verytalldave
MB Enthusiast
I had an issue with BT over my download speed.
Ages ago I was with Virgin - who were useless. I would loose connection frequently and it could take days to get back online.
So I switched to BT who ensured me I would get...
1. No dropouts , and
2. A faster download speed.
Number 1 was true up to a couple of weeks ago and 2 was true BUT my speed only increased from about 0.3mb/s to about 0.5mb/s.
A small increase on a sllloooowwww download speed - but an increase there was.
I was assured by everyone that was the fastest speed I could expect as I was a "long way" from the exchange.
So I had about 0.5mb/s for about a year. I wasnt happy, but that was the best I could expect - or so I was told.
Then BT contacted me and told me I could expect an increase in speed soon as they were installing new equipment.
A couple of weeks went by and one night I noticed things seemed to be downloading quicker.
I checked and my download speed had gone up to about 0.8mb/s.
Great.
Things stayed like this for many months, and then one night about 2 weeks ago I experienced my first disconnection under BT.
Connection was re-established a few hours later - but at a significantly lower speed.
I was back to about 0.3mb/s.
I phoned BT (its a call centre in India) and had a moan.
The girl made me perform checks on my system - but I assured her nothing was wrong my end - something happened during the disconnection.
Anyway, bottom line is I had to phone them another 4 or 5 times before they would eventually agree to send out an engineer to my house to check things out properly.
To BT's credit the engineer turned up on time and did several checks......................only to pronounce what I already knew........"Crumbs mate, you have got a very slow speed here".
Tell me something I dont know.
He went away for a few hours, did something at the exchange and lo and behold..............I now have a download speed of about 3.5mb/s
Much more than I was told I could ever hope to get where I live.
Although 3.5mb/s may seem slow to some out there, to me its like greased lightning after putting up with much less than 1mb/s for years.
I wish I had complained earlier.
So don't be fobbed off by call centre personnel. They don't know everything by a wide margin.
Demand a home visit by a proper engineer and see what he says.
He knows what can really be done in your local area.
Ages ago I was with Virgin - who were useless. I would loose connection frequently and it could take days to get back online.
So I switched to BT who ensured me I would get...
1. No dropouts , and
2. A faster download speed.
Number 1 was true up to a couple of weeks ago and 2 was true BUT my speed only increased from about 0.3mb/s to about 0.5mb/s.
A small increase on a sllloooowwww download speed - but an increase there was.
I was assured by everyone that was the fastest speed I could expect as I was a "long way" from the exchange.
So I had about 0.5mb/s for about a year. I wasnt happy, but that was the best I could expect - or so I was told.
Then BT contacted me and told me I could expect an increase in speed soon as they were installing new equipment.
A couple of weeks went by and one night I noticed things seemed to be downloading quicker.
I checked and my download speed had gone up to about 0.8mb/s.
Great.
Things stayed like this for many months, and then one night about 2 weeks ago I experienced my first disconnection under BT.
Connection was re-established a few hours later - but at a significantly lower speed.
I was back to about 0.3mb/s.
I phoned BT (its a call centre in India) and had a moan.
The girl made me perform checks on my system - but I assured her nothing was wrong my end - something happened during the disconnection.
Anyway, bottom line is I had to phone them another 4 or 5 times before they would eventually agree to send out an engineer to my house to check things out properly.
To BT's credit the engineer turned up on time and did several checks......................only to pronounce what I already knew........"Crumbs mate, you have got a very slow speed here".
Tell me something I dont know.
He went away for a few hours, did something at the exchange and lo and behold..............I now have a download speed of about 3.5mb/s
Much more than I was told I could ever hope to get where I live.
Although 3.5mb/s may seem slow to some out there, to me its like greased lightning after putting up with much less than 1mb/s for years.
I wish I had complained earlier.
So don't be fobbed off by call centre personnel. They don't know everything by a wide margin.
Demand a home visit by a proper engineer and see what he says.
He knows what can really be done in your local area.
