I'm responding to each post in turn as I read through the thread.
-------------------
Tiscali's IPStream is obviously in a dire postition at the moment. The recent Ilford cable cut took out a couple of their central pipes which meant they didnt have enough 'available sessions' to be able to connect all their customers.
Keeping trying in the hope that you connect when someone else disconnects is about the best chance.
However, what I cant understand atm is how that some other ISPs were also affected yet this issue has now been closed and service fully restored and its only tiscali that still seems to be affected.
Tiscali centrals have always been maxed to capacity (its why they get such slow peak time speeds).. but what happens when you get so many customers and insufficient centrals, BTw start policing the centrals and wont let any more connect and thats when you may see a "BT holding page".
I'm not sure if this issue relates to you or not as youd need to know if you are on their IPStream service.
including the ADSL one - show a nice steady green,
That and the fact that you managed to get some stats from your router showing a connection speed seems to imply that you are connecting to the exchange - but just not onto tiscali's network for some reason or other.
This is normally either down to the following reasons.
~ Incorrect username/password
~ Incorrect
router setting (The usual one for tiscali is LLC based rather than VC-Mux based)
~ ISP disallowing the session - could be a few things, but under the current circumstances if you are IPStream, then its most likely due to a shortage of tiscali available sessions.
------------------------
Although your sync speed is low - much lower than I'd expect and indicates a problem somewhere.... this should not stop you from at least being able to get some sort of connection.
-------------------
OOps Im reading and responding to the thread as I go down here.
Jid has already picked up on the internet settings.
>> Encapsulation Method LLC Bridged LLC Routed VcMux Bridged VcMux Routed
Make sure this is set as VCMux - as mentioned above Tiscali MSANs wont accept LLC where as BT ones will.
----------------
>>> he results show that although our exchange is broadband-enabled,
What does the
adsl checker say about your line - also what LLU ISPs are available to you (these will be shown on the right hand side)