Changing Service Provider - Not as easy as you think

neohurricane

i tried to sign up with another provider today - was told that i have to cancel my old provider first before they can even take my order.

then i must wait for 10 days or so before they can connect me - 2 weeks without internet access is quite a dis-incentive to change....did bt invent it? ;-)

why can't they operate the same type of system as gas/electric suppliers.......?

peter_the_piper

Are you talking about a broadband supplier? I thought the only reason to have to cancel is if you are on datastream and the new supplier is on Ipstream as the two are not compatible. If you are already on ipstream then there is no need to cancel and reactivate. I suggest you look into Metronet at https://www.metronet.co.uk.

mk-donald

From personal experience : If you were one of the 'early adopters' from the days when BT sent an engineer round to install 512Mb broadband at £39.99pm, give you a new mastersocket and ensure the s/n etc was good enough (cost £75) then you can't migrate that to anyone, it has to be deactivated when you cancel - have to give 8 days notice under the new contracts. Currently expecting to do just that when my current £20.xx/pm for 4 months deal comes to an end and they potentially upgrade me to 1Mb/2Mb (unlikely as about 6kms from exchange and only just got 512Mb) for the full £26.99. Probably take up a new contract with Tiscali at £15.99 for 512Mb 30GB/month as long standing email a/c holder there. Have to plan a holiday around the 1-2 weeks downtime and take out an AOL free trial dialup a/c to keep the £ sensible in the interim.

sco0ter

mk-donald. The "early adopters" engineer installed broadband CAN be migrated. I did it with UKOnline and had a total downtime of around 11 minutes. I still use the same master socket that the BT Engineer installed and still no need for filters. I was lucky enough to get mine installed for free because I registered my interest 3 months before it went live.It did state that engineer installs were not supported by UKonline when I first registered my interest but that info seems to have gone from thier website.

I had actually registered with UKOnline in January 2005 for thier 8 MB service and got a call back in March when my exchange was enabled. When I told the guy I had an engineer install he asked if I had a MAC key. I told him yes and he said the system would tell him if it was able to be migrated.

I dont know if that was true or if the system just looks for any valid MAC code. Unless BT make certain MAC codes for different installs. You should ask any new provider first before trying the cancelling route. And by the way My mate has waited for 5 months to get tiscali off his line and its still on. They dont provide MAC keys so migrating is not an option. But due to help on this board it should be free in a few days. (I wont hold my breath)

durain

i am with bulldog (LLU) and when i foned UKOnline about joining them, they asked me to terminate the contract with bulldog and then join UKOnline. UKOnline said there's no need for the MAC (?).

sco0ter

There is no need for a MAC code to change ISP. Its only so there is little downtime between switching. If you cancel your contract it can take 10 working days to be reconnected after the line has been freed. With MAC code it can be between 10 minutes and a couple of hours.

This is of course assuming your old ISP send the cease order to BT as this is what the problem with tiscali is. Mates was freed today from Tiscali. He cancelled his account on October 11th 2004 and will now have to wait another 10 days before UKOnline can hook him up to thier £19.99 2MB service.

neohurricane

i am just out of the bt broadband basic contract which i signed up for april 2004. we did not have an engineer round but received modem (£80!) plus software and splitters (can't remember techie name) via post.

i'm not sure if we are on a datastream or ipstream so am a little confused - as mentioned tiscali said we have to cancel then re-join. may do as mk-donald plans and organise around being on holiday! may have to be web-less for a few days as can't be arsed to sign up for a dial-up for a few days!

neohurricane

i phoned them up today to see what they would do to improve a). the price vs competition and b). the download limit (1Gb).

Answer.... NOTHING!

all they would do was to upgrade me to 1Mb immediately (i already told them speed was not the ussue) - i know they are upgrading everyone in time anyway so all they were offering was something they were going to do anyway - fantastic.

I have therefore cancelled my BT BB and will re-sign with another provider once i am disconnected.

mk-donald

sco0ter wrote:

mk-donald. The "early adopters" engineer installed broadband CAN be migrated. I did it with UKOnline and had a total downtime of around 11 minutes. I still use the same master socket that the BT Engineer installed and still no need for filters. I was lucky enough to get mine installed for free because I registered my interest 3 months before it went live.It did state that engineer installs were not supported by UKonline when I first registered my interest but that info seems to have gone from thier website.

Scooter - thanks for that input! UKonline have Milton Keynes down as a switch they intend to get to at http://www.ukonline.net/8000/llu_exchangelist.php and will certainly be considering them AND considering trying to get a MAC from the dopes at BT. And if anyone thinks Tiscali are bad you clearly don't remember Cabled & Witless but lets not evoke bad memories.

ggustar

I was on Pipex for several years but in January changed to V21 as it was cheaper, I now want to change to Freedomtosurf but on asking V21 for MAC code they want to charge me £30, This is in their T&C which I didn't read. They also won't accept cancellation over the net and you must phone a 0870 number, needless to say and kept waiting on phone for ages. I think this is a con

justpaper

ggustar why would u want too go with freedomtosurf they have a 50gb cap and there 2mb is 29.99£ for no cap usage ukonline is the way forward at 2mb