Move from Bt to TalkTalk

Planning to migrate from BT to TalkTalk. (phone & broadband)

Am I best to let TalkTalk do it all for me as per their website where they get the mac code etc off BT. or am I best to get the mac code from BT myself and give it to TalkTalk. Notice BT say there is a £30 cease charge if I dont request a mac code.

Cant see on TalTalk's automated webpages where I can give it to them myself.

Will I need to cancel my BT or will it be cancelled automatically if TalkTalk deal with it all and request the mac code?

Good advice needed please to avoid extra charges.
Thanks

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Oct-13 10:37:40)

They won't use a MAC, as TalkTalk is full LLU and as its a migration but from SMPF to MPF it should not cause a cease charge to be raised. Generally no harm in obtaining the MAC yourself and you can sometimes get good retention deals at the same time.

BT will be notified of your order and this should trigger letters/emails giving you the option to cancel the move and letter should set out account closure information too.

If it is a condition of contract to request a MAC in order to avoid a cease charge, then you should do so.

Thanks guys, should be ok for TalkTalk to handle it all then.

Cant see anyway BT can offer me anything cheaper than TalkTalk's deals at the moment.
Dont need a phone to make calls and their value line rental plus unlimited broadband at £2.50 per month seems to good to be true.

Ive read about their poor customer service but is B.T. or Virgin Media any better really?

Given the many millions with TalkTalk you would expect a much louder volume of complaints, fair to say they are not perfect but with some pre-planning e.g. registering on their user forums once live and before you are desperate to get support would help.

Its like cheap air travel, prepare and the experience can be reasonable.

I agree with XRaySpeX.

Additionally, although TalkTalk do not need the MAC, you may find your notice period with BT will be deemed to start with the issue of the MAC.

And be sure to get confirmation from BT that the notification has been actioned: when making contact with BT Retail I always ask for at least a text message confirming that any changes to the account (or line faults) are being dealt with.

Not trying to bump this thread but as posted in a different thread I am considering moving from BT to TT (though would stay with BT if the offered a reasonable deal). My question though and may also interest the OP is if I change all services including line rental to TT will my current phone number remain the same? Also here is a link to my Stats
Results

It has been posted that transferring to the same service by a different provider will should result in same/very similar speeds? Does TT throttle at all on FTTC? I live a long long way from the cabinet so much BT engineer was surprised I got any usable speed at all. If I transferred could the switch mean I use a different physical line from the cabinet which could result in poor or no speed?

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Oct-13 13:54:39)

My question though and may also interest the OP is if I change all services including line rental to TT will my current phone number remain the same?

The same question might arrive in the future if you decide to leave the TalkTalk network and go back to a provider using the BTw network.

True, question would be valid regardless of which 'ship' you were jumping. I'm guessing that the MAC code is required to keep the old number? I have no idea if this is correct though?

TalkTalk has greatly relaxed its traffic management compared to previous years, the competition for customers being the reason.

So in terms of speed, the FTTC side of things should be identical no matter who the retail provider is. The difference might be at peak times, but we don't see widespread complaints about that from either BT or TT customers.

The phone number should be ported, just make sure that TalkTalk know you want to retain the telephone number. The switch should mean the same physical line from the cabinet. It is just the hardware back at the main telephone exchange where the changes will happen.

MAC is nothing to do with the telephone number at all.

In reply to a post by Speedchaser:

I am considering moving from BT to TT (though would stay with BT if the offered a reasonable deal). My question though and may also interest the OP is if I change all services including line rental to TT will my current phone number remain the same?

Yes, unless as in any transfer of anything, anything goes wrong. That is vary rare.

It has been posted that transferring to the same service by a different provider will should result in same/very similar speeds? Does TT throttle at all on FTTC?

The connection speed should be no different, other than as you say, a normal change in either direction due to the disconnection and reconnection.

I live a long long way from the cabinet so much BT engineer was surprised I got any usable speed at all. If I transferred could the switch mean I use a different physical line from the cabinet which could result in poor or no speed?

There is no physical change change except at the exchange, where two things will happen. The fibre link there and the phone link there, (they aren't the same cable), will both be connected to TT kit instead of BT Wholesale kit.

As for real world throughput speeds, I'd be very surprised if TT was as good as BT or Sky 24/7, but that is gut feel rather than evidence-based.

In reply to a post by Speedchaser:

I'm guessing that the MAC code is required to keep the old number? I have no idea if this is correct though?

No, it isn't. MACs are nothing to do with the phone line at all.

Specifically, the reason a MAC is not required for a transfer of line and broadband is that the line transfer automatically ceases the broadband, which is then re-provisioned on the new IP's kit. No cease charge is levied so long as the gaining ISP, (TT in this case), uses the correct Openreach procedures when placing the order(s).

As the OP has been advised, get a MAC from BT anyway if you go ahead.

Thanks everyone. Three'ish more questions then. If I did switch would, I be likely to see a break in the service? If so what would be the average length? Or would something have to go wrong? Secondly

As for real world throughput speeds, I'd be very surprised if TT was as good as BT or Sky 24/7, but that is gut feel rather than evidence-based.

I'd like to know more about RobertoS's 'gut' feeling. Do you generally see a drop with TT vs BT? I could cope with a small drop but say 11 to 7 would be a bit much.

MrSaffron has detailed data, so I would go for his opinion rather than mine. At the time I started my post his wasn't there.

You can also ask in the TalkTalk forum on this site of course.

BT Speeds
http://blog.thinkbroadband.com/2013/05/so-how-fast-a...

TalkTalk Speeds
http://blog.thinkbroadband.com/2013/05/talktalk-broa...

Biggest difference is the upload as Fibre Medium is the 2 Mbps upload only service, to get faster upload means the 80/20 large service.

Problem with those stats is we don't know whether the spread of users was geographically similar. With some more months data it might be possible to get a better idea and compare postcodes with FTTC from BT users and TalkTalk, Sky.

In reply to a post by Speedchaser:

Also here is a link to my Stats
Results

Those are not your Line Stats, as normally understood; just your Speedtests. Line Stats are got from the router and are invaluable in checking and estimating your potential speed.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Wed 23-Oct-13 23:21:25)

This thread would indicate that "Speedchaser" is a BT FTTC customer and happy with it.

I am currently with BT FTTC (infinity 1) with a 40 gig cap. The slow speeds I get for FTTC is due to my distance from the cabinet. TT cost of unlimited FTTC is £5 cheaper than my current BT 40 gig capped service! Some months I have to limit usage to stay under the cap to prevent a £5 penalty even if I only go over a gig. I'm very happy with my BT service it's just I can't justify the cost to go unlimited FTTC with them. My concern about going to TT is speed loss.

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Oct-13 23:15:40)

'Apprentice' ...you beat me to it!

Only just

If my consistent upload is only 1mps on BT 'up to 9.5mps' service, if I drop to TT's 'up to' 2mps upload service would that mean upload will become so slow as to be unusable? Or would any drop not be to scale? I can not find anything on TT's website to inform upload is only 2mps.

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Oct-13 23:17:22)

It's unlikely to change

Have a read of this > http://tinyurl.com/njatwg3

Apologies if you have already read the thread.

Ah, sorry! Didn't realise slow speeds, both Down & Up, are FTTC.

With regard to your Q about TT's 2 Meg Upstream product, almost certainly this will be a cap not a proportion.

The only way the upstream connection speed should be lower than what you have now is if it was above 2 Mbps.
Three Openreach products and TalkTalk Medium uses the slightly cheaper 40 down/2 up version.

No almost, it is a cap and not a proportion. It is still a profile 17a VDSL2 product

@ apprentice- Thanks for the link.

I will contact BT for a MAC code tomorrow. Some posters on this site have suggested BT may offer a better deal than what is advertised, so I will see what happens. Would hate to end up with a years troublesome internet, though I could probably find detractors and supporters of both providers. @Thinkbroadband posters, thanks for all your contributions.

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Oct-13 23:36:35)

Good luck. Things go well for most people .

I hope once you are up and running you will come back some time to help others with similar questions. The voice of experience is better than opinions.

Epilogue- Contacted BT and the CS rep was very professional and polite. Did quiz as to why I was thinking of leaving. Gave me a list of benefits regards staying with BT and though quoting the advertised prices gave no offer of any discount at all. Gave me a MAC straight away over the phone. So sadly it will be goodbye to BT. I have started another thread (in FTTC general discussions) as now need to decide on TT or Plusnet.

Thanks to maverick54 for starting the thread.

Edited by deleted (Thu 24-Oct-13 15:47:48)