Hi GrahamYes, we've told Sky about it, but they don't know what a high Ping rate is. We've asked them to look into it on our behalf, but of course that has come to nothing.
We are looking at other broadband suppliers at the moment, but the problem is that one person will recommend an ISP, then someone else will recommend another and say the first recommendation is basically shite. So you just don't know who is better than who. Does this sound familiar to others?
Our modem/router is configured by Sky and comes in one unit. They replaced it last week because the power supply packed up in the old one. The modem/router they have given us now is a Sagem, a company who also make mobile phones.
Because we asked about Virgin Media last week, we got the predictable sales person banging on the door the other afternoon. Ian went downstairs and said we hadn't requested any visit. Their records were also old, because they thought Ian had the name of the previous tenant who lived here. I never gave my name to VM when making my phone enquiry, just my postcode and house number. Sorry guys, but I detest VM. I think their sales tactics are too intrusive, and they stink of desperation in our area at least.
Anyway, VM is too expensive for the equivalent package on Sky, so what other good providers are there on DSL that people use or could recommend? Blimey this is harder work than getting better (smiles).
Jackie----- Original Message ----- From: "Graham Page" <gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 8:29 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio
well people do insist on going for these cheap internet providers! (Smile)there's no such thing as a free lunch!This being said, have you tried contacting technical support at Sky about the high ping rate? did this occur with yur previous provider? did Sky install the router or did you buy one yourself?The thing is that as you have found out, for many applications the PC can provide more buffering which means that part of what you want to hear is loaded up ahead of playing it so that if the connection drops for a while there is still content for your media player to play. The radio probably can buffer less than the PC so it is more sensitive to dropouts due to breakup that you would not notice on the PC.It may be that Sky can suggest changes that would help. cheers Graham Graham Page Home Phone: 0207 265 9493 Mobile: 07753 607980 Fax: 0870 706 2773 Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx MSN: gabriel_mcbird@xxxxxxxxxxx Skype: gabriel_mcbird----- Original Message ----- From: "Jackie Cairns" <cairnsplace@xxxxxxx>To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 8:16 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet RadioOh here Steve you are talking the Dutch, or double Dutch, I am listening to on the Internet. I'll bet you are right, but I don't know how to re-configure the modem. We can definitely access the web-based page you can log into that lets us access the modem settings, but unless you understand what it all means, pass pass pass!! (big smile).My son definitely does his crust at the high Ping rate he gets when playing an online match with his friends. He talks about a lag and I won't repeat what he calls Sky Broadband either (lol).As a guideline, Ian put the same Internet radio station on the PC that we were listening to on the radio. He was well over half a song ahead on the PC, with no drop-out or jumping. I wouldn't have cared about the broadcast being behind ordinarily because if we'd been listening to it on the Internet radio alone, we wouldn't have known. But it's the drop-out and jumping like an old vinyl record that really made us say there was something wrong, and both radios did it so that kind of ruled them out.Oh well (sigh). Buy one and get it going, I know you would too. Jackie----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Nutt" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 7:54 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet RadioHi Jackie, I am not so sure it is different. If the ping rate is low on games, it sounds like you are losing data packets. My bet is a problem with the router configuration. Could be anything like MTU (Maximum TransmittionUnits) setting on the router, or anything like that. I am not so sure it isthe radio at all, especially as your PC can buffer a lot better. All the best Steve -----Original Message-----From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf OfJackie Cairns Sent: 16 January 2008 20:18 To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio Hi Steve Ian has scanned the destructions of the Bush, and there appears to be nothing in the manual about connecting via a PC, nor suggestions in the trouble-shooting section for any such problems we are experiencing. I really don't want to give up with this radio thing because I'm gettingsound out of it, though I preferred the Intempo to the Bush. But I can'thave it keep cutting out and jumping about like a scratched record. Thelonger it is on, the more it does it, which is why I didn't notice it for a little while yesterday. Everything else on our network is working ok, apartfrom young Ian's Ping when he plays Counter Strike online, but that's a different issue relating to the gaming server he is using I think. Hmmm. Will have to keep plodding away and see what I can come up with. This getting older stuff is a bad thing (smile). Jackie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Nutt" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 6:08 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet RadioHi Jackie,Are you sure these radios don't have a browser interface from a PC? They will have an IP address, so you might be able to log into them as you can with a router. You may be able for example, to plug in your radio usingan RJ45, configure it, then unplug it. I am certain it will have an IPaddress, as all networking devices do have, but do they have a web-based interface? Check out the instruction bookie with young Ian, and you mayfind you can configure using a PC. All the best Steve -----Original Message-----From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On BehalfOf Jackie Cairns Sent: 16 January 2008 17:46 To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Accessible Internet Radio Hi All Right, here is the latest on the accessibility of Internet radio. I've beenmessing around for over a day and have come up against some problems thatI'll share with you now so you know the score.Firstly, we picked the Intempo Internet radio from Argos at £119.99. Asithappened, it was one of the only choices of five they had in stock, but itwas my first pick anyway. The Intempo came with wireless capability, and an ethernet port. Moreimportantly, it had 99 presets and a remote control to allow you to key inthose presets directly. When Ian turned it on, he told us that the displaycame up with the welcome logo, and then found the network. Of course itcame up with Sky, and asked for our security key. Now in answer to Marie's question, you have to use the dial to spin it round for each letter ornumber you want to key in, then select it. This is totally useless for usby the way.Once it accepted the security key and proceeded to log onto our network,itasked whether we wanted Windows Media Player or stations. We selected thelatter. Then it wanted to know if we wanted genre or locations, and we again chose the latter. There was a massive list of countries, with Afghanistan at the top of the alphabetical list. Ian chose the Netherlands,and found Sky Radio, which came on after a few minutes of waiting. If you turned off the radio and turned it back on again, it defaulted to the laststation we were listening to, so that was helpful. But after initially listening to the station, we started to notice it cutting off altogether for maybe 30 seconds or so, then coming back on. Then whatever was playing began to jump like the arm on a record being moved over it at random. Senior Ian checked that this was not happening on Sky Radio using the Internet on the PC, and it stayed completely steady. So we tried the radiodirectly using the RJ45, and got the same results. We turned all the PCsoff and just had the radio running, with the same outcome. We decided today that we would have to try another radio in case the Intempo had a fault. We knew it couldn't be our connection to the Internet becauseeverything else has been working normally. So the only other radio Argos had was a Bush at £89.99. They couldn't give us another Intempo as it wasthe only one they had, but were happy about refunding us our money.When we brought the Bush home and Ian went through the same procedure, theexact same thing started to occur. This radio has 10 presets and is wireless only.So now we have a dilemma. For some unknown reason, both radios, bearinginmind they are different models altogether, do the same thing when they areconnected to a radio station, whatever that station happens to be. We tried Capital FM and the BBC, but it still did the same with both sets.I have to be honest and say that these radios are completely inaccessible for a non-sighted person to navigate. Even if you remember that the radio asks you for genre or locations, and you manage to remember how many times to go up and down the massive list in each category, you are on a hidingto nothing because you don't know any of the stations available. We knew thiswhen we started out, so aren't so much frustrated about that. What we hadplanned to do is pick a few of our favourites and store them into the presets. But if the radios don't have fast enough processors, and keepdropping out or jumping, I don't know what the pleasure is in all honesty.Carol asked why it would not be simpler to just use a PC. I just wantedan Internet radio to be able to move it anywhere away from the computer without having it switched on all the time. For example, lying in bed and listening to something without being tied to a laptop would have been nice.Now guys, the positive thing is that I am currently talking to TNAUK abouttheir talking Internet radio. I can't say anything else at the moment, but I'm in the process of bending their ear and arm (smile). When I know more,I'll certainly post it because I've no intention of being involved in anytrial and then not compiling some sort of evaluation review that be for all to read.If anyone has any ideas why these radios do this, I would be fascinated toknow. I wonder if the processors aren't as fast, so therefore have smaller memory buffers. But how they sell on that basis, I don't know. Any comments welcome, on or off list. 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