bt cap my broadband without letting my i.s.p. know!

i've had v slow broadband for the last 3 or 4 months. my i.s.p. is demon - never had a problem in the past. I contacted them and they did all the checks they could - i connected my router direct into the main phone socket to ensure no problems with extension.I even bought a new router (bit annoyed when i plugged it in and my speeds were still as before!).
i rang bt and they did a line test - line working perfectly. finally got to the stage where a bt engineer would have to come out and check no probs within the house (demon said that if he comes out and there is a problem i would have to cough for a £160.00 call out fee!)

bt man arrives and sets away doing a line test - everything is perfect. Then he mutters "i'll give the provider a call" and off he goes. at the end of the call he explains that my speed had been capped to 1.5 meg - i asked by who, my i.s.p.? (i had previously asked demon if they were capping my speeds and they denied it) no - he says - by b.t. said computers monitor lines and if there is a technical problem with the line they will automatically cap the speed so that i get a consistent (albeit slow!) speed.

he said give it 15 mins and and it should improve. 15 mins later BOOOOM 6meg!

half an hour later my speed is 3 meg (the half an hour later coincided with 17:00 hrs)

how can bt get away with capping my bb speed when i don't even use them as my i.s.p.?

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

i've had v slow broadband for the last 3 or 4 months. my i.s.p. is demon - never had a problem in the past. I contacted them and they did all the checks they could - i connected my router direct into the main phone socket to ensure no problems with extension.I even bought a new router (bit annoyed when i plugged it in and my speeds were still as before!).
i rang bt and they did a line test - line working perfectly. finally got to the stage where a bt engineer would have to come out and check no probs within the house (demon said that if he comes out and there is a problem i would have to cough for a £160.00 call out fee!)

bt man arrives and sets away doing a line test - everything is perfect. Then he mutters "i'll give the provider a call" and off he goes. at the end of the call he explains that my speed had been capped to 1.5 meg - i asked by who, my i.s.p.? (i had previously asked demon if they were capping my speeds and they denied it) no - he says - by b.t. said computers monitor lines and if there is a technical problem with the line they will automatically cap the speed so that i get a consistent (albeit slow!) speed.

he said give it 15 mins and and it should improve. 15 mins later BOOOOM 6meg!

half an hour later my speed is 3 meg (the half an hour later coincided with 17:00 hrs)

how can bt get away with capping my bb speed when i don't even use them as my i.s.p.?

this is my post - didn't realise i hadn't activated my account...

as i speak now my speed has dropped to 2 meg

i'm astounded b.t. can get away with this - i'm gonna contact Demon and ask them if they were aware that b.t. do this - could be an interesting call.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

i've had v slow broadband for the last 3 or 4 months. my i.s.p. is demon - never had a problem in the past. I contacted them and they did all the checks they could - i connected my router direct into the main phone socket to ensure no problems with extension.I even bought a new router (bit annoyed when i plugged it in and my speeds were still as before!).
i rang bt and they did a line test - line working perfectly. finally got to the stage where a bt engineer would have to come out and check no probs within the house (demon said that if he comes out and there is a problem i would have to cough for a £160.00 call out fee!)

bt man arrives and sets away doing a line test - everything is perfect. Then he mutters "i'll give the provider a call" and off he goes. at the end of the call he explains that my speed had been capped to 1.5 meg - i asked by who, my i.s.p.? (i had previously asked demon if they were capping my speeds and they denied it) no - he says - by b.t. said computers monitor lines and if there is a technical problem with the line they will automatically cap the speed so that i get a consistent (albeit slow!) speed.

he said give it 15 mins and and it should improve. 15 mins later BOOOOM 6meg!

half an hour later my speed is 3 meg (the half an hour later coincided with 17:00 hrs)

how can bt get away with capping my bb speed when i don't even use them as my i.s.p.?

this is my post - didn't realise i hadn't activated my account...

as i speak now my speed has dropped to 2 meg

i'm astounded b.t. can get away with this - i'm gonna contact Demon and ask them if they were aware that b.t. do this - could be an interesting call.

I think i'm registered now

I would learn a bit before getting too excited.

Demon are using a BT Wholesale service to provide you with your connection. You complained about something and the engineer's chosen solution was implemented, perhaps.

If you look in the Demon section you'll see there are general problems with speed on Demon. Run the test at speedtester.bt.com and cut&paste the output.

You're in the wrong place too - this section is about choosing an ISP not problems with an existing one.

Do you know how to get the current connection speed, attenuation and noise margin figures from your router?

When you plugged into the main phone socket, did you remove the faceplate, so that NONE of the phone extensions worked in the property? If not, then noise picked up by extensions may still be affecting the service.

The capping is probably a thing called the IP Profile, which Demon can see and should be able to tell from data they are given whether your line is stable or not.

Demon buy service from BT Wholesale, and BT wholesale manage the ADSL part of the service, with Demon connecting you to the internet. Demon have access to diagnostics from BT Wholesale.

As to whether you are being capped,. then if your ADSL modem is connecting at say 6Meg for 30 mintues, then 4Meg for an hour, 2Meg for a day, then back to 5Meg, what you will find is that a setting called the IP Profile will remain pretty much set at 1.75Meg all the time.

http://www.speedtester.bt.com will tell you what the current IP Profile is on your line, and you should have been sent there by Demon before they called the engineer out for you.

IMPORTANT NOTE: BT Total Broadband has nothing to do with your broadband, they are a different group in BT to BT Wholesale.

you might be registered but you aren't logged in. When you are you'll see Logout as an option at the top of this window.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Do you know how to get the current connection speed, attenuation and noise margin figures from your router?

When you plugged into the main phone socket, did you remove the faceplate, so that NONE of the phone extensions worked in the property? If not, then noise picked up by extensions may still be affecting the service.

The capping is probably a thing called the IP Profile, which Demon can see and should be able to tell from data they are given whether your line is stable or not.

Demon buy service from BT Wholesale, and BT wholesale manage the ADSL part of the service, with Demon connecting you to the internet. Demon have access to diagnostics from BT Wholesale.

As to whether you are being capped,. then if your ADSL modem is connecting at say 6Meg for 30 mintues, then 4Meg for an hour, 2Meg for a day, then back to 5Meg, what you will find is that a setting called the IP Profile will remain pretty much set at 1.75Meg all the time.

http://www.speedtester.bt.com will tell you what the current IP Profile is on your line, and you should have been sent there by Demon before they called the engineer out for you.

IMPORTANT NOTE: BT Total Broadband has nothing to do with your broadband, they are a different group in BT to BT Wholesale.

yep - all extensions and face plate removed - cheers for the advice.

i think i'll monitor my speeds for a few days and then give demon a call.

was aware of the bt total broadband advice - i was just not aware that b.t. wholesale could cap my speeds.

not sure how to get the router stats - will google it and find out.

engineer reckoned i should get a decent speed from his tests - exchange is only half a mile away and my line is in perfect condition. something not quite right here.

In reply to a post by yarwell:

you might be registered but you aren't logged in. When you are you'll see Logout as an option at the top of this window.

I am reg and i have logged in several times and am showing logged in as i go to post

cheers

clippert1

Have a read of this page on my website, and then the BT IP Profile page from the menu on the left.

That's what the engineer was probably talking about, and has been sort of explained in the thread.

If it is logging you out then usually points towards the PC clock being wrong and the cookie expiring