BT Broadband in UK - any help, please ?
Any help would be welcomed, please....
Came to stay with the Daughter in the UK for a couple of weeks but need Skype and stuff to keep in touch with business while I'm here....
Logged on to internet this morning, and speed was just 125kbps download and 330 kbps upload....Moaned at daughter, who replied that this is about the maximum she can get most of the time and explained the story to me....
She switched from Orange to BT Internet five months ago after max speed available from Orange was about 256kbps and Orange told her they could do nothing to improve as it was a problem only BT could fix as it is a BT landline....
BT website, when she input her number, stated ( and still does tonight !! ) that her line would support 2mbps, so she signed up for a package with unlimited download at 8mbps on a BT Line thinking that things would improve...
SInce then, the speed has rarely exceeded 256kbps, and she has been calling the BT Helpline on a regular basis to try to get the expected AND PAID TO BT FOR 2mbps using her PAID TO BT FOR landline....
The saga to date -
1 Router arrrived - connection and set up no problem, but speed was only 128kbps....Called BT Helpline, who said they would send an Engineer to test the router....
2 BT Engineer arrived to test the router - router was OK but still speed was varying between only 128kbps and 256kbps....It will need a couple of weeks for them to reprofile your line and for it to settle down, call the Helpline if there's no improvement
3 - One month later, no improvement so she recalled the BT Helpline and was told I will ask the exchange to reprofile your line - you should see an improvement in 10 days....If nothing, please call back.... One month later, still no improvement....
4 - Recalled the BT Helpline and was told You are probaly too far from the exchange....Three miles, true, but the neighbours are all getting at least 1mbps plus so she called the Helpline yet again....And when I checked tonight on one of the 'check your speed' sites, some of the neighbours are reporting 2mbps and even 5mbps....
5 - This time she was told that It is probably poor internal wiring in your house which is causing noise and reducing the speed....So she contacted the previous owner and was told that BT had wired the house four years ago....
6 - Back to the Helpline with the answer that the house had been wired by BT just four years ago..... Another I will ask the exchange to reprofile your line - you will see an improvement in 10 days....If nothing, please call back....30 days later, still no improvement....
7 - Yet another call, but this time a promise that a BT Engineer would come and check the internal wiring....The Engineer arrived and confirmed that The internal wiring is OK, and I've tested the line and its is capable of approx. 1.5mbps but that doesn't mean that's what they're sending down it....I'll tell the exchange to reprofile your line....It'll be about 10 days and everything should be better....
8 - Ten days later, the speed had increased to approx 700kbps, but after a week or so, started to fall to its now, once again, 125kbps download and 300kbps upload....
And at which point she has basically given up - beaten by her combined lack of knowledge of IT / Internet and UK Internet providors...
But as I need a reasonable connection for business when I come here, and this is my 5th visit this year, I've become involved in something which is not really my problem, but I'm just trying to get some ideas, please, as she's fairly new to the UK and to be honest I'm a bit of a technodinosaur myself and know absolutely nothing about Internet providors in the UK....We just think that her internet should be better than what she has at the moment - back home, I live in a small village of no more than 80 people, 10k's from the exchange, and have about 4mbps 90% of the time.....
What do they mean with the constant reference to reprofiling ? What is this, and how / why does it affect her speed ? And how would she know if her line really has been reprofiled other than if she suddenly does start getting her hoped for improvement ?
Does anyone with expert or specific internet knowledge have any idea what may be going wrong, please ? She seems to have tried all that BT are offering to check / repair, yet she's still paying them approx £30 / € 40 per month for roughly 5% of the speed they say she can receive....
As there is no alternative line supplier to BT ( small village, no cable service ) is she stuck with BT or can she order a new line from a different supplier ?
What should she do next - is anybody aware of who she can contact at BT other than the Indian based Helpline ? Anyone that she can write to ? Or an independent ombudsman ( ? ) or consumer complaints organisation, if all else fails ?
Thanks in Advance for all your replies....