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BT is pathetic

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wee eddie

Likes # 1

Posted March 14, 2012 at 12:54AM

They can't even deliver sufficient Bandwidth into a Town Centre residence to view a movie at midnight.

I'm sure that they will come up with some excuse or other, but it comes down to this.

Another respected British Institution has lost its balls.

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Wuggy

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Posted March 15, 2012 at 11:26PM

Eddie, from memory I seem to think you live in Ayr. You say you are in the town centre so you can't be too far from the exchange at the back of Boswell Park. Could you perhaps post your router stats so we can see what speed you are syncing with to the exchange. You seem to be saying that you receive a reasonable speed most of the time and it's only in the early hours of the morning that you suffer a serious speed drop. Could there be some electrical interference at that time causing significant noise on your line? Have you tried removing all equipment from any extension and plugging your router, via a filter, direct into your test socket behind the face plate. Have you any extensions and is the ring wire disconnected? Sometimes small things make a big difference. As an aside are you aware that the Boswell Park exchange is registered with the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Perhaps the answer lies therein.

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morddwyd

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Posted March 16, 2012 at 6:47AM

"Another respected British Institution has lost its balls."

Just as a matter of interest, when was BT ever "respected"?

As far as I can recall, it has been derided and criticised ever since privatisation.

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wee eddie

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Posted March 16, 2012 at 9:08AM

Wuggy: I have an electrician (ex BT) coming in in the next couple of weeks to put up some new lighting. So I shall have him check all my internal Telephonic Circuitry from the entry point to the PC.

However, my real beef is that BT checked my line electronically, from Boswell Park to my PC, I live opposite the Carrick Lodge and gave me a set of figures (mentioned earlier) for the expected speeds of their service.

To the best of my knowledge, I have never received anything as swift as the lower speed mentioned and certainly nothing as high as the "Estimated" Speed.

Now, as that calculation was based on the same set-up/wiring as I am currently using, was it a complete fiction, or how did they get to those figures?

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spuds

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Posted March 16, 2012 at 9:35AM

"was it a complete fiction, or how did they get to those figures?".

I think that is where the mystery lies and will remain so. Previously the let-out clause was 'upto' which apparently Ofcom have now outlawed.

On my own system, I was 'told' that I should 'expect' 6/7MB, but at one stage could never get more than 1.3MB. TalkTalk (my ISP) and BT have conducted many tests, changed many items and completed a number of adjustments. Tests are still telling me that my line will support 6/7MB, but so far I have achieved about 5MB as maximum. BT and TT knows that there is a problem, and are still working on it, a year or so later?.

Would add, that my near neighbours, using the same exchange, ISP and landline length, have maintained a regular 6MB, with some times higher figures out of peak hours!.

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Diemmess

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Posted March 19, 2012 at 5:06PM

After reading this and also using BTinternet I tried a speed test with a shock result. After 3 years with a steady 5.9 to 6.09 I am currently down to a very stubborn 1.9

It doesn't seem to make any difference which speed test I'm using, BT's own or the ZDnet one. I feel this may be due to some authority or other tinkering at the exchange.

Today with the same download speed I phoned BT Tech and after a raft of options was connected with- - India.

Not only did we understand one another with only small corrections, She impressed me with only a short quiz to ensure I didn't have weird configs and wires. Then she said I was on a maximum of 2.0 and I said Yes that was the problem, and that if BT couldn't reinstate at 8.0 then I would be looking for another supplier.

More research, and using my mobile while she did some network test, she announced that there is a network problem which would be fixed in the next 48 hrs. Meanwhile, I must not answer the phone during the following 30 mins and must not switch off the router for 48hrs.

I think the same thing happened a couple of years ago, but then no one on the helpline seemed to know the cause.

A BT (or Openreach) engineer called, fitted a new master socket and said all was well. Nice to have the news, but as I told him the problem disappeared two days before his visit!

I hope this gives help to any similar sufferer.

BT may be expensive, but in my view really try to help.

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Forum Editor

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Posted March 19, 2012 at 11:15PM

mordwydd

**"Just as a matter of interest, when was BT ever "respected"? As far as I can recall, it has been derided and criticised ever since privatisation."**

The company has certainly come in for a lot of criticism over the years, but I'm not entirely sure that all of it has been justified. We're at a disadvantage in this country, in that we're still largely at the mercy of a copper wire telephone network that has been around for a very long time indeed - far longer than networks in most other countries. BT has already invested a lot of money (£1.5 billion) in renewing and upgrading infrastructure, but more is needed. A further £1 billion is scheduled to bring BT Infinity to 60% of the UK by 2015.

One of the problems is that as the economic downturn started to bite, a lot of BT's shareholders urged the company to cut back on broadband investment, but senior management has - so far - not agreed to do that.

You speak as you find, I suppose. I have been a BT broadband customer since the very beginning of the ADSL roll-out, and I'm now using the Infinity service. I just ran a speed test,and it tells me I'm currently getting 28.5 M/bs downstream, and 6.84 M/bs upstream, which isn't to be sniffed at. Over the years I've had no real reason to complain.

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wee eddie

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Posted March 19, 2012 at 11:34PM

To reiterate my beef:

They tested my line. Their Server to my PC and gave me an estimate line speed of between 4.5Mb & 11Mb with 7.5Mb the "Estimated" normal rate.

That was not an Advert or a verbal promise, it was their Server testing the physical Contact (all the old copper wires and my internal wiring ~ just as it exists now) between it and my PC.

So why are they not able to maintain even the lower of those figures at the best of times?

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onthelimit1

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Posted March 20, 2012 at 8:45AM

Just for comparison

BT say I should get 2 -5Mb with a likely figure of 3Mb. I routinely get over 6Mb. And no, I'm not complaining!

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sunnystaines

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Posted March 21, 2012 at 10:03AM

after reading this post put me off bt for good.

i had a spell with TT with slow speeds my router was on 24/7 they advised turn off each night this sorted the problem. i presume you do this.

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