Broadband after Midband

[oshta]

Hi, I currently have a BT "midband" (homehighway) conection, becuase i currently cant get BBand

But, on the 9th of Feb our exchange should be ready to deliver us some broadband, so we can ditch the "midband" rubbish!!
- Unfortunalty, becuase we have been using it for less than 3 years we will have to pay the instaltion/remove fee on the midband box, which is to the order of £250 i belive.
- There is however a "loophole" in that if we move unto BT BBand, they will (kindly) wave charge.


So, what do we do?
- Pay the £250 and tell BT to stuff it, or go with BT for a few mouths in the hope we can then change to Pipex or Zen or somthing?


daniel

[Apex]

I'd say go with bt no frills service m8 if all you want is a connection.

[GAteKeeper]

price it up and list whats wrong with BT's wires-only service (like b/width limits etc) and see if you can live with the limits for a year.

£250 is alot of money - basically a years BB costs

GK

[Flash]

I think someone may be lying to you

a ISDN conversion to PSTN then an ADSL provide normally costs £27.50 or it used to. I cannot see how it would be more as the normal ISDN HH contract is just for 1 year

[oshta]

So i shouldnt have to pay anythink like £250, seeing as ive used it for over a year?

[oshta]

Also, im a little worried that BT will come and take the HomeHighway box one day, but not get around to conecting the line to ADSL for while, leaving me with only 56k for a few weeks? - how swifly do they do the change over? - Do they do it neater if your going to use BT as your ADSL ISP? - or should it be just as swift if i go with Pipex of zen or something?


thanks, daniel

[nichomach]

Hang on; they'll charge you a punitive amount to remove your midband connection UNLESS you move to their BB service?

16. Ending this contract

This contract can be ended by:

(a) us giving one months notice to you; or

(b) you giving 7 day's notice to us.

The minimum term for BT Midband Internet service is 1 month.

22. The law that relates to this contract

English Law governs this contract and we both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Terms & conditions for the BT Midband line are the same as the Home Highway Terms and Conditions and can be found here.

Sorry, but it looks to me like they're pulling a fast one.
BT Midband T's & C's Linkage

And people wonder why I despise BT...*shakes head sorrowfully*

I'd point out to them their own terms and conditions, tell them to disconnect the Midband and no, you will NOT be giving them £250 for the privilege, since their own terms don't make any mention of it, and get a decent ISP like Zen to BB enable your standard phone line.

[oshta]

ok, lol

So i ask BT to take way the midband, and then do i tell them to conect me to ADSL, or do Zen tell them, one i've signed up with them?

- also, you havnt mentioned how long this likely to take, becuase i really can live with 56k for more than a 1 or 2 days, Max!


thanks, daniel

[Stoo]

Speak to Zen, they'll walk you through it all

[oshta]

Well, i had a dig around on the Pipex site and found this

Unlike the conversion of a standard telephone line, installing ADSL on an ISDN line requires the removal of the ISDN service during the ADSL installation process. Please verify the type of ISDN service that you currently employ, with BT if necessary, prior to ordering ADSL as the process and charges for Home/Business Highway ISDN differs from those of ISDN2.

Home/Business Highway or ISDN-2 - Customers wishing to convert from Home/Business Highway or ISDN-2 to ADSL will be required to pay an additional fee of £42.55 + VAT (£50.00 inc VAT) to remove the ISDN service from the line, will be charged by BT and will appear on your normal telephone bill. To start the process, order your ADSL service as normal, once we have received and processed the order BT will contact you in writing requesting your acceptance of the conversion charge and any other monies due subject to your ISDN contract.

Unfortunately, lines provided by an ISDN-30 service cannot be converted to a standard analogue PSTN telephone line, and are therefore unsuitable for ADSL installation.

Whilst BT have indicated the lead time for installing ADSL on an ISDN line is 7 to 10 days, this is an approximate lead time only. The lead-time can be affected by the speed with which you provide BT with signed acceptance and how quickly BT processes your acceptance. During this period, we will endeavour to keep you as informed as possible about the progress of your order.

Please note: Users converting from ISDN-2 or Home/Business Highway to DSL will only be able to retain their primary telephone number/line. Any other numbers/lines that you may have associated with the ISDN service will be reallocated to other BT customers.

So, it seams that we can do it all though pipex, but that pipex are expecting to get stung £50 for asking BT to take away the Homehighway box.

Where as, the people at zen say
[quote]ISDN conversions are not currently available with ZenADSL Home and Office services through Zen. ISDN lines need to be removed prior to placing an order for ADSL. To do this you will need to contact BT on 0800 800 150/152 to arrange the conversion prior to ordering. We cannot gurantee that service can be provided on the line.[/qoute]

- So if i got with zen, i have to get BT to take away the bax, then zen will do there stuff (so i might be left with only 56k for longer with zen?)

daniel

[Stoo]

well, there's no guarantee either way, as the same process has to happen for each one, just pipex makes the call for you..