They said they had fixed it. And for a glorious 24 hours it seemed as though they had, albeit our internet was slow even by its usual standards. Now they admit the work has not even begun. We are promised ‘A Review’ next Tuesday. A review, note. Not a fix. And even that is a week away.
In the meantime we have virtually no internet at all. Stroppy emails have been sent to the highest of offices and an appointment with a satellite broadband provider has been booked. Enough is enough.
And here I sit, with the iPad, over the hill and far away where there is at least a mobile signal. And the crocosmia? Well, they really do get everywhere it seems. Is it here just to make me feel at home?
See you anon. Next time I’ll bring coffee. And maybe a bun.
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I really feel for you, we had 2 months of broadband off and on and as we had no mobile signal either as mats is over 2 miles away I was not a happy bunny. The mobile company sent me a free signal booster for the phone so if it happens again at least I can use my mobile but like you we just got fed up with being fobbed off time and time again. Maria xx
Absolutely. This has been going on six weeks now and still no resolution. The latest is the phone line has also given up, so we are completely cut off. As a result Mike has now set up a mobile booster too, which I’m currently using. It works.. slowly.. and will no doubt start to cost us dear after a while. But at least it gives us a limited service back.
What a hassle! Hopefully it’ll get sorted soon, fingers crossed!
Thanks. I’m not holding my breath.
Oh Jessica, this reminds me of my teenage children disappearing over the hill to access a mobile phone signal when holidaying in Landmark Trust Cottages. On top of the SW coastal path there is always a signal I’ve since discovered. My allotment also has excellent communication links, which I put down to the proximity of the railway line. At least I can get iplayer radio, phone and emails while there, three things which aren’t always possible at home! Good luck with getting it sorted. Perhaps you should have a day out in your nearest town to re-connect.
It’s a shame the weather has turned. There are some nice spots on the coast path to spend a few hours!
I’m sorry you’re still struggling with your broadband connection, extremely naughty of the provider to mess you around like this. I was pondering over a purchase of crocosmia the other day, I held the pot in my hand & remembered your postings about it – I put it back down! I need a touch more orange in the garden so it may be a Red Hot Poker, may prove useful for your broadband provider my dear!! xx
If you go for one of the more modern crocosmia hybrids you should be OK. It’s the bog standard montbretia that causes all the problems. Now I’ve discovered how good it looks in my prairie planting scheme I was going to try a couple myself!
Red Hot Poker at the ready too.. 😉
Well, if it is any consolation, here on the coast in North Devon we too have problems with the interweb. So much so that we got BT out a few weeks ago – it helped in part I’d say. Some days are good, others (well you don’t want me to actually say what I think) lol. Good luck with your Review and hopefully you will end up with a better service than us 🙂 Oh, and I don’t think we will be staying with BT when it comes round to renewing!
I think the extent of the review will be limited to ‘Does It Work Yes/No’ and ‘Has the engineer found time in his diary Yes/No’. It really is bad down here isn’t it. Part of the problem is living so far from the exchange, the line degrades further with each and every mile.
Meditation? I have to say I shrieked with laughter at the crocosmia lurking around just to annoy you.
Getting out in the garden is good for that. I got loads done yesterday, before it started raining again. Including ripping out more crocosmia 🙂
We too have slow broadband, but if you change providers its still bt . No cable or whatever in the country. Our internet appears to be linked to the weather?
We’re investigating the type of satellite broadband used in isolated highland glens and on the more remote islands where there isn’t even a BT line. It gets its feed direct from the satellite. The downside, apart from the expense, is the need for a large dish (bigger than Sky, which does run through BT lines). The problem is where to put it without the place suddenly looking like Jodrell Bank. Something I’m keen to avoid.
Just think of all the spare time you’ll have if you can’t blog or surf the internet. I hate it when the internet goes down here (although it’s usually fixed within a day) but I also realise the huge amount of time wasted when I’m sitting in front of the computer. Having said that, I hope you don’t have to hike over the hill for too much longer.
The garden is feeling the benefit of the extra attention. Or at least it was until today when the rain has been non stop. I replanted loads of stuff yesterday in anticipation so hopefully it’s all getting a good watering in.
How frustrating for you. Hope you are back soon.
Thanks Annette.
Hope you are sorted soon Jessica – it must be extremely frustrating for you♡
It is. I’m missing my blogging buddies! Thanks Rosemary.
Hope your sorted soon. Let us know how you get on with the sataliette broadband, it’s something we’re thinking of too. X
Will do. I don’t know whether it will work for us. Depends on line of sight, given all the trees. And the cost!
Oh no this is becoming a saga Jessica 🙁 Hope that you have a large flask and a blanket with you for when the sun goes down.
It certainly is a saga. We’ve now got a device which gives us wi-fi off the mobile signal which works surprisingly well, even in the house where we can’t normally get a signal. It’s a lot more comfortable than the rock I was sitting on before, especially as it’s now started raining again! Slight panic when we almost got to our month’s data allocation in one day.. speedy upgrade required. But we still have to watch it so my unread post list on Feedly continues to rise. 400 and counting..
very frustrating, hope there is a solution, not just a quick fix, coming soon.
They need to replace a whole string of overhead cable. I just hope that IS where the problem lies and it will be a proper solution this time.
ive also had problems with the internet lately. and I have to stand in the middle of the road to get 1 bar on my mobile.
I remember when we were first house hunting down here, we were driving around and around trying to find the strongest signal so we could stop and check the directions for the property we were attempting to find. I should have seen the writing on the wall.
Such a pain when the internet is no where to be reached! Walking around with gadget in hand doing the craziest walks and contortions to get that extra bar! Hopefully you will be up to speed again soon xx
Thanks Chel. Glad to know it’s not just me!
So annoying!!!! Sometimes – actually, quite a lot of the time – I wonder what has happened to service in this country, it seems to get worse not better. I hope that you will be all fixed up soon one way or another. xx
It does make you wonder. There seems to be a total lack of urgency or concern to get this sorted. They will do it their way and in their own time. Six weeks?
How awful, it’s ‘orrible not being able to just go online! Just shows how dependant we all are on it these days!xxx
Absolutely. I didn’t realise quite how dependent until I was without it.
Poor you, that is so frustrating. And even worse that they lied about it and now they aren’t committing to sorting it out for you. I do hope it’s all rectified soon. CJ xx
Thanks CJ. The service has been really bad. Mike goes into orbit every time he speaks to them. It’s costing us a fortune in restorative G&T.
I hope they get your internet sorted – it is so frustrating given how much we rely on it nowadays!
I don’t know what the set up is in Australia but here BT still have something of a monopoly. We can opt to go with another provider but they still have to use the BT infrastructure. Satellite is the only real alternative.
Our friends have satellite broadband which is costly when it’s running and costly when it goes down too! I don’t know why as a country we can’t get broadband sorted out.
I know. There are some very dodgy satellite set ups operating down here, I don’t know how best to find a good one. Other than by personal recommendation, which is what we have done. I can only hope that competitive forces come into play more strongly if and when there is a problem to be solved, which doesn’t appear to be the case with BT.
It’s amazing how dependent we get on our internet connections, isn’t it? When our power was out in the entire area for the better part of a day, I nearly went crazy so I can imagine how you feel. I wonder if “internet withdrawal” will ever get classified as a specific syndrome and, if so, what will be specified as the recommended treatment…
Gardening, without a doubt! Except that I can’t. Well not really. It’s raining. And even then I use the internet to check plant heights, planting conditions etc etc..
I sympathize as we also had a lot of technological problems – first there is a brand new computer which is extremely slow. I have been in contact with someone in the Philippines several times to no avail. Second, the Internet service, which we get from a satellite using a parabolic antenna (a “saucer”), has been terrible. The last excuse the provider put forward was that the problem has to do with the summer solstice! Which suggests it would occur every summer
But we are having elections this fall and the government has given a million $ to our internet provider to improve service in remote areas. We just hope we are remote enough!
The government has launched a similar initiative here. But what they are providing (land based) is still way short of what is available in towns and cities. It’s the long distances between exchanges, with degradation of signal along the phone lines. Which is why we’re now looking at satellite. The weather certainly affects it I’m told. And sunstorms..
If you get satellite, make sure the “dish” that picks up the signal is fixed on something particularly solid. The first year we had it, it was fixed on a wooden structure and the technician would have to come regularly ($120 a shot) to realign the dish as the wind (and the ice winter) would move it by perhaps a millimeter but that was enough to lose the signal. In the last 2 years, since it has been fixed on the stone wall, we have not had this problem.
That’s a good tip, thanks. We’ve just had the quote in for the installation so I think we may be waiting a bit. No doubt much of the cost is down to me wanting the dish to be somewhere discreet, which means the cable will have to cross the drive.
How frustrating for you. I hope they fix the problem soon!
Thanks Cherie. I hope so too.
The joys of modern technology Jessica ….. great when it works but frustrating as hell when it doesn’t !! Sky isn’t working properly here and disappears intermittently ….. and, we pay a fortune for it. They keep telling us they’re not sure what’s wrong with it !!!! Great !!!
Fingers crossed for you ! XXXX
Sounds very familiar!! Fingers crossed for you too.
Bummer! How frustrating for you. I hope the “review” accomplishes something helpful.
They just need to get it working. The trials and tribulations of living in a rural area. If there were more people to complain perhaps it would have a higher level of urgency.
How annoying. I hope it all gets sorted out soon.
I’m sure it will in the end. Sooner would be better though!
Sounds like the BT we knowl
The very same.
You poor thing. It’s absolutely infuriating isn’t it? I feel your pain…..xx
Yep. I’m contemplating asking one of the pigeons to help out.
Of course, we could always try this 😉 http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/this-farmer-has-taken-rural-broadband-to-new-heights/ar-BBlRpxB?ocid=mailsignoutmd
Lol. The thing that made me laugh the most was the “even as low as 5Mb” in reference to rural broadband. Ours is 1Mb. I did look him up though… 1-2K set up cost. Ouch. If he made it cheaper I’d sign..
I think that is what we find so rewarding about gardening, how hard the flowers fight to take hold and bloom. Even in the remotest spots and harshest ground they seem to be able to make a go.
Crocosmia will defeat almost any challenge thrown at it I reckon. It does make me think about the impact of garden escapees though, especially rampant ones. A south african plant doesn’t really belong in an English field. However much the bees might like it.
I think some rude words directed at the CEO of a large multinational are called for. Alas won’t do any good, but it will make you feel better.
BT are offering me superfast broadband (whatever that is) in two years time, they forgt to mention that unless I have the Midas touch that from the magic box in the village I have to rely on copper cable which can’t even deliver a good telephone connection for my landline.
I’m not sure what we have to do to make the politicans see that the BT Emperor has no clothes!
This is exactly the problem that we have, the magic box is a mile away. I note that Ofcom’s definition of superfast is 30Mbps. An Openreach chap told us that here it would be about 7 or 8.
My computer crashed last week and I had to have a new hard drive installed. Still getting everything reorganized. Life is too short for this stuff! Hope your connection is back to normal soon! (The Crocosmia are beautiful, anyway. 😉 )
It’s amazing how much time and hassle is involved in sorting out these problems. You’re right. There are far better things to be doing. Good luck with the new hard drive.
Frustrating – an understatement!
Quite!
That sounds incredibly frustrating. We had similar problems with bt when we moved here, which was a huge problem for work emails, etc. I used to go and park outside my parents’ house to use their wifi (didn’t want to be popping in all the time). It all wasted so much time to sort out, which was most teeth-clenchingly annoying! Fingers crossed yours gets fixed asap. In the meantime, I’m sure you’re getting loads of other stuff done.
They don’t seem to cope with moves well. We were without a phone for a week then too and broadband for much longer. And I won’t go into the trouble that ensued when my mother moved down here. An absolute total nightmare.
I hope you get it fixed soon!!
Thanks Cherie.