# UTV Broadband



## jasconius (15 Jan 2007)

Anyone else notice that UTV Broadband  went down yesterday pm and has not been seen since!


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## quinno (15 Jan 2007)

Yep! Was down most of Sunday evening (14th January). Gave up in the end!


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## CCOVICH (15 Jan 2007)

Yes, was down alright-very annoying because at exactly the same time I was trying to get to the bottom of this problem.


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## NiallP (15 Jan 2007)

Good stuff. I'm with UTV Clicksilver as well, and I thought my computer had died on me! Any idea on when the problem will be fixed (or has it been already)?


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## Polo-Boy (15 Jan 2007)

Aha - I am not alone !

I spent hours messing with the settings on my PC as UTV went down at the same time as my laptop battery died so I assumed this had caused something to go wrong  

I guess I will have to try it again when I go home tonight and hope I didn't alter any important settings !

Also, I often have the problem mentioned in the other thread of the connection dropping after the first 5 minutes online and then being fine for the rest of the time.


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## ClubMan (15 Jan 2007)

According to my router log their _DNS _servers were down. Only for my work _VPN _(the client connects to the _VPN _server using a raw _IP _address) I would have had no connectivity thanks to _UTV_!


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## euroDilbert (15 Jan 2007)

Yes - their DNS servers were down.

However, by switching to another DNS server, I was able to use it normally.

The method was posted here previously - the last time they went down. I printed it out and keep it by my PC in case of necessity !


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## ClubMan (15 Jan 2007)

Yeah - see this thread:

Anyone else having problems with UTV DNS?


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## oysterman (15 Jan 2007)

euroDilbert said:


> However, by switching to another DNS server, I was able to use it normally.
> 
> The method was posted here previously - the last time they went down. I printed it out and keep it by my PC in case of necessity !


Have you got a link?


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## ClubMan (15 Jan 2007)

Er - I just posted it above. Here is a link to the specific post in question for those who don't want to (re)read the whole thread.


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## oysterman (17 Jan 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Er - I just posted it above.


Sorry, can't read....oops!


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## demoivre (22 Feb 2007)

I had problems connecting to UTV  on Monday morning and have had ongoing problems since. On Monday the UTV tech. support guy told me that there were authentication issues but that they had been sorted out. Fair enough and I was able to connect but since then I have had  had regular problems loading web pages and accessing e-mail -  I am getting error messages regularly such as :

The host 'mail.utvinternet.com' could not be found. Please verify that you have entered the server name correctly. Account: 'mail.utvinternet.com', Server: 'mail.utvinternet.com', Protocol: POP3, Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 11004, Error Number: 0x800CCC0D

when I try to check my e-mail or :

Server not found

 Firefox can't find the server at www.speedtest.ie.

    *   Check the address for typing errors such as
          ww.example.com instead of
www.example.com

    *   If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
          connection.

    *   If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy,        make  sure  that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

when I try to open a web site such as the speedtest one above. On occassions I can open a website in IE 7 and not in  Firefox or I can't open a site from  " bookmarks " in Firefox but when I type the url for the website directly into the address bar it does open!
Yet despite these messages/problems my live futures/stock prices feed is running without problems  .  I have no idea what's wrong ; running a full system scan with Avast antivirus, Windows defender ( I also downloaded and ran Ad-aware which also showed everything was fine ) indicates everything is ok - both Avast and Defender are running in realtime anyway and I also use the Comodo firewall . Anyone any suggestions as to how I can resolve these issues ?


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## clon (22 Feb 2007)

I had the same problem with a down connection. One thing that annoyed me about UTV's broadband is that I have had it since '04, they cut their prices for the standard bb package to about €22 (2mb, 12gb cap), but I was still being charged the same price as day one for the same product of €29.99. I had to go online to my account to take up a new deal with them and save some money, they didn't automatically give me the new price, but they automatically gave me the higher spped and cap that their standard package increased to.

Their service has been pretty good besides though.


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## demoivre (22 Feb 2007)

clon said:


> I had the same problem with a down connection. One thing that annoyed me about UTV's broadband is that I have had it since '04, they cut their prices for the standard bb package to about €22 (2mb, 12gb cap), but I was still being charged the same price as day one for the same product of €29.99. I had to go online to my account to take up a new deal with them and save some money, they didn't automatically give me the new price, but they automatically gave me the higher spped and cap that their standard package increased to.
> 
> Their service has been pretty good besides though.



I am with them since 04 too and generally haven't had too many problems though the fact that tech support doesn't start until 9.00am annoys me when , like on Monday morning, I need to be online at 7.30. Regarding the new  charges, yeah you're right you did have to sign up for the lower charges but that ensured they had you signed up for another six months !


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## ClubMan (22 Feb 2007)

Submitting support queries to _UTV _via their website or email is pointless in my experience. They never answer them as far as I can see. 


_UTV _have had intermittent problems with their _DNS _servers of late. If you cannot get connected then check your router log to see if it says anything about losing connectivity to _UTV DNS _servers. If so then root out a thread from a while back that mentions using _OpenDNS _as an alternative or a fallback.


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## CCOVICH (22 Feb 2007)

I still have to reboot/refresh my connection nearly everyday.


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## ClubMan (22 Feb 2007)

I have a similar problem in that when I initially switch on the router I have to manually disconnect and reconnect. I put this down to some reconfiguration that I did a while back but can't pinpoint the problem. Maybe the problem is at _UTV's _end after all...


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## CCOVICH (22 Feb 2007)

I just reconnect via the router's homepage.  My router is always on.


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## ClubMan (22 Feb 2007)

Yeah - that's what I meant. I have to manually disconnect/reconnect using the router control panel. Anybody else have this problem with _UTV_? I'm using the standard _Creative Blaster _router.


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## CCOVICH (22 Feb 2007)

Exact same setup as myself.


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## ClubMan (22 Feb 2007)

Did you always have this problem or did it arise unexpectedly? It only started happening for me some time mid to late last year.


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## CCOVICH (22 Feb 2007)

Probably in the last 2-3 months-I was without broadband from September to December/January due to UTV incompetence, and I think the problem has been in place since we were reconnected.  Nothing else has changed.


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## ClubMan (22 Feb 2007)

This is what I get in the router log when I switch on. After this I have to manually disconnect and reconnect using the router control panel to get things going. Do you get the same sort of log?

```
2/22/2007 10:53:29> Primary DNS not found! 
2/22/2007 10:50:35> Lost contact with DNS servers
2/22/2007 10:11:3> Received time from Time Server 128.138.140.44
1/1/1970 0:0:38> Regained contact with DNS servers
1/1/1970 0:0:29> PPP1 Session is up.
1/1/1970 0:0:28> No Static Session Information is defined.
1/1/1970 0:0:28> Initialized Dynamic NAPT.
1/1/1970 0:0:28> NAT/NAPT Session Start: interface ppp1, WAN IP is 194.46.161.96
1/1/1970 0:0:28> PPP1: DNS Secondary IP address is 194.46.192.142
1/1/1970 0:0:28> PPP1: DNS Primary IP address is 194.46.192.141
1/1/1970 0:0:28> PPP1: PPP Gateway IP address is 194.46.193.65
1/1/1970 0:0:28> PPP1: PPP IP address is 194.46.161.96
1/1/1970 0:0:28> PPP1 CHAP Authentication success
1/1/1970 0:0:28> PPP1 PPPoE Session is established.
1/1/1970 0:0:28> PPP1 PPPoE PADS Received, Serivce-Name: AC-Name:dbn1.bras Tag:0104 Value:68 3E 30 49 AF 14 D5 C9 87 89 6C E4 9A 08 D2 FD 
1/1/1970 0:0:27> PPP1 PPPoE PADR Sent, AC-Name:dbn1.bras Serivce-Name: Tag:0104 Value:68 3E 30 49 AF 14 D5 C9 87 89 6C E4 9A 08 D2 FD 
1/1/1970 0:0:22> PPP1 PPPoE PADI Sent
1/1/1970 0:0:22> ADSL connected
1/1/1970 0:0:22> ATM layer is up, cell delineation achieved 
1/1/1970 0:0:22> ATM Connected 
1/1/1970 0:0:19> Lost contact with DNS servers
1/1/1970 0:0:0> Washer - washer_reg called! 
1/1/1970 0:0:0> CfgMgr: 'Washer.dlz' module loaded.
1/1/1970 0:0:0> CfgMgr: 'Shtm.dlz' module loaded.
1/1/1970 0:0:0> Dynamic NAPT is enabled
1/1/1970 0:0:0> ATM: Setting up vcc0, VPI=8, VCI=35 
1/1/1970 0:0:0> ATM: Detected 
1/1/1970 0:0:0> Ethernet Device 0 Detected
```


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## CCOVICH (23 Feb 2007)

I'll have to try that and get back to you.


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## demoivre (23 Feb 2007)

I seem to have resolved the problems I mentioned in this thread yesterday by switching to OpenDNS as mentioned in this thread and also the load time for web pages appears to be quicker . Any reason why I shouldn't stick with Open DNS?


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## ClubMan (23 Feb 2007)

I would (do!) use _OpenDNS _as a fallback in my router configuration. In general it's probably best to use your _ISP's DNS _servers when available since they will be closer and more efficient, and only fall back onto _OpenDNS _when they are not available. Unfortunately _OpenDNS _doesn't help with my initial failure to connect and the need for a manual disconnect/reconnect to get things going.


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## davidoco (21 Mar 2007)

If having checked your dsl modem is actually connected using the voyager.home in your browser you can amend the dns settings in your local area or wireless network connection to use another dns server until UTV brings their back up.

Go into Network Connection (right click on computer symbol beside clock)
right click on your connection (wired or wireless),
click properties, 
scroll down to Internet Protocal (TCP/IP), highlight it then click properites
in the new screen that pops up select (at the bottom) Use the following DNS server addresses and type these numbers in the boxes 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.  

click ok to come out.

Restart IE and you should be fine.  Every now and then you can click Obtain DNS server address automatically to see if the UTV ones are back.


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## demoivre (21 Mar 2007)

I still haven't reverted to UTV's DNS and when I see others still experiencing problems with UTV I am happy sticking with OpenDNS which I have found to be very reliable since I started using it a month or so ago.


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## CCOVICH (21 Mar 2007)

demoivre said:


> I still haven't reverted to UTV's DNS and when I see others still experiencing problems with UTV I am happy sticking with OpenDNS which I have found to be very reliable since I started using it a month or so ago.


 
But it doesn't get around the 'reboot' issue experienced by myself and ClubMan?


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## ClubMan (21 Mar 2007)

CCOVICH said:


> But it doesn't get around the 'reboot' issue experienced by myself and ClubMan?


No - I thought that _DNS _might have been related to the "reboot" problem and that using _OpenDNS _might help but it doesn't. While the router seems to report _"Primary DNS not found" _errors when this problem crops up it does not seem to be the root cause and a manual disconnect and reconnect and sometimes even a router soft or hard reset is required to rectify the problem. I must investigate in more detail at some stage. The odd thing is that this problem only started happening (for me anyway) some time last year and before that I never remember it happening. There was a separate issue with _UTV's DNS _dropping out even though the _DSL _link was OK and _OpenDNS _configured as a primary or fallback _DNS _contact would solve this specific one.


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## lemeister (21 Mar 2007)

CCOVICH said:


> But it doesn't get around the 'reboot' issue experienced by myself and ClubMan?


Not sure if this is connected and I'm not well versed on router configurations, but I used to have a Zyxel C630 USB modem for UTV broadband and each time I started my PC, I had to unplug the USB connector from my PC and then plug it back in to get a DSL connection.  This was not a USB issue as I used many other USB devices without a problem in the same ports I used with the modem (plus doing every diagnostic check I came across).  I have since bought a Linksys (don't have model no to hand) wireless router/gateway and have not had a problem since.  I also use Open DNS as a backup and have the Open DNS addresses configured in the router.


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## ClubMan (21 Mar 2007)

lemeister said:


> Not sure if this is connected and I'm not well versed on router configurations, but I used to have a Zyxel C630 USB modem for UTV broadband and each time I started my PC, I had to unplug the USB connector from my PC and then plug it back in to get a DSL connection.  This was not a USB issue as I used many other USB devices without a problem in the same ports I used with the modem (plus doing every diagnostic check I came across).  I have since bought a Linksys (don't have model no to hand) wireless router/gateway and have not had a problem since.  I also use Open DNS as a backup and have the Open DNS addresses configured in the router.


This is irrelevant to my specific problems since I connect to the router using _ethernet _rather than _USB_. 

By the way - I have summarised here the three classes of problems that I (and others) have experienced with _UTV _recently.


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## onway (21 Mar 2007)

I have no idea what any of that 'DNS' or other stuff means but as someone who is considering signing up to UTV Broadband - is it a bad idea???


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## ClubMan (21 Mar 2007)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dns

In general I have found them OK but there have been problems recently. Overall I would still probably recommend them. Remember that most _ADSL_ providers are still simply reselling _eircom's _wholesale package so all things (in particular the individual _ISPs' _admin and technical setups) being equal 
there should not be much difference between them all.


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## sherib (21 Mar 2007)

I'd also recommend _Utv -_ have been with them almost two years now and have had no problem apart from the odd disconnect, i.e. loss of service. If that happens, unless you're an expert, don't go fiddling around as you might cause more problems for yourself. I learned that the hard way! All I'd do now is unplug the modem, wait a little while and if that doesn't work just wait for the service to be restored. 

Presumably you know there are free after hours and weekend phone calls (up to an hour) local, national and to UK which is a bonus? On the other hand, a lot of posters here find BT very satisfactory and possibly cheaper. However they seem to make mistakes with the bills so on that account I've stick with _Utv_ and it has got cheaper and faster since I signed up_._ 

Unlike some posters, in the main I have found their support system pretty good. One thing to know, you never get the actual speed they promise. 2MB is usually translates to 1,600 and 3MB never exceeds 2,600. I don't understand that DNS stuff either but I don't need to know, being a happy novice who has got a lot of helpful advice on AAM. Thanks everyone - you know who you are


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## franmac (21 Mar 2007)

Presumably you know there are free after hours and weekend phone calls (up to an hour) local, national and to UK which is a bonus? On the other hand, a lot of posters here find BT very satisfactory and possibly cheaper. However they seem to make mistakes with the bills so on that account I've stick with _Utv_ and it has got cheaper and faster since I signed up_._


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## ClubMan (21 Mar 2007)

Is there an echo in here?


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## franmac (22 Mar 2007)

> Presumably you know there are free after hours and weekend phone calls (up to an hour) local, national and to UK which is a bonus? On the other hand, a lot of posters here find BT very satisfactory and possibly cheaper. However they seem to make mistakes with the bills so on that account I've stick with _Utv_ and it has got cheaper and faster since I signed up_._


I am with UTV for years and would have broadband with them but my land line was a party line so we had to go wireless. I have found their call charges and general service quite good until recently when Mr Mac qualified for DSFA allowance and the mistakes? in their bill has now got beyond a joke. I have with the assistance of a person from the pensions dept tried to sort the billing problem and after lots of rows and discussions two weeks ago the problem was sorted.

However the phone bill for February came and we are once more being charged for line rental so I rang UTV support team to query the bill and got my crossword and my coffee ready for the long haul reply. Spoke to admin "they will never give a name" and admin said he would speak to the appropiate department.

When I asked admin about a certain amount of free calls included in the DSFA scheme he attacked me verbally telling me that we had free calls wekends plus so I informed him that was my contract with UTV.

Is Eircom the only company that DSFA recipents can avail of free calls.


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## ClubMan (22 Mar 2007)

franmac said:


> Is Eircom the only company that DSFA recipents can avail of free calls.


Are you talking about the SW Household Benefits package? Note that this does not cover calls. It covers line rental (more or less). And should be available no matter what landline service provider you use.


> When I asked admin about a certain amount of free calls included in the DSFA scheme he attacked me verbally


 Are you sure that he actually "attacked" you!?


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## jasconius (24 Mar 2007)

Sat evening and UTV is up and down likes a fiddler's whatsit.
Seriously considering my options though I am happy with the cheap phone calls.


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## franmac (24 Mar 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Is there an echo in here?


 
No just the result of my "lack of computing skills"


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## Sim Two (26 Mar 2007)

Was UTV phone and broadband system down Saturday evening March 24th and all day Sunday March 25th?

Sim


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## leex (26 Mar 2007)

Seemed to be issues alright - off and on. Possibly DNS again.


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## euroDilbert (26 Mar 2007)

I used it without noticing any problems, so I guess it was the weekend DNS failure problem again (I have OpenDNS set up as an alternative)


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## ClubMan (26 Mar 2007)

euroDilbert said:


> I used it without noticing any problems, so I guess it was the weekend DNS failure problem again (I have OpenDNS set up as an alternative)


Or the problem could have been localised to specific areas/exchanges?


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## IrishGunner (27 Mar 2007)

Sim Two said:


> Was UTV phone and broadband system down Saturday evening March 24th and all day Sunday March 25th?
> 
> Sim



Not sure but phone & BB were down last night and still no movement this morning. They cannot report a fault until 48 hours after first report so Wed night ???
They rang me and said there is a problem so why dont they just escalate it to Eircom straight away ?
In the meantime no interweb except in work........so have to be careful..


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## Sim Two (27 Mar 2007)

Irish Gunner

Phone line and BB was available on Monday morning from about 9 AM but was gone again last night from around 7:30 PM. Contacted the UTV support service who confirmed the line fault and said it could take Eircom 4 or 5 days to check what the problem was.

Checked phone line this morning and it was working OK.

Sim


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## IrishGunner (27 Mar 2007)

Just tried to ring home to see if it would kick into Answering Machine but no so still down
Utv did confirm the line fault my problem is why the wait of 48 hours ? I cannot contact Eircom as they would say I am not with them. Same thing happened to my parents a while back. They looked for a reduction in the line rental and BB charge but got nothing
If it aint back by Wednesday then its straight onto their customer service...so a 30 minute wait on the phone


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## Sim Two (28 Mar 2007)

Irish Gunner

Phone line and BB gone again last night from about 8PM.  Phone line was back when I checked at 9 AM this morning.  Very strange and very frustrating 

Sim


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## IrishGunner (28 Mar 2007)

Phone still down this morning & just tried to ring home to see if Answering machine kicked in and no joy there

Sent off a mail to them now so god knows when they will reply
Stated that I wont be home tonight to report if its still down so want to report it again. Also asked for some type of reduction on phone bill not sure what my rights are ?
Living in North Dublin so not sure if there is something wrong with the Exchange ?

Its just a pain in the A**


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## f9710145 (24 Apr 2007)

jasconius said:


> Sat evening and UTV is up and down likes a fiddler's whatsit.
> Seriously considering my options though I am happy with the cheap phone calls.



Phew, thought that was me.  I had to replace my wireless modem/router as the old one broke.  I'd the new one up and running only a couple of hours when this started.  Had a few problems on Sunday as well, but only very short term.  Still, better than some of the other offerings out there....


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## ClubMan (24 Apr 2007)

Apart from having to manually (through the router control panel) disconnect & reconnect the _ADSL _connection each time I switch on in order for the link to work properly I still find that the _ADSL _connection randomly disconnects from time to time for no obvious reason and I have to manually reconnect it.


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## ClubMan (21 May 2007)

Still getting random failures of the _ADSL _connection - router disconnects, won't reconnect usually for several minutes and in the meantime the (_Creative Blaster_) router reports either _ADSL _synchronization or _PPP _failures. Real pain in the posterior...


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## davidoco (22 May 2007)

I have a spare Netopia Modem (non wireless) which in my experience with UTV held the connection. Just use it for straight pc connection.

First PM gets it.


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## ClubMan (22 May 2007)

Thanks but I don't think that my problem is with the router as it used to work fine but only started becoming intermittently unreliable in the past year or so.


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## ClubMan (20 Aug 2007)

I recently upgraded from _UTV ClickSilver _2Mbps to 3Mbps and this was supposed to take effect in from the start of August. I only remembered to check recently and over the past few days still always get the same sort of speeds as before the upgrade (e.g. www.irishisptest.com reports 1.54Mbps down/314Kbps up and the router connects at 1856Kbps down/384Kbps up). The same thing happened to a colleague, he queried it and they eventually told him that he could not get 3Mbps after all (line issues) but they were happy to charge him for it in the meantime! He asked them to revert him to 2Mbps and refund the charges. In the course of doing this he lost all phone/internet services for a period of weeks over _Xmas _last. Anybody else had similar experiences with upgrading and being charged but not getting the service promised and/or losing service when attempting to roll back to the lower package?  I'll be calling them tomorrow about this but would be interested in any other stories that people might have...


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