leaving BT

dannyjebb

Hi we are currently with BT for broadband but it is absolutly useless, constantly loses connection whilst using wireless, speed is awful. We want to move to another provider but are only 2 months into our 18 month contract. Is there any loophole to get us out early or does anyone know what they charge to leave early?

thanks

I_luv_cats

What is the cost of cancelling my BT Broadband account?


Ending the service
Subject to paragraph 33 of the BT Residential Standard Terms you must pay a charge for ending BT Total Broadband within the minimum period by way of compensation to us. This charge will be equal to the total of the monthly rental charges left in the minimum period. We may also charge you up to £45 for any equipment we may have provided to you as part of the service.
Downgrading
If you downgrade from your existing service, we may charge you up to £40. This charge will be included in your next bill.

macman

Nothing in your post indicates that the problem is with your BT service, it could be your wireless connection, your internal wiring, etc etc. Swapping providers may have no effect at all.
Have you actually done the standard tests to eliminate other factors? Start by connecting by ethernet rather than wireless and then post your comparative line speeds.
ww.speedtest.net
This will tell you if it's a wireless problem or elsewhere.
This test should be done from the BT test socket under the faceplate of your NTE5 master socket, not from an extension socket.
Have you got known good ADSL filters on every active extension (this includes Sky boxes)?

kwikbreaks

I agree with macman that dropped wireless connections are nothing to do with the ISP unless a wired connection also drops in which case it may be the ISP but is much more likely to be your phone line or your extension wiring.

Slow speeds too could be problems with your line or extension wiring although BT is not highly regarded by their customers - http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php

2 months into an 18 month contract is not a good place to be. You will virtually certainly have to pay to leave.

You need to find out how to check your router stats - http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php and then look into removing your ringwire or fitting an iPlate - http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm

mrJ_5

Could also try a different modem... but try using your modem's ethernet first

macman

Spot on kwikbreaks, router stats are the next thing to look at
Why do people always jump to blame their ISP before checking anything else?

dannyjebb

yeh have used the ethernet cable and still have rubbish speed compared to what we were quoted! The first two months we hardly had any use at all as we kept losing connection and had to ring up India and had to wait 24 hours for an engineer to sort the problem out. This happened 6 times before they finally did something, and apparently put us on a different exchange or something. Guess we will have to see what the charge would be to leave early. Only went with BT as our new house didnt have an active phoneline and they offered a free phone connection (£122) if you took their broadband too.

macman

dannyjebb wrote: »

yeh have used the ethernet cable and still have rubbish speed compared to what we were quoted! The first two months we hardly had any use at all as we kept losing connection and had to ring up India and had to wait 24 hours for an engineer to sort the problem out. This happened 6 times before they finally did something, and apparently put us on a different exchange or something. Guess we will have to see what the charge would be to leave early. Only went with BT as our new house didnt have an active phoneline and they offered a free phone connection (£122) if you took their broadband too.

Well whatever else they did, they didn't put you on a different exchange!
Have you run the test from the BT test socket as suggested? Do that, run another speedtest and then post your router stats.
You haven't actually quoted your speeds yet-what were you quoted, and what are you getting?
Have you checked your ADSL filters?
On the basis of what you have said so far, changing your ISP is going to be an expensive red herring.