mattyatty1

Hi, Firstly as an existing Origin Broadband (a happy one too!) let me tell you that the recent problems are well out of character and not the norm. I have dealt with them for my own connection and several customers I have connected for friends etc and they have always been more than helpful and accurate with information and dates with when stuff will happen etc. The recent events causing orders to be constantly put back I believe has now been resolved and Origin as an honest company have admitted there’s been problems and as always they’ve put their hands up and sorted them out. If you go to this site you will see their statement today regarding the recent issues - http://www.origin-broadband.co.uk/about-origin-broadband/blog/2012/03/22/Our_recent_troubles/ As I say, rest assured that once your connected your frustration with recent events will be outed massively by the super lightning fast speeds! Hope this helps and re assures you generally there an honest, reliable and helpful local business just give them chance and they will prove it you too I’m sure. If you want any further info and help pop onto the unofficial Digital Region Support forum at http://www.drlforum.co.uk. Thanks!

Thanks for your input LBO! Whilst I appreciate that you may not directly have issues causing a delay there have been one or two things across the DRL ISP’s causing delays so your statement is a little misleading in a sense that it’s a wholesale product so everyone will have been affected. I guess with that said when ISP’s are over there normal lead times anyway it’s only a positive to a point as it shows the clear demand there is for that particular ISP and its services! It’s clear from a number of potential customers that your non flexible approach with things such as routers, VOIP packages is more frustrating than lead times anyway and customers are prepared to wait on a more flexible ISP and more customers orientated such as Origin.

Hello, In relation to your problems getting connected with your chosen ISP (Origin) I just wanted to make you aware that the problem getting connected isn’t directly there fault and they aren’t really to blame! The issue is more to do with the process of raising a request for a new connection onto the Digital Region. At the moment there is an issue between DRL and I believe BT that may be causing lead times to be connected to be increased and has caused some orders to be on a back log for some time! Whilst other ISP’s are saying they can still get you connected quicker and within the normal timescales etc the fact is they can’t as DRL are the wholesale provider and therefore every ISP goes through the same process to raise a new connection request. My personal opinion is bare with them and you won’t regret it! I was having frequent disconnections as well as a poor 2Mb service before leaving BT and although they messed me about with my MAC code again not Origin’s fault it took time to move across to Origin. However, with that said once your connected you will most likely never need to speak with them again as the service is consistent, reliable and stable so there’s no need to speak with their tech support. With that said I have spoken with them a lot since signing up and rest assured they do everything they can and over and above what they need too to sort things! In case you haven’t seen Oliver who is the MD of Origin made a post on Facebook regarding the situation that can be seen here - http://www.facebook.com/#!/originbroadband Hope this helps to confirm what the issue is and hopefully puts you at ease knowing you’ve chosen the best ISP if you ask me

Hi Chris, Well been an Origin customer and having used Vodafone Sure Signal devices I think I can help you! Origin Broadband does offer a ‘refer a friend’ scheme. With every recommend you pass on or they tell Origin on your behalf you get a one off £5 discount off your bill, along with a reoccurring 50p off per recommend every month for the duration of your service with them! The benefits are good as once you have a few referrals your bill is significantly cheaper every month! With regards to the Vodafone Sure Signal devices, these do work on the Origin Broadband network and appear to be pretty stable at all times when I had one as a temporary measure. I use to have a work phone on Vodafone and signal wasn’t brilliant so I got a Sure Signal and it soon rectified the problem, the only thing you may need to change in your router is the ‘maxmium MTU packet allowed’ setting so a little tweak and it will work. If you need reassuring I have been with them for nearly six month now with no problems, a good reliable constact sync on the line and throughput has never gone under the 35Mbps mark on download. The ping times are also good so browsing is fast and once more should there be a problem all who I have spoken with at Origin are more than helpful and they will do their best to sort anything as quickly as possible! It may be worth singing up to the Unofficial Digital Region Forum as there is a lot of discussion on all ISP’s and technical aspects along with reps from Digital Region and all the ISP’s on the network so you’ll normally get several opinions and a response from someone who knows things inside out! Simply logon to http://www.drlforum.co.uk and we will be happy to help you on there! Ta Matt

Are you on the Digital Region Network? Are you thinking of signing up with an ISP on the Digital Region Network? Do you have a question about the network and wan't it answering? If you want to discuss anything relating to the Digital Region Forum then go to http://www.drlforum.co.uk - The Digital Region Support Forum!

Are you on the Digital Region Network? Are you thinking of signing up with an ISP on the Digital Region Network? Do you have a question about the network and wan't it answering? If you want to discuss anything relating to the Digital Region Forum then go to http://www.drlforum.co.uk - The Unofficial Digital Region Support Forum!

Yes there always appears to be a few cabinets within an area that don’t go live when the majority of them do. It’s normally something simple such as final tests or connections. It sounds like BT are putting the pair tie in to the cabinet. This is simply the link between the normal BT PCP and the DRL Fibre cabinet. They will probably sort it pretty quick so you shouldn’t be waiting too long if that’s the only thing left to do! Any business closing is a concern but rest assured Origin for ISP’s should be a good choice.

Hello, I have dealt with both RipWire (work) and Origin (home). If you ask me both providers are completely different in terms of the network and how they are run for performance and reliability as well as completely different levels of customer care! If you ask me Origin are a really good business to deal with they are very passionate about the Digital Region project and will do whatever they can to help you migrate from your existing provider to a new one. Their support is second to none and they are always willing to hep and resolve problems (if any!) .I can certainly say that RipWire did not and you could go months without communication and I feel this is one of the reasons why the business has failed and why so many customers were already frustrated with them! They also provided many other services not associcated with the Digital Region project and whilst they say DRL made them fail I feel this is not the case as DRL was just another product they offered and they had been trading for some years previous to DRL even been active! I am really impressed with the whole service from Origin and how they do things and deal with customers etc. I wouldn’t have second thoughts I went from 2Mb to 40Mb and speaking to India to speaking to some Yorkshire lads and lasses! You say you’re waiting on BT to sort your local cabinet out? What appears to be the issue… I feel your pain if your relying on BT though. Hope the info helps and re-assures you to get on board the DRL project and support a local business!

Yes true. I guess once you get the letter from DRL explaining what is happening you can act on what they tell you. If I was you I would get in touch with Origin soon to say you wish to migrate to them. I would of said they can earmark customers to move to them or request them if you have spoken to them etc. At the end of the day if the customer has a prefrence I feel DRL should really honnour that and allow you to choose your new provider!

The below is simply from another forum and has not been directly sent to me from RiPWiRE: Dear RiPWiRE customers, As you may be aware RiPWiRE has unfortunately had to cease trading as of 01/02/2012. An option to maintain the current client requirements is in negotiation with a leading provider and a conclusion to those negotiations should be reached tomorrow. In the meantime core internet access and service is being maintained by RiPWIRE. RiPWiRE's network is and has always been independent of Digital Region and as of this time is under our control only. We are not in a position to provide any 1st line support at this time. Liam Winder Managing Director RiPWiRE.

I know and have still got people connected to RipWire and the network as many people are saying is certainly not as good or reliable as Origin’s. I am an Origin customer at home on the 40/10 service with no fair usage so totally unlimited for £25pm. The service is very reliable and I constantly receive 38Mb along with a ping of 25ms or less to most websites. The customer service is second to none and everyone I speak too is friendly and knowledgeable and no matter what time or day you call there always willing to help! If I was you and in your position I would certainly ask for migration to Origin’s 40/10 package. Hope the info helps!

Oh right that’s alight if there doing stuff for free! Although as you say to get away from RipWire I think a lot of people would have given them £15 I certainly would of if I knew they could move you over! I have contacted DRL directly to see what’s happening with it all as I know people using them and don’t want those to be without service etc! I am personally with the better and more reliable ISP; Origin Broadband. I would certainly switch to them especially if they can sort it for free! I get a solid connected and get around 38 Mb throughput which is really quite good given that’s it’s on an aluminium cable from the cabinet etc! I have been on the RipWire unofficial support forum (http://ripwire.netscapist.com/) it would appear a hot topic on there as well so I think it’s safe to say that they are gone. I wonder if they have just stopped on the DRL network as they do offer a variety of services including some big corporate companies etc. I’m sure it will all come out properly soon and given the latest press about DRL I am sure that they will get hold of the RipWire story. I also agree with walkerx on that point. Whilst there service and customer service was dreadful it’s never nice to see a business go under or whatever has happened. As you say there will be a lot of people potentially out of work and a lot of business assets and infrastructure that they will have invested in. It’s bad as well that they were a small local business and actually were the first ISP to offer connectivity on the network. I guess it was first in, first out for them.

Hmm this is interesting then! The thing that is bugging me is if they had stopped trading like others say they have then surely your service would of been cut off? Does the speedtest website still show your IP address as been a RipWire one etc?

Who is your ISP out of interest? I have just been on the Digital Region website on the ‘Get Connected’ page as I wanted to find out when an area goes live for my friend! It would appear that RipWire are no longer listed so I was wondering if it was them who you are struggling to contact? It seems strange you say your internet is still working though :/ I guess it could be a problem with their VOIP server and they use it there selves for inbound calls etc. I also know people connected to RipWire who appear to be having no problems so hopefully some light as to what’s happening on the networks and the stories of ISP going under will be followed up shortly!

Yes that’s correct any router with a WAN port should work no issues. You shouldn’t really be off for that long at all a maximum of a few hours depending when the BT Openreach engineer is booked for and what time slot. You simply ensure that your cellpipe is connected to your master socket with the micro filter it comes with by 8am on the day of the switch. A BT SLU Engineer between 8-1 or 1-6 will then come and jumper your line over to the DRL cab. The cellpipe will not detect your ADSL line so at eight when you unplug it you’re without internet in a way. The engineer will call the NOC to see that your line is in sync at a healthy speed etc. You should be fine as long as you connect the Cellpipe to the phone line not to be in whilst the switch is complete. This is simply to allow the engineer to see you’re connected successfully, failure to connect a Cellpipe may make the engineer think the line isn’t syncing and therefore cause problems but normally is a straight forward process. If you ask me a couple of hours or even nearly a day downtime isn’t bad when you will have superfast broadband thereafter!

Hello, I have used a Cisco E3000 router that has gigabit switch in built and costs about £60 these work with the cellpipe fine as I have used them on several DRL connections. It gives a really good strong signal as well as fast transfer rates both internal and external on the web. I couldn’t say what speed the WAN port is but I am guessing this will be 100Mb however it again could be a 1Gb. I know that DRL are looking into utilizing the faster 80Mb profile and I believe BT are trialling an even fast profile around 120Mb as well as their existing fibre to premises products. Hope this info helps you.

Hello, Glad to hear that you’re connected to the DRL network okay now then! The speed is a good start so to speak normally VDSL/FTTC is a good speed straight off but like ADSL there will be a few days where the line speeds fluctuate slightly in order to find the best possible line speed and stable phone service as well. However, as pointed out speed test websites aren’t a great indication but if you were downloading multiple files from several locations/websites then you may find the speed is a lot closer to 40Mb than you realised. It may be worth trying http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk as there normally a good check you can also ask Origin to get the DSL line info from the NOC so you know what you’re in sync at!

Hi, I am also a current happy Origin customer so good choice with ISP there! I have a NETGEAR WNR1000 router and that has a good wide variety of QoS rules and a good user interface to change settings and make changes to your network etc. so I would definitely say I could recommend it! Guessing you will now be live on the network though?

Hello, Yes I know what you mean with regards the VOIP packages I neither would not want one of these too at the moment. I also assessed all options with ISP’s and in the end based on poor experience with RipWire, inadequate info from Ask4 and DRBSY not providing consumer packages I went with Origin. At the time Little Big One weren’t around and I also have had no dealing with them and their support is not based within South Yorkshire so felt more obliged to support a local firm. The best option for me was to keep my normal landline with BT and pay for a line rental saver package which was £120 for the year and I currently pay just £2.50 for unlimited anytime calls. I then simply opted for Origin’s top package so it worked out a good deal for me. As I provide a lot of IT support to various people the referrals scheme they have seemed like a good idea to get the cost down as well. They also have some kind of relationship with DRBSY who have very good reviews for reliability and support so it seemed a good choice. Does the property already have a phone line installed or are you having one put in?

It does still seem quite a long lead time for a new service even if you’re having a new line installed as well. I think at the moment the SLU engineers who perform the migration to the new FTTC are pretty busy and there are only certain ones who are trained properly to perform this work. There was a few issues with BT sending the wrong type of engineers to migrate customers and causing issues with the voice side of the line etc so now BT are making sure they can task the right engineer to the job!

How come you have gone with little big one in the end then? What other ISP’s did you look at going with etc?

Are you sure I have seen a lot of streets where DRL have beat BT to getting there fibre cab close by so they have simply had to house there’s round the corner or on the opposite side of the road. I have also noticed BT are now using the mini fibre cabinets like some DRL ones. I guess this a cost saving exercise now where there is a smaller amount of customers or there cutting back of the gear inside them in terms of redundancy and UPS etc.

As it's already been pointed out BT do not share the fibre cabinet. In South Yorkshire a lot of streets now consist of a BT PCP (normal voice cabinet) then a DRL Cabinet that is maintained by Thales along with their own BT fibre cabinets. Also I really wouldn't be worrying about congestion a fibre optic network as the chance of a cabinet been that busy is very very unlikely due to vast amount of data fibre can handle per second. I think it’s a bit daft hoping the network in South Yorkshire doesn’t get spread out too much and people use BT as its good for local business and the smaller ISP’s and its important they generate enough revenue to make it a viable business so one of the big ISP’s don’t buy them out and spoil the currently pretty good setup where they just use BT’s copper but all the traffic management they have no control over!

Oh right when you say your connected to the same cabinet as what you were when you were on the DRL network I didn’t realise this was even possible? I thought that you would have been moved back to one of BT’s Fibre Cabinets as the others are Thales for DRL only? Well to be honest I’m glad you have said that too me in a way, the pure lack of communication my friend and myself have had when trying to deal with his problem is shocking. It took them over eight weeks once to even bother contacting me and now were still waiting for an update on a fault reported at the beginning of December. To say all these companies are supposed to be communication specialist they fail at the first hurdle if you ask me! I couldn’t agree with you more on that one. The fact is so many of the big ISP’s do fail at times and therefore do get bad press and when I had faults on my BT Broadband package I slated them because of how they dealt with the issue. But when they do well I do in fact feel it’s important it’s recognised. I had a problem at first and Origin as always did everything they could and dealt with the situation brilliantly and as BT were involved again the engineers who came out were brilliant I couldn’t of asked for better customer care all round. It’s just a shame so of the ISP’s on the DRL network are giving the network a bad name I know several people connected with the good providers and all enjoy brilliant speeds as well as good customer care when it’s needed!

Yes I can imagine the process of moving back of the Digital Region network is a bit of a nightmare! I think they would struggle to migrate a customer from one ISP to another internally so external must be a nightmare, with that said been with Origin I have no plans to move at all as my connection is brilliant so far! It does sound that your speed and line must be somewhat similar to mine. I currently am getting a constant healthy download of around 38Mbps and normally get a good 8+Mbps upstream. The max ping response I get is 25ms and I have seen this a lot lower at times as well so really am chuffed with the connection. I think the problem is with the ISP you choose on the network I’m still having some issues with two friends connections and the complete lack of customer care and support from one ISP is absolutely shocking but I guess each ISP is different and if you choose the wrong one you are going to struggle to move during the term of the contract. I am hoping to get a TV service at some point with Origin as I believe they are getting closer to publicly releasing there TV service I would of got BT Vision when I was a ADSL customer but I only got a two megabyte connection so there was no point. Out of interest what exchange are you on as obviously yours has now gone live with BT FTTC however I know you’ve been wanting to get shut for some time! Glad to hear you’ve got a much better connection once again though!