elf logo byUsers logo
search Search the site: 
 
FAQs

Back to Non Tech FAQ Menu

Tech Support

What news groups do blueyonder support use?

Support use the following news groups to correspond with their users:

  • blueyonder.announce
    - Note that only blueyonder support can post in here. No user postings allowed

  • blueyonder.feedback
    - the place to put any feedback you have about blueyonder

  • blueyonder.support.access.dialup
    - the group for modem users to put across problems they are having with the service

  • blueyonder.support.access.hi-speed
    - for HSI users to place problems they are having with the blueyonder service

  • blueyonder.support.mail
    - any problems you are having with your mail access via blueyonder should be placed here.

  • blueyonder.support.pwp
    - any problems and/or name changes with your pwp are placed in here.

  • blueyonder.support.usenet
    - any problems you are having with the news service go in here. Support also regularly post updates to do with the news service in here.

  • blueyonder.users.faqs
    - posts made ONLY by support and a few individuals who have relevant access are found in here. They mostly concern what you are reading now, Frequently Asked Questions about the service and other areas of the internet.

Back to the Top

When do I post to blueyonder support?

Before deciding to post anything to support, everyone should make their first port of call either blueyonder.announce or the blueyonder status page, http://status.blueyonder.co.uk:888 (if this web link doesn't want to work, which can sometimes happen when there are problems, go to the by website and access this page via technical support - service status).

If you find your problem hasn't been reported here, then read either blueyonder.feedback or your blueyonder.support.access ng (either blueyonder.support.access.hi-speed or blueyonder.support.access.dialup depending on which you use). Many times it takes quite a few postings before technical support will recognise it as a huge affect and pass it on to be dealt with. In this case, you may find some postings in these groups before anything appears in blueyonder.announce or on the status page. If you still haven't found what you need, post. Please make sure though, that you are not posting the same information as someone else, as this can waste support's time.

Another way of contacting support is to use their on-line contact web forms. However, these can take a while to get answered, but may be a good idea to back up proof of all your problems. These can be found at http://help.blueyonder.co.uk/html/contact/. However, you should also remember that when you use these forms and support get back to you, they do NOT put a copy of what you had written in the web form on their e-mail. It may be a good idea to copy and paste what you are sending into an email or document for your own reference. Not the best method, but the only one really available at the moment.

Back to the Top

If I have a problem, how do I report it to blueyonder support using the newsgroups?

How do we go about posting to make sure the correct information is being supplied? Well, below is an example outline of what all to include in your posting. Remember, most posts just saying "it doesn't work anymore" will be followed up (FU'd) to either feedback or disc.gen, so make sure to include as much technical information as you can. This includes:

  1. A brief outline of the problem/s you are having. Try to keep it as brief as possible as this makes it easier for support to get through more postings.

  2. Your username, to make it easier for support to give you a ticket number.

  3. The make of your modem, if you know it. If not go to control panel->modem and you should find it here.

  4. The model of your modem, if possible.

  5. The Operating System your computer uses, e.g. Microsoft Windows 98 SE, etc.

  6. Which POP (e.g. Halifax, Dundee, etc) you are dialed in to, or where dialed in to at the time of the problem.

  7. The IP assigned to you at the time of the problem. See the IP FAQ for how to acquire this information.

  8. The web site names you are having problems with (or in the case of news, just say news!).

  9. The error you are receiving with this problem. This could be anything from news not loading quickly, post not appearing, tcp-ip errors cropping up on your screen when accessing the news or a web problem (like cannot connect to server, connection reset by server, etc).

  10. Trace/s to the problem web site/s, news and mail. See the traces FAQ for full explanations on how to do these and what they mean.

Back to the Top

What if the newsgroups aren't working? How do I report problems then?

To phone support, use 0800 953 2000 if you are either a dial-up or HSI customer. HSI customers also have another dedicated phone line, 0800 953 5000.

For contacting blueyonder via their online web forms, the web address is:

http://help.blueyonder.co.uk/html/contact/

On this page you will see there are three different forms to use for different problems you are having:

Connection problems
- this form is to be used if you are having problems actually getting connected to blueyonder using their numbers. To be honest, I never use this form myself, as it seems a totally pointless to fill in. Although it says it is to do with connection issues, it doesn't appear to be. In all of the forms there is a box where you select what kind of problems you are having, but for this supposedly being a connection problem form, the problems they have listed are all to do with download speeds and web pages not loading. Seems a bit off topic to me!

Service problems
- this is the form I would be most likely to use as it seems to encompass every aspect of their service for problems. These include email, usenet (news), web and personal web space among other things.

Other enquiries
- use this form if you can't seem to find relevant information about your problem in the above to forms. You could also use this for general enquiries about the service.

Using the web forms themselves is pretty much self-explanatory when you see them, however, their may be a few points to note.

  1. In each form you are asked what operating system you use. This means either Window's 95/98/98 Second Edition/ME/2000/Linux, etc. Make sure to pick the right one.

  2. You are also asked on each form what version of the blueyonder software you are using. If you are actually using one of these versions, make sure to pick the right one, but if you are using just a dial-up connection you created yourself, select "I use dial-up networking".

  3. In the connection problems form, there is a section for dial-up users to fill in and one for HSI users.

    For dial-up users you need to enter the POP number you are using. This means the phone number you use to connect to blueyonder. You are also asked what type of modem you use and whether it is an internal (inside your case) or external (sits outside and you can see it). It may be handy to know this in advance, but most people should know this anyway. In the extra settings box, most of us who are not as advanced at these things will simply leave this blank. If, however, you do know how to use init strings and are actually using them, then you should know what it is they are looking for! No details will be given here on how to use init strings as this is for more advanced users and if they are needed technical support will take you step-by-step through using them.

    For HSI users, there is a section to be filled in on what the lights on your modem are doing. This should be self-explanatory, as they can only really be either on, off or flashing.

  4. On each form you will be asked to leave a contact number for blueyonder technical support to use to contact you about your problem/s. It is always if a good idea to put at least one telephone number in here if you are wanting a call back, because many a time blueyonder will email you saying they can't find a contact number for you and to phone them back instead.

Back to the Top

Okay, blueyonder support has asked for traces. What the heck are they?

See here.

Back to the Top

How do I do a trace?

See here.

Back to the Top

Pings. Someone told me about them. What are they?

A ping can give information not unlike a trace route. Using a ping enables you to see if a remote area on the internet can be reached from your computer and roughly how fast the connection is.

When information is sent over the internet it is broken down into what we will call little packets of information. This is because to send a large amount of data in one go would take forever, so it is all broke down into data packets and transferred that way. A ping gives you the ability to see how long these packets take to get from your computer to their destination. It is useful to use alongside traces. If you are having a problem getting to a site and run a trace to find there are '*' symbols throughout it or perhaps a destination unreachable at the end, running a ping will probably show that some of your little data packets have gone astray (aren't actually reaching their destination). However, ping is really only useful if you are into playing game over the internet, because packet loss (packets not making it to their destination) can interrupt playing your game and sometimes halt playing altogether.

Back to the Top

How do I do A Ping then?

Pings can be done in two ways, similar to doing a trace.

Method One: Text File

  1. Select the 'start' menu button and then select 'run'

  2. In the run box that comes up on your screen, type:

    ping address > c:\name.txt

    where the address is the web site, news, mail you are having problems with and name is the name you want to call the file, probably something like 'ping'. So say, for example, you were having problems with the blueyonder web site, the line you would type would look like:

    ping www.blueyonder.co.uk > c:\ping.txt

    This will carry out the ping for you and save it on your main c: drive in a file called ping.txt

  3. Once the ping process is complete, open windows explorer and locate the file the ping was saved in.

  4. Use your mouse to outline the whole trace, and then right click your mouse. A small menu should appear and one of the commands could be copy, select this.

  5. Go to your post that you are wanting to place this information into and right click the mouse button again where you want to place it. Select 'paste' from the menu that appears, and you should now see your ping included in your post.

Method Two: DOS Box

  1. Firstly, open up your ms-dos box (usually by going into start->programs->ms-dos).

  2. Once in the dos environment, type "ping" at the dos prompt.

  3. Now you have ping in the dos box. DON'T hit enter. After this type the address of the web you are having problems with, e.g. www.metacrawler.com. The line should now read:

    ping www.metacrawler.com.

    Now hit enter.

  4. The screen should start to scroll up with information looking something like this:

    Pinging ***** with 32 bytes of data:

    Reply from 193.38.113.25: bytes=32 time=189ms TTL=248
    Reply from 193.38.113.25: bytes=32 time=187ms TTL=248
    Reply from 193.38.113.25: bytes=32 time=185ms TTL=248
    Reply from 193.38.113.25: bytes=32 time=127ms TTL=248

    Ping statistics for 193.38.113.25:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
    Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 127ms, Maximum = 189ms, Average = 172ms

    This is the information you are looking for. Once the dos prompt has come back, the ping is finished. To copy it over into a post:

    1. Use your mouse to outline the whole ping. This whole area should no appear a different colour (usually white).

    2. At the top of the dos box there is a row of icons. You should see one that looks like two pieces of paper with their corners folded over and overlapping. Scroll your mouse over this and it should come up saying copy. Click this.

    3. Go to your post and right click where you want to put the information. Select paste from the menu that appears when you right click.

    4. You have now completed you first ping! Congratulations!

Back to the Top

Blueyonder support asked for my IP. What is this?

See here.

Back to the Top

How do I find my IP?

See here.

Back to the Top

Argh! A ticket! What on earth is it, and what do I do with it now that I have one?

See here.

Back to the Top

Hmmm. Refunds sound good. How do I get one?

There is no one way to go about getting refunds, but thanks to Corinne (Angua) who kindly has supplied a good guide to getting a refund, we should now all be well on the way to getting that much needed refund!

When things go wrong and you have not received the service you have paid for you will want to ask for a refund. This is supposed to be quite simple, but can be a chore. It is no good asking on newsgroups about a refund as newsgroup support people cannot deal with refund requests. They will only tell you to phone technical support (HSI - 0845 142 4422, Dial-Up - 0906 706 0000).

When you call technical support they will ask for your username and details. They will fill in a complaints form for you detailing your problem and adding any ticket numbers you have been issued. It is quite difficult to get a refund if you haven't had a ticket issued by technical support -

So if there is a problem, make sure you get a ticket number.

This form will be passed on to the complaints department who should call you back to discuss your complaint and hopefully offer you a refund.

Telephone support staff cannot give you a refund. This has to be done through a manager.

So if you do not get a call back within a few days you need to call technical support again and ask to speak to a manager (who does have authority to issue refunds). If there is no manager available ask them to get him to call you back. Be persistent e.g. ask when he will be available and call again. Do not give up.

Hopefully by then you will have a refund - it may take a few days to reach your account details at your local franchise.

If you have any trouble with getting a refund after following this - you need to make an even more official complaint to the Managers of Telewest/Blueyonder via the CEO's office:

Charles Burdick (MD)
Telewest Communications
Genesis Business Park
Albert Drive
Woking
GU21 5RW

If you eventually do have to contact the CEO's office, they will get someone to call you back to organise the refund. They will then call you back to check this has happened. As it probably won't have happened they will chase it up again to discover the person they had called earlier has left for the day (or weekend if its Friday). The person from the CEO's office will then chase that person up on Monday Eventually, the CEO's office will (hopefully!) help and can send you a cheque. However they hope this will not be necessary as the system should not fail.

Last Amended : 2004-01-16 by elfin
Original Author : Nicola

Back to Non Tech FAQ Menu

This page was last updated at

Back to Top
Copyright : blueyonder Users' Group 2003