Fibre Optics on the PC

[plastic penguin]

Had a chin wag with a Talktalk service operator on Thursday because the PC has become hidiously slow. They suggested that changing to fibre optics, including a FO router will improve things. They also said there won't be any hidden or additional costs. All sounds rosey on the surface, but is there a catch or will I notice an improvement with speed and overall quality?

One thing that makes it appealling: I can run more than one PC from one router, according to the rep.

Any insight on this subject would be apprciated.

 

[simonlewis]

I had it done sept 2011, an engineer comes round & hard wires a lead into your phone socket, you can choose how long or short you want the wire, i had a plugged in (powered) box attached to the wire/cable & then my router into that, i must admit i haven't noticed much difference, but i only pay about £50 for my telephone & internet provider a month but i hardly use my telephone though.

 

[Superaintit]

PP, what exactly has become slow on your PC?

Internet or just any operation? If the 1st is the case, then yes, faster Internet access can help.

If any operation has become slower, check how much free space there is left on the hard disk. Also check with control + alt + delete how much room there is left in processor speed and physical memory. If everything seems to have enough headroom I would do a complete virus scan.

 

[Dave_]

Depends on your surfing habits as to whether fibre is worth it. If it's just for surfing and email etc then you won't notice much if any difference to speed. Streaming, downloading and online gaming etc is where it will make the biggest difference.

One thing that makes it appealling: I can run more than one PC from one router, according to the rep

This is an odd comment, most routers will have multiple LAN ports and support multiple wireless devices, regardless of whether you're on ADSL or fibre.

 

[plastic penguin]

PP, what exactly has become slow on your PC?

Internet or just any operation? If the 1st is the case, then yes, faster Internet access can help.

If any operation has become slower, check how much free space there is left on the hard disk. Also check with control + alt + delete how much room there is left in processor speed and physical memory. If everything seems to have enough headroom I would do a complete virus scan.

Don't really know - when Talktalk checked out PC's capacity it was reading fine. As I don't know how to check the capacity I can't verify their claims. One day it was fine and the next it just takes ages: When I go onto internet explorer it'll take around 3 minutes before I can use it. It has the circular blue ring which usually means it's trying to find the internet.

The other day I tried a 'Clean up' which took around 3 hrs to complete, but didn't improve matters, (nor did it detect any viruses) even though it didn't change the speed. No idea.

 

[plastic penguin]

Depends on your surfing habits as to whether fibre is worth it. If it's just for surfing and email etc then you won't notice much if any difference to speed. Streaming, downloading and online gaming etc is where it will make the biggest difference.

One thing that makes it appealling: I can run more than one PC from one router, according to the rep

This is an odd comment, most routers will have multiple LAN ports and support multiple wireless devices, regardless of whether you're on ADSL or fibre.

According to TT I will have the capacity to use laptops and/or iPads, in addition to the desktop.

 

[bigboss]

There are about 12-15 devices in my house connected wirelessly to my ADSL router, including phones, laptops, iPad & Nexus 7.

 

[The_Lhc]

One thing that makes it appealling: I can run more than one PC from one router, according to the rep

This is an odd comment, most routers will have multiple LAN ports and support multiple wireless devices, regardless of whether you're on ADSL or fibre.

Talktalk only provide a modem as standard (or did), my mum's with them and didn't get a wireless router.

 

[Paul.]

Talk Talk gave me a wireless router, if you can call it that. Absolute junk.

 

[bearwolfblade]

Im on talk talk fibre optic unlimited +free evening and weekend phone calls for only £30 a month .it went from 2.5mbs before fibre optic to 24.4mbs after which is excellent for online gaming .

 

[bigboss]

When I go onto internet explorer it'll take around 3 minutes before I can use it. It has the circular blue ring which usually means it's trying to find the internet.

This doesn't sound like due to slow Internet connection. Fibre optics is unlikely to help here. Something's wrong in your settings. Try turning your firewall off & see if it helps things.

Also, clear your browser's cache.

 

[professorhat]

Honestly, I'm a little suspicious of this. Although I don't think it's necessarily genuine dishonesty, there is a tendency these days for support folks to just recommend upgrading something to improve speed etc., then deal with the issue if that doesn't fix it. The issue with this attitude is unnecessary money can be spent due to their laziness.

You need to tie down exactly what is slow - if possible, get someone you trust to have a look at your laptop. Even if they can't fix it, if they can at least let you know if (a) is everything is a bit slow or (b) is just browsing the internet slow, you're in a good place as if it's (a), then increasing your broadband speed isn't likely to make any difference at all.

Working in IT, I get used to people complaining about slow performance because many people are impatient and don't realise that their PC won't always do everything they want instantly every single time - they then start angirly clicking buttons which makes the issue worse as the PC then tries to carry out their new commands - more buttons are pressed and eventually everything crashes (I've seen this time after time!). However, just a quick test run of their PC lets me know if they're just really impatient and need to learn that sometimes things do just slow down and they need to pause, or if there actually is a problem.

That's what you need really need to know - then you can make an informed decision on the best way forward.

 

[Dave_]

One thing that makes it appealling: I can run more than one PC from one router, according to the rep

This is an odd comment, most routers will have multiple LAN ports and support multiple wireless devices, regardless of whether you're on ADSL or fibre.

Talktalk only provide a modem as standard (or did), my mum's with them and didn't get a wireless router.

Was previously with TT before upgrading to fibre, they supplied me a D-Link wireless router.

 

[The_Lhc]

One thing that makes it appealling: I can run more than one PC from one router, according to the rep

This is an odd comment, most routers will have multiple LAN ports and support multiple wireless devices, regardless of whether you're on ADSL or fibre.

Talktalk only provide a modem as standard (or did), my mum's with them and didn't get a wireless router.

Was previously with TT before upgrading to fibre, they supplied me a D-Link wireless router.

Did you have to ask for it though? They told my mum she'd have to pay extra for it. They then didn't set up her email account properly and have never fixed it, this was about 3 years or so ago.

 

[Dave_]

Did you have to ask for it though? They told my mum she'd have to pay extra for it. They then didn't set up her email account properly and have never fixed it, this was about 3 years or so ago.

Nope, they just supplied it free when i signed up with them.

 

[The_Lhc]

Did you have to ask for it though? They told my mum she'd have to pay extra for it. They then didn't set up her email account properly and have never fixed it, this was about 3 years or so ago.

Nope, they just supplied it free when i signed up with them.

Well, I don't know when that was but they certainly didn't when my mum signed up.

 

[Dave_]

Did you have to ask for it though? They told my mum she'd have to pay extra for it. They then didn't set up her email account properly and have never fixed it, this was about 3 years or so ago.

Nope, they just supplied it free when i signed up with them.

Well, I don't know when that was but they certainly didn't when my mum signed up.

Would have been about 2 1/2 years ago, as it was a 12 month contract, then signed up for another 12 after being offered a good deal when i phoned the to request a MAC, and have been on Fibre about 6 months now.

 

[Overdose]

Had a chin wag with a Talktalk service operator on Thursday because the PC has become hidiously slow. They suggested that changing to fibre optics, including a FO router will improve things. They also said there won't be any hidden or additional costs. All sounds rosey on the surface, but is there a catch or will I notice an improvement with speed and overall quality?

One thing that makes it appealling: I can run more than one PC from one router, according to the rep.

Any insight on this subject would be apprciated.

As several people have already said, the slowdown could be the result of any number of things, not necessarily broadband speed (which shouldn't slow down massively unless there is an external problem). If your internet connection is slow, the first thing to try, might be a replacement filter, these can fail or partially fail and give very slow internet speed. They are cheap and easy to obtain, sometimes a spare is available with the supplied router.

Other solutions are as previously mentioned, virus and malware scans, defrag and clean up etc. I have found CCleaner to be very good for a simple clean up program, used in conjunction with other antispam and antivirus software.

 

[plastic penguin]

I've removed the cookies and disabled firewall. Still no better. Also, my hotmail account won't function. I can get into it but if I try and delete any mail just doesn't respond.

 

[scene]

Hmm. Odd - some questions.

1. How is your PC connected to your ADSL modem - with an ethernet cable, or a USB cable. Or is your PC connected to another router and then to your modem? If your ADSL modem has the option of both, use an ethernet cable if you're not already so doing.

2. What spec is your PC (Memory, CPU type + speed, HDD size - if you're not sure - what's the make and model)

3. Have you got a firewall running on the modem - if not, disabling it on your PC for any extended time is not a good idea

4. What Firewall and/or anti-virus software is running on your PC?

 

[chebby]

You are thrashing around in the dark here.

Do you have any 'computer savvy'* friends who can get 'hands on' with this machine?

You may find that reloading your OS and rebuilding your system from an external backup is all you need to do. PCs and laptops can get a bit 'cranky' after a while. (Especially ones that have never really had any regular 'housekeeping' done.)

*Not people who do a good impression of 'computer savvy' in the pub after a skinful. (Or well-meaning relatives who 'know a bit' about computers.)

 

[scene]

You are thrashing around in the dark here.

Do you have any 'computer savvy'* friends who can get 'hands on' with this machine?

You may find that reloading your OS and rebuilding your system from an external backup is all you need to do. PCs and laptops can get a bit 'cranky' after a while. (Especially ones that have never really had any regular 'housekeeping' done.)

*Not people who do a good impression of 'computer savvy' in the pub after a skinful. (Or well-meaning relatives who 'know a bit' about computers.)

+1 on all of that - it's hard enough doing any kind of basic support down a telephone line, but by forum posting? Even if there's an obvious problem with your PC, it's much easier to diagnose hands on.

 

[plastic penguin]

You are thrashing around in the dark here.

Do you have any 'computer savvy'* friends who can get 'hands on' with this machine?

You may find that reloading your OS and rebuilding your system from an external backup is all you need to do. PCs and laptops can get a bit 'cranky' after a while. (Especially ones that have never really had any regular 'housekeeping' done.)

*Not people who do a good impression of 'computer savvy' in the pub after a skinful. (Or well-meaning relatives who 'know a bit' about computers.)

+1 on all of that - it's hard enough doing any kind of basic support down a telephone line, but by forum posting? Even if there's an obvious problem with your PC, it's much easier to diagnose hands on.

Yeah it sort of drifted slightly away from the original topic.

The bro-in-law has, in the past, controlled my PC from his house. Seeing him move around the cursor is fairly eerie. However, hasn't got the time at the mo.

I've reinstalled the firewall...

The PC is connected to the router by ethernet cable.

The hotamail is problem - receives mails but can't send or delete. A week ago it was fine and for no apparent reason has gone frustratingly slow.

 

[Alantiggger]

Hey pp... no idea which progs you use but you could try ccleaner (free and clean download from download.com)

Also try typing msconfig into your search box... click on startup and disable any programe that you don't want/need to run at the startup and this will at least speed-up your start-time.

Talk to someone you know who is computer savvy rather than going to a shop as most things are very easy to do yourself.

Changing cables to fibre optics will not do the trick.... nor a router change if your comp speed was fine before. (imo)

Does your hard-drive need de-fragging ?

 

[Overdose]

Do you have McAfee antivirus?