Broadband

[colin(bridgend)]

At present I am subscribing to BT Broadband but have on numerous occassions failed to get a connection - response "unable to establish a connection". Monday (4/7/06) could not get a connection at all - tried constantly from approx. 4:30pm to almost midnight with no success. Have reported to BT many times and on each occassion ended up in a foreign call centre and had difficulty in communicating between myself and the other person. Is there a better and more reliable Broadband server because I am getting fed up with the BT system and foreign call centres.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Colin,

We've had BT Broadband for several years and never had a problem, and in any case if you change to a different Broadband supplier many of them will still be using the BT infrastructure.

So if the problem was an exchange fault or line damage or adverse weather, then you won't see any difference.

You may want to review the service status reports on the BT Internet site and see if there were any exchange problems that affected you.

Robert

 

[popupJohn]

Every connection goes through BTs landline exchanges at some point and with upgrading being done constantly these days to meet new broadband requirements there is bound to be some disruption at times.

As a service provider they arnt that popular, but I guess that goes for many others as well.

I shied away from the big boys and went to a more small business provider who was willing to take on domestic clients as well. Sinse that move (nearly 2 years ago) I think ive only been let down by them about twice

 

[Guest]

My daughter lives in our old house and still has our BT broadband setup, we have never known any problems.Old neighbour changed to Wanadoo and that was a real problem on the same line and then they found coumputer set-up and their router modem was partly to blame so they went back to BT last month.

Becasuse BT is not available have you checked that you can not get to othe web sites. Some times they all work as BT has work being done to the site and the system is still working just BT Home page is out of action.

Set your system to connect through Iternet Explorer and use Outlook or Outlook Express for email and ditch the BT help trash and control bars etc, the BT connect Icons and all there add on are a pain.

 

[smiley]

We're thinking of moving to BT only because they support VPN, and if I buy a wireless kit hubby can work at home.

Only thing is I'm happy with virgin and its cheaper buy

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I've been with BT for quite a few years now. I agree with Colin and the Indian call centre, I couldn't understand what they were saying. I've only been disconnected for short periods twice. The time I had to use the call centre a lot and had lots of problems was the only major incident I've had in probably 5 years or more. They tried helping me over the phone with no success so sent out engineers to my house and they found no fault of why I kept getting disconnected. The only problem they said it could be was my modem. I bought a new modem router but having read the instuctions it seemed complicated so it sat on the table for 2 days. In the meantime my monitor gave up so I bought a new one. Having installed the software for the monitor I no longer got disconnected and one of my speakers, which didn't work, now started working again. I took the modem back and got a refund and haven't been disconnected since (approx. 6 months) If theres any techie out there who can tell me the reasoning of a monitor/broadband disconnection problem I would love to know. p.s. the speakers connected to my P.C. not the monitor.

My main grievance with B.T. is they look after new customers better than their existing ones. Over a year ago they emailed me saying I was going to get a 2.0 mpbs speed but later said my line wont support it. The engineer who came out and tested the line said it would support 2.0 mpbs and above so I rang the department in Scotland asking will my line now support the higher speed. The girl did a test and said no. When I informed her the engineer had told me it would and even higher she said he had no right to tell me that. I asked her if the test would be more reliable at source rather than 400 miles away in Scotland and all I got were negative replies. I'm sure if I rang B.T. and asked for my MAC # they would soon give me the higher speed.

 

[popupJohn]

One of the best places to check out what your line maybe capable of sustaining is by entering your landline number on..

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/availability/btchecker.asp
Probably the most inforninable site for broadband information can be found on..

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/
Theres a whole heap of info there if you delve into it

 

[Jeff-Pontypridd]

Stick to BT Colin; they're far better than the competition. The foreign call centres are a universal problem. With BT, if you ask to escalate the matter, things finally get sorted. I had a similar problem to you (intermittent connection failures). I kept on at them and they eventually sent an engineer, who changed the wires serving our house - and no problem since. Had to go through all sorts of interrogations first, especially with them blaming my modem (a BT-provided one, which they had never heard of!).

Good luck!

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Well I have to update my previous post regarding BT and its Indian call centres. I wanted to set up a separate email account for my son with passwords for both off us. I could get his account to send mails but not receive so I gave them a call. Although he spoke good English we were having problems, mainly due to my preferences. What happened next was new to me. He asked if I wanted him to do it remotely, if so remove any personal windows I had open. I said ok then he logged into my computer while I sat back and watched my mouse pointer do the work hehheh! He configured the settings from India and Hey Presto I was up and working in no time :O) 10/10 for BT.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Lord B. that is a frightening method as if he could access your computer and the personal details so easy what else can he do without your knowledge? Beggers belief.

 

[popupJohn]

Agreed colin.

Best go down and check your piggybank Lord B. Then set about changing all your passwords for safety

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

All the while this is happening you are in contact with them on the phone. They only see what you see, the open windows on your monitor. They don't delve into your registry, only the configuration boxes. I hardly think BT are in the business of trying to get my passwords or using dodgy programmes where others can, they already rip us off as it is. Nope, don't think I will be losing any sleep over it :O) but thank you all for your concerns hehheh! I don't bank online anyway :O)

 

[Ian.L]

Hi colin

Am a new memmber and was reading the bother you had with broadband am on tiscali have a look on there site but i have had no bother with them at all, but read the small print if you are going to change cos if your contract is'nt up i think you have to pay about

 

[Earlybird]

Hi I have pipex as a server for 2 years and not had problems plus uk based helpline no problem understanding william

 

[Andrew_5124618]

hi i have been with a few broadband providers over the years most are ok but the main problem with nearly all of them is they all rely on using bt exchanges and phone line's so as prievusly said if you have a problem with one you are going to have a problem with another but hears my personal experiance's with them

Ntl

Only available in cable area as it come dwn the tv line and not the phone line no trouble until we canceled the phone because we didn't use it after that trying to get them to send us a bill or take money by direct debit was like pulling teeth they always sent the disconnection notice out on time

Pipex

Very good until we moved house and they wanted to charge

 

[popupJohn]

And todays broadband news is..............

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18072006/325/bskyb-bundles-internet-satellite.html