[jonty1512]

Hi there

I had a speed problem with BT's so called 'Total Broadband'. I was on option 3 (unlimited upto 24mbps). My connection never went above 4mbps and was typically 1-2mbps which in this day and age is pretty pathetic. I contacted BT several times to complain about the slow connection and was always fobbed off with the usual excuses that I lived too far away from the exchange (despite only living about a mile away from it) and that the exchange only supported up to 8mbps anyway. However 2 days ago I moved over to TalkTalk and my connection had shot up to 12-14mbps! As far as I am aware I'm connected to the same exchange I'm even using the same DLink router (I stopped using the BT Home Hub 3 as it didn't have mac address filtering in it) so how can the same line, router and the same exchange suddenly give me so much more speed? My only conclusion is that BT were deliberately slowing my connection down despite paying top dollar for the service.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Cheers

Jonty

[beerhunter]

Originally Posted by jonty1512

My only conclusion is that BT were deliberately slowing my connection down despite paying top dollar for the service.

My first reaction would be to ask why would BT do that to you? They don't do it to anyone else.

How were you measuring that speed and how was/is you PC connected to your router?

BTW, BT Total Broadband is up to 20 Mb/s.

BTW2, MAC address filtering, as a security measure, is a waste of time anyway.

[Jules]

I had the same issue with BT. Something to do with their 'peak time thottling' policy which is very aggressive... I think.

Anyway, I vowed I'd never go back to BT broadband. They advertise having the fastest broadband which turns out to be the slowest when you're most likely to use it....i.e. peak time.

[Foster]

I'm not with total broadband but with Infinity and have had no problems what so ever with regards to slow speeds or throttling. As far as I'm aware they mainly throttle torrents and other means of which most people download illegally.

[Jules]

Originally Posted by Foster

I'm not with total broadband but with Infinity and have had no problems what so ever with regards to slow speeds or throttling. As far as I'm aware they mainly throttle torrents and other means of which most people download illegally.

I never download dodgy stuff and personally found BT throttled my speed so heavily most of the time that I couldn't even watch a YouTube video without waiting 5 minutes.

[jonty1512]

They must have been doing something to give me such a poor connection speed other wise there wouldn't be such a large difference in what TalkTalk are giving me. If it was just 1-2 mbps difference you could attribute that to older equipment installed at the cabinet / exchange but 10mbps difference is too much to attribute to that. As for speed tests I use 3 different sites (Namesco BBMax, Speed.io & Speedtest.net) and some are done wirelessly and some plugged into the router via ethernet. I didn't find hardly any difference between the two. Also the tests were done at varying times of day.

[Foster]

I've been with BT since last year and have had no throttling or anything. stab in the dark here but if you live in a major city doesn't that come into play to how they route the traffic

[Amran]

i have been with bt total broadband option 3 for very long time and i never came across this problem on their 20mb service.

[jonty1512]

Originally Posted by Foster

I've been with BT since last year and have had no throttling or anything. stab in the dark here but if you live in a major city doesn't that come into play to how they route the traffic

No quite the opposite I live on the edge of a small market town on the Somerset / Devon border about a mile from the exchange. We only switched to BT because we moved into a newly built property which didn't have a line connected. Before that we lived less than a minutes walk from the exchange and used to get about 15mbps with TalkTalk which is why I was so surprised how slow our BT service was after the move. I can't understand why BT would deliberately slow the service right down but I can't think of another reason for the difference in the speeds of service

[Foster]

It can be how your line is routed for example both me and my mate live a mile from the exchange and when I was just on the normal BT broadband I would get 6Mb and he would only get 0.75Mb DL it was the way the line was set out (long as line) to the exchange. Nothing to do with the ISP slowing down the service.

[deathtrap3000]

Originally Posted by Foster

It can be how your line is routed for example both me and my mate live a mile from the exchange and when I was just on the normal BT broadband I would get 6Mb and he would only get 0.75Mb DL it was the way the line was set out (long as line) to the exchange. Nothing to do with the ISP slowing down the service.

When you change isp your line doesnt generally change.

[Foster]

Yeah sorry I miss read your first comment xD I thought you said you moved i.e house didn't read it thoroughly enough. But anyway back on topic BT wouldn't restrict your speed for a reason if they had restricted it. I know you get 12Mb with talktalk now but still.

[gt94sss2]

Originally Posted by jonty1512

My only conclusion is that BT were deliberately slowing my connection down despite paying top dollar for the service.

What exchange is it?

Its quite possible that BT have not yet upgraded their equipment to ADSL2+ (upto 24Mbs) at your exchange - while the Talktalk equipment is.

It could also be moving ISP means a lose wire/connection at the exchange has been fixed.

[Foster]

Well gt94 it could be anything but those are good possibilities.

[jonty1512]

Originally Posted by gt94sss2

What exchange is it?

Its quite possible that BT have not yet upgraded their equipment to ADSL2+ (upto 24Mbs) at your exchange - while the Talktalk equipment is.

It could also be moving ISP means a lose wire/connection at the exchange has been fixed.

Looks like you hit the nail on the head there gt94. it appears that at my local exchange (Wellington WWWELL) BT only has ADSLMax installed where as TalkTalk as the LLU operator has ADSL2+ which would explain why there is such a big differential between the speed the 2 ISP's can deliver. I didn't know that different operators had their own equipment in an exchange, I thought all broadband in the UK was delivered by BT OpenReach.

I guess that now BT is rolling out fibre for their Infinity service I doubt our exchange will see an upgrade in the near future until fibre reaches us which will be some time yet. Just wish Virgin Media operated in this area then we'd get a proper high speed service.

[beerhunter]

Originally Posted by jonty1512

I didn't know that different operators had their own equipment in an exchange,

That is what LLU means - Local Loop unbundling. That is to say operators other than BT have access to the Local Loop. (The pair of wires between you and your local exchange that are owned by BT.)

[wolvo_boi]

Originally Posted by Foster

I'm not with total broadband but with Infinity and have had no problems what so ever with regards to slow speeds or throttling. As far as I'm aware they mainly throttle torrents and other means of which most people download illegally.

My internet is fast but my download speeds are poor, maxing at about 45.0 kb/s.

When i test my speeds they come back 'Excellent' are my download speeds slow because i am downloading a torrent?

[Foster]

Originally Posted by wolvo_boi

My internet is fast but my download speeds are poor, maxing at about 45.0 kb/s.

When i test my speeds they come back 'Excellent' are my download speeds slow because i am downloading a torrent?

More than likely yeah. If other sites download ok say download a demo from gamershell or download something from steam then it is the torrents.

[buckle247]

Originally Posted by jonty1512

I didn't know that different operators had their own equipment in an exchange, I thought all broadband in the UK was delivered by BT OpenReach.

Openreach don't supply any broadband at all. They look after the network from the exchange to premises

BT own the ADSL equipment in the exchange and supply the service. Other providers rent space from BT.
Unless the exchange has LLU, in which case providers can put their own equipment in the exchange

[puya]

BT is bad news. 3 months and far from what I was promised I have had continual disconnects and a very slow speed. many phone calls and e-mails and all to no avail. Sadly, although they say their technicians are Uk based it is a lie. They appear to be all based in india. I in fact just tested it again and got a reply from India. When I said thank you it was a test, I hung up then tried the number again. BT informed me that the lines were closed.
I AM NOT RACIST by any means but one guy was impossible to understand and he was supposed to be giving me technical advice.

[cosmic023]

Just adding my frustration to this thread:

I know how Jonty1512 feels about BT, I live in Wellington. And the service from BT over the last few months has been terrible!

Our BT line has been tested to provide 17mb connection, but average is about 4mb on a good day. Max about 7mb, which is very rare!

Tend to get connection dropouts more during late evening, till about 7am the following morning. Daytime usage is random, but is still frustrating none the less!!

Since the contract is current till Sept 2012, I'll have to hold fire till then.

Hopefully Infinity will be available then? I hope so then i'll upgrade!

Cheers
Lee

[Knyght_byte]

Originally Posted by puya

BT is bad news. 3 months and far from what I was promised I have had continual disconnects and a very slow speed. many phone calls and e-mails and all to no avail. Sadly, although they say their technicians are Uk based it is a lie. They appear to be all based in india. I in fact just tested it again and got a reply from India. When I said thank you it was a test, I hung up then tried the number again. BT informed me that the lines were closed.
I AM NOT RACIST by any means but one guy was impossible to understand and he was supposed to be giving me technical advice.

This may surprise you, but chances are, the person you spoke to with the strong accent was probably in a call centre in the UK...lol.

My company is only UK based (we only have 600 staff, so all in one office) and our tech support for our broadband services is in the same building, but almost the entire team of around 80 people are asian, and a number of them have incredibly thick accents, despite having lived in the UK most if not all of their life. Just because someone has an accent, does not always mean they are a foreign call centre. We have people from all over the world working in our office as we are based in North London..actually pretty handy for when a customer calls through who has a problem with english as it isnt their first language, in most cases we have someone who can liaise with them!

For the OP, you stated in your post that BT admitted they only had their 8mb service in the exchange, so your speed of 4mb would be about right if you only get 12-14mb on ADSL2. I had BT at 6.5mb on their 8mb line, and I got 16mb on my companies ADSL2 service. The fact BT have you on a up to 20mb service heading is a silly idea on their part, unless you signed up to that package to get other bonuses such as unlimited data etc. If BT still do an 8mb service, I'm guessing its limited on data as a 'lite' package.

Although, having seen that you mention it could be as low as 1-2mb probably means you happened to use your PC the most when they were throttling due to peak times.

One thing, dont trust that a torrent will show you the true speed of your connection, or a speedtester like speedtest.net. The torrent obviously relies on a lot of factors, and the speedtest.net site relies on the server you test with being fast, one of their London ones is terrible at the moment and definitely not report the true speed.

I generally try downloading a game on Steam out of peak hours (UK and USA peak hours) to see what I achieve, but also go to microsoft.com and download a file there (XP SP2 usually good bet), chances of ms.com slowing down are very slim, so normally a good indicator, altho again its best to do it out of peak surfing hours. Around 8am-9am is usually quite good, 10am-11am and 3pm-4pm, but if you are being throttled then around 11pm onwards is the best time to test to see what the line is actually capable of. Also doesnt hurt to reset your router 20 mins before you test, better to give the line a few mins to settle down after so it syncs at the right speed.

[puya]

No, the technics were both speaking from India.
The speed test was Bt's own so I would assume if anything it would err in their favour.
As for anyone wishing to pay a company for an upgrade when they can't even supply a basic service you have to be a glutton for punishment.
Problem still exists despite several e-mails and phone calls.
I now dread turning my comp on as I know Bt will put me in a bad mood.

[cosmic023]

I know the feeling! I'm always on a gamble every time i turn the computer on to do internet tasks.

Does it work or does it not!! Lol

My thoughts are still with upgrading to BT Infinity, is it gonna be worth doing & will the service be reliable?

Cheers
Lee

[filmfreak71]

I'm getting all sort of weird things with BT, they seem to be throttling almost all video content, YouTube you contently have to wait for the video to stream, iPlayer just looks awful, Steam I can't get above 250kbs, whereas if I download something from my usernet account I get a 1.1mb download and it is the best connection I've ever had

[Goooner]

I've had no problems with anything yet on BT, maybe I've just been lucky, HD stuff on YouTube and iPlayer both fine. I've just finished streaming my first movie from Lovefilm (which isn't supposed to be great at the best of times) and yesterday evening I was getting 1.6mb on a torrent during supposed peak time (best I can get on my pc with my old and slow home plugs, until I change them) even though they're supposed to be throttled.

[wormvortex]

torrents seem to be thorttled randomly to me. Sometimes I can download 1 at 9PM at max speed, other times it will seem capped at around 50kb/s and no it is not the torrent I'm picking.

[puya]

This is my final mail to bt:::

Having been extremely patient before I began to complain I now find that complaining is also a waste of time. I have wasted more time thanks to Bt in 3 months than on anything else.
THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE
Internet connection is still rubbish and when it is there painfully slow. Now phone also giving problems. Also want to get out of btfon as you have published the name of my house on the map. Also why should I help others to get a service I CAN'T GET.
I spend ages talking to someone in India who I can't understand. I get promised a return phone call in one hour that doesn't arrive even 12 hours later. Your web site refuses to accept my password or username on some pages. Trying to sort problems out on the internet without a connection is like trying to drive a car without wheels.
Your service is rubbish in every way.
You have seven days to correct these problems.
1: get me off btfon
2: get my phone land line working.
3: get my internet connection working continuously and at a good speed.

If you fail yet again I will revert to my previous supplier and cancel my bank direct debit. You can collect your gear and take me to court.

I have sufficient problems in life, not least of which is looking after my 93 year old mother. I need the internet but I don't need the problems bt is giving me.
I have e-mailed. I have phoned. I have been patient and impatient. I have tried every way but like your service, NOTHING WORKS.
bt is a failure.
I have lost all desire to deal with you and yes, I have tried connecting, moving, disconnecting phones, router etc. etc.
When I check progress of my complaints, I find one active and one closed. WHY? NOTHING HAS BEEN SOLVED.
I can't put a reference number below as I have several.
I know I am not the only one with problems with bt. You should be ashamed of yourselves for continuing to advertise a service YOU ARE UNABLE TO PROVIDE.
7 DAYS.
THREAT, YES
PROMISE, YES
After 7 days if all is not well, copies of this and previous communications and my diary of calls and lack of results, also the pathetic e-mail I recieved from one of your 'technicians' are going to the consumers dpt and to any other blog I can find.
YES I am furious, incensed and TOTALLY OUT OF PATIENCE

[Goooner]

Have you tried the Social Care team? Contactable via the BT forums, Facebook or Twitter?

I really can't peak highly enough of them.

I was having all sorts of problems and tearing my hair out at the responses, and lack thereof, I was getting from the call centres and emails. Once the Social Care team were on the case, things actually got sorted.

It can take up to three days for them to respond as they're only a small team, but they are UK based and they do what they say they will and ring you back when they say, something I've found almost non-existent in my dealings with BT.

[noiseboy72]

I am assuming when you are measuring line speeds you are doing so directly from the hub via an ethernet connection and not via wireless ?

The Home Hub has terrible wireless connectivity, crashes all the time and does not tolerate other networks very well.

That does not take anything away from your terrible customer service experience. What line speeds do your neighbours get ?