BT Infinity 1 vs Infinity 2. Paying extra for speed I can never receive

plusman

I’ve been a BT Broadband customer for a few years on their fibre Infinity 2 package that offers speeds of “up to 78Mbps”. I’ve just become aware that they also offer a package called Infinity 1 that offers speeds of “up to 56Mbps”.

Now I’m aware of the various discussions about what “up to” means in relation to broadband speed, and never expect to receive the maximum speed, but I am frankly puzzled by BT’s response.

When I took out the service, just over 2 years ago, I was receiving a speed of around 50Mbps, never more than about 53Mbps; but recently speeds have been in the region of 43Mbps.

When I took out the package I believe that BT Infinity 2 was the maximum speed available (whatever the maximum that could be delivered to my home), but that Infinity 1 was limited to, I think, up to 38Mbps. This changed some time ago so that Infinity 1 was upgraded to “up to 56Mbps”, but BT never changed my package – even though I was never receiving speeds above the maximum that Infinity 1 could deliver.

I telephoned BT to express my annoyance that I was being charged £6.50 a month extra (the difference in price between Infinity 1 and Infinity 2) for something that I could never receive, and had been paying this extra amount for some time.

They said that if I changed to Infinity 1 (up to 56 Mbps – less than the maximum I receive) that my speed might even go lower than what I currently receive as Infinity 2 will always give me the maximum speed possible (even though I receive less than the Inifinty 1 maximum speed).



So basically they are implying that if I was to change to a service (Infinity 1) that is within the capability of what I receive (i.e. less than 56Mbps), I would get a worse service; and that even if I continue to pay the extra for Infinity 2 (up to 78 Mbps), I am unlikely to get higher than the maximum they can supposedly deliver on their Infinity 1 service!

I believe that technically Infinity 1 and 2 are exactly the same product. The only difference is if the line can support the different speeds that can be delivered – i.e. up to 56Mbps compared to up to 78Mbps.

This seems a crazy situation – I am paying, and have been paying, extra for a service that I cannot receive; yet if I pay for a service that I can receive, I am likely to get even worse service (according to BT).


Am I missing something? I feel that BT have been overcharging me for a service they cannot deliver.


Any advice/thoughts?

[Deleted User]

Try running the test at http://speedtest.btwholesale.com

After it's run, there's an option something like 'run diagnostics' where you enter your phone number. It will then show your maximum speed and what profile (speed settings) you're currently on.

You should be able to make sense of it, but if you post a screenshot (avoiding your phone number), I or others may be able to help.

iniltous

Infinity 1 is up to 52Mb, not up to 56Mb, but Infinity 2 has a better upload speed than Infinity 1
If , because of line length , on Infinity 2 you don't get close to 76Mb, but closer to the 52Mb of Infnity 1, and the upload speed is of no consequence to you, then obviously downgrading to Infinity 1 maybe a good option for you, but why would you expect BT to do this for you without you requesting it ?, for all they know , the upload speed could be vital to you, and if they blindly went ahead and downgraded you, it could've cause you problems
It's up to you, not them, the decide if you are on the optimum package.
Whatever download speed you get now on Infinity 2, provided it's less than 52Mb, should still be achievable if you downgrade to Infinity 1,

flashg67

I m ay be wrong, but Infinity 1 has only been available from April 2016? They've advertised it heavily with (the v handsome) Ryan Reynolds so I'm sure you couldn't have avoided seeing the TV ads!

I'd look at downgrading unless upload speed is important. Plusnet have recently changed me to the same package and I haven't noticed any difference (browsing, streaming etc)