Advice needed: BT migration obstruction

tempuscat

Be grateful to hear the opinions of / receive advice from any broadband experts here about problems currently being encountered with BT.

(1) We signed up to BT Broadband Basic in September 2004 and pay £19.99 a month. Usage limit is a miserly 1GB so we're regularly surcharged £4.

(2) Prior to signing up with BT, we had for several years been Vispa dial-up subscribers (in our experience, the best ISP in the UK). But because of reports in our area of problems with our newly broadband-enabled exchange, we decided it was prudent to go with BT in case engineer call-outs were required.

(3) The service has, however, worked fine and now, at the end of our 12 month minimum contract period, we wish to go back to Vispa and use its £17.99p a month broadband service.

(4) Migration should be quite straightforward. In fact, BT Internet's own website explains how to do it: you simply obtain a Migrations Authority Code from your existing provider, pass that information on to BT, and that's it. However. . .

(5) Whilst BT is keen to sign up as many migrating customers as possible from rival broadband providers, it seems curiously reluctant to let go of its own customers.

(6) In answer to my request for the MAC, BT have emailed to say the information is confidential because it is a security issue and they won't provide it to me.

(7) Vispa says BT's response is nonsensical: there is no security issue. Vispa also says BT has signed up to an Ofcom Code of Best Practice relating to the conduct of LSPs and GSPs (whatever that means), under the terms of which BT should not seek to block customer migration.

(8) I have asked BT to explain why it advises customers of competitor ISPs to obtain MACs in order to migrate to BT, yet when it comes to providing MACs to its own customers who wish to migrate, it point-blank refuses to do so. BT has not responded. The question remains unanswered.

(9) Vispa says it is not able to obtain the MAC from BT because BT is obliged to provide that information to its customer, not to another ISP.

(10) So. . . It may of course be the case that I've completely misunderstood broadband migration procedures. But unless someone can advise me to the contrary, I'm beginning to wonder if British Telecom is being wilfully obstructive.

Any thoughts?

mrJ_5

are you emailing BT or ringing them up? emailing them will be a security issue - as they could be talking to just about anyone - like Mr Wanadoo for all they know. If you ring them, they will ask security questions/check to prove you are who you are - and will give it to you

VISPA dont seem to offer very nice prices - £18 for 250k? - you can get unlimited double that at zazizam for £2 less a month, or 1gb more usage that bt broadband basic for £11.99, at 2mb speed (2gb)

tempuscat

Enllightenment! Thanks mrJ -- though it begs the question, why on earth couldn't BT have said all that themselves in their email to me??? All they had to do was say something like, 'sorry, we can't deal with this via email, but if you ring this number, then. . .' Instead, the email simply refused to help. . . and then added insult to injury by adding, American-style, "we hope you have a nice day". Doh!

Re Vispa: now we're totally confused -- we understood Vispa's broadband service was 'uncapped' or, if you wished to use the new super-speed Vispa Home MAX broadband, then the pricing was tiered from £17.99 a month for 2 Gigs. I've no idea whether we want / need this new super-speed service, I can't understand upload / download rates anyway.

We've been OK with BT Broadband Basic, so we thought we'd have the equivalent from Vispa but without the monthly usage limit. Better get back on to Vispa, methinks, find out what's going on. Thanks again!

mrJ_5

oppps - i didnt see the max broadband option - lol

so for £17.99 a month - you will be getting pretty much the same service that BT basic offers, but being tied into a new 12 month contract (other than VISPA is 2GB usage, and BT is 1Gb) - you can save £6 a month for the same VISPA product, that zazizam offer, but without the static IP address VISPA include for you

Will VISPA let you migrate in for free like zazizam will, or will you have to pay a charge to migrate in - since it costs the ISP money, or they wont pass the charge onto you

tempuscat

hi mrJ -- no, it's me who's being thick -- yes, of course, Vispa is uncapped apart from the max service! Re migration: nope, Vispa says there's no charge for this. And there's no minimum contract period. Must admit, I'm lost on these 2Mb speed things, according to the current status display in the 'BT Broadband' panel on this PC, the speed is 576kps, which seems fast enough to me (as a complete non-techie).

I had a look at the zazizam offer you mentioned, seems great, but I get nervous dealing with new companies or those I don't know much about. And there's not much in the way of "about us" info on the zazizam site ?????

mrJ_5

i know they have been up and running for a 3 or 4 years or something - so not really new, just coming out in the limelight with their latest package. i've been with them for over a year now - and the service has been reliable.

If you like your speed, at what looks like 512k - then you can leave it there. the 2mb, 2gb package can be used at 512k, 1mb, or 2mb - i know it is free to migrate in, but i think you have to pay something like £10 to upgrade your speed (cos BT has to get involved) - but if you like it, not much point in uping it or go onto their uncapped 512k package - which is what i have been using - though temted to upgrade, though not sure if i should or not. besides - you could always migrate away once the minimum period is up i guess

if you want any more info - just ask

tempuscat

Help is much appreciated, mrJ! :beer: Will revisit zazizam -- a friend has also recommended Virgin.net too, says he's paying £14.99 a month for uncapped broadband and hasn't experienced any problems. Too much choice, methinks!

mrJ_5

£14.99 uncapped?? I thought virgin @ that price was 512kb for 3Gb usage - looking at the virgin.net site anyway - they used to have £24.99 uncapped at 512kb, but now i see that they only have capped packages in palce now

tempuscat

aaaaagh. . . you're right! Virgin is capped.

I wonder if there's an ISP like Pipex, but called Optrex instead? My eyes ain't functioning as they should. . .