Chris Roubis wrote:The NBN Telstra deal continues to stink. Lets hope something good comes out of it.
Nothing too good coming out of it if this persons exp is anything to go by! Worthy of a full repost from this link
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/sup ... 6547294010"Super-slow and fast way to frustration with Telstra and NBN
Helen McInerney
AS houses go, mine is meant to be a genius.It's one of the first in Victoria to be connected to the National Broadband Network and to also have a smart meter.
But when it comes to performance, this house can be described only as an idiot.
The NBN, via my internet provider Telstra, delivers nothing like the super-fast 100 megabytes a second promised.
It's like living near a new freeway that has no on-ramps.
It performs so badly at times I can't even watch ABC iView on my iPad, as there is insufficient speed to provide video - only audio.
That's a shame, as due to the poor internet performance I can't get ABC reception on the television - it just shows a "no signal" message, or the images are pixelated.
However, even the most rudimentary technology won't work if you don't have power.
Soon after my so-called "smart" meter was installed, I returned home to find I had no power.
So I spent the night by candlelight trying to contact the right call centre and then listening to a voice message telling me to call back during business hours.
I waited until the sun rose and called again, then waited some hours for CitiPower to come and fix the problem created by the installation of the dumb meter. It meant taking the best part of the day off work.
Apparently smart meters don't get on with the wiring in older homes.
So much for being among the first Victorians to have access to the NBN and a smart meter. I am now, in fact, living in the dark ages.
Trying to talk to anyone at Telstra is just that - trying.If you are connected to the NBN the call centre bounces the call around from one place to another with no one willing to accept that theirs is the right area for advice on fixing NBN problems.
On three occasions I've spoken to three different call centre staff only to hang up when no one could help.
Only once did I find one person who was able to provide some insight into the glacial speed of the mighty NBN and my $100 a month Telstra broadband account. And this was after waiting on line for 38 minutes, speaking to at least two other operators, and getting a little weepy with frustration.
The operator spoke as though he was doing me a favour when he agreed to help fix the problem.
Telstra, he told me, had slowed my broadband speed due to excessive usage. By whom, I'd like to know. I pay for up to 200 gigabytes of downloads a month. He told me in a normal month I use only 10 per cent of it.
I don't understand megabytes or gigabytes or what a gigabyte might provide, but according to the NBN man at Telstra on one day so much information was uploaded via my account that the speed was reduced as a penalty.
On a wink and a nod, the operator agreed to reset the account and return some speed.
According to him, on this particular day I had uploaded the equivalent of 120 feature length films. I've never downloaded a single feature film and would have no idea how to "upload" a film.
For the NBN, this was good news - it can work fast. But not for me. His best suggestion was to check for something called malware and install virus protection software. I already had it, and unlike the NBN or my smart meter, my virus protection was up-to-date.
I looked up malware on Wikipedia via my employer's computer - it always works - and learned that malware is short for "malicious software, used or created by attackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems".
It makes sense that I have been the victim of an attack, either by some criminal stealing my megabytes or by a con artist employed to sell the NBN dream.
Frustrated with waiting on hold for NBN help from Telstra, I went into a Telstra shop. I waited in a queue, of course, and when I was helped was told that my complaint had been lodged online, but had been "escalated".
When I asked what "escalated" meant in Telstra time, I was told someone should contact me within three to five days. Spare a thought for those whose complaints are not put on the escalator!
I inquired about how long one might wait if the complaint were not escalated. The unprompted response from the Telstra shop employee? "It could take forever."
Helen McInerney is a Melbourne writer who would be a blogger if she had more stable internet access
by Claudekrowe » Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:09 am 
please just get on with it! 
