[Gllug] OT re Sky Broadband

[john gennard]

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 "Peter Ball" <CFL at marguet-ball.net> wrote:-

 >> Sky provide an installation CD

 > Ignore it, bin it or use it to put your coffee cup on it has
 > no other use.

OK, but coffee seeps through the hole in the middle!

 >> The flat has three phone sockets, the main  one installed
 >> by BT and two extensions.

 > Unplug the secondary socket wiring from the BT master socket.
 > If its plugged into the front just by unpluging, if its
 > connected internally to the bottom half of of the faceplate
 > by unplugging the bottom half of the face plate.  you will
 > find another socket under the bottom half of the faceplate.

 > Test that this is done by checking that the extension sockets
 > are dead and the master socket is live.  This eliminates the
 > extension wiring as a problem.

I accomplished this.

 > Plug a filter into the live master socket, plug a phone
 > into the filter and check that you get a good line.

Yes, the line was active and good.

 >> Sky provide a Netgear modem (you don't say which model)

It's difficult to tell which model, it could be "DG 834 GT",
but I can't be certain.

 > Plug the router into the filter, connect the PC to the
 > router by a network cable (NOT by usb.)

 > Turn on the router (do NOT turn on the PC yet)

Did both.

 > You should get a green power light, a flashing tick to say
 > that its booting up and when the flashing tick goes away an
 > orange internet sign (it looks like a candle) the orange
 > internet sign shows that you have a broadband connection
 > back to the exchange but are not yet logged onto Sky.

Problem still exists. Power light and booting indicater
activate, but there is no internet signal. I played around
a little by re-setting the router and changing the filter
twice, but to no avail.

 > Netgear routers default to 192.168.0.1 on the lan side with
 > NAT and provide local settings via DHCP.

 > Assuming the PC picked its network settings up by DHCP from
 > the router it will have an ip address in the 192.168.02-254
 > range.

At this stage, I booted the computer and checked 'ipconfig',
the Gateway was 192.168.0.1, the IP 198.162.0.2 with the
correct Netmask.

 > Open a browser window and logon to the router at 192.168.0.1
 > login as "admin" with p/w "password"

I found I could not logon, so I rang Sky to check "admin" and
"password". This was a very lengthy and useless exercise.
I told them I had concluded that either the phone line was
faulty/unactivated or the router was u/s. They did not listen.
It's clear to me that they can only operate by using a
detailed script and ignoring any input from the client. After
45 minutes I got the correct password (it is "sky"), but only
I suspect because they wanted to know what the router settings
were. I logged on to the router and had to give the readings
one by one - at the end of this I was told "you have no
connection!", to which I responded "I bl---y told you that
nearly an hour ago". There were frequent referrals to "my
supervisor" and at least fifty "bear with me"s.

By this time, an hour and a quarter has elapsed and I started
to get irate. Eventually, I was told "it looks like the router
is not working". Another referral back and "we'll send you
another one" - "hold on while I prepare the paperwork".

Eventually, I asked them to verify that BT had activated the
line, but all I got back was "your phoneline is working".
"I know that, I'm using it!", but I was wasting my breath.

 > The router should be able to pick most of the settings for
 > the broadband up automatically the username and password
 > will be in the Sky welcome letter and you may need to set
 > VPI to 0 (zero) and VCI to 38 by hand.

 > Once you apply the settings you should see the internet
 > light change to green and the the details on the router
 > management pages change to show the connection.

 > Hope that helps

It was very instructive, many thanks.

 > Let me know how you get on

I have above. Sorry to ramble on so much, but you did ask!
I have a strong feeling you will not be surprised by what
transpired. I'm 77 and just cannot understand why, when
money or service is involved, people do not listen to
questions and never respond to them. Significantly, I can't
find a Sky email address for support, which means I had to
spend a 'fortune' on the 'phone in an abortive attempt to
get some satisfaction.

Very many thanks for your response, Peter.

Cheers,

John.







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