182 Comments on Free broadband from TalkTalk

jon on Mon, 1st May 2006 7:33 pm


Do not use talktalk broadband if you want to do anything other then internet and email. Just google for talktalk problems to see what I mean. Since signing up I’ve not been able to play any of the games I have (cost me loads for the games and a machine to play them on and now it’s having to catch dust).
They say there is nothing wrong and they are rigth to block the p2p ports that these games use in order to stop music downloaders clogging the network.
I’m now paying for a connection that is useless to me as I only wanted to play games on it.
Avoid at all costs until the sort this out.

Oliver on Tue, 2nd May 2006 8:56 am


I Googled for “talktalk problems” and checked the top 6 results.

A few mentions of bad customer service, specifically waiting a long time to be connected (not a problem for their new free service as such since they advertise a six week wait for connection).

There was one person with a problem with a modem which was posted on a forum which got lots of replies about bad connection speed.

Blocking P2P ports is advertised up front and something I totally understand. Games on the other hand isn’t mentioned (or at least as far as I could see) so that’s a valid argument, but that wasn’t what I intended to use my connection for.

It is worth pointing out that I’m currently with Tiscali (dial-up) who also receive bad reviews and I previously survived Screamng.net…

Sarah Williams on Mon, 15th May 2006 3:57 pm


Hi

As a TalkTalk customer, I urge you to avoid these people like the plague. Firstly, your numbers above are wrong – it’s £20.99 a month, not £9.99. Secondly, even for browsing, their broadband service is awful. Pages for myself and my boyfriend freqently fail to load, and they even have a proxy server that will redirect traffic AWAY from the page you want, to a competitor site (which I’m sure they get paid for!).

And yes, they do throttle back games (search for “world of warcraft, talktalk” or “wow, talk talk” or similar).

Please, please don’t do the wrong thing, and end up stuck in an 18 month contract with a £70 disconnection fee for a service you hate.

Sarah

Oliver on Tue, 16th May 2006 8:27 am


I didn’t get thr price wrong, I pointed out it was £9.99 for the broadband plus £11 for the line rental and that was all (including the setup fee) included in my grand total calculation.

Although I can’t be sure without seeing what it actually does, the page redirecting sounds more like spyware on your computer…

Sarah Williams on Tue, 16th May 2006 5:41 pm


Nope, honest. It’s their proxy server. The page is received when you type a URL wrong (eg http://www.amazn.co.uk). Rather than getting a 404 error, you get a TalkTalk-branded proxy page (URL=proxy-1.talktalk.co.uk) with a message like “Unable to find http://www.amazn.co.uk – now redirecting you to http://www.ebay.co.uk“. As customers, we need to ask why they would do this? It’s not helping the customer get to where s/he wants to go, and it redirects traffic to sites that are clearly competitors to the intended destination.

(Apologies for accusing you of getting the price wrong – I clearly didn’t read your post properly *blush*)

TalkTalk Problems - Oliver Brown on Wed, 17th May 2006 8:50 am


[...]

TalkTalk Problems
May 17th, 2006 by Oliver

My post about free broadband from TalkTalk has got a fair bit of traffic. It’s been [...]

Oliver on Mon, 29th May 2006 4:22 pm


Interesting if you install Google Web Accelerator it does it’s own proxying and the TalkTalk one never appears…

More free broadband from Orange - Oliver Brown on Wed, 28th Jun 2006 8:33 am


[...] w owners of Wanadoo) are offering free broadband. It’s essentially the same setup as TalkTalk but more expensive and with a more limited service. If you have a [...]

Mark on Tue, 11th Jul 2006 6:08 pm


In the last year I have spent somehting like 25 hours on the phone to talktalk attempting to sort out endless billing problems. I cannot reccomend them: in fact I would recommend *not* using them if you want (a) any level of customer service at all (b) reasonable speeds (c) peace of mind (i have been attempting, unsuccessfully, to cancel my contract with them for a month now) or (d) to use P2P. When I joined a year ago they did not fully block p2p ports, or advertise themselves as such and they have since started doing so without warning.

I cannot stress enough the level of poor serice from talktalk and I would never consider using them again.

Benito on Thu, 20th Jul 2006 7:06 pm


I mentioned somewhere on here before about the Talk talk hidden cost of £9.99.

Most of the country are on something called ip stream which is bt’s exchange network
about 2 years ago bulldog bypassed this and started using something called LLU.
wanadoo/orange also use this btw.

LLU is only in around 35% of the country……this is also what talk talks broadband is based on, if you are not in an LLU area and most of the country is not, Talk talk will charge you £9.99 a month.

Its on the talk talk website in black and white.

Oliver on Thu, 20th Jul 2006 10:11 pm


I’m not so sure about it being hidden. The issue of the Carphone Warehouse magazine thatwas release when they frist started the offer said that any customers that couldn’t be unbundled would have to pay extra. Since I wasn’t looking for it at the time and I still remember now, suggests it was quite clear…

Benito on Fri, 21st Jul 2006 4:23 pm


you try and register with talk talk and they will not tell you about this £9.99…then you will see it is hidden.

either the staff dont know about it or they are told not to mention it to new customers.

Jon Ward on Sun, 23rd Jul 2006 5:42 pm


Just to clear up the ‘disconnection fee’ – according to TT, there is NO fee if you disconnect after the 18 months.

If you disconnect before the end of 18 months, you pay the LOWER of £70 or the remaining period of contract, i.e. 2 months @ £10 would be £20.

You can always complain about the service and ask for cancellation without penality and go through Otelo (could take upto 6 months) but worth a try!

Be sure to give at least a month’s notice and cancel your direct debits after the end of your contract – it’s worth risking a £5 fee from TT rather than allowing them to dip freely into your bank account – ALSO, YOU can cancel your direct debit by telling your bank – THEY SERVE YOU, not TT!

For what its worth, customer service is CrapCrap, but for now, my email and web browsing is working.

If it goes off, rather than waste weeks calling TT to no avail, simply write recorded delivery, giving them 30 days notice to restore service or you consider it a breach of contract – let them chase you for the money after that since a month without service would be ‘reasonable grounds’ for cancelling on breach of contract!

If worse comes to worse, 18 months won’t last forever – and once all those customers currently tied into contracts leave, TT won’t have much of a customer base!

They say you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not most of the people most of the time!

graham on Wed, 26th Jul 2006 5:05 pm


I recently signed up with Talk talk and received broadband within two months. What is the current waiting time to get talktalk’s broadband? I have a problem of registering with their server to complete my registration and at the same time I am recommending it to friends. I must say, although their is some virus protection offered, if not even forced upon one . I have suffered a few trojan horses since and am still not feeling secure. Any recommendations for some free anti virus software? Generally I think it is fast and good.

Oliver on Wed, 26th Jul 2006 7:06 pm


Avast is good and is free for home use (along with free updates). You might also consider Windows Defender from Microsoft. The main focus is on protection against spyware but it has other cool features like “Software Explorer” which is basically a souped up task manager letting you see lots of information about all programs currently running. The current beta version is still free although I don’t know if it will stay that way…

katherine on Wed, 26th Jul 2006 7:57 pm


just don’t be trapped by this company. I had a reasonable transition into the line rental and calls, but the BB connection has been an issue. No notification of the actual date of connection, no soft or hardware sent, suddenly disconnected by previous ISP provider (who seem like angels in comparison), days wasted hanging on to get a human answer, cut off on numerous occasions, misinformation supplied, I feel sorry for the staff who have to deal with so many frustrated customers. Don’t ever have anything to do with this company or any of its products – I am wondering about the best way to get out of this mess at the least expense.

Jon on Sun, 30th Jul 2006 6:18 pm


like graham, i found TTs software pushy, but didn’t need the anti-virus as i have used AVG professional for sometime – my kids use AVGs free software which works as good as my but with no TS! http://www.grisoft.com if anyone needs it – the free one’s there somewhere, if not email me for it!

katherine, been there. one thing for the sales staff, no matter how much hassle they get, they seem to be polite – UK call centre staff would have just pulled the plug by now. i guess they need their job too much! 18 months will soon go, then your only problem will be getting your MAC Code out of TT!

KUMUD CHANDRA A PATEL on Wed, 2nd Aug 2006 7:21 am


Talk Talk rubbish

I am fedup now with talktalk.
I join with talktalk to use broad band.
I was told my BB will start from 26 June 2006, I received my Modem and disc on 22 June 2006!
I am still trying to sort out the error showing on BB connection with- Talktalk BB help centre in UK at Preston, Liverpool, South Africa, India- Banglore, Mumbie, New Delhi/
ALL are useless.

Every day I have to check my e-mail at work and my daughter, who is studying in University, has to go local library. I am in month August date 2, year 2006/ now how long I have to wait??,

PLEASE PLEASE HELP TO SORT OUT THJE PROBLEM CREATED BY TALK TALK

BECAUSE WE CANCELL OUR PREVIOUS PROVIDER V21 – NEVER GAVE US ANY PROBLEM AND WAS VERY GOOD ON PHONE RESPONSE
OK THEY CHARGE SMALL FEE TO GET TELEPHONE CONNECTION BUT WAS SUPERB IN PROFESIONAL HELP.

CAN SOME ONE GUIDE ME WHAT TO DO NOW, I AM PISSED OFF WITH TALKTALK SPENDING MY VALUABLE TIMEN SINCE MAY 2006, AND ALREADY CHARGED ME 2 BILLS, £70 APPX.

DISAPPOINTED CUSTOMER TALKTALK
TALKTALK
TALKTALK
TALKTALK
TALKTALK

JUST ONLY TALKTALK
AND NO BROAD BAND CONNECTION!!!

Jon on Thu, 3rd Aug 2006 4:49 pm


Kumud, if you actually have TT broadband activated but simply can not connect, email me (from work) and I will try to help you.

For the record, if you have a line at home, you can still use dial up to send email. Visit http://www.reg-123.co.uk/ and click ‘dialup’ for information. You only pay local rate for calls and NO registration/sign up is required.

Remember with TalkTalk you need BackUp!

Mark on Fri, 4th Aug 2006 2:58 pm


Jon

I have TT activated for a couple of weeks now.
Frequently I have to restart my modem/router as it disconnects.
Last night I lost connection, and no matter how many times I reboot my router I get no connection, cany you help[ me

Jon on Fri, 4th Aug 2006 10:10 pm


Mark, it may be the modem or the line, but for what it’s worth, I’ve had frequent line droppings since installing TTs modem. Earlier today I put my old modem back on and have been on nearly 10 hours without a single disconnection! (if you need help setting up a network connection, email me).

LOL :-) while writing this I was disconnected – but immediately reconnected!

Paul on Sun, 6th Aug 2006 8:53 am


Yes,the frequent disconnections are my main complaint.I play games and am sick of racking up decent scores only to be disconnected with no warning.What gets me the most though is,when you run the troubleshooting software,and it reconnects you,it asks you to give it a rating of one to five stars.This self congratulating for what is it’s own doing,winds me up.To sum up,if it doesn’t sort its self out by the time my 18 month period is up,it’s adios from me.If you play poker or any other game that involves money STAY WELL AWAY.

Andre on Sun, 6th Aug 2006 12:51 pm


http://talktalkhell.wordpress.com/2006/08/03/talk-talk-really-doesnt-want-you-to-leave/
Hey guys, see my story on TT above.

I personally cannot recommend Talk Talk or the carphone warehouse. I googled a lot for it and find loads of frustrated users. Tiffany has set up a site only for frustrated users. Lets hope this site gets some attention:
http://www.talktalkhell.wordpress.com
best wishes
André
(who has his credit rating scred through TALK TALK)

Bill O on Mon, 7th Aug 2006 8:11 pm


Hi
Very interested to see what problems may lie ahead.
I have just received my Username and Password, typed them into my log-on pop-up and connected first time with Talktalk broadband. I have not had any problem but I have yet to receive my modem and software. If my connection works ok with my current Speedtouch ADSL modem and my Wanadoo-ised IE do I really need to use the TalkTalk kit?? Will I have problems?? I do not have an e-mail address yet can I set one up without the TalkTalk software

mike S on Tue, 8th Aug 2006 11:18 pm


Hi,
As I only use BB for Browsing and email, the service is a slight improvement on the 0.5 meg BB from previous ISP. I have one main problem though and hope someone can help as I refuse to be scammed with their tech suport charges. I’ve found that only the user account through which the BB was installed allows me to connect. If my daughter logs in (also with administrator rights) it fails to connect (Invalid user name or password msg). If I log in as Administrator I still cannot connect. The only thing I’ve noticed is that my computer is registered to the account name that permits the BB connection. Seriously confused

Mark on Wed, 9th Aug 2006 8:13 am


Jon

I don’t think the problem is the modem or the line. Pre Taltalk I was with Giointernet, I never had any problems with the same modem or line then, I would only have occasional need to reboot the modem maybe once a month if that.

Jon on Thu, 10th Aug 2006 7:58 pm


I am offering TT Support for anyone with problems with TT Broadband – you can find it by visiting my site and going to TalkTalk Help :-)

No promises, but I’ll do my best!

victor on Mon, 14th Aug 2006 6:05 pm


Hi all
i have a MAC code and going tor tt broadband. has anybody good anything good to say about tt bb. i need to use for email and surfing only

Oliver on Mon, 14th Aug 2006 6:17 pm


Well ironically enough I haven’t had any problems. Surfing’s been fine, file sharing’s been fine. The router reports it’ connected at 2Mb which is sensible considering distance to the exchange. The only thing I haven’t tried is bandwidth intensive gaming…

Jon on Thu, 17th Aug 2006 7:07 pm


One month in, mine still works, and as long as it does, I guess I’m happy! It’s the wondering what will happen when things don’t work that I’m worried about – I like to know that someone will fix it, and I can’t be too sure that I can contact anyone for that!!!

Bisty on Sun, 20th Aug 2006 6:02 pm


I need help setting TalkTalk broadband up. With the help of their tech support, I managed to get their “90-day free trial” security package installed, after that, the modem initialised, but unable to connect to network. HELP!

roger Davis on Sun, 20th Aug 2006 7:11 pm


I went over to T/T a few months ago and found the broadband perfectly OK but the webmail is rubbish it has not worked properly since I have had it so I have had to revert to my lycos addy(which is free and it works).
I have had problems contacting them by phone but if you go to your carphone warehouse shop they will contact them for you.
can anyone see the point of a contract,the broadband is free and if it no good just go over to one of the others and delete the talktalk B/B although I think the contract applies to the landline which is cheap and OK.

Rachel on Thu, 24th Aug 2006 9:15 pm


Since getting my broadband connection I am frequently disconnected. I do not do gaming or downloading, just simply browsing and hotmail. The service is rubbish and wish I had never changed from Tiscali where I had very few problems.

Any ideas how to reduce disconnections would be appreciated.

Jon on Sat, 26th Aug 2006 6:43 pm


Rachel, I found by using my old modem which is slower (2.2mbps vs 2.3mbps) rather than the TT modem, my linedrops have virtually ceased. If that actually has anything to do with it I don’t know :)

Allyson on Thu, 31st Aug 2006 10:19 pm


We were with onetel (now owned by talktalk) and changed to talktalk in May. we were told we would change phone in 3 weeks and get BB Aug 30. Phone changed as they said and we then received a letter saying BB would go live on 30 June giving us username and password. Modem and CD to follow. This has never arrived but I have an Apple Macmini and my son said to buy a router with ethernet point, this I did and my computer literate neighbour fixed it up and from that day to this I have had absolutely no problems. The connection is high speed and has never (touch wood) disconnected. Am I the only person to be pleased, phone, BB and calls to America where my son lives for £20-00 a month? The ichat is great too.

Alison on Fri, 1st Sep 2006 9:19 pm


having major problems with talk talk. Have just received modem and installation CD. However after following installation instructions up to a point where the computer needed to be re-started, I have now hit a major problem. My computer now keeps continuously restarting itself (every 5 seconds) so is of no use to me at all!! I have spent several hours trying to get through to the technical support services but they are not qualified to help me. They have said that they will ask their advanced technicians to phone me but that will take up to 5 days. How can they leave someone for this long with no access to their PC. Can anyone help?? I have to get onto my files as I cannot do my job unless I do so. When i phoned customer services to register my concern a very rude operator called Iram laughed at my problem – how unproffessional is that.

Tim on Sat, 2nd Sep 2006 6:44 pm


I am surprised at the amount of negative comment on the internet about TalkTalk. We moved to their phone service a couple of years ago and was spending about £10/ month on dial up internet so decided to pay an extra ~£9 (IIRC) on broadband. Their modem worked OK but I wanted to connect three pc’s so bought a secondhand modem/router on ebay. This has worked fine for about 18 months with no noticeable drop outs. When it became possible we went for the line rental with Talktalk as well. At each stage Talktalk customer service were very helpful and gave good service. Since we were now paying Talktalk ~£30 per month for calls/ line rental/ broadband we decided recently to go for their ‘free’ broadband offering (ie ~£20 per month). This was difficult to arrange as the call went to India somewhere and the operator treated it as a completely new order but we were transferred across to the new package in a couple of days. My disappointment is that we have not increased data speed at all, but we only ever paid for 512kb and we have always had 1Mb. I have seen drop outs since the new service started but I am saving ~£10 per rmonth.
Am I just lucky? or does it depend on the exchange you are connected to?

TalkTalk on Fri, 8th Sep 2006 12:49 am


Hi Alison,
Has this issue been resolved ?
TalkTalk

Andy on Sun, 10th Sep 2006 11:03 am


I left BT who were charging me over £50 a month for BB and landline calls.
I joined TT for the free BB package and now only pay £21 a month..saving a massive £29 a month…I have been conned by BT for years now and they have resorted to dirty tricks to try and get customers back…
OK my BB gets disconnected quite often and sometimes the browsing freezes….but what the hell…I get worldwide calls, I get BB if a bit dodgy at the moment and all for £21 a month…what do you expect…if you are really worried about gaming etc why do you change from your supposedly reliable ISP in the first place…the massive savings were probably something to do with it….it might be annoying and you feel like throwing the lot out the window…but I for one think that TT being fairly new,is going through a difficult stage and is obviously not being helped by BT who most likely are deliberatly causing problems…,I am willing to stay the full term in the hope that TT will overcome the problems and in the meantime will enjoy the £500 or so savings….

Tim Jarrett on Mon, 11th Sep 2006 10:14 pm


I have just spent three hours trying to get the talktalk installation to work on my sister-in law’s PC! What a load of rubbish ! Three times it has installed, three times it totally failed to connect to the network. Finally, just when I was about to give up in frustration the ADSL light on the modem stopped flashing and came on on its own – just as I had uninstalled the network connection ! Re-installed the modem drivers (again !) and suddenly everything worked – I could connect to the internet and even browsed to a few sites.
Rebooted the PC to make sure everything would work later …. nothing ! No connection … no internet … nothing ! Looking at the network connection properties, the talktalk connection has been installed as a dial-up connection ! Click on connect and you get a “no dialtone” message ! WHAT !? It’s meant to be broadband, why would I expect to hear a dialtone ?
I really hate this setup system. Actually I really hate secret “Simple step” setup disks that do all sorts of strange things to your system but don’t tell you what it is they’re doing. I hate it even more when they get it wrong, ’cause you have no idea what’s happened and even less idea how to fix it ! What talktalk really need to do is tell every customer how to install the modem drivers and set up the broadband connection manually – it would certainly save a lot of grief and probably would leave them with some slightly less dissatisfied customers !

(If anyone knows how to set up the connection manually, how about sharing it with the rest of us? Huh? Please ? Pretty please …?)

Alex Lake on Tue, 12th Sep 2006 3:00 pm


Watch out for other more serious problems with TalkTalk. My parents took up their offer and TalkTalk screwed up the phone lines such that calls to their phone number are now diverted to someone else’s answerphone (who never checks their messages!) and they can’t use their landline at all.

This problem has been ongoing for 6 days.

It’s a false economy. There are other ways of significantly reducing your phone/internet bill, but this is not a good one. Seems like Russian Roulette to me.

Mie on Sat, 16th Sep 2006 8:59 pm


I recently joined talk talk,
and certainly would NOT reccomend it to anyone,
websites take ages to load, or don’t load atall,
and MSN wont work either.

Arif Saleem on Mon, 18th Sep 2006 7:55 pm


Hey.

I was wondering if some one cud plz help me. i have talktalk BB but i am not able to download music from Kazaa or soulseek. Can sum1 plz plz plz help quick???

Many Thanks
Arif.

Dave on Tue, 19th Sep 2006 4:11 pm


hey all…jus wondering if u cud help me out. av got TT BB but its not allowing me to go on msn messenger??? Any1 no a way round this?
Thanks very much.
Dave

Jon on Wed, 20th Sep 2006 9:07 am


messenger works ok with me, I suspect its your messenger thats not working :-)

Alec on Wed, 20th Sep 2006 10:11 am


I would advise all those who are having problems to write a letter to there head office and just demand what you want, that is what I did an I managed to get my connection fee removed as well £20 off the two months I went without any internet (by arguing that internet is NOT free but part of there package) + I was meant to be called around a dozen times but actually I was only called once. (Thats talk talks biggest problem)

I now have net again:o) and am pretty happy with it, it is pretty fast and you can use certain peer to peer programs (I use mp3 rocket)

But pepole you need to make offical complaints threating to leave if you want anything done

Alec on Wed, 20th Sep 2006 10:32 am


one last thing as well, you dont need 128megs of ram as stated, I got BB working on a pc that has only 32 !!!! to do this install drivers on the CD, D:\smacarphone\modem\ another folder depending on if you have sagem modem or thompson one then folder named drivers and click on setup.exe. next run the CD as normal and perform the setup but selecting I have my own modem.

Half way through setup it will ask you to enter some setting manually. You have to first go to

control panal
internet options
connections TAB

The installation disk should have ceated the talk talk modem for dial up and virutal net connection connections

Select it and hit settings

your user name and password should be present if not eneter them ie

Username = 0131 XXXXXX@talkalk.net
password = what ever talk talk supply you with.

next hit properties
then networking tab

then select internet protocol (tcp.ip)

hit properties and enter the two DNS numbers (provided by setup if you select alternative modem)

and thats it it should work

(sound complex but isnt if you do it step by step as shown above)

ps I only found this out as my laptop has shared ram and dam talk talk software detected 126megs of ram !!

Dave on Wed, 20th Sep 2006 3:24 pm


hmmm…i don’t think so because i’ve installed msn a couple of times before and i never had a problem then…whenever i go to msn it tells me that my gateway seems to be offline even though my internet connection is on. Any ideas???

alec on Sat, 23rd Sep 2006 11:05 am


A possible explanation for your MSN probelm might be the firewall that is installed (becasue you have an option of installing Talk Talks one (with the 90 day trail) My advice would be to uninstall the firewall and install a different one (a good free one is zone alarm)

Saleem on Thu, 28th Sep 2006 4:32 pm


hello. i have TT BB but i have been trying long time to get on msn but when i click error code pops up- 80072efd.
any help please?? it say gateway appears to be offline.

Jamie on Sun, 1st Oct 2006 3:55 pm


Wow, I’ve been in possession of TalkTalk Broadband for about a week now. I can’t access any Messenger services OR Hotmail, I can’t play computer games, I can’t upload pictures. Every time a browser is loading for over 30 seconds it shows an error and stops loading. And with the Broadband being extremely slow, this occurs quite often.

My biggest problem is that I now have a crap Broadband service which won’t let me connect to anyone who’s not in possession of a phone.

Chris on Mon, 2nd Oct 2006 12:00 pm


Hi all

I’ve literally just ordered TalkTalk broadband (not international plan, just the normal, I don’t know anyone living abroad!).

2 quick questions -

1. I’m getting this to play online games, does anyone here play games using this service? Does it work?!

2. I ordered the talktalk modem (the ADSL2) one when I ordered everything else, do I need anything else to get it up and running?

I still have until Friday to cancel this (under the 7 day ruling) – should i or have things got better now it has been arrived for a while?

Thanks!

Jon on Wed, 4th Oct 2006 4:41 pm


Chris, read posts of people having problems playing games – doesn’t bother me, but frequent cut offs (line drops) could be a problem – advice? cancel!

Jon on Wed, 4th Oct 2006 5:12 pm


Chris, you have 14 days under the Distant Selling Regulations!

Mark on Thu, 5th Oct 2006 2:26 am


Hi there,

i’m having the same problems as Tim Jarrant – 11th Sept 2006.

any ideas would be so gratefully received.

Mark

David on Thu, 5th Oct 2006 5:19 am


Just joined TalkTalk – retained bT on a separate line so I can still use the internet – thank god.

Got my user name and password from TT – no installation disk or modem.

Using an etec router for wifi and BB.

TT settings do not work on it – BT’s do work?

Many call to help line – they say call manufacturer?????

Help!

BigDave on Fri, 6th Oct 2006 8:55 am


This so-called TalkTalk ADSL2+ modem is a USB Speedtouch330 or Sagem800. £30? You can get a decent router for this sort of money or not much more if you shop around, even a wireless one. You would also have to do a bit of work to set it up, but details are all over the net.

I would also suggest that the time to join TalkTalk is AFTER your local exchange is unbundled. How can you tell? Beats me, even “www.samknows.com” doesn’t. But the changeover is fraught to say the least.

My sister-in-law’s unbundling went smoothly, she was cut off, phone and internet, for 4 hours, since then great ADSL speeds, mother-in-law has had problems all week and currently her phone is not working and I’m going over tonight to see if her broadband is also off, she has not been able to get it working for 2 weeks but it may be her own error.

jack on Fri, 6th Oct 2006 9:17 pm


hi, i got tt3 no probs with line connection,go live for bb was ment to be end of aug but never happened,after some chaseing eventually got un/pw its now oct and still no soft/hardware.been told 5 times its in the post and will be with you in 5-7 days(that was 45 days ago)luckaly my brother knows a bit about coms and he got me up and running with my exsiting wireless router, my speed is so slow id be quicker either sending a letter or going window shopping around town,ive not tried gaming yet (get the feeling ill need a new com after i pull my foot out of it.)my last provider was expensive but its a true saying you get what you pay for.(£10 my bb is not free:(.)

prince on Sat, 7th Oct 2006 2:35 pm


Hi,
I am seriously considering talktalk 3 option with 8 meg broadband.
Basically, its cheap, but i have been following all the posts here and now i am worried. I normally play real money poker online, and hence disconections will be a big problem. I will also use it for p2p, bittorrent clients, etc.

Also, I am currently with tiscali and my contract with them literally expires with them in 2 days.

Shall I go for Talktalk.

Before i joined tiscali, there were many complaints regarding their services online as well, but personally i have never had any tech problems, though their support is quite costly. But overall, was quite fine.

Can anyone please help me decide??

prince on Sat, 7th Oct 2006 2:38 pm


Also I already have thomson sppedtouch 330, so i wont be ordering their so called talk talk modem.

Deb on Sat, 7th Oct 2006 9:06 pm


If you guys think you have problems – try this!

I haven’t even registered for talk talk but their database has randomly married my name to one of their customers telephone numbers.

I phoned up to complain. I thought they’d just apologise and sort it out. Instead they told me I had better pay the bill now and appeal later as if I didn’t I’d get into trouble, since any number registered in my name was my responsibility.

When I pointed out I was with BT (though 3 years ago I was with onetel and got rid of them), they said, hmm, there are premium calls on the bill, in a tone that suggested they thought I was lying.

They are therefore insisting I pay another customer’s bill for a telephone no that isn’t at my house and I have never heard of.

This is a case for Watchdog, I think

Mick on Sun, 8th Oct 2006 12:10 am


My experience with talktalk!

Signed up to talktalk international with free broadband, June 2006!
Connected straight to talktalk telephone!
Given date of September for Broadband connection.
Received modem, username and password and go live date for broadband August 2006,
Computer used: 1.67 Ghz AMD Athlon XP Processor with 500MG RAM, Windows XP Home Edition and protected by AVG Free Antivirus.
Attempted to connect using “Connect and Go” CD supplied with Modem.
Took 4 hours to set up connection. Many (many) freezing of screen and hence crashing of computer before I finally managed to set up connection and email address. Never managed to set up an account for billing. Gave up! During this time detected many virus attacks which were dealt with by AVG. (Had to set up a Firewall connection manually for the talktalk network connection.)

Had several hours of high speed surfing 2.3 Mbps. Decided to upgrade Windows XP SP1 to SP2 from the Microsoft site. Immediately had problems whereby the download speed became very slow and after the first page loaded in Internet Explorer, “Page cannot be displayed” started to appear every time a link was hit.( Eventually discovered that this was an incompatability problem between SP2 and Internet Explorer, no cure!. )

The next time I turned the computer on it cut out after 4 mins. and gave up the ghost!

4 weeks without a computer!
Set up talktalk broadband on this computer.
This time I loaded the modem driver on its own from the Connect and Go CD as explained in one of the above postings. (Didnt want to go through the previous nightmare!) and set up the network connection manually.

Had three weeks of surfing at 2.3 Mbps (Hastings, East Sussex talktalk server) until Thursday 5th October 2006. Attempted to connect the next morning at 10.30 and received the message “Username and/or Password Incorrect!”
Attempted to phone Customer Service several times but just received message that I should ring later and was then cut off! Managed by late in the day to get through on 5 (yes 5) different occasions. On one occasion the woman could not understand me and I could not understand her. On another the woman could not unerstand what I was talking about. On another a man said he would help but left me on hold and then rang off etc., etc. All of these people were based in South Africa and had names like Ahmed etc.

I rang the automatic number which detects the number that you are ringing from and gives you your username and password to check if something had happened.
The automated answering service informed me that my number could not be recognised! This still occurs today, Sunday 08/10/2006.

I appear to have been wiped from their Broadband Database and there is no one at Talktalk that appears to be capable of telling me why or or how the situation can be conneced!

Need I say More!!!!

Buyer beware!!!

Sending this message via tiscali, standard dialup!

Laticsforlife on Sun, 8th Oct 2006 3:01 pm


I Hate TalkTalk now with a passion.

I started with them in 2003 and whilst new and unknowledgable, as my istallation went smooth, I was not too bothered, but that was in 2003 and was 512k.

Now in May 06 I signed up for 8mb Talk3 International and dropped BT so I have the whole bloody bundle.

They initially said March 07 for LLU, and 8mb (5mb is my max due to distance from exchange). They auto upgraded me to 1mb, then more recently to 2.2 mb all withoput incident, and a pretty speedy service I might add.

On Thursday I noticed it had altered to 5mb or thereabouts, so they musty have LLU’d me, and since then it is absolute sh1%$£$e!

It wont stay connected, then on Friday it kept saying incorrect username or password, so I ring TT and sepnd 50minutes on hold, only to be told that he couldnt fix it and was passing to level 2 who could take 10 days to call me back (I’m still waiting).

Anyway on Saturday I thought ‘he doesn’t know what he’s doing’ so called the helpline again but this time went on the auto route of ‘forgotten password’ and find that the password I’ve been using for 3 yrs has been changed (not by me). So now I can get on, but can’t stay on.

It will stay connected all damn day so long as you dont try to open IE or Firefox, or Mailwasher, but as soon as you do, bang, it drops you, and starts the redial process (which I set up to do 40 times) it now takes ages to do anything.

If I could get out of this I would, but I’m stuck for another 14 mths!!!

I’ll be very lucky if this manages to post without dropping me several times.

Alan on Mon, 9th Oct 2006 12:53 pm


Having reviewd bad press on websites about all BB providers, I opted for TT as, if I was going ton get bad service I didn’t want to be paying for it. Ordered bundle on 21 Sept and received advice of BB connection on 27 October. The got a letter saying BB would go live 2 October (delivered 2 October!) but had not received the modem package. After a couple of chase calls the package was delivered 7 October. So far I am impressed.

Set up the modem on 7 October, worked initially on setup, then no connection on reboot. I had to go out so left it for a few hours. Booted up on return to sort the problem and, hey presto, no BB problem. All working very fast (I think 4 meg but not sure of best way of checking). Note thet I still have not got the TT phone service which takes 3 weeks.

Now the problem. I have been with Freeserve PAYG for about 7 years. I bought a new computer just prior to the BB connection (Dell running XP Home and Outlook), retrieved my PAYG dial up account (now Wanadoo/Orange) with no problems. However, when I loaded TT BB I could not initially do anything with e-mail, then it seemed to half correct so that I can receive, but I cannot send. I have found several sites with people reporting similar problems. I have tried changing the server address to the variations of freeserve/wanadoo/orangehome but no success. Has anyone found the right answer to this yet?

Jon on Mon, 9th Oct 2006 9:09 pm


Not much problems if using POP3, ie Outlook Express, but TTs web based email is something like fort knox!

stephen on Wed, 11th Oct 2006 11:21 am


i have had a nightmare with talktalk, but did get somewhere this week. after being on the phone for hours and several different call centre advisers they did help in the end. I had a go live date 3 months after being promised but then was not sent a disc!! i complained to many times and they managed to talk me through it on the phone without the disc….yes i can be done i still dont have email but at least on on the internet, as like others i have been paying for dail up.
my speed is only at the MAX 3.2meg but thats better than my aol …. dont take no for an answer they can do mostly anything from the call centre but most just dont have the skills
THE irony of this is the UK staff are useless RING the staff in the evening be patient with the accents but they seem to know what they are doing …well sort of..

Alan on Wed, 11th Oct 2006 12:12 pm


I was using POP3 with Outlook (I’m not an expert on these things but it all seemed to work with Freeserve OK).
Have now found on the TT BB diagnostics prog loaded that they say some e-mail systems will receive but cannot send, contact your e-mail ISP. As I had forgotten that I would lose my old dialup address after 90 days anyway (if not accessed by dialup), I decided to cut my losses and make the TT e-mail address my default. Initial problems were overcome when I found that the send and receive server addresses had somehow loaded into each others boxes so swapped them over and all worked. No problems with send and receive so far, and still receiving my Freeserve e-mails atm.

Alan on Wed, 11th Oct 2006 12:56 pm


I signed up to TT and yes there were initial problems. Iconnect via a ADSL Modem/Router and when I asked for the settings for my router some of them were the wrong ones, but I eventually sorted it out.
The depth of tech support knowledge appears to be very shallow at the moment but I hope it will be sorted out in the coming months.
At the moment I have up to a 2meg connection speed and during the day this is about what I get and on occasions even faster. During the evenings my speed drops dramatically. After a long time spent trying to rectify this, it was found that the local exchange was suffering a bottleneck.
Now these slow speeds were not happening when I was wwith BT and they do not affect people near me who are still with BT. Does this mean that BT are giving their own customers prefferential bandwidth treatment and if so for what reason?
The only ones I can think of is to try and make Talk Talk look bad and stop people switching and for those who have made the switch, trying to win them back.
It will be interesting to see what happens once Talk Talk has installed the LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) equipment in the exchange.

Emma 24 on Fri, 13th Oct 2006 8:16 am


i have been with TT 4 8 MONTHS n recently found out that i havn’t had a connection with them only via some one elses airport, they never bothered 2 tell me, it was when i was on the phone to technical support 4 3hrs (which costs 50p min) that i found out. They were takin £ out of my account but said nothing. I was told that because i had 1 of the new macs that they didn’t support them i was told to buy a airport express of £90, that still didnt work, then i was told that i needed and ethernet modem for it 2 work which was another £40, its worked fine for 2 weeks then *puff* back 2 the same problem NO CONNECTION!! Ive been offered the £ money for the modem back but i am soooo p****d off, They also blamed my phone line theyve blamed everything else ecept themselves, (FREE INTERNET!!!!! YEAH RIGHT!!!!!! IF YOU CAN USE THE BLOODY CONNECTION!!!!!!!!!

Emma 24 on Fri, 13th Oct 2006 8:40 am


for all those people who have just sighned up to tt and think that there problems are gonna get better ( I HATE BURST YOUR BUBBLE BUT THEY WON’T U WILL SPEND A SREIOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY RINGING TECHNICAL SUPPORT OR GET CUT OFF AT THE CALL CENTRE, TT CUSTOMER SERVICE ARE AS MUCH USE AS AN ASH TRAY ON A MOTOR BIKE!!!!!!!!!!!

SAM on Mon, 16th Oct 2006 6:08 am


Ihave a much the same problem as TIM Jarrett, after waiting moths to be connected to talktalk and many calls to talktalk call centre, i finally get connected and recieved modem, only to find that i need to reinstall the naffing modem i was supplied with each time i want to go on line,, Every time i reboot i loose connection…HUH|||, when i use the get connected option on the CD supplied, i get the meesage NO TALKTALK ADDRESS ON THE PHONE DIRECTORY,,,,,i hav tried for days to correct this prob , rather than contact talktalk help line we all know what that means, another bloody nightmare …..I THINK TALKTALK SHOULD SUPPLY PROZAC ALONG WITH THE PACKAGE…Here we go again folks back to talktalk call centre…..HELP||||. Sam

Jyotsna Srikanth on Tue, 17th Oct 2006 3:01 pm


I have talktalk broadband working on windows laptop. Now I have bought a Mac Pro Xeon machine with dual intel processor. Is it possible to connect talktalk to this MAC? I also have a wireless router. I am not able to get connection to the talktalk broadband support, the line gets disconnected after I am put on hold.

Scott on Tue, 17th Oct 2006 4:02 pm


Sam & others with this problem, Do you have the SmartAX MT882 modem? It sounds like the settings for modem are not being saved. The instructions sent with the modem are poor. A simple solution is to use the ethernet cable to connect the modem to your pc, then use the enclosed instruction leaflet for Mac users. I’m serious, it works! The problem and solution is described in more detail in

http://forums.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=5341&PN=1&TPN=1

Love to know if this helps people.

mark on Tue, 17th Oct 2006 7:06 pm


had 2meg with aol
talktalk 512 crap cant wait fo contract to end so i can go back to aol

mark on Tue, 17th Oct 2006 7:22 pm


i have just checked where my nearest exchange is on the web and im am less then half a mile from it . TT told me that my bb speed depends on how far i live from the exchange how can they say i to far away from it now i cant wait to change back to aol and pay 4 my bb at least i will get a better sevice from them . i sorry i left them now .througt i was getting a better deal with TT not

mark on Tue, 17th Oct 2006 7:25 pm


if ANYONE FROM TTreads this, email me at mrgillingham@aol.com

Jon on Tue, 17th Oct 2006 9:27 pm


mark… bad news… talktalk just bought aol !! LOL

mark on Wed, 18th Oct 2006 5:43 pm


no they cant do this to me noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alan on Thu, 19th Oct 2006 11:08 am


Just an update to my last post. Was having speed issues during the evening but this now seems to have resolved itself.
To be fair with TT they were taken by surprise by the number of people taking up this offer of free BB and did not have the support systems in place to make customer experience as smooth as possible.
They are working on this and things do seem to be improving. So far I have not had much trouble with my connection and it has not dropped at all. The banwidth problem I was experiencing in the evening has suddenly disapeared so I am happy for the time being.
Once the LLU is complete I hope that I will get on enjoying fast free BB. Fingers crossed that it goes smoothly.

William on Fri, 20th Oct 2006 7:45 am


Is there anyway of using Bit torrent with TT?

Thanks

William on Sat, 21st Oct 2006 10:14 pm


Any response to my note?

Thanks

Matthew on Sun, 22nd Oct 2006 7:57 pm


TT BB, indeed, doesn’t work. I am trying to figure out why so an easy question to start:
Anyone with the SmartAX modem that has Ethernet and USB connections (and has or has ever had a working connection to the ‘network’), does the ADSL LINK LED light up when the modem is hooked up to the phone line but not to the computer?
Mine has never lit up and I’m guessing (truely guessing) my exchange isn’t serving me with an ADSL, (hasn’t been unbundled..?) If that’s the case I may as well stop stressin’ with my modem and computer settings cos it’s never gonna give me any joy! I never expected TT BB to be easy – you don’t get nowt for nowt – but if I know the problem’s at the exchange I can focus my efforts trying to find out when that might be sorted…
Or I may have a funky modem that needs replacin’! My exchange is the Headingley Exchange, Leeds – maybe someone here has an ADSL (or not) from there..?

Scott on Mon, 23rd Oct 2006 4:27 pm


Matthew, I have a working SmartAX – see above. When the modem is switched on (and forgetting what other lights do) the ADSL light flashes after a few seconds then turns a solid green. I assume you’ve received a ‘broadband go-live’ date by letter? Good luck.

KRISZTINA on Wed, 25th Oct 2006 10:19 pm


hi!
tip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Anybody who is getting the blue screen of death , computer restarts by itself every 5-10 second. start computer in safe mode and remove talktalk f-secure software before it’s too late like it was for me. this talktalk software is a really pain in the a.se.Install avgfree edition antivirus .or something else.Oh… and stay well away from talktalk

Dave Barnes on Fri, 27th Oct 2006 10:24 am


Hi,

I have numerous problems with TalkTalk.
I signed up with TalkTalk for my business. They did not make me aware that they were not providing a business service. However, they were happy to take the money from my Business account and to sign me up in my Business Name.
I was told I would go live in September 2006. They cut off my existing broadband (with BT) in June 2006 with no notification to me. I spent several days trying to talk to someone to get my business up and running. This eventually happened and they sent me their equipment and devices. Since then my broadband has failed at least 6/7 times a day, I have had to reboot my machine 3/4 times a day and have spent most of my working day getting broaband to work or being on the phone trying to contact them.

This month (October 2006) I again had problems connecting and was without service for 10 days, several days of which I had no phone service either.

For the last 2 days I have had brief access to my broadband and again have no ppone service either. TalkTalk’s attitude to customer service is appalling. Their standard response is we will get around to it within 30 days as per our terms and conditions.
I am now having to look at a switch of providers that will offer a good service. Yes it will cost me more, but, quality of service will be better.

I am having very little joy in getting TalkTalk to “Talk” to me.

I shouldn’t have to reboot my machine 3/4 times a day, the line should not drop 7/8 times a day.

Their Customer Service should be Customer focussed not TalkTalk focussed.

Regards

Dave Barnes
—————————————————————–
020 8304 7979
AOL IM davetandemworld
Yahoo IM davetandemworld
MSN IM dave.barnes@tandemworld.net
dave.barnes@tandemworld.net
http://www.tandemworld.net
—————————————————————–

This communication contains information that is confidential and may also be
privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the addressee. If you have
received this communication in error, please contact us immediately and also
delete the communication from your computer. Please check attachments for
viruses: whilst precautions have been made to prevent transmission of
viruses, we are not responsible for any damage caused as a result of
contagion. This communication is provided for information purposes only and
does not form any part of a contract or agreement. The views expressed in
this communication are not necessarily those held by the company.

Simon on Sat, 28th Oct 2006 12:27 am


Awful! – took five months to get going, after many, many phone calls and current provider being switched off. Finaly, talk talk said that whoever I spoke to and gave MAC code to, had not bothered to register it on the system.

Now on about 2 weeks – I have reinstalled modem about 8 times and the service is awful. Pages may take up to 30 secs to load at times, “support” from india non existent. AVOID!! I’m going to kick up stink over the next couple of days and hope to get out!

Prio to this, I have been with them for phone for couple of years and no complaints. Broadband however, honestly more like dial up, only slower!

Tony West on Mon, 30th Oct 2006 1:26 pm


the routers are dropping because CRAP CRAP keep changing their DNS servers. THats why the router will go offline alot.

Neil Walker on Mon, 30th Oct 2006 8:32 pm


Talk Talk Disaster

No problems with landline, apart from online biling, no suprise there though.

Broadband is a disaster, actually sent MAC code 5 times, 3 e-mail, 1 letter, 1 phone call. Still no connection, September connection date, now 30th October and still no sign.

Alleged problem with MAC code! Heard that one before. I have basically been lied to by and endless stream of incompetent employees, Ritesh, Ravinder, Pradeea. All of these gave promised connection dates that have come and gone, all promised return calls that never came.

Did actually speak to an employee in UK who seemed to know what he was talking about however my trust was misplaced. He assured me that my MAC code had been accpted and our go live date would be 10 days. That was about 30 days ago now.

I have spoken to Orange and told them that I will continue to use them. May keep cheap calls with talk talk as have sister in Canada and friends in Australia & USA. Have no intention of ever connecting talk talk modem to my pc.

Mandy Claridge on Thu, 2nd Nov 2006 11:44 am


I was paying BT for my line rental, Talk Talk for my phone calls and Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange for my Broadband (broadband alone costing me £27.99 per month!)

I decided to have everything with TalkTalk for about £20 pm including free daytime calls (a good saving I thought).

However, after reading all the bad publicity about TalkTalk Broadband I haven’t actually taken the plunge yet so I’m still with Orange.

The problem is, though, since TalkTalk took over our Landline from BT my internet connection keeps dropping out!! Orange say it’s TalkTalk’s fault and TalkTalk say there’s nothing wrong with the line so contact Orange!!

I thought that nothing physically changed when TT take over the landline? Can anyone explain why I’m having this trouble when I’ve never had any trouble with my broadband connection before? Thanks.

Roy on Thu, 2nd Nov 2006 7:04 pm


Help!!

Anyone know how to connect Playstation 2 to TalkTalk using a NetGear wired modem?

ben on Tue, 7th Nov 2006 1:33 pm


Hi, the infamous talk-talk sent me a modem, but neglected to include a setup cd. Has anyone a link to dowload setup.exe?

Sid on Wed, 8th Nov 2006 6:23 pm


Hey ive had talk talk for about 4 months now and everything has been working fine i download using bitcomet (bittorrent client), play games but not whilst downloading.

Its only recently ive come across a few problems the line drops every now and then i already knew, so redial was in place to pick it back up but now it doesnt connect when it redials comes up with error message saying remote computer did not respond so now i have to unplug/replug usb lead and redial(anyone know how to fix this please let me know amn007@yahoo.com), the speeds are average to good from what ive experienced, its a shame theres a lot of people out there getting a poor service i thought the idea of free BB with phone was a great idea maybe theres hope still yet.

Wayne on Thu, 9th Nov 2006 10:38 am


Hi all,
I’ve just read with interest all the posts here. I can say i’ve had similar experiences, especially with trying to talktalk with someone from the company. No one seems to know what they are talking about. If you get connected to india or any other far off call center just hang up and try again with hopes that you’ll be connected to the UK next time. You will waste more of your precious time if you don’t. (it’s very difficult or even impossible to understand what these foreign talktalk employees are talktalking about). I could go into my long and protracted story about my farsicle setup ordeals were like (and I have had 3 now!) but i’ll only be repeating what you already know or have read here.

SOME ADVICE ON MODEMS/INSTALL CD’S…
=============================
I work as a a freelance broadband/internet support engineer and advisor so i can speak with some qualification on your connection problems.

1. Do not bother with their modem or install cd. The less connection rubbish you can put on your machine the better!

2. Buy a router, wireless or otherwise, they are becoming cheap nowadays and well worth it. They are not hard to set up, just follow the instructions. It will take you less time and hassle than the install cd that comes with the TT modem. Be a bit wary of ebay deals. pay a bit of money for a good one ie: netgear, Dlink or anything made by or branded by BT is a good chioce.

3. Your router once connected should stay connected. If it does drop the line, it will automatically re-connect for you.

AS FOR THE P2P PROBLEMS
======================
If you are using one of these programs, it could be why you are dropping your connection. If you start one of these programs (bitcomet, azureus etc) your connection will either go dead slow or even disconnect. I am looking into this area and if i come up with a solution i’ll let you know. I was using a speed touch router which seemed to work well with TT and P2P but I changed recently to a BT Voyager router in order to get more speed and use some advanced port forwarding. After this installation my P2P programs began to fail, but it could be just a coincidence. I’ll check this out and let you all know. I’ve learned that in this business there is usually a way around most things!

Wayne.

mrcoolweb on Sat, 11th Nov 2006 9:58 pm


It all comes down to money…every visitor to e.bay they get paid 2p not a lot but lets say 10000 a day at 2p.

I found a site ne21.co.uk where I got a link to another 3 service’s I pay 1p a minute for calls to the USA get free evening weekend calls in the Uk and pay 3p for unlimited time to day time numbers. Plus broadband for £8.99.

Mark on Mon, 13th Nov 2006 11:14 am


After being promised a go live date for my broadband after complaining to Charles Dunstone I finally have some sort of net connexion (Monday 13 Nov). However, although I can get a VPN connexion, I can’t get standard broadband – ARGHHHHH!!!!!

Isn’t it funny how their website doesn’t give any contact numbers? I wonder if they are overwhelmed…..

me on Mon, 13th Nov 2006 10:08 pm


Talktalk who can beat the price no one? I left BT a few months back have not regretted so far. TT broadband I play games, I download large files, speed supposedly 2mb, I don’t know who’s getting 8mb, but I would like it. Drop out yes this is a problem I hope they will fix this, cause I am getting tired of it, they say its your line or filters. I say it’s could be the amount of people switching over from other networks? Can TT take the demand? I recommend once you have connected broadband correctly, upgrading Thomson 330 drivers, this is a strange modem sometimes does not even recognises its self, when you cant get those two lights on it’s a bitch. I certainly think TT go live cd is crap and needs a revamp it does nothing for the modem to sort things out. If this happens to you and you loose connection, you may uninstall all software for modem, then when you reinstall everything it will not connect. You can Set your account up manually, by putting password in explorer, this bypasses there setup. But don’t uninstall TT assist and go. As you have to get a working connection to install it on the cd. I think its poorly organised software just cant take the demand………………

Kate on Tue, 14th Nov 2006 3:54 pm


Helllp, I am a complete non-techie that made the switch to talk talk (no I did not see the negative comments – wish I had) and I want to setup a wireless connection for both my work laptop and home laptop.

Both laptops have wifi capability but the cd said I had to insert the dongle thingy – can you do it without ???? I gave up and stuck the thing in and can get my work laptop connected and that all seems fine (although I could not save the details but think I figured that one out).

Now the problem is my home laptop – do i need to reinstall the CD ? the instructions are so vague to the likes of me, do I need another of those stick dongle things ? when I switch my laptop on it says that it can see the connection and I get a green torchy thing bottom right (which comes and goes) but then how do I get to the internet, if I type in the suggested IP address it tells me to bugger off … arghhhhh.

Their help service is dreadful, I spent about 6 hours yesterday and only got this far. I thought it was meant to be simple …

Can someone please help me ???

Thanks
Kate

Alan on Wed, 15th Nov 2006 10:19 pm


Talk Talk, avoid,
since changing address we have been lumbered with a talk talk connection. Strange things happened, E-bay is not working, neither is hotmail, why? Who knows, Talk Talk don’t want to, have tried ringing with no joy. Any ideas?
Everything was fine when we were with the phone co-op.
Alan

Tim on Sat, 18th Nov 2006 5:16 am


After TalkTalk upped my 1mbps speed last month to anywhere between 2.1 and 3.9mbps the problems really got daft,big issues with total drop out,modem not connected,invalid username etc.Had a very good 1mbps speed for a year before,using the supplied Sagem Modem.Desperation had me borrow a friends BT Voyager 105 modem and all became well again!I am convinced that upping the speed to achieve the unattainable 8mbps is the biggest mistake that TalkTalk could have ever made.The supplied modems are basically crap for working with the varied speeds that they now see fit to supply us with.Their hardware in the local exchanges after llu is in all likelyhood steam-powered and not up to the job at all.I shudder to think of the contention ratio which now must exist because of the alarming number of people still joining up with them.Anyone should seriously give the Voyager a try,it seems to act as a shunt,smoothing off all those silly peaks of speed and whilst effectively slowing my speed down to around 2 mbps,it has not faulted in several days,I can be on for hours at a time with no issues at all.Don’t bother with their customer service,just have a chat with your pet,you’ll get a more honest response.

Scotty on Fri, 24th Nov 2006 5:30 pm


I used to have a lot connection drops but read that a lot of people have been having problems with non talktalk routers. So I bought one and it works fine now. I also play Americas Army and Bettlefield 2142 without problems.

Plus nowadays if your gonna download stuff use BitTorrent and if you use a client such Azureus or BitComet you can enable transport encryption which helps.

Anand on Mon, 27th Nov 2006 4:40 pm


Hi,

I just registered with Talktalk. I am on the 20.99 package. I’m supposed to get unlimited usage of internet and free phone calls to landline and a few international countries. I just read about all the complaints on TT. I just use the net for surfing and email and things like youtube.
After reading most of the posts i feel that i should cancel my contract with talktalk as i have upto 21 days to cancel for free after which i am bound to the contract.

Can anyone help me? Should i continue with them ..or should i cancel while i have a chance? If i cancel which ISP should i turn to?? it is very difficult to decide as im not to knowledgable on this matter.

Peter Weatherstone on Thu, 30th Nov 2006 8:42 pm


Hello There !

Well in the light of all, this page seems to be the biggest load of rants ever in history !
And yes unfortunatly i have brought both good and bad news here..

BB = LOTS OF PROBLEMS
Phone service = Absolutly fab !

Ok my mum, big brother, little brother, father and me can now call most of the world for extremly little ! which is excellent !

This is where my problem begins:

Broadband
Took me over 5 months to disconnect from AOL and onto Talk talk (Remembering this was before talktalk took over AOL in the first place)
AOL before talktalk took em over – Games and pings and download speeds, The best ever even at 2mb … !
Talktalk
Supposidly 8mb, But for some reason they put me on 2mb, (EVEN THOUGH MY EXCHANGE IN AMBLE IS 8MB READY !) plus im sure one of thier reps even stated that they had their equipment in the exchnage but are not putting me onto and through this yet , so exactly what was the point !
I HAVE NEVER ! EVER! hit a download speed of more than 14kb/s in the past 3 times of writing this………. That for those who don’t know is comparitivly WORSE than dial-up !

And for some reason many many of the reps i have wiated 20 mins to connect and talk to always say the same newbie thing, of, make sure your firewall is switched off first, restart your computer, blah blah, i tell them everytime, i know for a FACT its not my equipment that is at fault. I have checked even my router i use and EVEN the provided talktalk modem, to see if theres any change. Guess what there isn’t… still 14kb/s downstream….
Going through my own processes for a fact are ok, because a) why havn’t i had problems since 2000 since Getting broadband ! and again, using the SAME equipment over those years no problems……….

Really you need to get something done, this fustration and problems can actually be sought legally….which im sure you don’t really want..

The solution to the problem ! Simple:

Flip me onto the 8mb
I can use the new router that i have and waiting
That way im not bogged down behind all the users on my line… and my local exchange……..

even still paying 10 pound a month i don’t care, as long as im back up and running, can play my online games for the pc and xbox and have super fast download speeds as advertised…

otherwise i can safely say due to fustration caused by talktalk i can withdraw from the contract…..

that or i stay with you for my phone, and disconnect and find another provider for the internet…. as the contract i think only applies to the phone line with the broadband optional if im not mistaken…….

problem problem problems, the world is never without them yes, but at the moment, im coming to point of collapsing under pressure, i have many exams coming up shortly, assignments for a-levels to be handed in, part-time work and xmas and the last thing i need is talktalk or anyone else winding me up ! Please for the love of whatever god you all beleive in, HELP ME OUT !

Markie on Sat, 9th Dec 2006 3:05 pm


Guys,

Just like 99% of all other adviser on here, I agree, DO NOT JOIN TT. They are dreadful (I won’t waste your time with the reasons, suffice to say, the package just don’t deliver). Now my question, I’m gonna take the £70 cancellation hit – anyone any idea how I actually go about cancelling by BB with TT Do I have to cancel my landline too and move back to BT before I can go to another ISP … ur help is much appreciated.

Markie

Karl Edlin on Tue, 19th Dec 2006 2:52 pm


I seem to be another person caught up in the lies of talk talk customer service. I have even been lied to by second line (rate) support. I signed up on 19-9-06 and have still got no service. My first “go live date” was end of October. This came and passed with the promise of the 28th November after spending hours talking to customer service and not recieving ring backs I am still no futher forward. I have never dealt with such a poor company and would advise all to avoid. I have resigned myself to a £70 bill and further delays on try to migrate to a reel IP not a cash con.

Mark Dobson on Thu, 21st Dec 2006 10:23 pm


Oh the saga continues, I am one of the unfortuante ones that have continued dropping connections with my wireless router (D-link & Netgear had to upgrade to adsl2+) and talk talk 2nd call back engineer had called me back today advising me to try my wireless router from the main bt socket and has logged a third call back!
I tried this and low and behold——dropped internet connections! – I even went to the effort of actually sitting at the side of the router and timing the steady light to blinking light – 27 seconds every time.
At the moment I am using the ’speed’ touch modem and waiting for that to drop out.
The guy who called me seems to think that when they did the LLU on some exchanges they cannot handle the speed!! so I guese I will have to put up with this and my daughter will have to go without her piggyback ride from her room to the wireless router for now..HO HO HO! Merry bluming christmas. NOT

kal samra on Tue, 2nd Jan 2007 4:24 pm


I am totally flabbergasted at the comments I have read about Talk Talk, I am currently on the talk2 plan and just bought a pc and currently set up a debit for £6.99 for support as I am a total novice and acquired the pc for kids for research on the internet, ebay, e-mail etc etc, as thought it was about time I dragged myself into the 21st century.
The delemma is this. I have a PC BOXED UP paid for, with direct debits for backup support but in light of the nightmare stories about TT, do I committ myself to TT BB and sign my life away or close my eyes, pray and risk it. I do not have a current internet provider so there is no issue of transfer or should I go to carphone warehouse to set up the talk 3 plan or are they just sales people who will want me to sign up. The only reason I am considering TT is because of the cost. Help someone please give me simple straight forward impartial advice, what’s the alternative????

John Burns on Wed, 3rd Jan 2007 9:09 pm


Found this petition for all of us disgruntled TT customers to sign, worth a try, what have we got to lose, apart from our fredom to surf.

http://www.petitiononline.com/tthell/petition.html

John Black on Wed, 3rd Jan 2007 10:07 pm


All i can say is other than the lack of 8mb connection speed ( 2.2 in my case ) and the extra tenner a month it costs me, non llu exchange, tt has worked perfectly on my somewhat elderly pc ( 1600 duron, K7S5A motherboard for 18 months now )

Jackie Smith on Fri, 5th Jan 2007 1:28 pm


Hey guys had so much trouble with TT, no proper service for a few months as broadband connection kept dropping out. Was unable to connect for more than 4 mins. Tried customer support and they were crap, same diagnostics, no results and that is when I managed to get through without being cut off. So I emailed Charles Dunstone at DunstoC@cpwplc.com. After receiving an automated reply, I then received a call from TT Customer Liaison and then from 3rd line technical support. Within 48hrs my broadband connection was fixed, fast and stable. They even phoned back and apologised as the fault was due to a low decibel reading on the line which was unable to connect to my modem. Had this fault been investigated properly at the outset, and I always suspect the fault was at their end, I needn’t have been without my broadband for so long, and certainly not been without it over Xmas. I must comment that once they got on the case, the fault was fixed promptly and they were very apologetic. I could not and will not ever bring myself to talk to their customer services again, neither am I prepared to part with any more of my hard earned pennies.

Kieran Devlin on Sat, 6th Jan 2007 2:25 pm


Recently ive tried to go get onto xbox live on my new xbox 360. The first time it worked and i could buy stuff and go onto multiplayer games. Next time it only half worked as i could buy things on marketplace and not go onto multiplayer games! Now all i get at the test Xbox live connection screen is NAT Strict and ICMP seems to take ages to get confirmed. Im not even going to bother phoning TT because they will just say xbox live isn’t their problem although it says you can use their connection for xbox live on the TT site. The Landline service is actually great as they set it up right away when we had AOL broadband a few years ago then we decided to get the TT broadband and their Talk 3 phone service when the AOL ran out. BTW, AOL is in fact worse compared to TT they have ultra crap speeds, then at random times boosted speeds, their customer services suck because all they wanted to do was get me to stay with AOL and not give me the MAC code. TT wanted my Mac code so we gave them it, then again, then they said the modem was coming but we didn’t get it ever and still havnt. The only reason ive got a TT modem is because my mobile broke and I took it to the Carphone warehouse near me which happens to be the repair centre for Glasgow. They fixed it and i picked it up the next day, they paid on the insurance no problems. I was talking to the guy and he happened to have a modem someone returned so i guess you should all go and complain directly to your a Carphone warehouse shop in case theres any return modems or you might be returning a modem and then you can get a chance to complain at them anyway.

Kieran Devlin on Sat, 6th Jan 2007 2:38 pm


I hear about these problems with gaming on pcs in fact ive never had an problems with talk talk for online multiplayer. I admit the connection is slow when i use p2p or bittorent and gaming at the same time but it dosnt bother me. I generally don’t use P2P as much as the old AOL connection i had because of the 40gb download limit but heck i only have 50 gb free from all the games and movies i have on my pc. Currently i have internet explorer 6 installed and Mozilla Firefox 2. Internet explorer 6 is needed for some reason so that the TT assist and go will work because i had tried internet explorer 7 only to get a cannot find skin error on connect and go. Anyway just uninstall every modem driver and reset your network connections to default then install the TT Broadband again with the setup cd and use the USB as it is recognized straight away due to plug and play. Sure the TT virus protection is only 90 trial but thats your problem they give you a chance to buy their anti virus.

PS. The Ethernet connection is faster than the usb but it sometimes dosnt setup for me and i need the Ethernet port on my pc to connect the Xbox 360 to it.

CLARE PRINCE on Fri, 12th Jan 2007 2:10 pm


PROBLEMS WITH TALK TALK NOW SORTED 10mbps BROARDBAND.

I complained contantly and got them to send me another modem. They sent a SmartAX MT882 and it works perfectly as I said before 10mbps.

Still can’[t use xbox live though cos the NAT settings are strict but I am working on a way to bypass that. Apparently you can alter the NAT settings on the IP address, so when my guy gets back to me with how I will let everyone know.

email addy is white_chocolate_buttons@msn.com if anyone needs anymore info

Mark Dobson on Thu, 18th Jan 2007 9:13 am


Unfortunately for TALKTALK I have now gone back to BT after waiting a month with false promises to fix my broadband connection, which for all who have been reading the past tales of woe kept dropping at a faster rate than Sadam and his Cronies!! and had a slower download speed than a 14k modem!
The advisor at talk talk told me that he would waiver the £70 get out fee as they had not fullfilled their part of the contract so d/d now stopped and we shall see if this does not end up as a watchdog fiasco.

chaz on Mon, 5th Feb 2007 12:44 am


Keep reading this stuff and thanking my lucky stars! I’ve been with Bt for many years and although a reliable service it was expensive. Then Talk Talk came on teh scene and blew a hole in the market and now-hey we have deals galore from many other ISP! Thank You talk talk. I signed up with them 5 months ago, had a few issues but all I know is that I get on broadband 24/7 and its faster than BT in my area. Oh…I don’t fork out £24 quid for it either!!!!!

Customer service leaves a lot to be desired, but its a cheap service and cheap is cheap…don’t expect gold plated for little money!

I’m a small business and in computers, few complaints from me. If you’re internet connection is “mission critical” pay the lolly and go BT. If not stop moaning!

Cheers
Chaz

slmgbr on Mon, 12th Feb 2007 7:15 pm


I have just got free broadband from talktalk. I can say that the service went live in around three weeks and that was good. But the downside was that my old service was disconnected before I received my setup CD and Modem. IN the end I had to ring TalkTalk and get the technical department to talk me through the setup and logon codes. The service has been quite good and quite fast (5.5 Mbps) and I have only had one loss of service for about a minute so far. I am using my old speedtouch330 and it works fine so it was not necessary to spend £30 on a new one from TT. By the way I am still waiting for the TT Modem to arrive so that I can send it bacK!

Hugh on Wed, 14th Feb 2007 6:35 pm


Nothing but problems for me, we ordered on the 3rd of december activation happened on the 14th of feburary still no introduction kit.

So with a bit of luck oneof our friends had a talk talk kit spare after her transformer had blown on teh first one and we set about installing it.

We replaced the transformer pretty easily and setup the router manually never trusting the talk talk cd.

After installation we where on the net browsing fine except:

NO pages on a ssl conenction will load
NO secure email transactions to our email provider on our website will work
MSN only connects through port 80

Ftp does work! WOW OMG

So ports 25,110 REQUIRED for secure internet transactions nothing to do with p2p are blocked for me.

I think ill try gaming next, then maybe we can all have a lovelly flood of letters to talk talk complaining that there service does not cover the basic requirements of what a Internet Service provider should be giving.

Anyway I am going back home where I have ntl who have given me the best service I have ever had next to pipex.

Winners for service for me are:
Cable: NTL
ADSL: Pipex

SharX on Wed, 14th Feb 2007 9:55 pm


hey everyone, can sum1 please help?
i am using telewest broadband, if i change to BT how long do i have to stay with BT b4 moving to talk talk if i wanted to change?
because i need a line connection from BT
or am i missing somthing?

Ahmad on Thu, 15th Feb 2007 12:42 am


Talk Talk Thanks for suprises!!!!!!

Surprise 1:

I ordered the TT on 1st nov 2006 and was promised that my bb will be started by 6 dec. Fair enough, phone line was taken over within three week as they promised, no problem, but there was no sign of bb even after 6 dec. I called there customer serv every week since and begged for it. they always promised me for it but every time they told me different and new stories. Like the last time (4th feb) an Indian lady from cs told me that I was in the queue for the bb. At that very moment I lost me temper and i asked her if i was still in the queue then why they gave me the date of 6th dec for? she couldnt answer it.

Surprise 2:

Then after two days I had a welcome letter for boradband. Hurraaaaay. They promised they would send me modem and my going live date was 14 feb. I waited for every day for that date. The day finally arrived but no sign of modem!!!.
Eventually I dug out an old modem from my attic and managed to get online.

Surprise 3:

Managed to get online at last!! started bittorrent and got another suprise. no connection to any p2p program!!! I thought I did not install my modem properly but on google I managed to read about the people who are facing same problem as TT simply does not allow it! I felt just like a damn fool. To save a few quids I joined TT, waited and begged for bb for nearly three months then came to know this damn service is no good for me.

I am digging out £70 from my wallet to end this whole bullshit.

tim on Thu, 15th Feb 2007 2:05 pm


Went to carphone whorehouse in December, phone moved, BB started two days before the go live date- configed Linksys router, not droped so much as a packet since, VPN works fine. Got Linux, Mac, Sun Sparc’s all working no problems, I asked the guys in the shop why it was so so much cheaper than anyone else and they honestly said it was because they had crap customer service with few staff to keep the bills down. BT\Telewest\Tiscalli etc told me I was impossible to provide BB to my address, BT quoted £23K for me to have the street recabled. Everything is on the website, P2P, traffic port blocking “fair usesage” etc What other contracts do you sign up for without understanding??

Gerry on Sun, 18th Feb 2007 5:10 pm


For me TT is the best thing since sliced bead.Signed up in thr first few days, had my phone switched in under 2 weeks, internet in about a month . Less speed than the £30 a month service I was using but that had been becoming unreliable anyway. TT said I would be unbundled in December and I was sent a date . 3 days before I found I was already running 3 times faster than before at nearly 3Mbits, I live a mile and a bit from the exchange. My telephone didnt ring properly and my caller display was no go. The phone customer services said someone had jumped the gun and changed me over early but they would sort it out. 10 days later I was informed that all was now well, and it is. I make a few calls overseas to my daughter and I find I am spending around £25 for phone and net a massive £35 a month saving over my previous service providers. Well done TT.

Adrian Rowley on Mon, 26th Feb 2007 8:52 am


Well, all problems now fixed, short a single day without the phone, which was the BT line’s fault.
Saving approx £18 per month thanks to talk talk , so not all bad.
Credit where its due

Steve C on Thu, 1st Mar 2007 11:17 pm


Hi, talk talk not what I expected, the web seems to work ok, but I use ebay a lot and my email is with orange (tt’s will not work), I have problems logging on to both these sites, ebay will open but will not go to the my ebay signing in screen same problem with orange email, the orange home page opens but when I put my email address and password in nothing happens. Any advice would be welcome. Only 8 months to go before my contract is up, will not be renewing.
Steve.

Martin on Fri, 2nd Mar 2007 3:45 pm


I have ordered Talk talk today and I hope it isn’t as bad as you lot say, I am only getting it for the XBOX 360 games so lets hope and see!

Plus any contract within the UK and you have 14day cancellation period which you are entitled to. You could argue as I did with Sky that this 14 days starts from the day your connection starts…

30 day trial
We’re so confident that you’ll love our broadband that we’re giving you a 30 day trial. Once your broadband has gone live, if you’re not happy, simply cancel the service within 30 days and you won’t incur the disconnection fee. Please note, charges for your call plan, line rental and modem supplied prior to disconnection will still apply.

What is TalkTalk fair usage?
Our fair use policy is designed to ensure your service is fast and reliable 24 hours a day. A very small number of customers use file-sharing software (commonly known as “peer to peer” or P2P) or other applications, which constantly send and receive video and other very large files.

This type of activity uses a huge amount of bandwidth and can significantly reduce the speed at which our other customers can access the Internet, especially at peak times

Our fair use policy restricts this high bandwidth activity in peak hours to allow the majority of customers to use their broadband connection for normal residential usage (I.e: surfing, e-mail, online gaming etc). This allows us to give you a high quality service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

mak on Sun, 4th Mar 2007 9:16 am


signed up in April 2006 for telephone and free bb.
was promised bb connection by july 2006.
finally connected today (3rd march 2007) – after months of complaining, my e-mails ignored, etc.
hoping for some compensation?
dreading the tt bb service now, (after reading all the bad press about tt) – was previously with BT.
i fear i have made the wrong move in switching from BT?!!

james on Sun, 4th Mar 2007 12:52 pm


well im going to take up the 30 day free trial offer and see if there as bad as most people on here say they are !

if you cancel within the 30 days you dont have pay a £70 dissconection fee which is much better than taking the 18 month minimum contract then being stuck !

so i will repost before the 30 day trial ends and let you all know how its going at the minute i go live on the 8th april o7 so only 3 weeks away which isnt that bad at all !

Steve on Wed, 7th Mar 2007 11:05 am


*** the orange home page opens but when I put my email address and password in nothing happens. ***

I would suggest that the problem is with the Orange website, not the TT connection. If you are using IE7 then it might be a problem with that. Orange email often will not let me log in; its a problem with their site.

aaron hetfield on Thu, 8th Mar 2007 3:02 pm


1. Steve C Says: March 1st, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Hi, talk talk not what I expected, the web seems to work ok, but I use ebay a lot and my email is with orange (tt’s will not work), I have problems logging on to ….

Hi Steve,

Sorry to hear about the problems. A couple of things occurred to me while reading your post:

There are a number of things that might be causing this issue, some ideas include:

1) A secure site issue relating to your Internet Explorer browser. Does this affect all secure sites or only Ebay?

2) An MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) issue with your modem/router. What this means is your computer might be sending higher packets of information than the network can cope with. As a general rule, lowering your speed to, say, 1400 should help, although if your exchange has been unbundled (and TalkTalk have their own equipment installed) a speed of 1432 is good.

Have you spoken to TalkTalk’s second-line support yet? They will be able to provide more specific information, because they have all your details on file. If you are still struggling, let me know and I’ll do my best to help.

TalkTalk’s website contains a ‘help’ section, which may also be useful:

http://www.talktalk.co.uk/talktalk/servlet/gben-server-PageServer?article=MAIN.UK.TALKTALK.STATIC.HELP.HSHUB

Regards, Bokanovsky

jblondie19 on Wed, 21st Mar 2007 12:00 pm


HEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPPPP ! Total blonde in need of help ! My go live date was yesterday with Talk Talk and i spent time last night (alright 4 hours) trying to set up my Netgear DG834PN. I am getting very confused with what i should be setting up first (which disk hmmm talk talk or Net gear). It appears in some of these postings that people do not recommend using the talk talk disk at all. Sooooo what the hell am i doing ? All of the technical information is very confusing to me and i would appreciate any advise in BLONDE if possible. I appear to be driving myself mad with all of this now and the more i read the more i feel i should just cancel the service NOW (before i’ve even been able to connect). Alot of other people are reporting a conflict between the DG834PN and talk talk but i’m not sure what to put the problem down to. I’m probably the problem as i don’t have a clue what to do !

Thanks for any help you can give me. (Should i just be calling in the professionals to do this for me or can i prove to myself that i’m not useless) lol

derrick on Wed, 21st Mar 2007 10:15 pm


graham Says:
July 26th, 2006 at 5:05 pm graham try AVG 7.5 it is an antivirus software free download you can go on COMPUTER ACTIVE website type in computer active.it is one of the most used it also scans your e-mails have used it for 5 years.when u get on computer active click on downloads. enjoy derrick.

bokanovsky on Tue, 27th Mar 2007 2:34 pm


Hi Blondie, are you still experiencing set-up issues?

If so, let me know and I will look in to it. remember, any info you have will help. don’t panic! it’s not as daunting as it all seems.

regards, Bokanovsky

Chris on Sun, 8th Apr 2007 8:36 pm


hi everyone, particularly any techy people….

Have had talktalk for about 6 months, and had nothing but reliable speedy broadband. However, I had a letter from them recently saying something about them upgrading my local exchange (Basildon, Essex), I should have kept the letter but didn’t. That was about 3 weeks ago, and I’ve now had absolutely cruddy broadband that, if it works, is too slow to use. It routinely shuts down as well.

Technical support (ha!) said that there was maintanence going on and all will be ok within 2 days, that was a week ago and I get the same answer everytime I call up.

I’ve heard about all this MTU stuff but I’m not sure how to do it. Is it a problem with the exchange or something else?

Anyone who can help will be my friend for life :-) otherwise I’ll cancel my contract stating that they can’t provide the service therefore I’m moving and hope for the best. I only got it to play online as well…

Cheers all, happy easter

Chris

I dont want to give my name :P on Fri, 13th Apr 2007 12:31 pm


Well… if you have World of Warcraft the game

then you might as well quit it becuase talktalk doesnt even let you connect to the game

i used to get loads of Lag when i had BT but that was my pc’s fault but now i ave talk talk i cant even play and my parents pay 8:99 every month!

I am really annoyed :(

Nikki on Wed, 18th Apr 2007 10:02 am


Can anyone help?

I have signed up to TT 3 and thankfully I finally am told my broadband is now live. However I have my own Speedtouch modem with updated drivers for Windows Vista and I still don’t seem to be able to get connected.

I have called TT and they say that Speedtouch will not work! Would I like them to send me a modem!! No, I wouldn’t, I have a modem! They now say I need a smartax router MP882 which I have not been able to find any information about. Has anyone heard of one of these and do I really need it? If so where do I get it?

Does anyone have any advice, ideas or can help in getting connected to my broadband using Windows Vista and the speedtouch 330 ADSL modem with the updated drivers installed.

So appreciated!

GENERAL UNDERPANTS on Thu, 19th Apr 2007 10:28 am


I WAS RECENTLY UPGRADED TO 8MB (LLU) TALK TALK BROADBAND,HAD A STABLE CONNECTION BEFORE UPGRADE,AFTER UPGRADE IT WAS TOTTALY UNRELIABLE,AFTER TALKING TO SOMEONE IN DELHI AND BEING TOLD THAT THE SERVICE WOULD SETTLE IN A COUPLE OF DAYS, AND THAT THE EXCHANGE WAS PINGING MY PC TO SEE WHAT THE BEST SPEED WAS FOR MY PC I DECIDED TO WAIT A WEEK.THIS DIDNT CHANGE MY SITUATION ONE BIT.MADE NUMEROUS CALLS TO TT HELPLINE AND GOT A DIFFERENT RESPONSE EVERY TIME.EVENTUALLY EMAILED CHARLES DUNSTONE ON dunstonec@cpw.co.uk AND RECEIVED A CALL FROM SOMEONE CALLED CHRIS ( HAVE HIS PHONE NUMBER BUT CANT GIVE IT OUT ) HE ARRANGED FOR A NEW MODEM TO BE SENT OUT AND ONCE THIS ARRIVED HE PHONED ME AGAIN TO SET IT UP,THEN HE ALTERED MY PROFILE AT THERE END UNTIL I GOT A DECENT SPEED AND SOUN TO NOISE RATIO.I NOW HAVE A GOOD SPEED AND RELIABLE CONNECTION SO I SUGGEST YOU DROP CHARLES DUNSTONE AN EMAIL TO GET THINGS GOING!!!!!!!!!

chris coleman on Thu, 19th Apr 2007 9:50 pm


I applied to go over to talk talk at the beginning of January this year.
After endless delays I have just been informed that it will not be before 23 May (nearly 5 Months) before I get the Broadband service. Customer service I am sorry to say has been almost non existent. There seems to be a minimum waiting time of 20 minutes before you can speak to a live voice somewhere in India. Also I have just leaned that I have been charged for the time I have hung on the phone trying to open the account. I am sorry I even thought of going over to them. My present supplier is onetel who have just been bought out by talktalk. Enough is enough. I am cancelling my account and transferring to BT whose customer service do at least understand my English. My phone line and Broadband connection is too important to give over to this shower.

Dan Porter on Fri, 27th Apr 2007 8:48 pm


Has anyone resolved the issue in getting messenger or gmail to work ?

Am seriously getting annoyed with this now. have only had it 2 days and if i cant get on msn tomorrow im going to cancel it and tell them to shove it

Fanny Snaith on Mon, 30th Apr 2007 12:45 pm


Has anyone encountered this? BB connection ok, most of the time. But the phone is v. strange. After 5pm at night, it takes 3-4 seconds to get a dial tone. Then, the line is so bad that it is impossible to hear the person at the other end. They can hear me absolutely fine. TT are baffled – it is definately their line and not my equipment. Their service is terrible – any body got any ideas as to how I can solve this?

talktalk - JUST SAY NO!!!! on Mon, 7th May 2007 4:01 pm


WHAT EVER YOU DO, DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO GET TALKTALK BROADBAND.

It is rediculously, unusably SLOW. It is impossible for browsing, some pages taking 20 minutes or more to open (i’m talking BASIC pages like the news.) some pages do not even open at all.

If you call the customer service to enquire or try to get compensated, or even to try to find out what on earth is going on – you will be passed around, cut off, put on hold for very long periods, told different answers ro the same questions.

Talk talk truly is rubbush – a waste of time, a waste of money – pay that little bit extra and get a proper service – i.e. one that works, you have been warned.

Trevor Scott on Mon, 14th May 2007 1:52 pm


OMG !! I got talk talk and waited for about 3 – 4 weeks for it to connect. I couldn’t wait to spend hours on world of warcraft on my day off. To my horror it keeps disconecting me and i spent hours trying to sort out firewall instead of enjoying their service. please plaese join bt and eenjoy good custumer service and WOW. I hate talk talk. I want to talk to a suport techh that speaks my language :/

Trevor Scott on Tue, 15th May 2007 5:28 pm


Trying to open msn to read my emails….20 minutes later….still waiting. Talk Talk havent a clue really. I want a good broadband package…not a frustration package

Colin L on Tue, 15th May 2007 7:28 pm


I have just changed over to the LLU after being on since April 19th and although broadband drops now and again overall I’m actually getting higher speeds than I did with BT. I’m still using my own Router as well (guess I’ll send theirs back once it arrives) One issue I am finding since the LLU change is that my phone line dies every now and again suits me but not the wife :) also we pay for caller display but it only works when it wants to. Anyone know if this is a coomon fault or should I give it a few weeks to allow the LLU settings to settle?

Andy Overton on Thu, 17th May 2007 6:48 pm


Just avoid TT. I rang within the 10 day cooling off period to cancel my upgrade from Talk 1 to Talk 3 and moem. I was assured it had been done. A fortnight later I get the modem and set up CD. On ringing up to find out what is going on find out there is ‘no record’ of my cancellation. Now I’m stuck with a modem I don’t want and a £30 bill. I try to cancel within the 30 day period and go back to Talk 1 but get passed around the whole of the Indian Subcontinent to try and resolve the problem (I actually tried to set everything up just to see but I can’t get it to connect to the network). I just want to cancel so am assured this will be done. Like the 10 day cancellation? Do I believe them? I’ve rung BT to switch to them ASAP to get out of TT before the 30 days expires. What a bunch of incompetents- DO NOT SWITCH TO TT’S BROADBAND.

Jonathan Teoh on Sun, 20th May 2007 9:46 pm


I’ve been with the TalkTalk free broad band 8mb connection with almost a year now.

It started off alright , but slowly but sure devolved into horrible speeds.

Sometimes you have good days , sometimes you have bad days.
Nowadays I seem to have alot of really bad days.

Evenings are usually when the connection drop to appauling speeds.

Generally the more it went on , the worse it has got.
This month I’ve been having horrible speeds alot of the time.

I’m disgusted to find the results of doing connection speed tests , end up with coming back with returns of less than 56k at certain times. ( basically alot of times you’re reduced to speeds that rival dial-up in terms of slowness )

The connection itself drops out way too often, reconnecting sometimes restores a higher speed …. but not all the time …. and definitely not for long …..
d can be at times ….
well I guess you get what you pay for ….. it’s sickening how slow this broadband can be at times ……. I don’t know if it’s because alot of people have the package and that’s what’s slowing it down ….. well one things for sure , I’m getting rid of it when the contracts up …..

It’s sad though , the speeds were quite good at the start , but lately in the la st few months , it’s been really sluggish for alot of the time ….. I definitely don’t reccomend this package if you’re going to use the internet for more than just browsing …..

Although when it’s working good , it’s fine ….. but when it’s not working bad …. it’s very, very bad ……. and it’s been quite bad for me lately …..

I defeinitely don’

Nin on Wed, 23rd May 2007 3:07 pm


I’ve so far read reviews on every single broadband provider and they all seem to come across exactly the same problems. This is simply because people only look to come online and complain about poor service rather than good service (until it’s too late and they’ve already switched provider and realised they shouldn’t have!).

I’m interested in TalkTalks product and I will probably take it up, I don’t expect it to happen without any problems but if it does….bonus!

jenny on Mon, 28th May 2007 8:42 pm


Hi. I switched from BT to Talk Talk last October. I am still waiting for ANY Broadband service at all. They did manage to connect my phone line in February only to disconnect it in March. After 30+ phone calls I eventually got a call at work from a BT engineer stood outside my home, saying he’d come to fix it. They have rude nad uncaring. I have never been so angry in my life at their cavalier treatement. We pay by direct debit for a service that does not exist and are told we cannot cancel without them credit blacklisting us. Ofcom have been brilliant and we have also now taken legal advice against the,. I can only say that if you are thinking of joining talk talk, then see a doctor – there is something worng with you. We doubt the service advertised even exists.

Robert Gay on Thu, 31st May 2007 7:06 am


Signed up for Talk Talk3 and free broadband in early March 2007. Price was supposed to be 19.99 according to there website. However my area in Fife is not covered by them so they said that I would need to pay another 10pounds per month for the broadband. Signed up for that, but the contract that I signed in the carphone warehouse doesn’t state that any additional money is for the broadband…I should have backed out there and then.
We were supposed to be live with broadband on 5th April. On 18th April we called them to find out why we hadn’t yet been connected. tehy said that the connection was refused by BT due to markers on our phone line. This was then supposedly sorted after saveral calls to BT and Talk Talk. and our broadband would be up and running in 10-14 days.
2 weeks later we received a letter from Talk Talk asking for a MAC number so that they can put broadband on our phone. We didn’t have a MAC number as we have never had broadband in our house before. A person in Talk TAlk checked our line and insisted that there was ADSL coming down our phone line already and he gave us a BT number to call to find who put this on our line. Called the BT number to discover that it was Talk Talk broadband that was already on our line as of 27th March 2007.
So the upshot is Talk Talk block your line then give you the runaround to get a MAC number etc…every time yiuy think that it is sorted it takes another 10-14 days to discover that there is anothet problem.
Here I am now on 31st May been paying for broadband now for 2 months and Talk Talk still cannot get me connected up. I have spant about 8 hours on the phone to Talk Talk and BT to try to sort out problems that Talk Talk made.
I now wish that I had listened to friends or browsed the net for comments on Talk Talk before signing up for anything. It looks like a very badly run company taht is very quick to get you to sign up to an 18 month contract and take your money every month for a service that they are not providing to you. I am pretty sure that what they are doing is also boardering on illegal.

Elaine on Sat, 2nd Jun 2007 4:03 pm


I have just joined TT (8mbs), and after a few delays and several phone calls to both previous ISP and TT I finally had a connection (I was still using old modem). I had no problems at all until the installation package and the new modem finally arrived. As soon as I connected to the TT modem (SmartAX MT882) my problems began – the connection would drop, the download speeds were slow (although the connection icon in the task bar was telling me I had a speed of not 8 but 10mbs), pages wouldn’t load up properly or not at all. Even more annoyingly it seemed to affect general usage of my pc, making it very slow and not opening programmes at all. as soon as I switched back to my old modem and got rid of all traces on PC of the TT modem everything seems to have gone back to normal – download speeds are good, pages load up fast and properly and my pc seems to be functioning again properly. So, I don’t understand why or how but I would recommend not using any modem that TT have provided .

Pervo on Thu, 14th Jun 2007 2:51 pm


Firtly TalkTalks DNS servers are shit, the speeds suck and it’s better to change your router and/or pcs to use http://www.opendns.com/ as your DNS which will speed it up. Secondly if your wanting to download stuff use Torrents with Azureus as your client and turn on Transport Encrption in the setting with all options and it works a charm. Do make sure you use Private Trackers as the publics ones suck for speed. Of course make sure it’s all legal stuff you download :p

sandra on Tue, 26th Jun 2007 2:46 pm


I was so happy to find all your comments about talktalk, in an ironic sort of way! I have recently signed up after having BT PAYGo. I am having lots of teething problems – the first was the modem they sent me not working so I spent about 4hours trying to set up because I thought I must be doing something wrong. Then a long phone call (goodness knows how much that cost me)to discover they had to send me a new modem so I was without any internet access for over a week (reading all your comments I can see I may have got off lightly!!)

PLEASE can anyone help with my curren problem. My phones, the main one and the extension will not ring. I only know if someone is calling once my asnwerphone clicks in and I start to hear my welcoming message. I have tried lot of different combinations with the microfilters and not plugging anything into the main socket except my phone and modem but it still doesn’t ring. The line has been checked so this isn’t the problem. I also have sky TV but I had sky,and an extension plugged into this phone socket prior to the broadband with no prolems. Any ideas as to what may be happening and what I can do to sort it. Thanks Sandra

stungbytalktalk on Thu, 12th Jul 2007 1:59 am


hahahahaha!
I could not help me laughing when I red most of the comments on this page. I realized most of the people have the negative feedbacks for the service. and I am laughing becuase I have subscribed to talktalk, recieved a false promise for BB activiation date. Phoned them to ask not to send modem as I already have one. They ignored my £3 phone call and sent me one anyway. When I wanted to return it I was told to get return number before sending the modem back. I spent another £9 on phone calls (some 0845 number) and listened to their crap music on the phone line but nobody picked up that phone over 7 days. Called CS again. Told indian lady the problem she said no problem and said she would give me another phone number and gave me the same one I was already dialing. Told her its same she said no its not! hahahaha I insisted and she said try phone number again. I tried again wasted my precious money still no answer. I gave up and accepted modem as my fate. 2 months after the “BB activation” date, I phoned again and made them realize I am going to die without BB. They asked me to wait another week. after another “three” weeks at last my BB was working. and now I find out they have blocked p2p. no Torrents! hahahahahhaha
and I dont have £70 to get out
hahahhahahah

Joe on Sat, 14th Jul 2007 12:01 am


I moved from Onetel to Talk Talk (Same Company) to save a few pounds. Bad move. It took 3 months longer to connect broadband than the phone line, so I had to maintain my Onetel account and was effectively double charged for the period. Complained to both companies about this but got no resolution.

Then I found out that the free broad band is not free in my area, £10 pm extra for none LLU exchange.

Since getting a connection in April, my line speed has decreased steadily. Never got past 1500 Mbs, and frequently 100 Mbs or less, or 1.2% of the ‘up to’ 8mb broadband I am paying for. I never had any performance issues with Onetel.

I rang to complain last night. Their broadband support gave me another number to ring to reconfigure my line. This had a recorded message telling me to call the number I originally dialled. I phoned them back and they gave me a website address to test my line speed (which was an ad only site). When I told them I had my speed already, the said to try it at different times over a number of days.

I’ve finally realised it’s not just incompetance, they really are taking the p***.
I phoned them today and demanded (and got!) a MAC number.
I have absolutely no intention of paying any early termination fee.

Jack The Lad on Thu, 26th Jul 2007 9:36 am


Joe, appreciate who you called for the MAC number as every call I have made has resulted in some far flung call centre consisting of non listening, non understanding individuals.
My general experience with TT is ok… until I wanted to change my web site, then appalled. I cannot upload my files to my web space, it seems that P2P is blocked, not restricted or throttled, but blocked.
I’ve been in touch with my local trading standards and oftel and they both say this is very sharp practise.

Mike10613 on Tue, 7th Aug 2007 1:50 pm


If you have a problem with TalkTalk phone them and try to get the right department. For technical issues – like setting up the modem. Ask for Technical support. For Broadband ask for Broadband support. If the issue isn’t resolved – ask for second line Broadband support in the UK. If neccesary make threats of legal action – whatever it takes. My ADSL was off for 10 days and I couldn’t get them to put me through to 2nd Line. Eventually, I got a second line technician – he made an adjustment to my line and everything has been fine since. My only problem was some idiot in a overseas call centre sent me a new modem – I sent ti back – but have to get them to give me my £29.99 back. If I keep having problems I’ll email their escalations department. I’ve been with them for over 18 months – so can cancel at any time. I also have a website on TalkTalk using my web space and around a 1,000 new people a month take a look. It has video from Youtube, music, downloads and lots of information. I’m working on a way of letting people download a large package of freeware – but that won’t be just yet. So it can work out fairly good. You just have to get used to their staff. Their website has improved in the past few weeks. They now have ex-AOL technical staff helping with that.

jim mccann on Mon, 13th Aug 2007 9:44 pm


To anyone even remotely thinking of being seduced by the Talk Talk Broadband offer: DONT. You will regret it.

Their service is appalling. Continously drops connections. Speeds not much faster than dial up at times. Customer Service is the worst I have every imagined. Excessive call waiting times. Problem tickets disappearing from therir systems. Promised calls never made. Th elist is endless. Ut sno wonder they are continually voted bottom for service and reliability.

Ther FUP is 40GB which includes download AND upload. If you exceed it, you wil not be waned. Just throttled beyond theri Terms and Conditions.

You have been warned.

leeanne on Mon, 20th Aug 2007 7:32 pm


has anybody else bought the wireless box from the carphone warehouse to find it does not work. i’ve paid for 2 or 3 local computer firms to look at it but no joy.

Doctor Brooklands on Thu, 30th Aug 2007 4:46 am


TalkTalk.

It’s bordering on the criminal.

Seduced by ‘up to 8mb/s’ adverts.

Bought into TT from Onetel (same pathetic company)

Started at 512 kbs.

After 14 months and several emails to Charles Dunstone – got 1.2mbs.

Then every month since April 2007 it’s dropped from 1.2 mbs, to 980kbs, 860kbs, 756kbs, 512, kbs, 440 kbs and today 30th Aug 2007 I got 256 kbs which is half the speed I was on in 2005.

Complain to any Watchdog you can, leave TT and put up with 2 cans and a bit of string until you find a truthful company.

What a conman.

tony on Wed, 26th Sep 2007 10:51 am


Hi to all.
About TALKTALK my brother has just joined them for his BROADBAND (I am not with them, But I would say to all go with SKY BROADBAND only £10 per month if you all ready have SKY for your tv viewing) . From what I have been reading on here that all the problems you are haveing are in breach of any contract that you have signed up for (Therefor you can NOT repeat NOT be made to pay any money if you request to leave them) The are in breach of THE DIRECT SUPPLY OF GOODS AND SERVICES ACT 1982. Here is the website were you can read about the 1982 act
http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page38337.html
If I can be of any more help to any of you please contact me via tony112@mail.com please head the email BroadBAND HELP

Jon on Sat, 29th Sep 2007 10:30 am


Bought a belkin modem/wireless router installed as far as I can go it says its connected but no web page found. I’m not a conputer boff, but not stupid either. Has anyone else had a similar problem. I must admit my BB connection has run fine with talktalk.

Peter Bell on Wed, 3rd Oct 2007 8:34 pm


I can’t priase Talk Talk enough, Broadband is FREE not 9.99 as paying £21 a month includes free calls so it costs me £10 less a month with broadband than what it did with BT without Broadband.

Never had any problems and use the connection all day as I work from home. P2P is not blocked either.

Crs on Tue, 9th Oct 2007 12:10 am


Most of the problems people seem to be having is usually down to the software/configuration,the sites that people connect to for their web pages or what router they have and how well it is configured for access with certain applications & MTU.The smartAX is a basic router that the support team are trained to configure and diagnose so keep it for that purpose if anything happens with your connection.Any one that wants to game sucessfully online needs to buy a stable make of router that is probably aimed at gaming and application sharing.When I say the sites you connect to,I mean the bandwidth of that site.Ive had 900kbs + from some sites with nothing setup on the router apart from my user&pass so I can connect.So I like peter bell think,Class service pity about the 40gb a month though but still im happy with the service fast setup initally then the same with upgrade to 8mb.I hope everyone gets their service sorted out cause it is good

Alex Casey on Sat, 10th Nov 2007 11:19 pm


Talk – Talk = Crap,

I don’t know if anyone can help. I have the free broadband with Talk-Talk and use it for the internet and my X-box 360. The problem I have is the Nat settings on my 360 are strict, meaning I can never get any online games. I have called microsoft who told me I need the following port opened,

UDP 88
UDP 3074
TCP 3074

I call the Tech Team at Talk-Talk and they haven’t got a clue, “We don’t deal with the Xbox 360″ is their bullshit excuse. Does anyone have any ideas what I can do? I never had any probs with BT! On another note I know that there is a 18 month contract with Talk-Talk but as the broadband is free does this mean I can go with someone else as long as I keep the phone with them? I just feel this is my only option!

G on Sun, 18th Nov 2007 6:32 pm


my dad’s jus recently bought this talk talk rubbish and i have trouble opening hotmail and even the talk talk website isn’t opening/working properly (to get some troubleshooting ideas). Can anyone help??

Anne r on Wed, 21st Nov 2007 5:15 pm


To G above who asks for troubleshooting ideas for his Dad’s “talk talk” and Hotmail problems, come to the Readers to the Rescue forums at the link;
http://forums.computeractive.co.uk/category.jspa?categoryID=2

one of us will be able to help you sort things out.

Guy on Wed, 28th Nov 2007 1:21 am


I am looking for a good ISP, I was told about TT … I will say that I am glad I found this site because now I wouldn’t touch Talk Talk with a barge pole, even if they paid ME £20 a month to use it. Sounds awful.

Something needs to be done about the disgraceful way these damned companies are so obstructive, there should be a law that prevents them from being such .

For my part Virgin Media have proved an horrendous nightmare, so it’s something that is spreading across the board. Shame on all you ISPs for giving truly the worst service money can buy, you’re a bunch of morally corrupt money grabbers.

M Des on Sun, 2nd Dec 2007 8:32 pm


No complaints. But don’t get me started on BT. Alas BT still has a stranglehold on the last mile, so when ordering a new line you’ve got to go through them. When trying to order a line they lost the first two orders and the third time they switched on a line but failed to turn up and connect it at the house. Not to mention spending an hour minimum on the phone to them in a queue before someone picks up and fails to solve the problem.

Since moving to TT on my main line I’ve had only one break and that was caused by a BT engineer at our local exchange unplugging me during maintenance and forgetting to plug me back in again.

People who come to this site are overwhelmingly likely to be those who have had trouble with TT. Take my word for it: You haven’t seen the horror on the other side of the fence. A few years ago BT was good. Not now.

Howard on Tue, 4th Dec 2007 9:02 pm


Talktalk must be stupid at boardroom level to have decided to resurrect the old AOL logo. Did they not know the reputation? Anyway, all is revealed – they have become as bad. They’ve changed my password without telling me! You spend ages zigzagging through the options on the phone to get help, finally reaching a message they are open 8-8 weekdays. Thanks – its 8.15 pm and I had work to do. The service isn’t very good anyway – clunky browser and internet overloads.
I’m trying elsewhere asap.

Tim Kendall on Sun, 9th Dec 2007 3:44 pm


Hi all

I have a TT wireless BB for which I pay £15 per month. I have a download speed
of about 65 kB/sec as judged by downloading a large image or movie file using IE, for example. This is comparable to what I get at work with a standard ethernet connection.

However my connection to gmail (and hotmail) often do not work, with the inbox
failing to render; some other sites also do this. Anyway the only solution I’ve found is to sever and reconect the BB connection
at the ‘phone socket!

I have read about the MTU=1400 fix but am (as a Linux person) unwilling to mess with the registry and chary of installing any software patches (not wanting to completely wreck a serviceable connection).

Any suggestions?

Ta

rob on Sat, 22nd Dec 2007 8:29 pm


talktalk took 3 months te decide not to connect me up to bb as they thought is woudl be slow… kept taking my money though. finally got on and had to spend 3 weesks on the phone to them to get the service working and the modem connected. now the wireless ( New ) router wont work on wireless…so iv got to but a new one or spend another 3 weeks ringing them. They are slow. There staff sugested i borrow a set up cd from a neighbour ! what a joke

laurie on Wed, 2nd Jan 2008 7:40 pm


I’ve had TT broadband for months now and its awful, every 10 minutes or so i get disconected for upto a minute than i get back online again. This only happens from 5 o’clock onwards, does this mean it’s something to do with the amount of people online?

Someone help me please!…

AARON on Thu, 10th Jan 2008 12:25 am


I ALSO HAV PROBLEMS WITH TALKTALK (SUPRISE SUPRISE) MAYBE WE SHULD NOMANATE THEM FOR THE WORLDS WORST BROADBAND PROVIDER IN THE WORLD!!! JUST A THOUGHT. I CANT SEEM TO PLAY ONLINE WITH MY XBOX 360 , P2P SPEEDS ARE CRAP , AND REGULAR DIS-CONNECTION IS A BIG BIG PROBLEM. DOESNT MAKE SENSE TO ME AS ALMOST EVERY1 THESE DAYS WANTS BROADBAND TO PLAY ONLINE OR P2P?? STAY AWAYYYYYYYYY TALKTALK

Dan on Thu, 10th Jan 2008 2:10 am


We have been with TT for around 13 months now and we are very satisfied with the service they have provided us. We are in Devon and we have no connection problems at all! we have never not been able to connect and our connection never drops. As for the customer service, i have never had to phone up for anything so i really wouldnt know. So personally i would reccomend TT, however i think my opinion is just slightly outweighd in this thread :-)

Jaxx2507 on Mon, 21st Jan 2008 9:45 pm


Free TalkTalk broadband = A complete waste of 18 months. AVOID!!!

Well I recently changed from Pipex to TalkTalk, well actually TalkTalk didn’t contact Pipex for me like they said they would. They just layered their phone and broadband service over the top of Pipex’s service, and of course Pipex have been hassling me for unpaid direct debits.
Anyway, back to the topic, I have a wireless connection up to 8Mb (megabits NOT megabytes) and of course I pay nothing for that because I took out an 18month contract. I pay £20.49 for the talk3 + international option which is exactly what was in the OP at the top of this page, only slightly cheaper, plus I got a wireless router for £20.00.
Well for a week or two the broadband was fantastic. I was quoted a speed of 7.5Mb from my line before I got connected which would make my download speed about 900 – 1000KB/s, and that’s exactly what I got, from the PlayStation Network too, things were great, for a week or two anyway, then everything slowed down to a crawl…
As people mentioned above, some pages didn’t load first time and had to be refreshed, the download speed was between 50KB and 70KB/s, pathetic!!
I’ve phoned about 5 times for customer service but I ended each call after about 12 minutes of the same two friggin songs.

Hey, you know what? I did get through once but this was before the broadband speed went down, it was because I couldn’t add numbers to my calling circle, I was told by the automated voice that my number wasn’t a valid TalkTalk phone number and so I phoned cust services and got through to some asian guy with terrible english and a quiet voice, he told me that ‘there was a problem on the account’ but couldn’t say what it was!
So failing that I attempted adding calling features to my service, I added a few, and nearly a month later I’m still waiting for them to be activated..
Wait, is this off-topic? Sorry! :D

I just downloaded a PSP theme about 15 minutes ago, the size of this file was just over 600KB, it took over 2 minutes to download at an average speed of 5KB/s…

DO NOT GET THIS SERVICE!!! IT IS ABSOLUTELY……… well if I knew kids wouldn’t read this I’d have more to say! >:(

And I’m sorry if I bored you by this long post, I would’ve wrote more but I’m getting bored talking about it…

king_boab on Fri, 1st Feb 2008 7:35 pm


i recently swithced to talktalk having previously been with AOL,as soon as i disconnected my old router and installed their cd nothing has worked properly since!! Any web page i visit only opens up after about 10 attempts and when it does it is all distorted,ie all the graphics are all over the place,page is not displayed as it should be.
I have been onto talktalk since i switched,(!1 week ago) and have found them to be,in a word,crap!!
After “level 1″ tech help instructed me to reset my internet settings about 5 different times they then passed me onto “level 2″ who advised me to delete my browser settings and reinstall internet explorer 7,which amazingly did nothing either.He also advised me to try another browser,so i’ve downloaded opera which makes no difference.
No matter how many times i tell these idiots that its all started since i installed their software they keep fobbing me off with excuses,anyone know what is really wrong and how to fix it?
thanks in advance

david on Fri, 15th Feb 2008 11:52 am


I went over to talk talk. Speed so far has been good, no connection drop outs. One small gripe is, I asked when ordering if I can block mobile numbers and unblock via a pin. I was assured that this was possible, however I have now learned that the blocking and unblocking has to be done by talk talk and not via a pin system! Not happy as the BT method was great .

Also has any one else noticed that Talk Talk block access to the BT log in system?

Jaxx2507 on Sun, 13th Apr 2008 9:55 pm


Well since my last post on 21st Jan 08, things haven’t been TOO bad (taking into account this ISP), just the occasional cutout of connection but refreshing once usually fixes it.
But the past couple of weeks have been terrible, almost every page has to be reloaded 5 – 50 times and it’s really pissing me off!
The only reason I haven’t phoned TT is because if I did, it’d send me over the edge and I’d probably commit murder, lol, but seriously…

Has this ever happened to you?
I was paying for something on eBay a few days ago and paying via PayPal, but once I clicked the PAY button the next page didn’t load, as if I’d disconnected!!! No way was I hitting refresh so I hit Back, then went back to my account and the payment was successful.
This shit service from TalkTalk could’ve cost me a further £86 had I hit F5 instead of backspace!
I hate them, with a passion!!!
Only 14 months to go though til my contract expires.
Maybe I’ll pay the £70 disconnection fee… Ughh!!!

One more thing and maybe this is just me, I hope it’s not though. I’ve been experiencing some really weird shit during my phone calls since I moved to TalkTalk, like clicking and crackling, but that’s not all.
You know that siren type noise you get if you leave the receiver off the hook for a few minutes? Well I was talking to my mother and after about 5 minutes the siren came through and we both heard it, it went on for about 20 seconds and when I said “I told you, some fucker’s listening in or something!” it stopped.
But that too, is not all, the worst one was the saturday before last, again, the mother phoned as mothers do *yawn* and yapped for what felt like hours but was probably just one until we both heard a loud BEEP, these beeps were keytones and it wasn’t me and my mum isn’t the type of person to piss about like that, and she has only 1 phone in her house and both my phones were in the room with me at the time so it couldn’t be anyone else in our houses.
Then it beeped again, and again, and lots of times, some of them lasting up to 5 seconds but I didn’t wanna hang up cuz it was…. kinda interesting. :P
Then it stopped for long enough for me to say “alright wanker, if somebody’s there do that again… twice!” and it happened, twice! And then whoever it was took the piss and kept a number held down for ever so I hung up and called her back!
And during this call it only happened once a few minutes into the call, and that was it…

I phone TalkTalk the following monday and explained everything but to be honest I dont’ think the guy could understand half of what I was saying despite my cystal english (I always speak clearly on phones to foreigners to avoid repetition) and he just told me I must have a faulty phone.. Well fuck him! And fuck TalkTalk!

If I was a pro hacker I’d fuck their systems up beyond repair and send them out of business, then their customers would be free!!! XD

Sivo on Fri, 25th Apr 2008 11:23 am


I have heard about TalkTalk’s poor customer support but they have recently opened up a forum http://www.talktalkmembers.com/forums/ i recently had a problem with my ping and within 15 -20 mins of the post smeone had sorted it. If you are having problems i recommend using it, seems to be much easier than ringing them

Sandria Hawkins on Thu, 1st May 2008 1:59 pm


We changed to Talk Talk from BT for our land line and rental in June 2006. In January we changed to Tiscali Talk for rental, phone calls and broadband. Tiscali didn’t take over the land line at the same time as making broadband available. We were eventually told that Talk Talk had refused their application . We started to receive bills from Tiscali and Talk Talk. Not knowing what the problem was and having received assurance from Tiscali that we had been with them since 18th February we cancelled Talk Talk. That is where it all went wrong. Talk Talk took the decision to deactivate our line. They believe it is possible for BT to reactivate. BT tell us they can’t reactivate and Talk Talk tell us they are not speaking the truth. If only someone could have explained what was going on earlier we wouldn’t have notched up huge mobile phone bills ringing Delhi trying to get Talk Talk to release the line to Tiscali and then ringing Tiscali to get them to pick up the line. We have been without a land line since beginning of April and the internet was disconnected two weeks ago. I spent 2 hours ringing Talk Talk, BT and Ofcom with the result that after 37 years with the same number we have lost it and our only hope of getting a phone is to pay BT £125 for a new land line and number. My husband is self employed and has used that number for business for the whole of the 37 years. Has anyone else had the same experience?

dinio on Wed, 10th Sep 2008 1:19 pm


i have talktalk broadband and download speed is good most of the time… about 500kb/s.
Also playing ps3 online works fine aswell. so i have no complaints.

pat leonard on Wed, 22nd Oct 2008 8:08 pm


hey guys your all amateures. check this out: they did kind of sort it eventually but I can’t get torrents to work, the connection is rubbish etc even tho the top man dealt with it after i wrote to them [you know letters and stuff] as email is pissing in the wind. here it is, you will need to persevere and I did make over 70 phone calls but some of them I did not log:

28 February 2008
Acc. 4634393

Collections Department
Carphone Wharehouse Ltd
PO Box 737
Camberley
GU15 3RF

Attention: Simon Rawlings
Dear Simon Rawlings:
Final demand and threats
With regards to your current demand which includes charges for February, I point out that from the 29th Jan I have not been able to make outgoing calls, have not had broadband since you ‘connected’ me in December, and I was unaware of this until January, therefore did not make any calls. I have now been informed the latest ‘go live’ broadband date is now the 6th march. I am not paying you anything until I have a working broadband connection. Then I will only pay you £24 as agreed, plus £5 line rental for February and the normal TT international rate less £5 for 6 months as agreed on item no. 45 30/01/2008. I will only pay this by standing order as you are not to be trusted. If you attempt to vary this or send me any other threatening letters I will withdraw this offer and see you in court. I feel this is more than generous considering all the crap I have put up with and the time wasted on the phone listening to your awful music.

March 06? applied for TT connection
Sept 06 contacted TT to find out what was going on, BT blocking connection.
Got broadband Jan 07 but no phone, get 3 months call bills from BT because of this at end of May.
May/June 07 get TT to finally take over line they then disconnected broadband for some reason.
Arranged BT to take back line then cancelled it when TT sorted it all out.
Then BT took back line, changed my number and attempted to charge me after I got TT to take the line back later

03/09/2007

Called Talktalk as no broadband line and no one can get through to me on my telephone line. 3 calls, one disconnected after 10 mins
1. 1 busy
2. 1 got thro to tech help will send new micro filter. Call took 28 mins
3. Called after no incoming calls since 4th? Found out that BT had disconnecting line. Call took 1 hour
4. 06/09/2007 Called Thurs eve. Took 1 hour to find out BT has tried to
connect line therefore TT broadband not working.

5. Called to Talktalk to get number reconnected Rosa 16 mins will stop disconnection of 02080770670 which was posted at 17/8/07
6. Phone disconnected Tuesday.
7. Sent message to talktalk wed eve.
8. 24th sept called talktalk spoke to Mike Beasley who will get it all sorted!!!!
9. Got call back Tues on mob from Mike but got cut off.
10. 30th September called talktalk spoke to guy who said he would get mike to call me back
11. 3rd Oct called talktalk spoke to guy who cancelled new bill and will get mike to get back to me.19 mins.
12. 16th oct am called talktalk spoke to ‘Freedom’ told me have to talk to sales, transferred me across, then got back to me and had conference with sales online, Melanie, order on system then transferred me to sales Tina, who did not sound too bright! Freedom explained that the account Disconnected by BT through error. Tina spoke to supervisor who said it cant disconnect number or reactivate it. Freedom [spent ages trying to sort it out deserves a medal] then disconnected her and said he would call me back. Called me back and connected to direct sales. They told me to get reconnected to BT.

I then spent several hours on the phone sorting out the mess that BT had made.

13. 23 Oct old number returned from BT, line live. Called talktalk 2nd line help to get reconnected. Gave up after 40 minutes listening to their crap music.
14. Called different number got thro, was given direct sales number to call. 02890531677 and am now listening to their shit music again. Then told to call customer services in morning 08704441820 option 3.
15. 24 oct am Called line not working
16. 24 Oct called again got thro after 10 minutes and various menus, explained it all again was transferred, and then phone went dead.
17. 24 Oct called again, told been in a queue since 23rd June. Jema? Will call back? Took 20 mins.
18. 25th called in morning and told need to reprocess order will be connected in 15 days.
19. 25th Called back again told to renew entire order by calling 08000499999.
20. 25th Called 08000499999. Given new numbers. Head office 02088965000. Retention department 01925556467 told that cant help. New account needs to be set up. Transferred me to new accounts gave up after 5 minutes listening to that fucking tune.
21. 25th Called head office. Chantal gave me new number [car phone whorehouse] 08000490049 OPTION 1 OPTION 1 OPTION1 told me cant do anything as there is still an order on the line
22. 25th Called 08000490049 told me order still on line need to speak to cancellations dept speak to team leader 08704441820 option 3 option 2.
23. 25th called 08704441820 option 3 option 2. And told it is wrong number transferred me thro. Spoke to supervisor, SBU, who got hold of sales. Told me he is getting orders cleared from line, will get new account sorted and will call me back. Called me back. Because of BT, Open order, suspend command stuck, will be removed. 3 days SBU did this.

24. 02/11/07 Spoke to Sheka in India, told me have to sign up for new account. Told me to call these numbers. 0800490049 028905316777
25. Called 0800490049, did not work.
26. Called 028905316777, invalid number. Are apparently Broadband sales? Have no idea why given this.
27. Called 02890531677 [broadband sales] got through to imbecile who told me takes one month for order to clear from line. Was disconnected.
28. Called 02890531677 again, talked to man who said he would find out. Put me through to escalations in India. Said line disconnected. Put on hold. Disconnected.
29. Called 02890531677 again was told could not put me thro, then did. Spoke to India again. Checked with manager, told me to sign up online. Sanya.
30. Called 02890531677 was told need to go to options transferred me, on hold. Got through to India again, customer services. Said he would transfer me to options, waited on hold gave up after 10 mins.
31. Called 02890531677 again spoke to chap who put me on hold, line went dead. Then got through to main menue then India spoke to chap that said he would put me through to options, transferred me to faults. On hold. Line went dead after 13 minutes.
32. Called 02890531677 [broadband sales] who put me back on hold waited for 5 minutes got through to broadband? was disconnected after 10 minutes.
33. Called sales Ash who put me on hold. 01925556467 retention and cancel department.
34. Called 01925556467, told me number disconnected. Told him number is now active with BT. put me on hold while he got confirmation from supervisor. SHAKUR will call Fri 9th Nov @ 4.30 set it up manually.
35. Mail dated 06/11 confirming direct debit
36. Got 2 automated messages saying line was about to go live and would get introduction pack. Last call on 15th Nov.

37. 13th dec. sent email to TT asking where was broadband?
38. 17th dec Got reply telling me to reapply. Cannot as order already in line.
39. 17th Sent another email.
40. 28th Sent another email.
41. 09/01/2008 Called talktalk customer services, transferred me to broadband tech 08700878777. Has to reset order will take15 days. 25 minutes.
42. 12/01/2008. called accounts told them would not pay anything until I got broadband. Said they would call me back [9.30] in 10 min [9.30] Call took 13 minutes. Badhdi called spoke to her for ½ hour explained about all the calls and said would only pay from when I had the broadband connection.
43. 29/01/2008 incoming calls only.
44. 29/01/2008 called explained everything was transferred to customer services line went dead
45. 29/01/2008 called was transferred to customer services explained everything she checked broadband progress told me old order on line that she has now removed. Transferred me to sales team to make new order after 18 minutes. Spoke to sales and set up new package 21 days. Order number 2822038. Took 40 minutes over all.
46. 30/01/2008 Called over final demand received explained everything again, transferred to customer services. Spent long time explaining would not pay bill because I had not received the service I signed up for. Put on hold after 20 minutes. Spoke to supervisor who explained to me from 19th nov went over to TT. Will charge me £5 for line rental for 6 months from 21st jan and reduce £49 bill to £24. Told him would only pay when I had a proper service and to reconnect my line. Put me on hold while sorted it out. 72 to 48* hours to remove bar from line. Lincon. Time 43 minutes.
47. * 6 days later, 05/02/2008 still no outgoing calls. Got automatic message telling me to call 08456556072 option 2. Tried it cannot, get through!
48. 05/02/2008 called again explained everything, transferred to customer services explained everything again, put me on hold while she looked up everything. Told me block on line because of outstanding £24. Threatened me with £70 disconnection charge if I refused to pay. I explained I had only agreed to pay £24 when I had a broadband connection. The argument went on. I put the phone up after 25 minutes.
49. Called oftel registered complaint – number 145370966. Was given TT high level complaints 08000494418 and told to write to TT which would then put them under obligation to properly investigate complaint. If nothing forthcoming to contact Otello in 12 weeks 01925430049. I can transfer service to another provider.
50. 05/02/2008 called TT [on skype] 08000494418 This number is not high level complaints, as there is none. Laura. Argued with her over billing explained it all again etc etc. She [laura] then told me BT were taking back line ordered 10th jan completed on 4th feb!!!! Will call me back tonight or tomorrow morning as she needs to find out what is going as this might be to do with broadband. 25 minutes. She never called back.
51. 06/02/2008 08000494418 called [on skype] and was told it is BT that has taken back the line.
52. 06/02/2008 called BT [on skype] faults passed thro 3 different departments explained each time, put on hold. Answered after 12 minutes told me had no information as it was classed as new number. Putting thro to pston? Service, in another que answered 18 minutes in. Told me BT does not have line TT does. 21 mins
53. 10/02/2008 Received bill for £69.78 for 3 months ‘Talktalk international’ even though I have not yet had a broadband connection and I have been unable to make outgoing calls since 29th jan.
54. 20/02/2008 Automated message informing me of imminent arrival of broadband connection and ‘welcome pack.’
55. 23/02/2008 received welcome pack and final demand for £45.
56. 27/02/2008 received notice of providers application to take over line and usual threats etc?
57. 28/02/2008 took 4 calls to get through. Was informed £45 was for Feb bill as well. BT has pending order to take back line TT still has line, no date set. 11 mins. Was told bill reduced to £24 that additional £25 is for February. This does not reflect promised £5 reduction of line rental also line blocked/unusable since end of Jan.
58. 28/02/2008 Called BT using skype answered after 14 minutes was passed on to broadband who told me they could not look it up as there was no order number and I could cancel it through TT. Why the idiots at TT did not tell me this morning I do not know.
59. 28/02/2008 Called TT passed to broadband support was told BT were going around attempting to get lines back by doing this and was 8th call that day about this. He cancelled order and passed me through to no-one, line went dead. I left it on for several more minutes answered by finance who passed me on after a conversation 26 mins. Lady explained she could not remove block from line but has logged complaint. 37mins.
60. 28/02/2008 Wrote to TT.
xxxxxxxxxx

cc: Carphone Wharehouse Support Centre
1 Portal Way
London W36RS

Roger Lane on Tue, 27th Jan 2009 10:08 pm


I would just like to say that I have just undergone an epic saga involving Talktalk.My webmail could not be accessed in any reliable or efficient way and I continually had errors stopping me from reading my e-mails.This was the culbination of events which included terrible service in just about every respect.
Talktalk are almost uncontactable in any meaningful sense and all my efforts at rectifying the situation have come to nothing.If I had a pound for every apology I`ve had from Talktalk,I could well be a rich man.In my frustration,tonight I used U-switch to change provider and it has given me an immense sense of relief.I have never before contacted a website such as yours to discuss my own personal business,but I feel it`s right to tell others just how dysfunctional,disorganised,greedy and amoral-in a business sense Talktalk is.If any company deserves to fail due to its sheer incompetence and inability to deliver what it says,then that business is Talktalk.if cigarettes have to come with a health warning then so should Talktalk.
Hoping I have better luck with my new provider,and thanks for taking the time to read this.
Yours truely,Roger Lane.

Vampire Knight on Tue, 24th Feb 2009 12:36 pm


Now Hear This!………TalkTalk have NOT stopped p2p ok……you have Microsoft to blame as they used their auto updates to cap the ports used on your IP to 10 . Their excuse is its added security to stop hackers getting into your PC.

not to worry just look and ye shall find progs to help open them again

Hope thats been a help

Jhon... on Sat, 21st Mar 2009 9:23 am


LOL SO Many Problem With There Old Router SmartAX MT882……..( They Sent Me 3) New 1 wrks great but super slow……