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#71
IDNet Help / Re: UBoss Basic Phone Service ...
Last post by stan - Nov 25, 2025, 15:45:35I have nothing startling or innovative to say beyond that which I've said before - except to say to those on UBOSS or considering going on to UBOSS ..... I moved from Idnet's ADSL over to their FTTP in March this year and all was well. No issues with Openreach providing the fibre connection and no problems moving the billing etc over to FTTP.
At the time of the change I obviously had to decide what to do with the landline given that the copper pair was no longer going to provide it any more. It didn't take long to see that the choice would be either Idnet's UBOSS or Andrew and Arnold's own VOIP plan which was available for the cost of £12 transfer fee and an ongoing £1.44 per month (with calls on top). That didn't take long and I can now report that it has been functioning for more than six months and that both it and them have been faultless.
I never understood what John7 was on about in his to and fro concerning whether or nor the UBOSS system recognized +44 prefixes ... or whatever it was that was apparently not working. But, suffice to say my own arrangement works for me and I haven't, yet, found anything to complain about. Least of all the customer service provided by A&A. There's nothing to choose between their service and Idnet's service - both have served me well. The A&A VOIP has a number of options regarding how to receive incoming calls. I have chosen to have it set so that incoming calls ring for twenty seconds, then an announcement invites the caller leave a message, then I immediately get an email on my chosen email address which pings my mobile phone and lets me hear the message. And I can say that the vast majority of calls are scam calls of one sort or another ... as they were before I changed over from copper to fibre and that the scammers never leave a message therefore I don't have the inconvenience of listening to their opening introductions prior to me terminating the calls.
In fact I wil admit I don't really need the landline any more but for the tiny monthly outlay (it's now gone up to £1.50 plus VAT) I keep it just as a sort of back-up. I don't know why, but there it is.
What it has done, though, is let me know that if I ever stopped having Idnet supply my broadband then the next option on the list would be A&A.
At the time of the change I obviously had to decide what to do with the landline given that the copper pair was no longer going to provide it any more. It didn't take long to see that the choice would be either Idnet's UBOSS or Andrew and Arnold's own VOIP plan which was available for the cost of £12 transfer fee and an ongoing £1.44 per month (with calls on top). That didn't take long and I can now report that it has been functioning for more than six months and that both it and them have been faultless.
I never understood what John7 was on about in his to and fro concerning whether or nor the UBOSS system recognized +44 prefixes ... or whatever it was that was apparently not working. But, suffice to say my own arrangement works for me and I haven't, yet, found anything to complain about. Least of all the customer service provided by A&A. There's nothing to choose between their service and Idnet's service - both have served me well. The A&A VOIP has a number of options regarding how to receive incoming calls. I have chosen to have it set so that incoming calls ring for twenty seconds, then an announcement invites the caller leave a message, then I immediately get an email on my chosen email address which pings my mobile phone and lets me hear the message. And I can say that the vast majority of calls are scam calls of one sort or another ... as they were before I changed over from copper to fibre and that the scammers never leave a message therefore I don't have the inconvenience of listening to their opening introductions prior to me terminating the calls.
In fact I wil admit I don't really need the landline any more but for the tiny monthly outlay (it's now gone up to £1.50 plus VAT) I keep it just as a sort of back-up. I don't know why, but there it is.
What it has done, though, is let me know that if I ever stopped having Idnet supply my broadband then the next option on the list would be A&A.
#72
Broadband, Internet & General Computer News & Discussion / Re: DVD ripping best practice
Last post by zappaDPJ - Nov 23, 2025, 19:49:12Thanks for that. I have 12TB of storage which I hope will suffice. I've just unpacked the first box and counted 180 DVDs. There are another 13 boxes so that's around 2,500 titles to rip.
Matroska seems to be the preferred choice from what I've read and it appears to support cover art attachments which is a big plus for me. It also seems to be supported by JRiver Media Center which is a another bonus.
Matroska seems to be the preferred choice from what I've read and it appears to support cover art attachments which is a big plus for me. It also seems to be supported by JRiver Media Center which is a another bonus.
#73
Broadband, Internet & General Computer News & Discussion / Re: DVD ripping best practice
Last post by nowster - Nov 23, 2025, 18:28:11As the CSS encryption was cracked decades ago, you can do a bit-perfect backup of a DVD's content with many tools.
The compression of the video is MPEG2 and there are various audio formats, with AC3 (Dolby Digital) being the most common, DTS being less common and MPEG1 L2 (MP2/MUSICAM) audio being fairly rare.
It's quite common to rip to Matroska format (.MKV).
As to recommendations of DVD ripping tools for Windows, I'm afraid I can't help as I've only ever done it under Linux.
If hard drive space is at a premium, re-encoding to a more recent video format, (eg. H.264) can be done, but you'll have the flaws of both the original compression and the newer compression schemes.
The compression of the video is MPEG2 and there are various audio formats, with AC3 (Dolby Digital) being the most common, DTS being less common and MPEG1 L2 (MP2/MUSICAM) audio being fairly rare.
It's quite common to rip to Matroska format (.MKV).
As to recommendations of DVD ripping tools for Windows, I'm afraid I can't help as I've only ever done it under Linux.
If hard drive space is at a premium, re-encoding to a more recent video format, (eg. H.264) can be done, but you'll have the flaws of both the original compression and the newer compression schemes.
#74
Broadband, Internet & General Computer News & Discussion / DVD ripping best practice
Last post by zappaDPJ - Nov 23, 2025, 18:17:46Having spent the last 5-10? years (I lost track of time) ripping all my music, I'm now looking at doing the same for my DVDs. They are all 20+ years old so predate HD DVD. Having watch a couple on my PC the picture quality is not great so I'm looking to avoid as much compression as possible.
Any advice on ripping software and file formats would be very useful at this point because the more I read the less sure I am about what to use.
Any advice on ripping software and file formats would be very useful at this point because the more I read the less sure I am about what to use.
#75
IDNet Help / Re: Internet issue
Last post by peasblossom - Nov 13, 2025, 17:43:45I'd have IDNet send and engineer round anyway, once they've tested your line (if they haven't done already.) Sometimes one or other of the phone/internet will fail while the other powers on. It just happens. (That last a non technical/based only on my experience and nothing else view, there. If someone comes along who Knows More, go with their opinion!)
#76
IDNet Help / Re: Internet issue
Last post by nowster - Nov 13, 2025, 16:31:01That looks like a cableco box. The thick cable is a co-ax which would have carried TV (and latterly broadband) and the thin cable with the blue/white and orange/white twisted pairs that are hanging loose being telephone.
#77
IDNet Help / Re: Internet issue
Last post by davebesag - Nov 13, 2025, 15:23:59Just in case the attached photo doesn't work https://ibb.co/BVXZLwP6
#78
IDNet Help / Internet issue
Last post by davebesag - Nov 13, 2025, 13:46:16Some time ago my Ethernet internet connection went down. I'm not very good with dealing with things that don't need to be done that day! I've been able to use mobile tethering to connect to the internet. The phone landline works fine. IDNet didn't know what the reason was for the connection not working. I've taken my laptop to my mum's house and using an Ethernet adapter I'd use at mine was been able to connect to her Ethernet connection. Therefore, I'm as certain as I can be that it's not my equipment at fault and at some point have tried a different version of a router, Ethernet cable, modem lead, microfilter and computer. IDNet sent a test router which also didn't work.
My real query is that I hadn't realised due to my overgrown front garden that a connection box looks damaged. Looking at it I think it just is the television wires. I had realised that my TV connection had become worse. It doesn't look like the internet connection would come from there and if it was damaged wouldn't really explain why my phone line still works fine. However, before I get IDNet to send an engineer around, say that's the box was the issue and have me charged I thought I'd attach a photo of it to see if anyone knew.
My real query is that I hadn't realised due to my overgrown front garden that a connection box looks damaged. Looking at it I think it just is the television wires. I had realised that my TV connection had become worse. It doesn't look like the internet connection would come from there and if it was damaged wouldn't really explain why my phone line still works fine. However, before I get IDNet to send an engineer around, say that's the box was the issue and have me charged I thought I'd attach a photo of it to see if anyone knew.
#79
IDNet Help / Re: SoGEA
Last post by nowster - Nov 09, 2025, 16:29:54Quote from: peasblossom on Nov 05, 2025, 18:38:18Now in the curious position of being able to access the internet on my old router but not the new one. They are investigating. (Power, dsl, and both WiFi lights on and that's it.) Happy to hear your theories. [Thinks: will I regret this? lol]
Are the login details on the new router the same as the old one? Is the SoGEA a new line provided in addition to your existing phone line (which will be ceasing soon), or has the SoGEA service already completely replaced it?
#80
IDNet Help / Re: SoGEA
Last post by nowster - Nov 09, 2025, 16:27:45SoGEA is a DSL type thing. Even FTTP has its problems.
Well, there's weird things happening on the OpenReach network at the moment.
The PON light started flashing on the ONT box at 05:57 on Saturday morning, and it's still that way. IDNet's tech support say it's a network fault.
The fact it was near 6am is highly suspicious, as that's the usual time OpenReach do changes to their network.
And then there was the "stuck session" we had in the summer, which also started at exactly 6am (and lasted several days including an inconclusive engineer visit).
I now have the VoIP equipment and cabling ready to move the phone line off the copper pair next month, but network problems like this don't inspire confidence.
(And in Manchester a few weeks ago our telegraph pole got enabled for both FTTP and one of the AltNets. Unfortunately I still have 12 months to run on the contract with Vermin.)
Well, there's weird things happening on the OpenReach network at the moment.
The PON light started flashing on the ONT box at 05:57 on Saturday morning, and it's still that way. IDNet's tech support say it's a network fault.
The fact it was near 6am is highly suspicious, as that's the usual time OpenReach do changes to their network.
And then there was the "stuck session" we had in the summer, which also started at exactly 6am (and lasted several days including an inconclusive engineer visit).
I now have the VoIP equipment and cabling ready to move the phone line off the copper pair next month, but network problems like this don't inspire confidence.
(And in Manchester a few weeks ago our telegraph pole got enabled for both FTTP and one of the AltNets. Unfortunately I still have 12 months to run on the contract with Vermin.)