Orange won't put me on 21CN

When I joined Orange in April 2010 they were the only provider LLU'ed at the exchange, so the only opportunity I had of achieving anything better than 5.5meg. I had heard good things about their LLU service so I went over to them. It was all good until about February of this year - my connection speed was about 11.5meg so I was quite pleased.

However, then BT announced that they were going to 21CN the exchange... the result was Orange pulled all their LLU. My speed went back down to a measly 5meg service, worse than when I originally joined them. Their checker had promised 8meg when I joined. I was extremely displeased but at least I knew that BT would 21CN soon (although the date slipped) and I ought to be back up to speed again. Not so.

The exchange was confirmed 21CN at the beginning of August and I had hoped that Orange would automatically switch me over, as I had heard they had done with other members on these forums. However, I've still been stuck on a connection speed of 5.4meg and IP Profile of 4.5meg (according to BT checker). My download speed never really reaches anything higher than 3.5meg though.

For the record, my contract with them is Home Select 20mb, the original line check says 6.5mb, the new line check says 8.0mb.
I have received literature from other providers saying I can get improved speeds - the BT speed checker now says my speed will be 6.5mb-14.0mb.

So, I phoned Orange up this evening and asked when I would be put onto the 21CN and get the speeds as promised.
I was told:
- "you're using a netgear router, that could be the problem because it's not the one we provided"
- "so you're connected to the router wirelessly, that could be the problem with a weak wireless signal"
- "oh, your router is connected at 5.5meg; the speed it says you should be able to get on your contract is about 6.5meg and that's within the tolerances"
- "even though your contract says 20meg broadband, that's impossible on your line"

I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe how they were trying to fob me off.
Eventually I was told to keeping trying www.speedtest.net and if nothing improves over the next 3 hours, rephone Orange.

Previously I was very impressed with their LLU service, but since it was retracted and they refuse to put me on 21CN I have become very disillusioned with them; I can't wait for FTTC to come even if it is in March 2012.

What narks me most is that they're saying I can get 8.0mb but how, when the system they're keeping me on isn't capable of that, and my IP profile is just 4.5mb.

Oh, and to rub salt into the wounds, I had Orange at my girlfriend's house, LLUed, connected at 17meg... and less than 2 weeks ago, samknows posted a 21CN date for that exchange, immediately followed by Orange taking out LLU and the connection dropping to 8meg :-@

Hi, it can be frustrating when you cannot get the right information from people. You are being billed for 20Meg broadband like me and you will only get up to 20Meg on 21CN WBC.

See what capabilities you line has�

http://www.farina1.com/adsl/

http://www.speedtester.bt.com/

http://www.speedtest.net/

http://pingtest.net/

one thing u have to remember is everything is an UPTO service and this is how they get away with it.

As for the BT Speedchecker thats a load of nonsence, the ammount of times i hear people complaining that they are not getting anywhere close to what that said they would ane they have even tried changing ISPs because of slow speeds and remained low.

They could be doing this also to cut down on costs now as BT now run Orange ADSL as of last year.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/357307/orange-...

1. Orange used to have LLU in our exchange. Our connection was a solid 8.5mb.
2. Orange said they have taken LLU out because BT were going to install 21CN, and when BT have installed 21CN, we will be put onto that. Our connection went down to 4.5mb.
3. BT have installed 21CN into our exchange, and we are being told our connection will be 8-14mb. Even Orange say our connection will be greater than 8mb.
4. Orange are not putting us on 21CN despite their promises, therefore we are still getting only 4.5mb, even though Orange themselves are saying we can get greater than 8mb.

Our upload is 448kb - we are not on 21CN.
Orange are broken promises, lies and broken contracts. Their call centre is a shambles, reading from scripts and not listening when we are telling them what the problem is.
I'm considering jumping ship because I know we can get better service, not only here but also at my girlfriend's where the service has gone from 17mb on LLU to 8mb... they really know how to lose customers.

Have you tried re-booting the router - switch off for 10 - 15 minutes and then switch back on for it to synchronise - try this avoiding peak time use.

Hi piratewolf,
21CN was already in my exchange for a few months when Orange moved me to IPStream from LLU, I received the email promising all manner of improvements which I have still to see. I eventually got my speeds sorted to where they were in LLU and was then clobbered by Contention and Capacity issues at my exchange during peak hours. In response to this BT has kindly lowered my speed by 0.5 during OFF PEAK times and still done nothing about peak time contention or the capacity issue. 21CN is simply a cost issue. If Orange don't have enough customers at an exchange then it is not commercially viable for them to move you and so you will be stuck on IPStream. That is why Orange formed this deal from Hell with BT, not because it was better in any way for their customers but because they were loosing customers hand over fist due to the lies their customer support told and the inability of their tech or customer support to get anything right. Loosing customers then meant that already slim profit margins were even slimmer and there was no money left to invest in LLU. BT then steps in, offers them a good deal, which Orange accept and BT are one step closer to regaining the monopoly on lines that they once had.