a voice service works. It's a phone line, not an internet line.

An LLU service is generally better, because the ISP will take ownership and management of the phone line, and the ISP will have their own equipment in the exchange - BT's ATM network isn't involved. They'll arrange (with BT) installation if necessary, and take charge of any line faults. You have no direct contact with BT whatsoever and no line rental to pay. Easynet are one ISP to offer this service to business customers. I believe there's an SLA on the service too, so there'll be no dragging their heals or bouncing you back to BT should a fault occur.

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

I'll have to look into that. BT are now saying Monday (taking the total without Internet to 20 days) and believe me, we will be suing them for compensation and taking it to the courts if necessary. This has been unforgiveable and can only have been born through incompetence.

May I show my ignorance and ask what an LLU service is?

[rustyfox.livejournal.com]

While I'm no legal expert I really doubt you'll be able to sue BT for that. Taking weeks to install anything seems par for the course with BT anyway - do you have a contract from them that states on which day an install will take place, and what compensation they'll offer if they fail to supply?

LLU = Local Loop Unbundled. Basically it means your ISP or whoever 'own' the phone line from the premises to the exchange, and supply their own kit in the exchange, so your modem connects directly onto their network, in effect. While a BT line is still used, you don't have any contract with BT yourself - the line is solely used for an internet connection and paid via your ISP (so expect to pay a little more, because the cost includes line management - but for business use where DSL is the only cost effective solution, an LLU service is really the way to go). If something goes faulty, the ISP liase with BT to fix it (and being LLU, should have more clout with them than a mere end user).

Usually these services are fully managed for business services, a router is supplied the ISP like to manage, and they'll call you if the line goes down. You'll probably get some sort of SLA too (service level agreement, which states so many minutes downtime are allowed per year after which they'll offer compensation. I don't think you'll EVER get that on a non-LLU service, because BT will always be the weak link - as you're finding before you've even got an ISP).

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

The internet is now working - a full 20 days after it was first initially promised. We have written confirmation that it would definitely be on last Thursday which is enough to at least start compensation proceedings. We also have other evidence as to their total incompetence so things will be happening real soon.

Thanks for the interesting internet facts. I hadn't heard of any of this and will bear this in mind for the future. I feel that this won't be the last rigmarole we will be having with BT...

[blueberrybadger.livejournal.com]

What on earth are you listening to Maiden for ...

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Because they're one of the best bands on the planet - they're amazing :D