Newsreader Issue

Many thanks to those who have pointed out to me the deficiencies of my NTL
news feed (news.ntlworld.com).
I have taken your advice and subscribed to "news.individual.net" which is
cheap and adequate.

Apologies to the group for what have appeared to you as multiple postings
from me but I think you will understand that it was caused by the inadequacy
of NTL rather than any attempt to be irritating on my part.

I have just compared the entries for alt.fan.landrover which are visible on
the NTL news feed with those visible on the news.individual.net feed and was
astonished at the difference.

Here is the result as of 13:30 24th August - latest entries only:
(I hope my crude formatting works for you, two columns)

*news.individual.net* *news.ntlworld.com*

S'not Really Funny, But S'not Really Funny, But
Selling tactics Selling tactics
Re: Lancaster Insurance ----no entry----
Channel 4 news piece Channel 4 news piece
Re: 200Tdi Defender ----no entry----
Re: More on the digital Re: More on the digital
Re: Powerless Tdi ----no entry----
Seats for Defender Seats for Defender
Re: Series tyres ----no entry----
Re: New Land Rover ----no entry----
Stainless Steel Exhausts Stainless Steel Exhausts
Illuminated Indicator Illuminated Indicator
Re: part number ----no entry----
Re: How much should I Re: How much should I
2.25 Diesel Blowing Oil 2.25 Diesel Blowing Oil
Re: L200's - Towing Re: L200's - Towing
ot. pc back up ot. pc back up
Re: Petrol ----no entry----
Wish me Luck MOT Wish me Luck MOT
Re: 200Tdi Defender ----no entry----
Re: Discovery 3 TDV6 Re: Discovery 3 TDV6
Discovery Series II Discovery Series II

Les

"Dadio" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Many thanks to those who have pointed out to me the deficiencies of my NTL
> news feed (news.ntlworld.com).
> I have taken your advice and subscribed to "news.individual.net" which is
> cheap and adequate.

Les,

Congratulations from emerging from the darkside. I got a flyer from Ntl
yesterday asking if the grass is any greener with Sky etc. They may be
competitive for broadband , cable and phone but if they don't know what they
are doing then I don't want anything to do with them.... besides...
streching my cable to the Atlantic coast of France would be pushing my luck.
:0)

I'm very happy with news.individual.net and Zen although a little more
expensive are just the ticket so far. I wanted no cap on my broadband due to
having IP CCTV setups dotted around here and there , can't fault it so far.

Lee D

Lee_D wrote:

> I'm very happy with news.individual.net and Zen although a little more
> expensive are just the ticket so far. I wanted no cap on my broadband due to
> having IP CCTV setups dotted around here and there , can't fault it so far.

Whats wrong with News.zen.co.uk ?

Steve

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 15:11:31 +0100, "Dadio" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Here is the result as of 13:30 24th August - latest entries only:

I'd have said, based upon your statistics, that they were obviously
getting better ;-)

On or around Wed, 24 Aug 2005 15:11:31 +0100, "Dadio" <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>Apologies to the group for what have appeared to you as multiple postings
>from me but I think you will understand that it was caused by the inadequacy
>of NTL rather than any attempt to be irritating on my part.
>
>I have just compared the entries for alt.fan.landrover which are visible on
>the NTL news feed with those visible on the news.individual.net feed and was
>astonished at the difference.

I had this argument with ****cali once, and sent them screenshots of their
server's messgae list and a proper one. didn't get anywhere.

vote with your feet, if possible - ditch NTHell and if possible tell them
why. There are better providers out there.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Brevis esse laboro, Obscurus fio" (it is when I struggle to be
brief that I become obscure) Horace (65 - 8 BC) Ars Poetica, 25

"Steve Taylor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Lee_D wrote:
>
>> I'm very happy with news.individual.net and Zen although a little more
>> expensive are just the ticket so far. I wanted no cap on my broadband due
>> to having IP CCTV setups dotted around here and there , can't fault it so
>> far.
>
> Whats wrong with News.zen.co.uk ?
>
> Steve

Dunno, I'd subscribed to news.individual.net before joining zen so I've not
actually used zens news server yet. Given I use the laptop and palm pc as
well I like to keep it simple when it comes to accounts and passwords.

Lee D

Lee_D wrote:

> Dunno, I'd subscribed to news.individual.net before joining zen so I've not
> actually used zens news server yet. Given I use the laptop and palm pc as
> well I like to keep it simple when it comes to accounts and passwords.

Its easy to run with multiple servers, at least in Thunderbird, which is
all I use.

Steve

"steve Taylor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Its easy to run with multiple servers, at least in Thunderbird, which is
> all I use.
>
> Steve

Indeed... should I get any trouble I'll no doubt give it a whirl. In fact I
had to do this before getting news.individual.net to use my freeserve pay as
you go account (backup) when having No-Thrigging-help. ;0)

Lee D

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 16:48:04 +0100, Austin Shackles
<[email protected]> made me spill my meths when he wrote:

>vote with your feet, if possible - ditch NTHell and if possible tell them
>why. There are better providers out there.

A couple of weeks back I did just that. I was surprised at how easy it
was, was exceptionally annoyed at the crap broadband once again and
asked how I could cancel and they gave me the cancellations number.
Rang that number and it was so easy. Wasn't asked why or how etc and
that just added to my disappointment in their service even more,
almost apathetic service from them. I wasn't looking for them
grovelling etc but you would have thought that alarm bells should be
ringing by this point when a customer is cancelling the whole account.
It was mainly because of the absolutely dire broadband of an evening,
during the day it was fine but it all falls over once the world and
his wife gets in from work, at least thats how it as here in
Harrogate. I got fed up of telling them, and the fannying around on
the phone with their automated bollocks didn't help. Thing is,
stubborn git that I am it was the whole account that went, TV,
telephone and all.

Then I ring BT to get the number transferred back to them, all going
fine there so far.

Over a week later I get two calls in one evening from ntl, both asking
why I had cancelled. So I told them, very politely, even as I watched
the little green light flashing on my set top box to tell me I had no
broadband. I was offered cheap broadband if I stayed, I pointed out
that they could offer free broadband but if it doesn't work then it's
no good.

The second ntl call later that evening offers me free broadband and
asked if I would let one of their brilliant tech guys, Andy, ring me
and sort it all out to get broadband working. I said that sounded
promising but I had been told it many times. Andy was going to ring me
the following evening and sort it.

Three evenings later I get a phone call from BT asking me to confirm
that I wanted to cancel the transfer. I asked them to elaborate, it
seems that shortly after me agreeing to let ntl's brilliant Andy ring
me to try to sort it out they had sent a fax to BT to cancel my
transfer. As I hadn't had a call from Andy the brilliant ntl manager I
felt I had been tricked by ntl. So BT were told that I hadn't intended
to cancel and I still haven't had a call from brilliant Andy, he
doesn't write, send flowers etc etc.

This still leaves me with having to sort out internet access in a week
or so but I'm not in a rush to be honest, sorting the pinkie out and
doing other work instead of sitting in front of the monitor has kind
of put it on the back burner, then again, an eldest son who is into
World Of Warcraft big style means I should be getting grief pretty
soon

Will probably have a go with BT's broadband, free modem if done
online, at least the £50 saving a month from the ntl package will help
clear some of the overdraft

Rant over
--
Wayne Davies - Mobile 07989 556213 - Harrogate, N.Yorks, UK

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 15:11:31 +0100, "Dadio" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Many thanks to those who have pointed out to me the deficiencies of my NTL
>news feed (news.ntlworld.com).
>I have taken your advice and subscribed to "news.individual.net" which is
>cheap and adequate.

Call me tight, but i'm not paying twice for the same service

Alex

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 19:26:12 GMT, Alex <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Call me tight

You're tight.

"Mother" <"@ {mother} @"@101fc.net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 19:26:12 GMT, Alex <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>Call me tight
>
> You're tight.

Yep, I heard rumor of diamond production in the WC and a Bus mirror on the
wall too.

;0)

Lee D

On or around Wed, 24 Aug 2005 17:34:51 GMT, [email protected]
enlightened us thusly:

>This still leaves me with having to sort out internet access in a week
>or so but I'm not in a rush to be honest, sorting the pinkie out and
>doing other work instead of sitting in front of the monitor has kind
>of put it on the back burner, then again, an eldest son who is into
>World Of Warcraft big style means I should be getting grief pretty
>soon

check out metronet [http://www.metronet.co.uk] - good deals, especially if
you have the hardware already - if not, you have to buy yer modemrouter; if
you already have BT broadband enabled then you might dodge the setup fee.


no links, just satisfied. Much better service than most (I know someone
who's been on the phone to 'em, you actually get to talk to a real, useful
person)

good price structure and conditions (e.g. 3 month minimum contract)

combine it with a domain name (if you've not already got one) with email
forwarding (I'm using 123-reg[http://www.123-reg.co.uk]) and it all works
fine - metronet have an SMTP server for outgoing mail.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
Once, when the secrets of science were the jealously guarded property of
a small priesthood, the common man had no hope of mastering their arcane
complexities. Years of study in musty classrooms were prerequisite to
obtaining even a dim, incoherent knowledge of science.
Today, all that has changed: a dim, incoherent knowledge of science is
available to anyone. - Tom Weller, Science Made Stupid, 1986

On or around Wed, 24 Aug 2005 19:26:12 GMT, Alex <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 15:11:31 +0100, "Dadio" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>>Many thanks to those who have pointed out to me the deficiencies of my NTL
>>news feed (news.ntlworld.com).
>>I have taken your advice and subscribed to "news.individual.net" which is
>>cheap and adequate.
>
>Call me tight, but i'm not paying twice for the same service

yer tight...

seriously, I was more than happy to shell out EU10 for individual when it
stopped being free. had very, very few issues with 'em, much fewer than any
other news server.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
Once, when the secrets of science were the jealously guarded property of
a small priesthood, the common man had no hope of mastering their arcane
complexities. Years of study in musty classrooms were prerequisite to
obtaining even a dim, incoherent knowledge of science.
Today, all that has changed: a dim, incoherent knowledge of science is
available to anyone. - Tom Weller, Science Made Stupid, 1986

Alex wrote:

> Call me tight, but i'm not paying twice for the same service

I thought we'd established that exact point - he isn't GETTING that same
service !

Steve

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 21:27:10 +0100, Steve Taylor
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Alex wrote:
>
>> Call me tight, but i'm not paying twice for the same service
>
>I thought we'd established that exact point - he isn't GETTING that same
>service !
>

No, but you try asking NTL for a 10€ Refund cos thier server is crap
and see what happens

Alex

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 22:44:42 GMT, Alex <[email protected]>
wrote:

>>I thought we'd established that exact point - he isn't GETTING that same
>>service !
>
>No, but you try asking NTL for a 10€ Refund cos thier server is crap
>and see what happens

Well, I guess there's points on each side. Bundled nntp feeds are
variable, however probably adequate for 'most'. Once one starts to
enjoy usenet for what it is, and go past the "oh, it's a part of my
Outlook Express so I may as well give it a go" stage, it may be
desirable to look at a slightly more competent nntp service.

Not being bothered with binaries, many may find that commercial porn
services (erm, sorry, meant to say "binary" services) are
prohibitively expensive, so an option for something like NIN is bloody
good value at 10 Euro a year.

The other side of this is that most bundled nnpt services are speed
restricted - in other words, it's slow downloading all those tedious
headers, even slower (but not always) getting the body. NIN is, erm,
somewhat faster than most expect, and as a consequence, some people
don't realise it's downloaded all the headers and bodies...

Oh, did I mention...

.... you're tight

"Alex" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 21:27:10 +0100, Steve Taylor
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Alex wrote:
>>
>>> Call me tight, but i'm not paying twice for the same service
>>
>>I thought we'd established that exact point - he isn't GETTING that same
>>service !
>>
>
> No, but you try asking NTL for a 10? Refund cos thier server is crap
> and see what happens
>
> Alex

I got £85 refunded after making a rather public protest on their own
newsgroup :0) then advising the next call taker exactly what I'd be doing
with the content of the converstation I was having with them if I didn't get
satisfaction during that phone call, and no I wouldn't accept a call back.
Incidentally I didn't ask for anything I wasn't due and got a little more.
Sad state of affairs that I had to go through it all in the first place but
I can take some satisfaction in knowing they still haven't sorted it so I
took the right move.

Process took over a month though.... but I got satisfaction in the end.

Lee D