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Buying Internet access in Lewes.Help !!

On 7 Mar 2013 at 6:24pm Zola wrote:

I have had a problem with my internet access and rang Talk Talk yesterday and the very nice but unintelligable Indian gentleman told me to unscrew my master socket.
I did so with some difficulty and as it is an old socket it didn't have a test socket inside.
Now I have completely lost my internet access and have bought 24 hours worth from BT.
I can only buy this online... I can't buy it on the phone so my question to you good folk is:
Is there any other way to buy Internet access in Lewes?
I am Googling Lewes Community Internet and Oyster as we speak but I'm not getting anywhere.
I have the internet until 5.00pm tomorrow so need to sort something quick.
An engineer from Talk Talk is coming out.
On the 30th March.
Any info would be very much appreciated.

On 7 Mar 2013 at 6:38pm Southover Queen wrote:

The web address for the Oyster project WiFi network is www dot lwbnet.org.uk but it very much depends on where you are in Lewes. I don't think there's much coverage in Southover, for instance, but if you're in the centre of town you might do better. I had a friend in the Cliffe area who used it for a couple of years; it was a bit unreliable but it might sort you out in the meantime.

The other thing you could consider would be to buy a mobile dongle. That would be okay as long as you're not downloading large files, like movies, or watching iPlayer.

Whatever you're using, you might find that making sure that your antenna is as close to the window as you can get it will improve the reception remarkably. I remember getting a little aerial which we sat on the window sill for my friend. You should then be able to see whether there's a Community Internet signal when you click on the list of WiFi signals your machine is picking up.

By the way you should be able to get to the landing page for BT at the very least, and you should then be able to buy some more credit.

On 7 Mar 2013 at 7:02pm Zola. wrote:

Thanks Southover Queen !!
I am up the Nevill so reception probably won't be a problem.
I went offline earlier to see whether there were any other networks near me and there was one...But I needed a password to access it.
Then the BT page came up and I realised I could buy Internet access from BT. Rang them and I was given 24hours free which pleased me greatly as I felt I had lost a limb when my access went tits up... Anyway,if all else fails I can buy 1,,5 15 or 30 days access. I think you get 6,000 minutes over 30 days for £39 and there is a countdown timer to help you limit yourself.
This is such a pain....

On 7 Mar 2013 at 7:19pm Zola wrote:

That should read 4,000 minutes spread over a month....

On 8 Mar 2013 at 8:26am Horseman7 wrote:

Poor you Zola. And TalkTalk not coming out until 30th March? That's disgraceful customer service. The odd comment about such tawdry tardiness on Twitter might elicit a better response time.

On 8 Mar 2013 at 8:36am Taff wrote:

I am with Talktalk and all has been well. Whenever I have had to phone outside of UK office hours(not often at all) I always seem to get through to the Philipines. I always ask where they are. Had a router problem this week, after testing they said they would supply a new one free of charge if I extended my contract, which I refused to do so. They still sent me a new router free of charge.
However it can be painful when entering into a contract and its not just Talktalk.
Good luck Zola, hope its sorted sooner than 30th. If you know anyone with teccy teenage kids I would ask them too. Its not all rocket science unique to TalkTalk.

On 8 Mar 2013 at 2:00pm wanderer wrote:

Just dont buy an o2 dongle the signal is pants get either orange (EE) Vodaphone dongles..
Personally I would get hold of TALK TALK and request the tapes of the telephone call are kept and that you are compensated for loss of service due to an call handler that has no knowledge of telecoms systems.
Firstly he should have identified with your assistance the type of socket you have before requesting you to do surgery on your telephone line..

On 9 Mar 2013 at 2:21pm Zola wrote:

My mate just came up and made sense of the signal,screwed my master socket plate back on the wall and everything is working beautifully.
I am just out of cantract with Talk Talk and am going to do a lot of research on who to go with.
I rang Talk Talk last week and said I was thinking of leaving Talk Talk and I was offered a £40 refund if I paid £114 up front for a years up front line rental. And I also had to rent a You View box from them at £8 per month and would be in a new contract.
I declined as I am happy with my Freeview box.
There is a large list of providers below but apparently we have only 4 to chose from.
I know BT are obviously in Lewes but I can't see it on the list.

Check it out here »

On 9 Mar 2013 at 4:41pm Horseman7 wrote:

Hi Zola, glad you're up and running again.

BT are indeed in Lewes and I'm very happy with them. I've got super whizzy 71 meg Infinity2 and the basic BT Vision, which gives me Freeview, iPlayer and on demand. I don't buy any other packages as I record more than enough stuff to watch.

I run a business from home and find the connection extremely reliable. Apart from during the Big Flood, when it was down for 48 hours, I've only been offline for the occasional 30 minutes in the small hours of the morning. When my remote and then one of my powerline adapters broke, they replaced these free of charge.

I know it's not fashionable to like BT but I have no complaints. If I met you in a pub, I would say the same thing.