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Internet In Rooms At Aston

WARNING!!! :eek:

KEYSURF (aka Keycom) INTERNET was awful last year, :mad:

It was installed two years ago and suffered "teething problems" in the first year.We were told that they would fix all problems and it would work fine last year, but it did not.

It will work well in the first few weeks, but it gets worse.
In the first days I was watching movies online and playing games (Americas army...etc...) but within a month the internet had got so bad I couldn’t open my emails. I tried to log on to my bank account, it took ten minutes to load the three pages of security checks before it finally said page unavailable. That is not high speed!!

In some rooms it works great, one friend I had got faster transfer speeds than she paid for. 200 people I saw signed saying how awful it was, and more would have signed but I could only gather so many signatures.

INTERNET IS FREE :smile:

In the library FREE access to WIFI (wireless internet). Also all uni pc's are linked to a decent high speed connection. A download I started in a friends room said it would take 2 hours 15 mins to complete. In the main building it took less than five seconds!

Save your money, Buy a memory stick, read emails in the main building, chat on msn in the main building, but don’t waste the time on it in your own room.

I am still at Aston uni,(doin Product Design & Management) I organised a petition against Keycom last year and after lots of hard work and going to their head office in Stafford (the town not the tower) I managed to get only half my money back.

When it comes to exam times and you want to download papers, the last thing you want to happen is for your internet to crash. Everyone will be trying to download papers and the internet service was non existent at peak times for me.
Its not worth the stress!

I have been told by uni authorities that they will watch Keysurf closely this year. If you have any trouble with Keycom that is not resolved through their helpdesks then do speak to residential services. The quicker you write demanding your money back, the more likely you will receive it. I was told by Keycom's chairman the only way i would have got all my money back is if I had written within to their head office the first week demanding it!
MAKE SURE ALL LETTERS ARE SENT RECORDED DELIVERY AND YOU KEEP COPIES, it increases their legal standing.

a report of the problems can be seen on;
http://www-users.aston.ac.uk/~ciorraka/0605%20The%20Keycom%20Report.mht
The report is a bit messy and hard to follow but for readers who want proof read it.

pics from the protest

Scroll to see replies

Reply 20

Lil Lee Lee

Nope, you have to buy your own!

Reply 21

uni guy

10 pounds a month isnt that bad. in the heights i think its something like 7 pounds a week!

Reply 22

chilin_dude

kevinciorra

lol
if only!!!

we are talking about such bad connectivity web sites are "slower than dial up" to load... "keysurf is the definition of LAG, trust"(anon)

Damn it I just got a 12 month subscription :mad:

Reply 23

kevinciorra

chilin_dude Request your money back, phone up the helpline!!

If they try and stall you just insist its your legal right to get your money back. Don't log on again, if you use it again (however un successfully) they will say you used it today or whenever and be tougher on how much money they give back.

Quote satisfactory goods act of 1995, say your un satisfied… do whatever it takes but don’t wait or it may be too late…

Ps. If you do write to them make sure you send the letters recorded delivery to;

Keycom PLC Head Office
University Court,
Staffordshire Technology Park,
Stafford,
ST18 0ES

Reply 24

kevinciorra

when you get to uni make sure you spred the word about Keycom. Most of us are studying business at uni, why should we let a bad business take our money, if they had done proper research and a thorough feasibility plan the service would work.
SNOW has stopped the internet working, even heavy fog and rain! in fact even sunny days have caused the laser links trouble... make sure we dont pay them to continue to run their business badly. Lets let a better company take their place by not supporting this one.

any other questions?

Reply 25

tomraffe

I have a solution! Providing the campus has 3G internet access, which it should do, most laptops can connect to the net using 3G.

3G is a long range wireless signal that should in theory allow you to connect to the net whereever you are. This is unlike a wireless router which only has a 50m range. I havent looked into this too much but T-Mobile say they can give you a 380k (fairly slow broadband speed) connection for £17 a month.

Take a look here
I'm sure other networks do the same.

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher?menuid=plans_webnwalk_proplans&chosenPricePlan=pmt

Yes its more expensive but it sounds like its more reliable and slightly quicker than what is offered at the moment.

Reply 26

Lil Lee Lee

Don't you have to go to a place that offers it or you reckon it's long distance enough?

It says there's 3 BT OpenZone ones at the Court up the road though

Reply 27

blackbox

Unless I'm getting confused, it's like a mobile phone thing, so if you can get a mobile signal, you can get the internet, one problem is:

Use of Voice over Internet Protocol and Messaging over Internet Protocol is prohibited by T-Mobile. If use of either or both of these services is detected T-Mobile may terminate all contracts with the customer and disconnect any SIM cards and/or web ‘n’ walk cards from the T-Mobile network.

Which means you can't use msn or anything :frown:

Reply 28

tomraffe

You're thinking of Wi-Fi. Various coffee shops have Wi-Fi which is short range and lets you check your emails while ordering coffee. This is also what is being used in Aston halls, with obvious limited effect.

3G is in the air like a mobile signal would be. In theory you should be able to access the internet where ever you can get a mobile signal, although in practice 3G access is limited to city centres.

Think of Wi-Fi being your cordless phone you can use in your house, and 3G being your mobile phone which you can use anywhere...if that makes anything easier to understand...

If not - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3g
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-fi

Reply 29

tomraffe

blackbox

Unless I'm getting confused, it's like a mobile phone thing, so if you can get a mobile signal, you can get the internet, one problem is:

Which means you can't use msn or anything :frown:

Or skype which is rubbish! Its because you're effectively using the service to make cheap phone calls when they would want you to pay for normal call rates through them. I wouldnt have thought they could find out though, they cant spy on you and see what applications you are using. Hopefully just a theoretical rule.

Reply 30

kevinciorra

3g doesn't work everywhere where you have reception, only certain masts carry the signal. in center of brom, it should work so lets hope!

Reply 31

tomraffe

3G in Birmingham is no problem, all cities will have it, and if they've got it to Ipswich (which they have!) then Im sure it wont be a problem in Birmingham.

I want to have the internet sorted before I leave, I run several websites and therefore an internet connection is fairly important to me. Should I wait and see if things have improved at all or should I just go ahead and buy the 3G kit?

ditto that ^^^

???

Same here, do any of the existing students who come here have a 3G phone? If so, what's reception like?

Reply 34

kevinciorra

tomraffe

I want to have the internet sorted before I leave, I run several websites and therefore an internet connection is fairly important to me. Should I wait and see if things have improved at all or should I just go ahead and buy the 3G kit?

make sure you take a laptop, then you can just take it into the library and use the free wifi. Also I heard they plan to put wifi outdoors on campus so you can use your laptops next to the lake online. I am not sure if that is to be done for next year or the year after but it will happen soonish.

If you can update ur website from networked computers (eg. Main Building) do that for first few weeks while you check if 3G is available.

Reply 35

tomraffe

I know its available. But im limited by bandwidth with 3G where I wouldnt be with Uni internet. Who knows...

Reply 36

kevinciorra

Quality Thread!

check out

http://www.astoncu.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51

Reply 37

J...

Urgh! This is totally pants!
I have a computer so theres not much point in me buying a laptop om going to be without internet! (Well in my room) :mad:

Why can't aston just find somebody else if this company is soo crappy?
My precious downloads are going to suffer for an entire year!! :mad:

Reply 38

kevinciorra

the buildings are to big knocked down, it would cost them X million to wire the old buildings and its not worth it. If people complain then they will have to do something, prob is you’ll get to uni and realise how apathy is rife, and get nothing done.

Reply 39

Ay786

I always rely on the internet for my precious downloads too. So if i want this internet, i have to cough up more money for a wireless card now for my PC and then more money to pay the connection fee which i would have thought it was included in the price of the halls and itll most likely never work when you need it too as well.

Great!!! How do you apply for the internet? I havent recieved any forms about it.