New BT line activated - but broadband already active

mrbigjman · 22 September 2005 at 3:14PM

Just moved into shared house with other students, rang BT to activate the line, they activated it today - a different line number to the previous tenants who have just moved out (the day before I chose to keep the same number but got BT to change it yesterday). Now trying to sign up for different broadband providers online they're all telling me that broadband is already active on the line.

What can I do? Will getting BT to change the number again make any difference or is the broadband tied to the physical line no matter what the line number is? We don't have any contact with the old tenants so don't know whether they actually started off their cancellation of their broadband when they ceased their BT line and moved out, and we don't know what provider they are/were with.

Advice on this would be really appreciated, we're desperate to get broadband up and running and I'm fed up of sitting on hold to BT on my mobile trying to sort it out.

Thanks
J

mhendo · 22 September 2005 at 6:16PM

It takes a few days for the ADSL checkers to get updated. As you line was only activated today, at the earliest it will be updated by tomorrow.

If there was broadband on the line before, it will be gone now:-
a) Changing details on existing account, eg change billing name will cease any ADSL on the line.
b) Changing number - effectively new line activation will definitely cease any previous ADSL service, as ADSL is tied to a particular telephone number.

Hope that helps

mrbigjman · 23 September 2005 at 9:31AM

Thats great, thanks for clearing that up. Today I'm getting the message from the Tiscali checker that broadband is not available, but "If this is a new BT number that has just been provided, please try registering for Tiscali Broadband again tomorrow. It usually takes 24 hours before our records are updated for new BT telephone numbers, in a few cases it can take a little longer."

So I'll just keep trying as it says and hopefully it will let be updated by tomorrow. Thanks again!

mhendo · 23 September 2005 at 5:34PM

I've heard Tiscali's service isn't that great, and customer service even worse. I know my ISP accounts which were bought out by WorldOnline and, in turn, by Tiscali all the levels of service went downhill - hence I no longer have any of their accounts now.

Have you had a look at LLU services, which may be better for you guys? - 8Mbps (soon to be 24Mbps) would be better if there are quite a few of you wanting to use the internet at once - espiecially if you're gonna be downloading/gaming (oh, sorry, I forgot its all for studying purposes!)

Use this checker to see if there are any LLU providers at your exchange. I'm getting connected with Bulldog in first week of October (8Mbps with phone service). I have since ordered Be* 24Mbps, which should be installed within a few weeks - only £20 per month.

mrbigjman · 26 September 2005 at 12:18PM

After I got past the initial checks with Tiscali later on Friday, it turned out our line isn't good enough for them to offer a service. So I've ordered Plus.Net 2MB instead, which is progressing ok so far.

I did think about Bulldog but the horror stories I've read about them put me off. Also I'm living with international students who assure me they aren't into downloading/gaming and just want to use email, basic browsing, and occasionally Skype. I might download a bit of music while I'm working, but I'm not interested in leaving my PC on all day downloading or anything, it is actually mainly for studying purposes!