Re: Bloody Internet!!
All internet providers will make all manner of excuses for the times when they clearly KNOW that their service is impacted. This ensures they don't get people claiming for compensation for having no or poor service.
In reality, most providers are hanging off BT infrastructure at some point over which they have no control. When things go wrong the ISP will blame BT and vice versa and the customer is left in the middle.
Every internet consumer should arm themselves with at least 2 routers of different makes/models.
You can walk into Maplins tomorrow and pick up a really good router for £30-£40.
What this does is give you the ability, when the ISP claims there's nothing wrong with the service, to plug in that 2nd router and see that the LEDs don't light up, thereby confirming there is no signal coming through on your line.
It's a slam dunk situation.
Never just rely on the router that the ISP provdes. They are invariably crap, last about 1-2 years max before packing in and tend not to have a good wireless signal. If you like to sit out on the back garden for example you may find that the ISP router isn't quite powerful enough whereas the Maplin router will have no problem at all.