*VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE* I must have been nuts!! (nutshell.net)

Member Name: chele2002

Product:	nutshell.net
Date:	10/10/01 (259 review reads)
Rating:

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Disadvantages: See opinion

Well hear I am again, a few months older and yet another ISP!! Just when everything was going fine with my last Internet service provider along came all these problems, which began to get worse and worse with no sign of improvement. So the inevitable happened and the hunt began for something that sounded a little more reliable then the service I had.

It is hard work looking for a 24/7 0800 Internet connection when you don’t have a BT line but it has been something that I have become accustomed to for over a year, way back in the days of X-stream (Anyone remember them? Surfing past mid-night till the early hours of the morning just so you could have your daily fix of the net!). Will after the pain staking, long and boring search, I gave up and asked my telecom provider what they would recommend and found out something interesting, but that would be an update for another opinion written. After the man suggested a couple that were compatible, he went on to tell me to check out Net4nowt.com, they have most, if not all of the current isp’s listed, with the added bonus of finding out if you need a BT line with out the hassle of going to each site.

Well this is what I did, there were loads listed but sadly only a few that we could use but as a result we did settle for one by the name of Nutshell.net. They are certainly a new one on me, and who the hell thinks of these strange names for companies? Well we checked out the site as you do, and was taken back by all the fantastic package deals they have (Shame we already have two computers!). This time we were being a bit more cautious, reading all the FAQ’s, looking at virtually every page they had on the site and finding out their history, you know the bit where you wonder where on earth did they spring up from.


History
--------
Well it appears that they were founded due to the high demand for economical Internet access, with a goal to provide such service that is affo
rdable and easy to use. With a team that is dedicated to provide a service for everyone’s individual needs at low and affordable monthly cost, from complete Internet ready PC’s, along with unlimited Internet access to 24/7 Internet access only if you already have a computer.

They are a registered business that currently have six major partners, some you would have already heard of and some no so well known, these are the likes of Hewlett Packard, Cable and Wireless, Ananova, Westcoast, IMS and able2buy. This played a big factor in our decision to join, the way we looked at is was with well known partners such as Hewlett Packard etc, if they did come across financial problems they would more than likely be bailed out by one or more if the service plan was still viable.

Packages
-----------
The packages seem to be too good to be true, with a particular set up costing just £29.99 per month, including unlimited internet access and the most expensive being £49.99 which is fantastic for small businesses requiring a PC and connection to the internet especially at peak times.

Each package they offer is a set amount for a total of 36 months with 0% added interest.

All packages at the present time are from Hewlett Packard, so if you are not a big fan of Hewlett Packard then these are not for you.


The personal package
--------------------------

The personal package is just £29.99 per month for a total of 36 months, or if you are feeling flush it can be paid in one lump sum but will set you back a total of £1079.64, but considering what comes with it the total cost does sound reasonable.

So just what do you get for £29.99 per month:

Unlimited, Unmetered Internet Access (Does not sate if access is for the whole 36 months, or less, it would have to be something to inquire about to their sales team on 0800 056 6200 or fax on 0800 056 6300)
C800 MHz Celeron Processor
64 M
B Ram
20 Gig Hard Drive
56K Modem
24x CD Rom
HP 15” Colour Monitor
Internet Keyboard
Audio/Video (Does not state if it is plug and play or onboard)
Speakers
HP Mouse
Windows 98 (Pre installed)
MS Works 2000 (Pre installed)
3 Years Warranty, First Year Onsite, Then Two Years Parts Only.


The Family Package
------------------------
The family package is at £39.99 per month and for that little extra per month you also get a larger 17” monitor, flat bed scanner and printer. Like with all packages you can opt to pay the whole amount in one lump sum or monthly with a total of £1439.64.

So just what do you get for £39.99 per month:

Unlimited, Unmetered Internet Access (Does not sate if access is for the whole 36 months, or less, it would have to be something to inquire about to their sales team on 0800 056 6200 or fax on 0800 056 6300)
C800 MHz Celeron Processor
64 MB Ram
20 Gig Hard Drive
56K Modem
24x CD Rom
HP 17” Colour Monitor
Internet Keyboard
Audio/Video (Does not state if it is plug and play or onboard)
Speakers
HP Mouse
HP 4300 Flatbed Scanner
HP 840c Colour Printer
Windows 98 (Pre installed)
MS Works 2000 (Pre installed)
3 Years Warranty, First Year Onsite, Then Two Years Parts Only.


The Professional Package
------------------------------
If you are looking for a PC that has all that you need but with the reliably of a 1 GHz Pentium III Processor and can afford £49.99 per month, the this is the package for you, the total cost of this set up will be £1799.64. An optional Hewlett Packard G55 Officejet all in one copier/scanner/printer is available with this package but you would have to check for details of additional cost with added options.

So just what do you get for £49.99 per month:

Unlimited, Unmetered Internet Access (Does not sate if access is for the whole
36 months, or less, it would have to be something to inquire about to their sales team on 0800 056 6200 or fax on 0800 056 6300)
1 GHz Pentium III Processor
64 MB Ram
20 Gig Hard Drive
56K Modem
24x CD Rom
HP 17” Colour Monitor
Internet Keyboard
Audio/Video (Does not state if it is plug and play or onboard)
Speakers
HP Mouse
HP 4300 Flatbed Scanner
HP 840c Colour Printer
Windows 98 (Pre installed)
MS Works 2000 (Pre installed)
3 Years Warranty, First Year Onsite, Then Two Years Parts Only.


The Laptop Package
------------------------
If you prefer the mobility of a lap top computer and like the professional package can afford £49.99 per month or a lump sum payment of £1799.64 then you could consider the lap top package. An optional Hewlett Packard Leather Carrying Case and a Support Pack are also available with this package; check with Nutshells sales team to find out what additional cost would be incurred.

So just what do you get for £49.99 per month:

Unlimited, Unmetered Internet Access (Does not sate if access is for the whole 36 months, or less, it would have to be something to inquire about to their sales team on 0800 056 6200 or fax on 0800 056 6300)
Celeron 750 MHz Processor
128 MB Ram
10 Gig Hard Drive
HP 13.3 XGA TFT Screen
24x CD Rom
Floppy Drive
56k Modem
Ion (Lilon) Battery (4 hours run time)
Windows 98 SE (Second edition)
Warranty Limited One Year, Worldwide, Parts And Labour Return To Base.

*~* None of the prices shown above include the cost of delivery; the cost of delivery would be £49.99, OUCH!!! *~*

At the end of your second year of membership you can choose to upgrade your computer package if you wish and will be given the option. As computers change so much and are always being changed in one way or another this is a good idea.


*~*~* Please note, this applies to all PC/i
nternet packages *~*~*

Monthly payments are based on financing over a 36 month term, with 0% APR and like all financing terms are subject to status. You must be a UK resident to apply and be over the age of 18 years. The price depends on what package you choose and products and prices may be subject to change without notice.

If there are any changes in products or price then you will be notified when you order.



Internet access
-----------------
Internet access is open to all UK residents that hold a credit or debit card, you can either sign up online or order a CD by phoning 0870 010 2550. Once you have signed up online, you can access the Internet ASAP but if you ordered the CD it would take around 4-5 working days to arrive.

At the moment they do not have high-speed access such as ISDN, ADSL, or cable modem but they are in the process of developing high-speed connections for the near future, so there is something to watch out for.

Signing up is easy with the basic details that are taken in easy steps.

Step one: You choose what type access options you require: a) £12.99 per month (with a rolling contract) b) £9.99 per month for a minimum of 3 months, your card will be charged £29.97 per quarter, c) £16.99 per month, which is for business accounts only.

Step two: Personal details are then added, such as title, forename/s, surname, address, postcode, telephone number, email address (optional, for the purpose of Nutshell sending you information from time to time), yes or no option to receive newsletter/additional information from time to time, security question which is one of four (favourite colour, mothers maiden name, pet name or birth place) and then the option to have your information passed on to other affiliated businesses.

Step three: Credit card details are then taken with card type, card number, expiry month, expiry year, name on card, card issue number (for Switch card
s only), valid from month and valid from year.

Step four: You are then given all your dialup details to print off in you need to use it for future reference, such as user name, password, email address, pass word, the dialup number for manual set up and your email client information. I would recommend that you print it off or if you have no printer save this page in favourites but make it available offline.

Step four: Is where you download the software for auto configuration and bobs your uncle.


Prices
-------
The prices for unlimited Internet access start from as little as £9.99 and up to £16.99.

£9.99 per month applies if you decide that you would like a minimum of 3 months access, this is paid in chunks of £29.97 per quarter.

£12.99 per month if you decide to pay only one month at a time, this is the option we choose due to past problems with other isp’s, we didn’t want the commitment of 3 months at a time if the service ended out to be crap like many others.

£16.99 per month for the business account.


What you get for your money
-----------------------------------
Fixed monthly fee with no Internet call charges
Unlimited Internet access, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
No minimum contract (Provided you take the £12.99 per month option otherwise a minimum of 3 months applies)
5 e-mail address (with 5MB of space per email address)
5 MB of web space
News, weather, sport, entertainment, music, finance and horoscopes



My experience of using Nutshell
---------------------------------------
I have not been a member for long and in my short time I have come across a few problems, but given my track record of providers of any kind of service this came as no surprise.

My first problem encountered was with my email account (outlook express), every time I tried to send or receive new message a log in window kept popping up,
I just put it down to them not fully updating their systems. After a few days of having this problem I decided to ring them up. I was greeted by a pleasant spoken man, who then advised me to ring their technical support line, and then went on to supply the number for me to ring. I took the mans advice and rang them straight after. The tech support guy asked me to go through the settings with him until he could figure out what the problems was. It appears that during the auto configuration it put the wrong user name in and after changing it to what it should be the problem has now been resolved. One thing that did impress me was the fact that I was told not to hesitate to call them back if I should still get any more problems and the one to one attention, help and assistance that I was given.

Then came the connection problems, I am not one of these people who expect to connect first time every time, not through a standard telephone line any way.

The first few days were fine, ok not major speeds and not to the full capacity and capabilities of our modem, but never the less they were stable and downloading was on average faster then what I had become used to. Three days later I saw a change in the service I was once getting, trying to connect had become difficult, it was not unusual to hear engaged tones. After a few attempts of re-dialling I did manage to connect but yesterday their service went down in my estimations that prompted me to ring up BT to ask how much it would cost to have a phone line installed, so that we were not limited to who we have as our isp in the near future. Well like I was saying trying to connect yesterday was beyond a joke, I had to resort to a pay as you go provider just to search for others. After several hours later and a few more grey hairs, I rang them to be told that they were updating their systems and that service should be back to normal within 48 hours. All I can say is why did I have to phone a national rate num
ber to find this out, surely if they were planning anything like this they we all should have been notified a few days prior, or at least have a service status up on there site, because I sure as hell can’t find one.

Today service doesn’t seem to be too bad, I am still not connecting first, second or even third time but I do usually connect by the tenth attempt.

I am glad that we never signed up for three months in one go, because with any luck and if the price is right I will be having a BT line installed and be able to have many other to choose from with out being limited to taking a gamble every time we change isp and not through choice but necessity.



Conclusion
--------------
This is not the best around if you expect first time connection or 2nd or 3rd for the matter. The connection speed is not wow!! But it is steady and stable and unlike most you can connect for 3 hours at a time provided you keep the connection active or after 15 minutes of lack of activity you will automatically get disconnected. Given what I know now and the service I have received this would not be one I would consider again unless they make remarkable improvements in the near future. As with many isp’s you take a gamble just like I did with 08002go and yes they did go with the promise they will be back in a month, this one is less of a gamble as you have no contract to commit to and can leave at any time if you wish with no months in advance payments to account for.

The choice is up to you, I am not saying that I made a bad choice but the service could be improved in many ways.

*~* To find the Nutshell website you can go to their home page which is at http://www.nutshell.net or to go direct to there information page regarding 0800 unlimited access at http://www.nutshell.co.uk

Thank you for reading and sorry for the 2,500+ words length.


*IMPORTANT UPDATE 22-10-2001*

I have rec
ently found a new isp, so my hard to connect to Nutshell account was no longer needed. I phoned them to ask to end my membership to be told that I would have to e-mail cancel@nutshell.net, I also stressed that as the money had already been paid then would I still be connected for the 30 days? to be told to email and ask, they should provide all the answers regarding my questions. I did in fact email them but my questions remain un-answered. This reply is the only thing I have had from Nutshell and goes omething like this:

Thank you for your e-mail
Please accept this e-mail as confirmation that your account is pending
deletion.
If you have any further queries please call us on 0870 010 2550 who will be
more than happy to help you.

Kindest regards
****** *************
Nutshell Customer Support

So I then try to phone the sales number and the number that is given in my email to find the line dead, yep dead (as dead as 08002go)

Browsing the net today I came across this on www.net4nowt.com which had 1st got posted on the 20-10-2001:

***~~~~~~Internet users across the UK are today up in arms after Net in a Nutshell suspended their unmetered service without any prior warning.

Since 08002go closed their unmetered service a few weeks ago, many Internet users on non-BT lines went on the search for a suitable provider. Net in a Nutshell fitted the bill perfectly and were receiving glowing reviews from current customers.

But the increase in subscribers took its toll on Nutshell which uses C&W to provide their service to customers. Customers complained of constant engaged tones and once connected, very poor download speeds. In short the service became absolutely atrocious.

Despite a brief and unreliable increase in performance, customers now receive just a disconnected tone.

Rumours started to do the rounds suggesting that Nutshell owed around £1.5 million to C&W. Now it appea
rs that there may be some truth in the rumour.

Shortly before the Nutshell site vanished today, there was a short announcement saying:


“Due to circumstances beyond Nutshell's control, the Internet service is currently suspended. All enquiries should be directed by e-mail to cancel@nutshell.net” ~~~~~~***


Which made very interesting reading, and yes told me that I and many have been conned, yes they took a months worth of dosh out of my bank when I didn't even get 2 weeks service.

Summary: