In reply to a post by Spetznaz:

I am with fast.co.uk

A bit obvious but I think that should be slow.co.uk!

Time to get your MAC I think.

Surely if I'm getting a good speed using the speedtest login it bypasses the ISP therefore they are the issue?, or am I missing something.

No, you've got it right, it proves that the bottleneck is with your ISP not BT Wholesale, vote with your feet and migrate.

In reply to a post by Spetznaz:

Surely if I'm getting a good speed using the speedtest login it bypasses the ISP therefore they are the issue?, or am I missing something.

Hi Spetznaz,

I've just been reading through your thread with interest as I've recently had a similar problem to you. I am also on a 20CN exchange, max line speed possible is 8Mb (my line syncs around 7200Kbps).

Up till the end of October I was using Freeola (an Entanet reseller) my download speed up until September were always around 4.5 - 6 Mbs depending on the time of day. From September my speeds whilst using the BTwholesale speed tests ranged from 1.5Mbs to 0.01Mbs (No that's not a typing error). I finally did the level three test and I got a download speed of 6.1Mbs straight after the 0.01Mbps result.

I was on a business tariff with an 0.8Mbs upload, so allegedly had a superior level of throughput.

Anyway, I moved on November 1st to Zen, immediately ran the BTwholesale speedtest and my downloads were back to 6Mbps again and since, speeds are once again fluctuating between 5 & 6.

So, after a long explanation, Yes your ISP is the issue.

Request a MAC, I know I did and am pleased I've moved away.

Hi

Thanks for the helpful information, the ISP claim it is not them and the only next step is an engineer visit which would be a total waste of time and money.

I am a bit annoyed with them as when I asked why I would get a faster speed from the speedtest login they avoided answering and just came up with the suggestion of an engineer visit.

The only issue I have is having 'migrated' to the max premium service I believe there is a 3 month contract (this is what the ISP said), although I'm not sure if that applies to the ISP or just with BT wholesale, anyone know where I stand on this?.

If speed test can produce a good speed by just login changes it proves without a doubt that the ADSL line can handle the speeds and that its a backhaul issue, issue wholesale or ISP based.

In reply to a post by Spetznaz:

The only issue I have is having 'migrated' to the max premium service I believe there is a 3 month contract (this is what the ISP said), although I'm not sure if that applies to the ISP or just with BT wholesale, anyone know where I stand on this?.

If it wasn't made clear to you at the time of purchase then it isn't going to be enforceable. From a wholesale point of view you may migrate to another Max Premium circuit, but in any case I'm not aware of a 3 month minimum contract term on wholesale ADSL.

In reply to a post by yarwell:

If it wasn't made clear to you at the time of purchase then it isn't going to be enforceable. From a wholesale point of view you may migrate to another Max Premium circuit, but in any case I'm not aware of a 3 month minimum contract term on wholesale ADSL.

It might not legally be enforceable, but that doesn't stop the ISP believing that it is, handing it over to a debt collection agency, and ignoring letters about it (as my father reports happened to him with Eclipse)..

In reply to a post by sthen:

It might not legally be enforceable, but that doesn't stop the ISP believing that it is, handing it over to a debt collection agency, and ignoring letters about it (as my father reports happened to him with Eclipse)..

and that doesn't stop you ignoring letters from the debt collection agency, saying if they phone then you will report them to the police for harassment etc.

It might also be worth pointing out that the nature of of the connection and test results you have obtained lead you to the conclusion that the ISP is in breach of legal obligations under consumer legislation to use "reasonable skill ans care in the provision of a service". That's what trading standards told me that Pipex were in breach of when they were throttling my service from 3pm daily.

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 states that consumers who enter into a contract for goods or services can expect these to be supplied with reasonable care and skill. Where there is an identifiable failure within the ISP infrastructure (as Identified by the differing methods of testing you have used) the you should be able to assert your rights for remedy or cancellation of any contract - If necessary involve your local trading standards.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Tonight I am getting the same issue 1 Mbit download at the moment but again if I use the tap3 test on BT wholesale speedtest I get 6.82 Mbit.

I can live with it at the moment as I don't really watch much in the way of video or do large downloads during peak times but considering they are a premium price ISP the level of service is poor, I have replied again to their last email which was basically stating that it was a BT engineer visit (as my cost) or nothing as I feel this is not acceptable when they have not answered my question regarding why I see the difference in speedtest results.

I don't really want to get into a long argument about the 3 month contract so I guess I'll see it out having noted the dates and leave as soon as the period is up, unless of course they sort things out in the meantime or things go downhill further, in which case I might getting out before the 3 months.

Edited by Spetznaz (Tue 26-Nov-13 21:54:00)