Demon news has become disconnected from the internet.

Dear Fellow Demons,

Looks like we can still communicate with each other but not with anyone else. Seems it has been like this since Friday 19th.

It took three phone calls to get them to modify the Summary Status.

You'd have thought they could have found the disconnected cable by now?

Time was when Demon was ahead of the game not behind it. Anyway at least they are not one of the 'big six', not that I share music anyway.+

Reply to
Ed Sirett
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Well, I'm not a Demon! Am I supposed not to be able to see this message?

Reply to
Roger Mills

Assuming this is OT and posted to the right group, the problem is that Demon Internot users probably won't see it anyway if their news servers are not working.

Demon's news servers have for ages now been a bit iffy, with odd articles missed, but their machine seemed to die completely last Thursday. It appears that some items are trickling through now after 6 days, but the system still seems broken, with article requests returning the wrong item. At least at last they seem to have taken on board that there is a problem.

The trouble is to know which ISP to move to. Having helped a friend on Onetel/TalkTalk, experiencing their literally unbelievably inept "service" on multiple occasions, and reading that they are possibly buying Tiscali, despair is a word that springs to mind.

Reply to
Billaboard

You must be right, i'm not on Demon and I don't know why I am replying to a nonexistent message. It must be ESP.

Reply to
dennis

I didn't think it was possible to make Tiscali and worse than it already is. Can their technical staff be any more clueless and demonstrate they have no idea how to solve problems or keep things running on a regular basis. The technical staff have completely ruined that company - how many have bluffed their way in to a job! The very people who didn't know how to use traffic shaping software and set the controls back to front so it even blocked their own news server. CH4OD and BBCi was blocked as it competed with their pay-TV service and lots of people complained to ISPA when problems were ignored. Is TalkTalk that bad?

You do realise that you can use any news server, not just one provided by your ISP? Most are FREE of charge, so no point paying.

Reply to
Ian

well, the text-only ones are free. There aren't all that many free binary servers. You usually have to pay for those or put up with poor access.

Reply to
mick

In a word, yes. This friend was talked into joining Onetel to get a complete ISP + Phone service. At the time he was on dial-up. He then moved to ADSL, and wanted to keep the same username. He was told he couldn't. He was then sent a letter with the wrong username. "Oh we discovered that our servers ddin't work with an underscore in the username and changed it to a dot". I may have the dot and underscore swapped, but that was what they said when we rang. That took the best part of a day to sort, and he bought me lunch while we waited on the musical helpline.

It worked on and off, then TalkTalk bought Onetel and told him he had to change to TalkTalk to get the right deal He wanted to keep the same username. He was sent info about a new TalkTalk username. Everything stopped working, so I was invited over again.

After talking to helpdesks for TalkTalk and Onetel, we finally got it working, in the process discovering that his joining letter again had the wrong data in it.

After about a month it went off for a few days, and he rang the helpline, who talked him into completely dud settings for server addresses etc. Again, I visited. Again we talked to several support staff at different helpdesks. It eventually was all put right and worked again.

Since then, about twice a week, I get a call from him saying "My internet has stopped working". I then have to look at their status page and/or send emails on his behalf. Eventually he rings to say it's back.

He works as a semi-retired, semi-pro journalist using fax and email to send his copy. I'm at the stage where every time he rings I tell him he ought to find a better ISP.

This only gives a hint at the time he and I have wasted with TalkTalk.I really worry that international relations between Britain and India or wherever are being ruined by utterly inept British management. I don't start off wanting to be rude.

Reply to
Billaboard

This is a problem why? At least one of the newsgroups I use has been made virtually unusable all summer with x-posts from demon.local. Seems to have got better now the kiddies are back at school...

Sorry Tiscali good?

I used to have a Pipex account. Tiscali took them over. A bit later my credit card expired: "You've cancelled your direct debit so we're going to cut you off in 6 days unless you do something" (or words to that effect). Not friendly. So I got a MAC code, sent them a check for the last month, and cancelled. In April. They are still phoning me "You have a problem with your account" left by a robot on my answering machine several times; also emails and letters threatening legal action if I don't pay the increasing charges for the account I don't have any more. Coupled with occasional responses back to emails saying the data protection act stops them doing anything, ignoring a recorded delivery letter, and occasional suggestions that I phone them back on a premium rate (0870) number.

Memo to self: Contact OFCOM.

Ah OK, I have to complain through CISAS, a 3rd part arbitration service.

Complaint now submitted. Let's see what CISAS can do! Thanks for reminding me.

Andy

Reply to
Andy Champ

News.individual.net around 7 quid a year and superb service:)

Based in Germany...

Reply to
tony sayer

Oh, and PS, of course one can use another news provider, which is how I'm here.

The thing about Demon is that it was a moderately priced, moderately competemt ISP that had a track record of being started and initially run by people with a vague interest in the technology. These people evn posted occasionally, so they felt real and human.

Sad that a bunch of failed Scottish accountants bought it, and have now sold it on to, presumably, another bunch of no-marks trading under a used-to-be respected name.

I think I've lived too long. Fed up with idiots changing companies' names to something stupid like Thus, LessThan and so on. Fed up with British Gas ringing me almost every day wanting me to change all my accounts to them. If they have any spare employees, I want them to be looking for leaks or a new job, not making me put down my tea and answer the phone.

Reply to
Billaboard

In message , "dennis@home" writes

an Exceptionally Stupid Person

Reply to
geoff

Oh deer it looks like geoff is an insane stalker as well as stupid.

Reply to
dennis

Eclipse (my new ISP) outsource news to Giganews.

Andy

Reply to
Andy Champ

In message , "dennis@home" writes

You're in middle management, aren't you den

Reply to
geoff

In message , "dennis@home" writes

you get confused by words, don't you den

Reply to
geoff

go here

formatting link

and find the page with ISP customer feedback and ratings, and pick one near the top.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

The trouble with that site is that the top ISP on the list is there on the basis of one submission, yet there are other ISP's that are rated based on numbers like 150 submissions.

I don't dispute the ratings or their helpfulness (I've always heard that the top one was very well thought of and presumably those unhappy with their ISP would be more likely to visit such a site and vent their spleen) but neither do I think they are necessarily terribly accurate.

Reply to
Billaboard

You cancelled an otherwise OK service because of a badly worded email or whatever? Isn't that cutting off your nose to spite your face - given how relatively poor all these large organizations inevitably will be to a few at least.

I'm still with Pipex and so far ok - at least their news server still works fine.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In message , Ed Sirett writes

Yes:-(

Hmm... there were various interruptions early this year. There was an announcement about replacing some equipment affecting web hosting recently. From what I remember of finding suitable power supplies for mainframe upgrades, there will be an absolute rats breakfast of data and power mixed under a suspended floor......

Patience:-) Just when I need some practical plumbing advice! FYI Herts. plumbers are taking orders for 2009.

regards

Reply to
Tim Lamb

Indeed.

One of my biggest grips with Demon is that they no longer update their summary status page in a timly manner.

The cynic in me wonders if the summary status page has gone from being a useful service for Demon's clients (tell it like it is) to part of the sales and marketing effort for potential new clients (everything is wonderful).

Sadly, USENET is no longer a priority service for most ISPs.

Guy

-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Guy Dawson I.T. Manager Crossflight Ltd snipped-for-privacy@crossflight.co.uk

Reply to
Guy Dawson

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