Charlotte Knibbs

Traffic Shaping FTL

I have found something really REALLY crap about the internet in London. (Central London specifically) After all the trouble I had with BT earlier in the year in Frome, I was pleased to get away from them and use a different ISP in London.

We use free Orange broadband which OF COURSE we still need to use a BT landline with, costing the minimum contract amount of £40 a quarter.

So the annoying thing is this. If I do not use the internet from 8.30 to 9.00 am the internet is essentially *switched off* in our flat for the rest of the working day – until around 5.30 to 6.00 pm.
I cannot connect to web pages or my mail server, iChat continually disconnects me. Nothing. Which is of course really handy if, like me, you freelance from home and actually NEED the internet!

What I do to get round it is keep the internet from going dormant and run a streaming website like TVCatchup which if left on through 9.00 am keeps the internet from cutting out. This is tried and tested and it makes me 10/10 angry.

Essentially, the internet is being prioritised or traffic shaped at the ISP’s end. I understand the need for this if I were traffic throttling… but collecting email and running ichat is not what I would call throttling. Thanks Orange. As long as I am not using more bandwidth than I am “paying for” what is the problem?

If you are thinking “quit whining Charlotte, your not “paying” for your internet, you said it was free?”
Yes the internet we use is free, *because* one of my housemates has an Orange contract and gets free broadband included in the deal, therefore, (aside from paying for the BT phoneline) it should be free and *working* provided my housemate has his Orange contract.

So here I am drafting this post in Text Edit, because I was foolish enough to take a shower this morning instead of connecting TVCatchup and now the internet has gone down for the day. SUCH a ridiculous situation.

I am astounded as to how ISP’s can get away with skullduggery like this. BT and their speed capping and now Orange with traffic shaping? I cannot be the only one in England who is sick of being promised a certain internet speed and never ever coming close to getting it?

This post has been brought to you by the Walrus, significantly more superior to the vampire.