Major BT problems

[Russ]

Hi guys

Really don't know what to do, just moved house and our next door neighbours are getting 1.5mb through BT, we have had ours turned on last Friday and we are getting the blistering speed of 100kbs D/L but .5mb upload.

I've spoken to Anthony and James in Mumbai, but they keep telling me the line is fine and there is no problem, the line was crackling really bad on the telephone so i've replaced the two micro filters to no avail.

I'm tied into a 12 month contract, and still have 9 months of the contract left, i paid £120 last week for the phone line to be connected but it nigh on impossible to make a cal of it its so bad, people in UK call centres say i need to speak to Technical Support, who then say the line is fine and i just have to wait a few days.

dont really want to be forced to pay £25 a month for less than ISDN speeds, but they say as they are not promising a speed just a usage limit, they don't have to lower price. Mumbai don't seem to care and the UK say they can't help.

At my wits end, anybody work for BT or know what to do.

Also was told i may have to wait 10 days for the line to stabilise by Anthony, but i found it hard to believe him

[Barney]

keep at it, tell them unless they send an engineer you will stop payments as you are not getting the service you are paying for.

if you ring 1st thing india are usually shut and you should get a uk center

[Bitemarks666]

if your phone is crackling aswell check the cable from the socket to the outside connector box, if it looks cracked or split in anyway then get on to BT again and demand it is replaced as the £120 you paid should cover it

[Russ]

just done a speed test again, beyond a joke

[Neo_VR]

If the line crackles its a bt fault, not broadband... phone bt and get them to test the line.

[peterb]

You didn't say who your broadband supplier is, but I am assuming it is BT, and BT also provide your voice service.

The two problems may be related, but it will be different divisions within BT that deal with it.

First off, if you have the modern type of socket Looks as if it is split across the centre) remove the front plate and connect a phone to the socket behind. If you still get crackling on the line, then it is definately a line fault and you need to persevere with BT's voice service to get that fixed. That may also improve your broadband speed.

If the problem goes away, you need to do some fault finding on the extension wiring in your house. Incidentally, if the problem does go away, try connecting the router to that socket and see if you get better speeds.

Once the voice side is working, you can persevere with the broadband if that is still an issue. You will be dealing with BT's broadband division at that point. Again, persevere.

The actual work will be done by BT Openreach (a third division that 'owns' the infrastructure and leases it to ISPs, and voice service providers (including other BT divisions - this is a regulatory requirement) but if you actually get to speak to the engineer, and he's a good one (most are) you MAY be able to get him to check out the BB issues at the same time. But that is a bonus if it happens.

[Russ]

Yes the broadband supplier is BT
We have tried everything possible. The house is newly built hence why BT engineer came out to connect at the box. There are several phone points in the house all of which have been tried and it makes no difference.

[BobF64]

My suggestion would be as follows.

Disconnect any internal phone wiring.

Connect the DSL router directly to the socket behind the faceplate.

Doing this will prove its not your own phone wiring, meaning its a BT fault.

Next, contact BT again.

If, as you say, the phone call quality is awful, try contacting the Phone part of BT instead of the Broadband part.

If you still have no luck, try telling them you will be raising a complaint with Ofcom or the Ombudsman.

[Russ]

I havent got one of the chunky BT sockets, but presume the one in my Hallway is the main one as its closest to the line in from outside. spoke to somebody again this morning and they have said, give it until next Tuesday, if no better, they'll send an engineer out. if not, i have a friend who works for ofcom and ill get his advice

[Bitemarks666]

keep us updated BT has always been OK with my GFs mam, she got 3 duff homehubs and after she sent the 3rd one back I bought her a netgear router and BT reimbursed me (welll her)

[BobF64]

I havent got one of the chunky BT sockets, but presume the one in my Hallway is the main one as its closest to the line in from outside. spoke to somebody again this morning and they have said, give it until next Tuesday, if no better, they'll send an engineer out.

Every socket will be branched off the master NTE, its the big one that has a removable lower half.
As per this image i pilfered off some other forum, you can see the internal socket as the faceplate has been removed.


The reason I say "remove the faceplate, and any hardwired sockets, and any plug the router in directly" is because it BT will do this to test the line, if they find no fault, they assume it is your internal wiring and bill you accordingly, then leave.

According to BT, this charge is currently £211.60 inc VAT, assuming the engineer doesnt take more than 1hour.

You can also try removing the faceplate and plugging a phone into the socket, and then seeing if theres still noise, remember to use a microfilter too.

[Russ]

i dont have one of those sockets!!

Engineer is coming today thank god, next door is getting 2.5mb, but there upload is .4 (the same as me most the time)