Bt Broadband - Cooling Off Period?

jonmonty

Just moved house and unfortunately street doesnt have cable.

Went through a lot of hassle to eventually get everything with Sky, had my TV installed on the 6th and my telephone lin and broadband were to be installed 7-10 working days later.

Well I eventually got a letter from Sky saying my line will be installed on the 28th of March and the broadband activated on the 1st of April(funny ha ha).

Phoned BT they said they could get it done yesterday so cancelled all the Sky stuff and went with BT.

Bt installed the line yesterday and sent me out a BT Vision box(which is actually quite good) and the wireless router.

Set everything up and went online - browsing is fine quick enough but the download speeds are horrific!!

I did a few speed tests and every test Ive done is reporting between 1.5 and 2 mbit.

Now I know they quote "up to 8mbit" and its reasonably expectable to have !!!! speeds during peak hours, but downloading from various placed - where I maxed out my virgin 20mbit connection - is still only hitting 175k if im lucky!

I have ran tests and downloaded between 8 and 12 last night. Thought ok peak times, Ill try in the morning.

This morning when I got up to feed the dog at 6, I tried again, same!

Again when I tried at half 8 before leaving work.

This is just complete and utter garbage - especially for the price.

Does anyone know how easy it is to get out of a contract with BT. The service has only been on for one day and surely theres a cooling off period?

Ive been reading about Be broadband and o2 offering a more advanced ADSL2+ service on my exchange that I would really rather go with now as this service is just pathetic.

spaceman5

unfortunately phone line broadband speeds vary drastically from what you would be used to as a cable customer, the fact that you have bt vision installed on your line, dramatically drops your speed as well, as they segregate part of your bandwidth just for bt vision, i personally love bt vision, before i had it installed i was getting speeds of 6.5 meg regularly peak times and off peak times, since i have had it installed i get speeds of around 2 meg, which is fine for me, as i hardly download anything, just use internet for surfing, so dont really notice any difference really, and as i say i think bt vision is fantastic so i am more than happy, regarding your speeds, any isp cannot guarantee what speed you will get, only upto, like mine was upto 8 meg, and i was recieving 6.5 so i was at the top end of the scale, things like distance, interferance on line all have a bearing on what speed you will actually get, but anyway getting back to your original question, i think you get a 14 day period in which you can choose to cancel, certainly the case with bt vision, although you have to return the equipment back to them at your own cost, so i imagine their broadband service would be the same, give them a ring and find out, HTH Dave

EDIT: just checked terms and conditions for bt vision, you have 10 days from commencement of service to cancel without any penalty charges, but as already stated you have to return equipment at cost to yourself.

RE EDIT: just checked bt broadband terms and conditions, and it states you can only cancel the service without any charges before you recieve the equipment, unless you took out bt broadband anywhere as well, in which case you get 14 days to cancel.

Here is a link to BT`s terms and conditions

jonmonty

Thanks for the speedy response mate.

I wasnt aware of the segregated bandwidth allowance for Vision, I - perhaps wrongly - assumed that the bandwidth would just be used "on demand" so to speak when required and not just sitting static just incase it's needed.

I understand the service was going to be somewhat different from cable, I knew taking the drop from 20mbit to "up to" 8mbit was a big one - but realistically speaking the drop from 20 mbit to 2 mbit is borderline pathetic - day and night.

Perhaps the previous experience with Sky is clouding my judgement with BT but I just can't see how my son can even play xbox live on this dodgy connection. It's worrying.

I have been advised from elsewhere that the first 10 days of an ADSL line going active is a lot of hit and miss while they pinpoint your max capabilities - that's whats happening now I assume.

BT have previously told me I am approximately 525metres from the exchange so if this is the best I'm going to get I will be extremely upset and looking to see how I can over to the ADSL2+ service from Be.

spaceman5

yes a new line can take up to 2 weeks to settle, but as i say with bt vision on your line your speeds wont increase that much if at all, like i said i love it, and it does not hinder me as i only use the net for surfing, and maybe the odd download, so i have not really noticed anything different, but then again i think even i would notice a drop from 20 to 2, Dave

littleboo

jonmonty wrote: »

Thanks for the speedy response mate.

I wasnt aware of the segregated bandwidth allowance for Vision, I - perhaps wrongly - assumed that the bandwidth would just be used "on demand" so to speak when required and not just sitting static just incase it's needed.

You are right, Vision only reserves bandwith when you are watching on demand content, the rest of the time, all bandwidth is available to you.

If the broadband is new, then you will have 10 days of disruption while it determines the maximum stable speed that your line can support. You may find that Vision is dodgy during this period - I always thought you could only order it once your stabilisation period was over.

If you are that close to the exchange, then you can expect to be at the upper end of the "up to 8Mb" speeds.

jonmonty

So is the general feeling here that this 1.5 - 2 mbit Im receiving at the moment will indeed go up during this 10 day stabilisation period?

spaceman5

littleboo wrote: »

You are right, Vision only reserves bandwith when you are watching on demand content, the rest of the time, all bandwidth is available to you.

well that is strange, as i have now had bt vision has been installed for over 2 weeks now, and ever since i have had it installed, my line speed has never once gone over 2 megs, whether i am watching on demand stuff or not, where as before vision was installed i was constantly hitting 6.5 megs and never getting below 6 megs, i even tested the line in between ordering vision, and the box arriving and the speed had dropped already, so i would say as soon as you order vision they segreagate part of your bandwidth off for it, either that or there is a big concidence in my broadband speed dropping after i have ordered vision, Dave

jonmonty

Ive just spoken to BT Options Team who are insisting there is no cooling off period at all for broadband.

As soon as the service is activated then its automatically tied into an 18 month contract.

I enquired about not receiving the advertised service and they predictably quoted the "up to 8mbit" line. This is fine but if they said anything from 1mbit to 8mbit Id probably have held off a little and spoke to other ISPs before ordering.

Seems like BT Sales have chosen their words very carefully here.

The lady I spoke to said the only cooling off period they have for broadband is up until midnight the night before. Thats when you can change your mind and cancel the product.

How can I be happy enough with a product to enter into a contract if I have yet to sample it and identify if it meets my needs?

So what if after this 10 day period when my service is stable, i begin to receive less than 1mbit in speed?

Is that supposed to eb acceptable to me? Have I just to put up with it and ride out the 18 months with a subpar service?

Im not entirely sure Im happy about this and am not sure whether or not this is entirely legal.

spaceman5

does seem lame, but it is in their terms and conditions i posted above, but then again how many of us read the fine print in the t & c`s before signing up for things like this, i know i certainly don`t, but then again i guess i have been lucky, as i have been with bt broadband for years and have never had a problem and have been really happy with the service i have recieved, maybe i am just easy to please, Dave

littleboo

spaceman5 wrote: »

well that is strange, as i have now had bt vision has been installed for over 2 weeks now, and ever since i have had it installed, my line speed has never once gone over 2 megs, whether i am watching on demand stuff or not, where as before vision was installed i was constantly hitting 6.5 megs and never getting below 6 megs, i even tested the line in between ordering vision, and the box arriving and the speed had dropped already, so i would say as soon as you order vision they segreagate part of your bandwidth off for it, either that or there is a big concidence in my broadband speed dropping after i have ordered vision, Dave

Coincidence I'd say. What speed is your Homehub syncing at ?

DatabaseError

jonmonty wrote: »

So is the general feeling here that this 1.5 - 2 mbit Im receiving at the moment will indeed go up during this 10 day stabilisation period?

My opinion is that your current speed may increase..or decrease....or remain the same over the 10 day 'training period'.
Sky (and be/o2), if their LLU offering was available in your exchange, may have provided higher speeds...though if yours remains around 2mbs then the adsl2+ from them wouldn't be much, if any, faster.
Sadly there are laws of physics which apply to copper wires that don't apply to fibre...not a lot BT..or anyone else...can do about that. None of us on ipstream (simply, BTs broadband infrasctructure, used by most ISPs) are particularly happy with the situation, but there's not a lot anyone can do

...and there's absolutely no reason why your son's xbox shouldn't work fine...I used to play games on a 28k modem, a ~2mbs connection is plenty