Upgrade BT Broadband and Get Slower Performance!

As far as I can I try and avoid speaking to BT regarding Broadband. This year alone I logged 4 calls/problems and didn't get any resolved.

But yesterday I decided I needed to talk to them about my Broadband Upgrade. With all the adverts and mailshots for the new services I felt as an Option 3 customer (

BT are right on this.

if you "upgrade" you'll need a new contract. isn't fair really but thats the rule at the moment.

as you'll get put onto maxdsl the speed is variable and it'll sync as fast as your line can go. if you have 1mbit at present it should easily sync at 1mbit on maxdsl too, possibly faster. the 10 days monitoring is also correct.

what BT will do is put your number in the checker and see what it says. it may, at present, being showing 512kbit for your line which is why they told you may only get 512k. chances are the database is incorrect if you already have 1mbit on a fixed circuit.

as you appear to be currently out of contract you are free to migrate to another provider and take your chances there. i suspect if you rang BT and told them you wanted to migrate you'll soon see them firing discounts at you. in my opinion you should stay on 1mbit fixed if it works and hasn't given you any issue but still ring BT and say you might be leaving and see what they offer you

Thanks for the explanation and suggestions. Its a pity that BT couldn't explain this to me but that is not too much of a suprise to me. What does hack me off is all these promises of improved performance (up to 8MB) and then they say "service" doesn't include performance - in IT land that is a nonsense. Ok, so caveats applied but I don't live that far from the exchange (few miles?). Can't see BT TV/Video working that well on this.

I have considered going elsewhere a few times but its not really a good time at the moment to change my email address so I think I am stuck for now. Still, I like the idea of threatening to go elsewhere. Time to put on my best poker face and make the call

Thanks,
Nick

no promises are made of increased performance in the context of your post (speed), but there is the possibility of increased speeds. remember the maximum used to be 2mbit. i'm sure many millions will get >2mbit now and in the coming months. some people, like myself, arent even included in the maxdsl changes as BT decided not to put our line on it.

on a more practical level, the connections people receive should be more stable and less prone to dropping. this could be seen as "increased performance" i guess.

It could be worse!

I've just upgraded from the old 'classic' option 2 (2mb) to the new 8mb on a new contract in desparation because of poor line speed. (I must have been having a senior moment).

Now, instead of varying between 300kbps and 1.8mbps, my line speed varies between 190kbps and 7.2mbps. It drops to the low speed at least 4 or 5 times an hour sometimes for as long as 20 mins. Needless to say, I can't access the Internet, my email times out. etc. I've checked everything I can think of, spent a total of 2 hours on the phone to BT, had endless discussion with their online tech support desk. Only today did I manage to speak to someone who agreed to even run a line test.

If anyone has any suggestions, other than changing ISP, I'd be very grateful.

Incidentally, the 10 days mentioned is 30 days according to their helpdesk. And it's for 'testing' the line and making the speed stable !

Jax

sorry to say this but welcome to the world of adsl max ! i have been connected since the 4th aug and still have probs and currently have a issue being dealt with by high level complaints since the 2nd of sept.

try here and see if your exchange is congested and due for work
http://www.nildram.net/support/tools/congestion_checker/