Does Anybody Recommend BT Broadband?

thistledome

Hello all

I'm currently paying £24 a month approx to Orange for broadband and about the same for BT Anytime phone calls. I was thinking of switching to BT with an Anytime calls and BB package, which should save about £20 a month.

The only thing that's stopping me is the number of people on BT's forum complaining about dropped connections. I don't really care but OH plays online games and has the deciding vote, so right now he's saying no due to the connection issue.

Our connection rarely drops with Orange and he is reluctant to change.

Also, one of the replies in BT's forum said that the home hub routinely drops connection when it's trying to maintain the speed of your connection. Our Orange livebox doesn't do that and I don't like the sound of it. Can this facility be turned off?

penrhyn

You appear to be paying too much. For example you can get stand alone Sky Broadband Unlimited and calls for £10/month + Line rental.
It all depends on your exchange, check on Samknows which if any LLU operators you have.

thistledome

So nobody can recommend BT? Wow, I didn't realise they were that bad.

Ectophile

thistledome wrote: »

So nobody can recommend BT? Wow, I didn't realise they were that bad.

How often your connection drops depends entirely on the quality of your line. My BT Home Hub currently says that it has been connected for 48 days.

All ISPs have problems. Many, including BT, have outsourced their customer services to India. It then becomes pot luck whether your problem is fixed quickly, or drags on for weeks.

I always bear in mind that ADSL is a technology that should never work. The old copper wires were never designed to carry high-speed digital data, only relatively poor quality voice calls. the fact that some signal gets through at all is a minor miracle. It only takes one bad joint, or a bit of damp in the wiring somewhere, and the broadband speed nosedives. This will be the case whichever provider you go with.

prowla

I cannot recommend BT broadband.

I was with them, but there were frequent losses of service, the support was abysmal, it was over-priced compared to other providers, and there were fabled speed increases that never materialised.

I moved to Sky (unlimited) 3-4 years ago, and it has been an excellent service.

giraffe69

I'm with BT Broadband.
I know it is fashionable to slate them and they are, of course, far from perfect.
In the good department is that I've found they are reliable, the signal rarely drops or is restricted.
The price they charge is too high but you can usuallly bargain some of that excess away. There are cheaper alternatives though. If you end up having to ring one of their call centres then it is time for extreme frustration. They are incapable of listening and simply read from a script whatever you say. If I have any bill query I now email and so far have got sense in the replies.

kwikbreaks

So apart from being too expensive and offering lousy support you can recommend them then?

sukysue

I can recommend them they have been very consistant with the signal and speed .I find the price is higher than say talk talk or sky when in a package but......they are terribly slow and sometimes the signal isn't very good here whereas have never had any trouble with BT.

kwikbreaks

sukysue wrote: »

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sometimes the signal isn't very good here whereas have never had any trouble with BT.

All ISPs use exactly the same phone line. BT (the ISP) can claim no credit or for that matter be blamed for a poor quality phone line leading to unstable ADSL.

Swipe

My parents are with BT and have been for a few years and not had any problems (good solid connection). Also if you've been with them for a while you can get a very good discount if you tell them you wish to change provider.

Sun-Is-Fun

I have been with bt broadband for a few months. Service has been great. speed actually increased from previous supplier. One problem dealt with quickly.