 |
Karoo |
Karoo Starter Max
8Mb (160 times faster than a dial-up connection)
2GB monthly download limit
Free set up and modem
£14.99 per month
Call 01482 606101 for technical support.
- As part of its service, Karoo offers:
- Personal web space
- Free email address
- Anti-spam filtering
Karoo Max (Options 1, 2, 3, 4)
- 8Mb (160 times faster than a dial-up connection)
- Unlimited downloads
- Free set up and modem
- £16.99, £19.99, £24.99, £29.99 per month (for Option 1, Option 2, Option 3 and Option 4 respectively)
- Call 01482 606101 for technical support.
- As part of its service, Karoo offers:
- Personal web space
- Free email address
- Anti-spam filtering
Provider Information
- Karoo is part of the Kingston Communications group, offering internet access across the UK.
- Karoo is an ISP, providing fast internet access across East Yorkshire.
- They provide many Internet products and services for homes and businesses.
Visit Karoo Insurance for a quote.
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On an 8mb service i get .2mb at peak. That is 20k/s. I only get 800k/s at 4am. The internet is only really usable in the small hours. Karoo are truly the worst ISP in the country. We have no choice in Hull, it is a disgrace. Complete and utter digital divide.
| Posted by Mark Willcocks on the 5th June 2008 |  |
I've been Karoo for around 10 years now I think and in that time their service has gone from okay to pretty poor. I pay £25 for supposed 8mbit line (why they advertise this, I'm not sure). I'm not that bothered about speed but the fact everything is throttled. Try and search for a server on something like steam and the whole net grinds to a halt for about 5 minutes, which is nice. A friend of mine says things may change though as Kingston may have to open the doors. Here's hoping. Also, the tech support it rubbish. They tell you it's your problem (reset, reinstall etc). But in the end it was theirs (they had forgot to turn me on at their end... after 6 hours trying to figure it out). Woo. At least they don't have massive random characters for passwords anymore.
| Posted by PinkSpider on the 19th April 2008 |  |
New services - more expensive - downloads capped - no alternative - no free sky broadband - no hope - forsaken by BT - ripped off - p***** off.
| Posted by paul on the 4th April 2008 | |
Since I was with karoo, about 5 years now, I have been satisfied with the service. In 5 years I have noticed that it has only dropped a few times but with one call to tech support it's resolved! When I first got onto karoo, there was a few teething problems, my computer became full of spyware and this is purely due to the faster speeds. If there was only one thing I could recommend, it would be to get the router rather than modem; this has improved my speeds amazingly!
| Posted by James Smith on the 21st March 2008 |  |
Reply to Post by Simon Rose on the 13th February 2008:
Actually having one ISP run an entire city is not such a good thing. For one there is no competition to drive down there prices and two they have no need to keep ahead of anyone else, resulting in a poor QOS. Down in London BT are currently beta testing a new 100MB/s (yes you read that correctly, 100MBytes not 100Mbits) service with a guaranteed speed of 20MB/s. And this will be at the same rate as Virgin's and BT's 20Mb/s lines. This is all made possible by a new datacentre that is just coming online (runs solely on fibreoptic cables).
Now I realise that London has a high business application level that require such high speeds, but Karoo have only just (start of this year) begun trialling 20Mb/s broadband. And customers are still only reaching between 8Mb/s and 12Mb/s.
No offense but all you have done is use a google search and found a blog written by somebody else and tried to voice there uneducated opinion on here.
Without competion there is no need to stay infront. This works for living creatures and buisness's
Actually having one ISP run an entire city is not such a good thing. For one there is no competition to drive down there prices and two they have no need to keep ahead of anyone else, resulting in a poor QOS. Down in London BT are currently beta testing a new 100MB/s (yes you read that correctly, 100MBytes not 100Mbits) service with a guaranteed speed of 20MB/s. And this will be at the same rate as Virgin's and BT's 20Mb/s lines. This is all made possible by a new datacentre that is just coming online (runs solely on fibreoptic cables).
Now I realise that London has a high business application level that require such high speeds, but Karoo have only just (start of this year) begun trialling 20Mb/s broadband. And customers are still only reaching between 8Mb/s and 12Mb/s.
No offense but all you have done is use a google search and found a blog written by somebody else and tried to voice there uneducated opinion on here.
Without competion there is no need to stay infront. This works for living creatures and buisness's
| Posted by James Seddon on the 12th March 2008 |  |
Karoo are so awful, it's not funny. 8 meg connection, option 4 = £30 per month. Great I thought, then was horrified to see a download speed of 20kbs off usenet. Disgusted with it. What's worse is when you see the various sky and virgin packages that include TV channels, phone calls, broadband and mobile calls all in for less than we pay Karroo for the worst broadband service imaginable. How can this kind of monopoly abuse be allowed in this day and age?
| Posted by Mike Platten on the 12th March 2008 | |
I'm amused by all of this. I live and work in Hull and London. And do you know what - you lot all make Hull seem full of moaners. Karoo is OK. Not great, but OK. If you want to know real carp, try BT. Or try Talk Talk. Or try Sky. Sure it looks cheap, but the service and support is unbelievably bad. Free laptop from Orange? Try getting one. No stock - and if you're lucky, and get one, you're stuck with a crap contract and terrible service for the next two years. Lucky you.
Don't believe me? Instead of blindly looking at Karoo pages on sites like this, have a wander onto the other providers who you so want to be able to choose from and see what their customers say. Guess what? They are all moaning too. Ahhh - but WE CAN"T CHOOSE you say. Good old KC won't let anyone else compete. Rubbish. If you care to investigate, KC's 100 year monopoly ended in 2002, since then, anyone is free to come in and offer services. And guess what again? No-one wants to. Because there are too few people in too big and area, so the costs don't stack up. As for using KC lines, other operators could do this, using the Wholesale Line Rental price, which is regulated for the whole industry by OffCom. So stop whining like babies. Open your eyes - it's not perfect but then nowhere else in the country is either. It's a bit expensive I'll admit, but the grass isn't greener. Believe me.
Don't believe me? Instead of blindly looking at Karoo pages on sites like this, have a wander onto the other providers who you so want to be able to choose from and see what their customers say. Guess what? They are all moaning too. Ahhh - but WE CAN"T CHOOSE you say. Good old KC won't let anyone else compete. Rubbish. If you care to investigate, KC's 100 year monopoly ended in 2002, since then, anyone is free to come in and offer services. And guess what again? No-one wants to. Because there are too few people in too big and area, so the costs don't stack up. As for using KC lines, other operators could do this, using the Wholesale Line Rental price, which is regulated for the whole industry by OffCom. So stop whining like babies. Open your eyes - it's not perfect but then nowhere else in the country is either. It's a bit expensive I'll admit, but the grass isn't greener. Believe me.
| Posted by Simon Rose on the 13th February 2008 |  |
Can I switch over to BT? I live in Beverley, I would like to take advantage of offers from other providers, karoo don't offer anything half decent.
| Posted by Lisa Crouch on the 27th January 2008 | |
Would not bother getting, all ways down, but the people of Hull, England have to be with them. If I could choose 0 then I would. Poor service.
| Posted by Jack Porter on the 23rd January 2008 | |
I got broadband for my ps3 gaming; sometimes it plays fine, other times server problems. Is this down to kc? If so thanks karoo, take my money and don't deliver a decent service.
| Posted by Tony Palmer on the 20th January 2008 | |
Karoo really irritate me, I didn’t really no much about the whole broadband internet thing as I was new to it all, I asked KC whether or not I would be able to play Xbox live through Karoo broadband. There reply was a big fat no, not even a proper explanation just that they do not support it. So I asked my friend and he said yes they do, got Karoo broadband got it set up and bobs your uncle it works. Unfortunately the speed it works at it is poor compared to other Broadbands which is really annoying, which causes a lot of connection problems, just wish we had a choice of others apart from KC'S Karoo.
| Posted by A Stellar on the 17th January 2008 | |
I am not satisfied with this company because we are always without the Internet. As I am always going in there to ask why it doesn't work and they can't properly help me in any way, have to keep phoning them by mobile - which costs greatly. The rest of us are Chinese and we don't know what happened or why... please can someone help us so we can study and chat with our families at home.
| Posted by Yanyun Liu on the 16th January 2008 | |
I think KC and it's Karoo internet is a total sham and well over priced for what I call aging speeds. What should be at this stay and age 8meg broadband and isn't baffles me completely.
They go on how they provide every home in Hull with fast speed internet well of course you do. You don't even let other companies like BT or Virgin offer packages and if they do (which I don't know) will still wouldn't get top speeds. Because they'll be using your aging phone line system oh and let me tell you this there servers are not even based in Hull.
My college lecturer has told me there in Beresford or somewhere like that not Beverly. And your internet connection is sent there then to KC then back to there and to your home. What the people of Hull need is what this country is supposed to have freedom of choice. We should have the right to be able to get our internet and calls from another company.
They go on how they provide every home in Hull with fast speed internet well of course you do. You don't even let other companies like BT or Virgin offer packages and if they do (which I don't know) will still wouldn't get top speeds. Because they'll be using your aging phone line system oh and let me tell you this there servers are not even based in Hull.
My college lecturer has told me there in Beresford or somewhere like that not Beverly. And your internet connection is sent there then to KC then back to there and to your home. What the people of Hull need is what this country is supposed to have freedom of choice. We should have the right to be able to get our internet and calls from another company.
| Posted by D Collinson on the 4th January 2008 | |
Can I just clarify something, they give you the quoted speed in Mega BITS per second, NOT mega BYTES, there is a very significant difference in these 2 Mb (megaBit) and MB (megabyte), there are 8 bits in a byte, so divide the 8mb by 8 and that's your speed in megabytes. Yes, that's right 1MB per second, so, if you are getting 1024 kb per second you are getting it full throttle. My max speed is 714kb a sec but the speed is very erratic and depends on what time you use it, late at night (well after 12) through to about 11 am the next day is the best time to download. To conclude, they give you the BIT speed to make it sound better (it's like saying 100 pennies instead of just saying 1 pound). Anyway just to clarify 1 other point karoo is abysmal, the service is terrible and very overpriced.
| Posted by Rich on the 3rd December 2007 | |
It's not about speed, it's about choice, we should be able to make up our own minds who we go with. There is a company about to launch ADSL in Hull but they need names of people who are interested. It's very costly to bring in a service to Hull because of KC charges, but the hull people need to stick together.
| Posted by Hoping For A New Company Soon on the 30th November 2007 | |
I have been doing the broadband speed test from The Gadget show and Karoo, although advertised at up to 8mb, never got above 1030 download and 250 upload.
| Posted by Dave Stockdale on the 16th November 2007 | |
I have had karoo for some time and I have not really had a problem with it. I was hoping that I may be able to get a bt package with the tv/movies or even sky's package as I am on a tight budget . Maybe if Kingston Communications rented the line to the other national companies at the same price it rents to its customers then other companies would take advantage and then Kingston would have to offer a better service. They took away Kingston tv through poor take up, maybe they should have a rethink and see if there is a similar offer they could give for phone tv and broadband.
| Posted by Rebecca Hanna on the 8th November 2007 | |
Fair latency wise, not bad for gaming. Unless you lose connection to the rest of the world (happened for entire area Karoo services - for most of a 72 hour period). Customer services are rude and generally ill advised. Was switched onto the "5 meg profile" despite agreeing with the representative that my line was very good. This is probably because I enquired as to why the service is so poor for the money, when compared to the rest of the country. Was given a rude answer along the lines of "this is Hull, not the rest of the country". KCOM provide internet services for the rest of the country too under the name eclipse? Pushing many many educated people away from Hull with their (option) 3rd world services.
| Posted by Mark on the 3rd November 2007 | |
Just wanted to add my comments about Karoo. I have recently changed to the max service and on the first few days it was great - after that I am getting under one meg on what is advertised as an up to 8 meg service. I have questioned this and only got a response of "that is all you should expect at that time of night". Well Thanks Karoo! - Just wish you would add that to you advertising claims and then we would all know where we are. The people of Hull can't make a comparison, as they are they have to go with karoo, but so many seem unhappy with a service that does not deliver what it promises or suggests - just seems very unfair and a bit of a con. But who do they answer to? I have been an unhappy customer for over 20 years - and god forbid - a mac user too. If you want the internet in Hull you have no choice, if ever another service provider dare to venture into Hull, I do believe the majority of broadband users would change over. I see the latest broadband user satisfaction results rank karoo as bottom again - does that not matter to you karoo? The important thing is not having a choice if you live here - so with this in mind I strongly recommend karoo as the only supplier of up to (but usually nowhere near) 8mb broadband in the Hull (or if you are unlucky) surrounding area.
| Posted by Simon Thompson on the 16th October 2007 | |
Come on you lot, although I agree that Kingston Com or Con should allow other Broadband suppliers in Hull I have never had problems with drop outs or slow download speeds and we have a permanent connection. The last time I rebooted my server etc it had been connected for over 30 days without a disconnection. Get someone to sort your servers out.
| Posted by Carl on the 16th October 2007 | |
I am on Karoo option 2 and have been since June this year.
Like everyone else my speed goes up and down like a yo-yo,and as for the 8mb, well I am lucky if I get 600kbsps when downloading, but this is all that I can hope to get according to a member of the Karoo tech team, and this speed was obtained from a download on the Microsoft site.
Most of the time my download speed is between 20 and 300 kbps,and I have never had anywhere near 1mb, never mind 8.
This mob are ripping the people of Hull off, and the broadband connections they offer are a scandal.
The sooner KC are forced to open up to other providers the better it will be for everyone in Hull.
I have started the ball rolling with a solicitor who deals with human rights issues, for the human rights act states that everyone has the right of choice, but KC are not giving me that choice because they refuse to allow other companies into Hull.
Once they start getting my solicitor's letters, let's see how they like them apples.
Like everyone else my speed goes up and down like a yo-yo,and as for the 8mb, well I am lucky if I get 600kbsps when downloading, but this is all that I can hope to get according to a member of the Karoo tech team, and this speed was obtained from a download on the Microsoft site.
Most of the time my download speed is between 20 and 300 kbps,and I have never had anywhere near 1mb, never mind 8.
This mob are ripping the people of Hull off, and the broadband connections they offer are a scandal.
The sooner KC are forced to open up to other providers the better it will be for everyone in Hull.
I have started the ball rolling with a solicitor who deals with human rights issues, for the human rights act states that everyone has the right of choice, but KC are not giving me that choice because they refuse to allow other companies into Hull.
Once they start getting my solicitor's letters, let's see how they like them apples.
| Posted by Bob on the 11th October 2007 | |
Yeah, I do agree the only reason I got the 8mps package is to play games online without lag, but surprise, surprise it still didn't work. And they also cut your connection off if you download things with license, something off kazaa or limewire for example, but they still charge you. Over priced but we have no choice...
| Posted by Matt Rudd on the 19th September 2007 | |
I upgraded to the Max Opt 4 and now download and upload speeds are slightly faster (not much though). I think it's more about the fact the faster the service, the more we get latency and lots of it... The service is very poor for the cost.
| Posted by J Smith on the 19th September 2007 | |
ALL Karoo customers should NOW get together and create an online petition to present to our member of parliament and the trading standards bureau. Maybe the monopolies commission too?
I only get 19% of my expected bandwidth at best; it’s usually worse than this!!!
If that is the best they can do then I should only pay for the bandwidth I actually have available; therefore I should only pay 19% of my monthly subscription charges, that would be much fairer and I’m sure EVERYONE out there would agree with this? - So what can we ALL do about it NOW. We (Karoo customers) must unite and pull together as an online community otherwise our complaints will fall on deaf ears or even NO ears at all! Can anyone suggest how we might go about achieving a satisfactory result?
F.Y.I. I wrote to watchdog; maybe we all should?
HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/contact_index.shtml
Thank you for taking the time to write to BBC Watchdog...
Because we receive so many emails, faxes, letters and phone calls, we are unable to respond personally to each and every one. However, your correspondence will be read by our research team and if we are able to pursue your complaint, a researcher from the Consumer Unit will contact you.
Once again, many thanks
The Watchdog Team
I only get 19% of my expected bandwidth at best; it’s usually worse than this!!!
If that is the best they can do then I should only pay for the bandwidth I actually have available; therefore I should only pay 19% of my monthly subscription charges, that would be much fairer and I’m sure EVERYONE out there would agree with this? - So what can we ALL do about it NOW. We (Karoo customers) must unite and pull together as an online community otherwise our complaints will fall on deaf ears or even NO ears at all! Can anyone suggest how we might go about achieving a satisfactory result?
F.Y.I. I wrote to watchdog; maybe we all should?
HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/contact_index.shtml
Thank you for taking the time to write to BBC Watchdog...
Because we receive so many emails, faxes, letters and phone calls, we are unable to respond personally to each and every one. However, your correspondence will be read by our research team and if we are able to pursue your complaint, a researcher from the Consumer Unit will contact you.
Once again, many thanks
The Watchdog Team
| Posted by Paul Staples on the 19th September 2007 | |
I have been with karoo for about 9 years now and i have to say this "Karoo is crap". I have just found out that for my £30 a month 8mb broadband in which i have had for 9 months only can achieve speeds of under 1mb in my area... Thanks karoo. I would recommend that all Karoo customers with option 4 check there line speeds.
| Posted by Dave Bell on the 13th September 2007 | |
I pay £24.99 a month and have yet to attain anything near 1mb - I am lucky to get near half of that. I moved to Karoo when they put in all new cable on our village estate - what they didn't tell me was they connected to the old wiring coming into the village!! All in all a substandard service for a premium price. Despite the hassle I am about to change back to a BT line and feel so sorry for those in Hull itself who have no choice but to continue to be provided with such a poor service at an extortionate price.
| Posted by Graham Dixon on the 12th September 2007 | |
Karoo what a load of...
I moved to Hull from Doncaster where I had Telewest broadband proper DSL @ 1mb and that's what I got - no faults, no drop outs. Come to Hull you got no choice, it's Karoo or sod all. Well I thought I would give em a go, tried for the 8mb (no chance) tried for 2mb (still no chance). Karoo say lines are bad down my side of Hull (WELL SORT EM OUT) settled for 1mb (guess what NO CHANCE), spoke to em again. The reply was "there's a lot of noise on your line we will drop it to 620k" but I'm paying for 1mb!
Engineers come out at the wrong times and now my 620k connection is failing. I'm getting pings of 140ms to UK sites!
Tracert shows some weird stuff. And my phone line is all crackly. What a waste of time this company is!
People in Hull lose out on so many great offers like Oranges £14.99 a month 2mb and a free laptop! I don't see Karoo doing that.
Cheers Karoo.......
One more reason not to live in Hull.......
I moved to Hull from Doncaster where I had Telewest broadband proper DSL @ 1mb and that's what I got - no faults, no drop outs. Come to Hull you got no choice, it's Karoo or sod all. Well I thought I would give em a go, tried for the 8mb (no chance) tried for 2mb (still no chance). Karoo say lines are bad down my side of Hull (WELL SORT EM OUT) settled for 1mb (guess what NO CHANCE), spoke to em again. The reply was "there's a lot of noise on your line we will drop it to 620k" but I'm paying for 1mb!
Engineers come out at the wrong times and now my 620k connection is failing. I'm getting pings of 140ms to UK sites!
Tracert shows some weird stuff. And my phone line is all crackly. What a waste of time this company is!
People in Hull lose out on so many great offers like Oranges £14.99 a month 2mb and a free laptop! I don't see Karoo doing that.
Cheers Karoo.......
One more reason not to live in Hull.......
| Posted by Jason Nicholson on the 10th September 2007 | |
Have read this thread with a degree of interest and hopefully a more neutral standpoint. As someone who for reasons I won't go into here has 2 Karoo DSL accounts and one BT DSL account due to where I now live I hopefully can offer a less biased point of view. I have been with Karoo since day one, yes they have had their problems as has every other ISP in the UK it is a developing system and as such will always be fraught with people having problems. Going back to Karoo momentarily, I have had problems with both my residential and business service. With the residential service however I don't believe I've lost service for many many months and even then only briefly. With my business service I believe it is based on Karoo having a special offer about to happen. For example, out of nowhere you will have a dropped connection, it comes back, but then no DNS, so you have to reboot. This will continue for several days/weeks, until you check on Karoos website and lo and behold 'Special offer- move to Business broadband MAX for only £29 a month instead of £49 for the first 6 months (Hypothetical example but you get the gist!). Offer stops, dropped connections stop! as if by magic, being the sort of person that gives everyone a chance I make an assumption that maybe it's the high take up of the offer that is weighing the system down, doubt it but it is possible! Now to BT!, well I did go with Orange 8Mb max (They all say Max as they cannot guarantee you will get this!, read the small print!!), I checked with BT for my max linespeed and was quoted 6.5Mbs, fine I thought, and although I should really have in hindsight chosen BT I didn't, I chose Orange, BIG MISTAKE!! £23 per month 2Mbs MAXIMUM! and a curious additional 0845 phone number that uses VOIP (sound quality unusable!). When I decided to Move house within the village, same phone number literally 10 doors down, Orange said that will be 3 weeks minimum to move your line! I asked them to do it. It never happened! After 8 weeks of patiently waiting, nothing. Had to cancel. Decided to try BT, Modem/phone came within 2 days, service within a week! excellent. Or so you think! Customer service is worse than Karoo. My box lasted less than a month then lost its wireless ability! (It's well documented) had to wait a further 3 weeks for a replacement (BT aren't just in Hull centre so you can't just go and collect your replacement!).
Back to Karoo, yes a lot of people moan about Karoo me included now and again, but I think generally they're all about the same across the UK. Plus I don't recall anyone moaning when Karoo where experimenting with the 2Mbps service and seemingly giving it free to people only subscribing to the 512K service. Seems people only moan when they 'think' they are being abused. Overall Karoo is more reliable than my electricity supply, my mobile phone reception and my Sky TV box. So stop moaning people, if you 'feel' that you aren't able to get the best on offer ask to go down to the package that suits your connection, not moan about having to pay for something you cannot possibly receive.
Back to Karoo, yes a lot of people moan about Karoo me included now and again, but I think generally they're all about the same across the UK. Plus I don't recall anyone moaning when Karoo where experimenting with the 2Mbps service and seemingly giving it free to people only subscribing to the 512K service. Seems people only moan when they 'think' they are being abused. Overall Karoo is more reliable than my electricity supply, my mobile phone reception and my Sky TV box. So stop moaning people, if you 'feel' that you aren't able to get the best on offer ask to go down to the package that suits your connection, not moan about having to pay for something you cannot possibly receive.
| Posted by Dave on the 29th August 2007 | |
I recently moved to Gilberdyke from Brough and had the option of going with BT or Karoo, it's a new build and has lines for BT and Karoo installed. I had been with Karoo while I was in Brough and never had any major problems, but I'd thought I'd give BT a try, well after waiting about 30 mins on the phone I gave up and rang Karoo, one thing you can't complain about, at least when you ring Karoo your not waiting 30 mins just for somebody to answer. I'm now in Gilberdyke, but even though it's further away the connection is even better than when in Brough, my router gives 8064kbs without many CRC's. Oh, yes. Like somebody has already mentioned, don't use the USB Speedtouch they give you, it's a load of rubbish, ADSL routers cost peanuts nowadays. Btw currently Karoo are having Internet Gateway problems, but hopefully will be sorted out 02:00 Wednesday. Hardware sometimes breaks so you can't complain too much as long as it's sorted out soon. So I'll give 4 stars, but deduct 1 if not sorted out on Wednesday...:)
| Posted by Keith on the 28th August 2007 | |
I recently moved to village outside of Hull from another village just outside of Karoo range. Before I was with BT line and using pipex paying £20 a month for unrestricted 8mb and getting 8mb speed! Before I moved I called Karoo stating what speed can I get in "walkington." Oh sir, you're lucky,you will have a digital box on your street meaning you will get up to 8mb, no problem. Ok, so I pay my £19.99 a month, get adsl activated and max speed I get is 2mb with 60 acc huge loss! - router is direct to phone line in a 20 year old house. So I call Karoo asking what's the problem... Oh well your exchange is in Beverley over 5km away. So you won't get 8mb! Um ok ... so like you put a digital box in my previous village trying to tease customers from BT! So when are you going to put a box in Walkington? Oh never sir.. what's the point!! This is on the day when they are having routing issues meaning 80% of the net is unreachable! Joy oh joy...
| Posted by C Whit on the 27th August 2007 | |
Wow, the last post sounds just like the guy I had on the phone from Karoo blaming everything but the fault of the service.. Hello, wake up, the service needs an overhaul not excuses why it doesn't work.
| Posted by Kaz on the 27th August 2007 | |
Very happy Karoo MAX Option 3 customer here.
I have friends who often complain about the Karoo service and with me being involved in IT they often ask me to help.
They are always mentioning the speed. Here are a few tips I give them:
Anyway, I have a wired router and never have any issues at all. I agree that the 8mbps roll-out had problems and download speeds suffered. But, I have always found the service to be top notch.
Bring on another ISP, I can guarantee all these problems people are having will not go away.
I have friends who often complain about the Karoo service and with me being involved in IT they often ask me to help.
They are always mentioning the speed. Here are a few tips I give them:
- Telephone extension cables often reduce the speed and quality of ADSL.
- Having any device plugged into a hard-wired telephone socket without a filter causes disconnections, slow-downs etc.
- Wireless is not provided by Karoo. Karoo provide an ADSL connection to your socket. If you have wireless and the wireless is disconnecting but the router is staying connected to Karoo, then Karoo cannot control this. Wireless is a pain and interference can cause a real problem. We have all had this issue with a video sender or a cordless digital telephone before.
Anyway, I have a wired router and never have any issues at all. I agree that the 8mbps roll-out had problems and download speeds suffered. But, I have always found the service to be top notch.
Bring on another ISP, I can guarantee all these problems people are having will not go away.
| Posted by Bash on the 26th August 2007 | |
I am on Option 3 and never get above 2 MB. I have seen people on Option 2 with faster connections than I get ! I have never had a router from them or been offered one, as when I upgraded to Max I was upgrading from 1MB and never had a modem from them or nothing. I think the service Karoo provides is very poor.
| Posted by M Cross on the 26th August 2007 | |
What a load of nonsense, I have wireless and the modem is about 1 inch away from the telephone line and not far from my pc. I get disconnected all the time, at least 3 times a day and it's very annoying. Karoo what are you doing? It's only like this because you know people don't have any other options! Let more providers in or you scared you will end up with only the stupid customers?
| Posted by Rikki Foster on the 24th August 2007 | |
I have been Karoo Max Option 4 and since the day Karoo
started 8mb connect. Upgraded from the 3.4 mb connect.
For months from 8mb's roll-out I was pulling my hair out
with frustration... So tempted many times to dump 8mb's
connect in favour of the old reliable 3.4mb's.
Many, many calls to Karoo-Tech solved nothing, but was
lucky 1 day many, many months ago, got in touch with a
tech who clicked something at their end and my Internet has been Full Speed ever since.
HOWEVER, Karoo have been up to something since Sunday 12 August and even though I paid full whack OPTION4, I've watched my speeds go back to Option 2 rules, ie, restricted through times of day - full speed after midnight until 8am or something..
Called workmates who I know are also with Option4 and they were also restricted. However, the VERY DAY I was goning to call Karoo-Tech to complain - 16 Aug 07 - connection has now gone back to normal..
I am a happy customer, but having gone though so many problems in the early days of 8mb roll-out.. I get all panicky when something goes wrong.. I do not want to go through calling Karoo-Tech every day.
Added Note, I bought a netgear router and that solved a lot of problems for me connection-wise, as opposed to the USB speedtouch modem. Nice to see Karoo on max4 option now give you for free the same Netgear Router (as I learned from workmates who just got connected).
Appears you get some blue 1 port cheap router if you go Option 1 to 3.
Hmm, a router is better than a speedtouch USB modem any day.
I followed silently for months this thread.. Thought it about time I replied with my experiences of Karoo, SO BAD, not-so-bad-now :)
started 8mb connect. Upgraded from the 3.4 mb connect.
For months from 8mb's roll-out I was pulling my hair out
with frustration... So tempted many times to dump 8mb's
connect in favour of the old reliable 3.4mb's.
Many, many calls to Karoo-Tech solved nothing, but was
lucky 1 day many, many months ago, got in touch with a
tech who clicked something at their end and my Internet has been Full Speed ever since.
HOWEVER, Karoo have been up to something since Sunday 12 August and even though I paid full whack OPTION4, I've watched my speeds go back to Option 2 rules, ie, restricted through times of day - full speed after midnight until 8am or something..
Called workmates who I know are also with Option4 and they were also restricted. However, the VERY DAY I was goning to call Karoo-Tech to complain - 16 Aug 07 - connection has now gone back to normal..
I am a happy customer, but having gone though so many problems in the early days of 8mb roll-out.. I get all panicky when something goes wrong.. I do not want to go through calling Karoo-Tech every day.
Added Note, I bought a netgear router and that solved a lot of problems for me connection-wise, as opposed to the USB speedtouch modem. Nice to see Karoo on max4 option now give you for free the same Netgear Router (as I learned from workmates who just got connected).
Appears you get some blue 1 port cheap router if you go Option 1 to 3.
Hmm, a router is better than a speedtouch USB modem any day.
I followed silently for months this thread.. Thought it about time I replied with my experiences of Karoo, SO BAD, not-so-bad-now :)
| Posted by David Ramsay on the 16th August 2007 | |
Since November last year I have had my connection dropped several times in the evening. The help desk did the usual and blamed by router, so I replaced it and had the same problems. I work in Beverley and we get the full 8Mbps rate - it's fantastic but at home I get 3.1Mbps. At home it is really frustrating that my connection keeps dropping every evening. I have made several complaints to them over the past year and it's only this week that someone has said I will get a visit. If others had an option, I wouldn't recommend Karoo to anyone. However, a year ago I would have said they was the best in the country.
| Posted by Neil Waddy on the 28th July 2007 | |
I cannot agree with all the above adverse comments .. I upgraded to Karoo Max in March of this year and regularly receive 7.1 Mbps - on occasion I have reached 8.0 Mbps. I paid for an additional phone socket at the start so that my pc is connected directly to it - possibly this is why I have had no problems.
I also find Technical Support helpful when I have had occasion to use them.
So what is the problem!!
I also find Technical Support helpful when I have had occasion to use them.
So what is the problem!!
| Posted by Annette Dexter on the 15th July 2007 | |
The problem you may be having is, you need an ADSL2 modem for it to work properly with 8meg.
I have Karoo 512 currently which is at 60kbps down and 30kbps up.
Im upgrading to 8meg as the price is similar.
I have Karoo 512 currently which is at 60kbps down and 30kbps up.
Im upgrading to 8meg as the price is similar.
| Posted by Adam C on the 29th June 2007 | |
Ok I am also one of the unlucky ones and don't have a choice, but Karoo, but 8megabite.. will never happen in a download regardless of who you are with, as when downloading it is in bites.. and 8 bites = 1 bit.
So when downloading, in theory it should be 8/8 so 1meg (1024/kbps). But in practice this won't be the case all the time, due to distance, heavy traffic at server or even your own street as it's the only option (to have Karoo that is) everyone that has internet on your street will also be using the same server as you.
So really should be getting 400kbps-600kbps during the day (as that's when most people will be using it), but at night or early morning (really early) should be getting 650kbps+.
But yes, the service does tend to be below par, but even still there are some companies out there that are a lot worse and the bigger companies will have more problems due to more customers, least when Karoo goes down it gets fixed quite quick. When I was at uni earlier this year, the subscriber that I was using (had no choice cause was in halls) went down and didn't come back on for days.
So when downloading, in theory it should be 8/8 so 1meg (1024/kbps). But in practice this won't be the case all the time, due to distance, heavy traffic at server or even your own street as it's the only option (to have Karoo that is) everyone that has internet on your street will also be using the same server as you.
So really should be getting 400kbps-600kbps during the day (as that's when most people will be using it), but at night or early morning (really early) should be getting 650kbps+.
But yes, the service does tend to be below par, but even still there are some companies out there that are a lot worse and the bigger companies will have more problems due to more customers, least when Karoo goes down it gets fixed quite quick. When I was at uni earlier this year, the subscriber that I was using (had no choice cause was in halls) went down and didn't come back on for days.
| Posted by Karoo customer on the 19th June 2007 | |
The service is rubbish. It's the only ISP serving the Hull area, so customers have no choice. However, the broadband is dire. I'm on option 1, having changed from the 1 meg rapid time. Occasionally I will get higher d/load speeds, but on the whole it's slower than I had previously.
Today it's incredibly slow... 700-800k - rather less than the 8 megs advertised. I'm wondering if Karoo have a fault at the moment, because the service is so much worse than normal.
Today it's incredibly slow... 700-800k - rather less than the 8 megs advertised. I'm wondering if Karoo have a fault at the moment, because the service is so much worse than normal.
| Posted by B. Young on the 18th June 2007 | |
The new 8mbs connection is obviously capped on karoo's newserver to a toal of 30 Kb/s and to a toatal of 60 Kb/s using another news server.
Trading standards and Advertising standards should be interested, well I'm complaining anyway
Trading standards and Advertising standards should be interested, well I'm complaining anyway
| Posted by Nigel Greenwood on the 8th June 2007 | |
This really is a feeble company. I started at option 3 but could only get less than 200KB when I was paying for 8. They blamed the distance that I live from exchange ( 5 Miles). I've dropped to option 1 . Now newsgroups are squeezed to a standstill. 30 KB !! Don't waste cash on the top option - the service is rubbish whatever you pay.
| Posted by Bks on the 2nd June 2007 | |
Here's a good laugh if you subscribe to karoo.
On the 3rd of this month my computer was hacked by them, files and folders were accessed and when I rang and presented verbal evidence even the techie employed by them agreed that I had been hacked by a California based company that they use to "monitor traffic" to "protect against piracy"
I have a meeting with them shortly and if I don't get honest answers to several questions it's only about a 500 yard walk to the offices of the Hull daily mail.
Watch this space.
On the 3rd of this month my computer was hacked by them, files and folders were accessed and when I rang and presented verbal evidence even the techie employed by them agreed that I had been hacked by a California based company that they use to "monitor traffic" to "protect against piracy"
I have a meeting with them shortly and if I don't get honest answers to several questions it's only about a 500 yard walk to the offices of the Hull daily mail.
Watch this space.
| Posted by Rob on the 10th May 2007 | |
I agree. Total crap. I upgraded from 1Meg RapidTime to Karoo Max option 4, which I assumed would be a massive improvement. After a week at 1.9Mbps I called them, only to be told that this was the maximum I could get because I was a long way from the exchange. Not only that, but I should be thankful because some people can't get broadband at all !! They never cease to amaze me with their incompetence and cheek.
| Posted by Mat on the 10th May 2007 | |
I upgraded my internet connection to Broadband Max Option 2. What a joke. Although I haven't had problems with the speed of the connection, I have had the service being constantly cut off, even during non-peak times eg after 11pm.... I would not recommend anybody changing to Broadband Max, you cannot notice any difference in internet speeds (mine is not any slower before, but not faster either) and the service gets cut off randomly which is very frustrating when you are in the middle of downloads/ Instant messaging etc.
| Posted by Hayley on the 26th April 2007 | |
Karoo broadband max is absolutely tosh. It's the worst service I've ever had. Come on Karoo, take a leaf out the other major broadband service providers, their going up to 20mb soon and we just got out of the dark ages and go to 8mb. If you can't provide the service, let in other service providers that can.
| Posted by Kaz on the 24th April 2007 | |
i am on option 1 and my speed is around 400k a sec all day untill 6 then after 12 can download round at 850k
| Posted by Karl on the 21st April 2007 | |
Sorry to disagree with you all, but I'm now on the option 3 and it works great, no disconnection problems at all.
I do come across many systems that have not been set up correctly, therefore getting problems. Also with wireless, as I'm sure most will know, you do have to have a reasonable continuous signal, and line to get a decent speed. Maybe I'm lucky, I can download at around 550 / 650kbps which is about right as you will never get the full 8mb.
Maybe I have got it wrong ??
I do come across many systems that have not been set up correctly, therefore getting problems. Also with wireless, as I'm sure most will know, you do have to have a reasonable continuous signal, and line to get a decent speed. Maybe I'm lucky, I can download at around 550 / 650kbps which is about right as you will never get the full 8mb.
Maybe I have got it wrong ??
| Posted by Dave Medley on the 19th April 2007 | |
Agree with all of the above - it's rubbish. Constantly slowing up and disconnecting. The only advice they've ever given me is move my router nearer the phone socket. If it happens to be in a different room I can pay to have it moved. I think they should get an engineer to bring the service I am paying for up to scratch.
| Posted by A Tear on the 1st April 2007 | |
Constant dis-connections, bad customer service, blaming your equipment and software and phone line! Come on Karoo you are running out of excuses aren't you! Let's start a users revolution! More Broadband for HULL!!!!
| Posted by C Brooks on the 29th March 2007 | |
Rubbish............... i recently upgraded from 512kbps to an up to 8mbps, never had such a crap connection, on and off, on and off all the time and connection speeds of 288kbps absolute Rubbish. COME ON OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS FORCE KC OUT
| Posted by Rich on the 26th March 2007 | |
kc are having a laugh........I upgraded from the 1 meg a month ago and its been slower than ever.what used to be a ok service is now just a pain,Its about time kc gave people in hull a choice or are they to scared of the competition.
| Posted by Lawrence Rodnicki on the 16th March 2007 | |
Do not get Broadband Max im stuck in a contract where im not even getting 1 meg, my speed is 288 mbps, it has been for last week, i was on package 3, but a technician told me i could only reach 1,8 meg as my highest because karoo had my details wrong....Now package 1 and not even half a meg! Dont get
| Posted by L, Oscar on the 14th March 2007 | |
I have the basic 8mbps service from karoo and it very rarely reaches a speed over 2mbps i'd love to change to the new talk talk service £21 per month for 8mbps broadband and unlimited uk calls. When will Hull get the choice to use other telecom services instead of being monopolized by KC "NOT FAIR"
| Posted by Dave on the 14th March 2007 | |
Do not get broadband Max! I get slow speeds, and the srvice is capped 6pm - midnight. I can only download 20GB a month on a fair use policy, and i run a webserver, ftpserver and game server... They blame your hardware with the problem, even though they supplied it! We are stuck to karoo, and i wish i could leave. They refuse Static IPs unless you are at option 4 - Not even available to buy!!!
| Posted by Adam Lonsdale on the 27th February 2007 | |
Never in my life have I received such shoddy customer service . My upgrade to 8mb has caused more problems than it's worth. I wish I'd not bothered.
| Posted by Mitch on the 17th February 2007 | |
Karoo Broadband Max is a bag of rubbish...the service is capped from 4.30pm till Midnight everyday so all you can really do at high speeds is browse the net......wow!!!!I believe Karoo have brought out this service far too early, so early in fact, they cannot cope and do not have the correct hardware to offer such services.I'm on Option 4, the most expensive, I download at about 3mb maximum, although the karoo speedtest page states usually between 6mb and 7mb.I was previously on the 3mb which was better then this package, I could download at the speed I was supposed to and didnt have to wait till midnight to download.Rating: 1
| Posted by Captain Cornelius on the 6th February 2007 | |
What a joke this service is.. We moved to Karoo's high speed broadband service, (package 3). Since doing this so-called up grade the service has become pathetic. Karoo like blaming my own computer hardware. I am unable to have an; all day anytime (unmetered) service with Karoo, I have not got the choice to move to another ISP unless i'm preparred to pay by the minute. I was with AOL through Karoo a long time ago, but the all day anytime service with AOL was discontinued. While I was with AOL everything was perfect, as an internet service should be..
| Posted by P. Smith on the 24th January 2007 | |
dont do it..i know they have the monopoly in hull and we have no choice however it is only usefull if you just surf the internet, newsgroups are throttled and any problems with the service is automaticaly blamed on your hardware
| Posted by Darren Genther on the 30th December 2006 | |
