The public open beta phase for Playstation 3's community-focused service hasn't quite received the good press that Sony was hoping, following reports that a number of users are suffering from frequent lock-outs and connection issues.

Having launching only a week ago, the main issue with Home, which we've also experienced, appears to be the 'C-931 error,' which crops up frequently when trying to connect to the server. Sony has confirmed that this error is due to the servers experiencing high levels of traffic, but say that if you persist you should be able to get in.

Personally, we gave up after two hours, but the Home Community Manager "TedTheDog", has confirmed that our worries should soon be over and Home will be patched this Thursday, Dec 18, where "part of this change will be the first step in tackling the connection issues that you'll know as C-931 errors."

Aside from a few teething issues, more worrying for Sony is the news that hackers have already bypassed Home's security with ease and have been able to edit advertising posters, play custom trailers on the big screens and listen to their own music whilst walking around the virtual space. Although users have only currently been able to change Home's appearance on their own consoles and not on the actual servers, it's believed that the upcoming patch will tighten security to make it harder for potential hackers.