Bloody Terrible - BT Broadband

July 17, 2007 4:25 AM

With BT Broadband and the supported speed on my line has suddenly dropped from about 4Mbps to 512kps. Contacted BT and they say that they haven't changed anything with the line and their checker indicates all the line can support is 512kps. Getting into a protracted argument with the customer support over wether the line ever supported that speed and also over the fact that I remember upgrading my account from the up to 2Mbps package to the Up to 8Mps. Where do I need help? Can anyone supply historical prices / package information for BT Broadband over the last 4-5years,
posted by lloyder to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Have you tried going into your router settings... should be a shortcut to it on the computer you installed the broadband software on to.

It should give you a history of your bandwidth speeds etc. as far as I remember.
posted by twistedonion at 5:28 AM on July 17, 2007

I have this problem. My line speed varies between 512Kbps and 1.5Mbit.

It happens because, even three days, the BT computers reassess your line. This is part of the broadband service, and is designed to ensure you get optimal speed at all times. There's a name for what they do, but I don't know what it is. The trouble is that your line speed can also fall if there's a faulty line.

Some phone lines are weird. My own line comes in through a window frame and is actually bared at one point because the window-fitter cocked-up. Bizarrely my line speed is affected by temperature; on cool days I get faster speeds should the three day reset happen than on hot days. Maybe the window is expanding? Who knows.

I advise you to head over to www.thinkbroadband.co.uk, and log into their forums. They'll tell you what's going on and give you advice on the best way of dealing with BT. Bear in mind that most of BT's customer service people are ignorant of the technology and how it works, and are also there largely to sell you new stuff.
posted by humblepigeon at 6:21 AM on July 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

its probably worth reading the small print as well. even though you are paying for 8Mb you are not guaranteed it at all.

you have to fall below a certain threshold before BT will do anything about it. i cant remember the exact figures.

i have had this arguement in the past when my internet connection seems to go insanely slow. seen as i live 200 metres away from the exchange im always puzzled when they mention distance,
posted by moochoo at 6:48 AM on July 17, 2007

A friend of mine on BT broadband had awful performance on his connection. After getting nowhere with the support line, he called to register a line fault. Dial 151. He had an engineer out within two days, and now has better than 7 meg speeds, when he's not being throttled during peak times. Worth a try.
posted by punilux at 11:04 AM on July 17, 2007