ISP change from Pipex to TalkTalk

ellevie · Post by **ellevie** » 28 Mar 2008, 17:57

I've only ever been with Pipex for Broadband and I've always found the link to be reliable.
I've never had to call on them for support which I suppose is a testament in itself.
At £14.99 for broadband + phone + line rental I'm prepared to put up with less reliability if that's how it turns out.
If I stayed as I am now with Pipex and BT line rental it would cost me over £35 a month.

ellevie · Post by **ellevie** » 13 Apr 2008, 17:25

Time for an update on my recent ISP move from Pipex to Tiscali.

I ordered Tiscali Broadband & Phone @ £14.99 on March 19th and was connected last Tuesday April 8th, so the setup time was quite reasonable.

I can connect at 8 Mbits using my existing Conexant AccessRunner USB modem and the typical download rate is 2.2 Mbits which is twice what I used to have, so I'm quite happy with that.

My email comes through FreeServe/Orange so I can't comment on the Tiscali email service.

A Siemens Gigaset SE587 wireless Ethernet router arrived April 9th but I haven't used this yet.

One strange problem I had initially was that I could connect to Tiscali.com but not to Tiscali.co.uk, nor indeed to this forum. I phoned technical support in India at 5p per minute who correctly diagnosed that my firewall was responsible. I use ZoneAlarm 2.1.25 and Win98 SE. I now find I have to set the security level to medium rather than high. The highest setting is stealth mode which "hides all ports not in use by a program". It seems odd that I was able to use the highest mode with Pipex but not with Tiscali.

It's early days yet but from what I've seen so far I'm quite pleased with it.

Post by **myglaren** » 13 Apr 2008, 17:45

You should be able to go into the user settings and clear the way for specified addresses. Can't help you further as I don't have Zone Alarm anymore, use Sygate for the (offline now) XP and Comodo for the Vista machine.

ellevie · Post by **ellevie** » 14 Apr 2008, 08:45

It just seems very odd that the high setting works with one ISP but not another.
Very strange !

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 14 Apr 2008, 09:08

Hi ellevie,

It's been a long time since I used Zonealarm but it might be worth uninstalling it, removing any folder/files & registry entries left behind and then installing it afresh?

Post by **myglaren** » 14 Apr 2008, 12:22

If you do uninstall it - and I would go along with that suggestion, install the router while it is absent and get it all operating to your satisfaction, then reinstall ZA, or give Sygate a trial.

The router should give you an extra layer of protection but if you are having connection difficulties it is simpler to eliminate one possible cause and concentrate on the other.

ellevie · Post by **ellevie** » 14 Apr 2008, 19:39

I tried reinstalling Zone Alarm but it made no difference. Besides, even if I do get it to work with ZA in stealth mode, it still will not explain why it works with some ISPs and not others.

I will not be using the supplied router because it is Ethernet and my laptop does not have a native Ethernet connection.

On the phone side of things, it is now much more difficult to connect using Orange 56k dialup which I also sometimes use as a backup. Incidentally, ZoneAlarm stealth mode works ok when I connect using Orange dialup.

As I say everything works fine with ZA in medium security mode. I am just curious as to why stealth mode works with some ISPs but not others.

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 15 Apr 2008, 00:14

ellevie wrote:I tried reinstalling Zone Alarm but it made no difference. Besides, even if I do get it to work with ZA in stealth mode, it still will not explain why it works with some ISPs and not others.

Re-installing is just that, the important steps are to delete all traces of the last install first.

If you'd like to know why Tiscali creates this problem, you'd have do a little digging I'm afraid. ISP's, IMO, are a law unto themselves though you might get lucky and find a knowledgeable and sympathetic support contact. Otherwise you'll need to log and analyse the packets yourself. Does ZA create logs? If not, you can install a packet sniffer but it requires you to decipher the packets.

Post by **myglaren** » 17 May 2008, 19:46

ellevie wrote:Phorm 'illegal' says Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7301379.stm
Another nail in the coffin !

A new move to spike Phorm's guns.

Antiphorm

ellevie · Post by **ellevie** » 19 May 2008, 14:11

The Register wrote:Coding activists have developed an application designed to confound Phorm's controversial behaviour-tracking software by simulating random web-browsing.

Interesting, but if everybody were to do this, wouldn't this just needlessly clog up the internet ?

Post by **myglaren** » 20 May 2008, 18:16

ellevie wrote:
The Register wrote:Coding activists have developed an application designed to confound Phorm's controversial behaviour-tracking software by simulating random web-browsing.
Interesting, but if everybody were to do this, wouldn't this just needlessly clog up the internet ?

It is a reasonable assumption that it would increase traffic for a while at least, until someone killed one or the other system.

More worrying is this piece of nastiness revealed by Slashdot

This isn't really the place for it but as the OP has been sorted there isn't really a better place for it.

Despite the seriousness of the topic the comments are quite amusing.

Post by **myglaren** » 05 Jun 2008, 19:44

Slashdot is reporting on a leaked memo from BT disclosing details of the Phorm secret trials.
Wikileaks

Wikipedia

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 05 Jun 2008, 20:32

It seems to me that there are supporters of this spying technology in very high places who don't give a damn about the law or protecting the interest of the general public/broadband consumer. Perhaps someone should spread a rumour that it's all backed by Alky Aida money

French Car Forum

ISP change from Pipex to TalkTalk

Re: Phorm 'illegal' says FIPR