Is BT lying to me in this chat transcript?

Long story short I have 6mbit ADSL with Virgin. A BT salesperson I chatted with today is implying that ADSL with them will be better. Is this true? I thought the limiting factor was the quality of the line between me and the exchange. Which will be the same regardless of the provider.

Long story long see chat transcript below:

Diana: Hi

Diana: How may I assist you with your order today?

Mark: I want to get BT infinity, according to http://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker?... my exchange is enabled.

Mark: But when I try to order it says the package is not available for me.

Diana: May I please have your Telephone Number, Postal Code and Door Number / House Name to check availability?

Mark: <REDACTED>

Mark: <REDACTED>

Diana: I have done a check and the estimated connection speed available at your address is 11Mb.

Diana: Unfortunately BT Infinity isn't available in your area as of yet. Unfortunately there isn't a date listed when you can expect it, so I cannot check when it will be available, but there should be updates coming soon.    

Diana: We are trying to upgrade the whole of the UK by the end of 2015, so hopefully there would be a date available soon.  

Mark: I currently have 6mbit from virgin

Mark: Would switching to BT improve this or is my line limit likely 6mbit?

Diana: I have done a check and the estimated connection speed available at your address is 11Mb.

Diana: This is 4Mb faster then what you get now.

Mark: But is that guaranteed or could I end up in a contract and still receive the 6 mbit (or less)?

Diana: No provider is allowed to guarantee speeds, however our estimates are accurate.

Mark: OK and what would my monthly cost be (including line rental)? I pay virgin 25.98 currently, for unlimited download.

Diana: We've got some great packages available today, would you like me to run through some options with you in order to find the best one for you?

Mark: Sure, I only require unlimited internet. No other extras.

Diana: No TV?>

Mark: No thanks

Diana: I would recommend our Totally Unlimited Broadband  and Weekend Calls package for you.

Diana: This package includes the BT Home Hub 4 with download speed of up to 16Mbps. You will also get free access to BT Sport, BT Smart Talk and BT Cloud Apps.

Diana: This package is £8 a month for the first 6 months and £16 a month thereafter plus line rental. There is also a one off £6.95 delivery charge which can be added on to the first bill.

Diana: A £100 Sainsbury's Voucher is provided with this offer.

Mark: And line rental is?

Diana: The line rental is £15.99 monthly - alternatively you can pay up front with line rental discount for £159.84 - this gives you 12 months line rental for the price of 10.

Mark: So after 6 months I would pay 31.99/month

Mark: More than virgin

Mark: I would switch but have concerns my speeds wont improve

Diana: Yes.

Diana: Ok, what causes the concern?

Mark: That i will be stuck in a contract, paying more for the same speed.

Diana: Ok, but I explained the speed would be 4Mb more then what you get now? I do not understand where the doubt and concern has come from.

Mark: Because you can't guarantee any speed, and my understanding is that limits are due to physical properties of the line.

Diana: As mentioned, no provider can guarantee speeds, they are not allowed to due to the nature of broadband. It never remains at one consistent speed. Maybe you need time to have a think. Is there anything else I can help with today?

Mark: You are right virgin do not guarantee a speed either. I have received 6 mbit pretty consistently over this line however, will you not use the same technology, hence offer comparable speeds? Or is there a technical advantage to BT that I am not aware of?

Diana: Virgin use different lines to BT.

Mark: OK. Also, if BT infinity became available during my contract, would there be a penalty for switching?

Diana: You can upgrade to Infinity when available without penalty.

Mark: Great, thanks I will have a think about this.

Use this checker to check your phone number and then the Full Address check www.dslchecker.bt.com

Most of that sort of makes sense, except for a bit at the end where she got mixed up. Virgin ADSL does not use different lines to BT.

However it is possible you are on an "up to 8mbps" service from VM, which could feasibly give you 6Mbps or so actual throughput. If you are able to get the line stats from your modem/router that should be easily detected.

A possible but less certain check would be to run the BT Performance Test, (ignore ll the red instructions for now), and continue to the Further Diagnostics at the bottom of the initial results page. Copy and paste the full contents of both the down and up results text boxes. We don't need to see the graphics.

If you put your phone number into this checker you should see estimates from the same database as the BT Retail one she is using is based on. Please copy and paste the estimates table, and the line above it but editing out your phone number.

I don't have a telephone number.

As far as I'm aware Virgin and BT use the same network (BT Wholesale) though you might be on a LLU (Local Loop Unbundled), exchange..

BT will have better priority on its network over Virgin's ADSL service (if it is on BT Wholesale that is)

But personally I wouldn't bother with BT as it seems quite expensive for what it is, I have had experience with BT and other ADSL services myself and in some cases BT can be worse.

The fact is its all dependant on your location from the exchange, and what exchange your on.

Some exchanges depend on the BT Wholesale network to provide services and this can become congested at busy periods.

If you are looking to switch provider and want a good service and cheaper price, may I suggest plus.net as they use BT's network (and are part of the BT Group company) and they do unlimited broadband & line rental from around £25 per month (not including any offers)

Or if Virgin cable is available I'm sure you could get a very good deal from them for just broadband...

click on the address checker option and enter your full address

So use the full address checker http://dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.AddressOutput

In reply to a post by marksmith155:

I don't have a telephone number.

?????
If you are on ADSL then you are getting that through a telephone line, and that telephone line has a number and a working phone service.

Are you really on ADSL? Or are you on VM Cable and your 6Mbps is actually 6 MegaBytes per second?

The connection stats on my router are:

Modem
ADSL Firmware Version 3.4.4.1.0.1
Modem Status Connected
DownStream Connection Speed 6648 Kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 1088 Kbps
VPI 0
VCI 38


The results of the wholesale broadband performance test are:

Down: 5.49
Up: 0.91
Latency: 201.13

What are your line statistics for your line?