UK Broadband question

[jimgriff]

Hi Chaps,

I was on ISDN. Had to convert back to "normal" phone socket to get Broadband check done. (cost me £50 for the priveledge). Was assured it would be OK before I converted. I live 3 miles from a digital exchange.

All ok on checking and went ahead and ordered the dogs cahoonies BB package.
3 days later phonecall from BT ( Telecoms provider) telling me I had only scored 59.9 out of 60.0 and therefore could not have BB!!! (these numbers could be transposed, I forgot what he said) It transpires that the line length to my house is some 25 meteres too long. I asked him if he was extracting the urine and he assured me that he was not and there was nothing else he could do.
I could have ISDN ( £50 to convert socket in house back) if I wanted.

Where can I turn next? BT is an unwealdy beast to complain to and you never get a serious answer anyway.
NO I CANNOT MOVE MY HOUSE 25 METERS NEARER THE EXCHANGE.

Suggestions please?

Comp= XP + sp2, 512 ram , P 4 2.8, DVD ROM, 40gb HD etc etc

[Lost_luggage34]

jimgriff,
I can fully empathise with your situation. Personally BT are not allowed on my premises.

However, I don't know where you are located. I am thinking that you have other options perhaps ?

I choose cable now as it's a proper DSL product. BT offers only ADSL and contrary to what everyone says it a totally different product.

I'd personally go cable if you are able to do so. I was initially on ISDN and it is a disgrace that one has to convert back at the cost of £50 in order to go Broadband with BT.

More information is required before I can comment further and I am sure others will have their opinions.

Pricing of Broadband in the UK is now getting better. However, I would seriously advise against going with BT. They will mess you about and pass you from plliar to post with their Billing system.

The cable system works well, it delivers a DSL product which does exatctly what it says on the tin.

There's no contention ration which is what BT seem to try and hide.

Sorry, but a bit of a very sore ex BT customer.

LL34

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

jimgriff,

You could also talk to a supervisor, tell them what you had to do in order to get ready for DSL. Tell them you want to try it anyway. There is a good chance it will still work, with you only 25 meters from what they say is their limit.

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. If not, then try to get Cable or some other BroadBand.

[Lost_luggage34]

jimgriff,
Do you not have cable where you are ?

I would think very carefully about going Broadband with BT.
I guarantee that you will get messed about left right and centre.

BT are not allowed on my property. That's another story !

Their Broadband product is poor. ADSL is a very old technology which has been around for 20 years.

Go cable and get a true DSL service. The hardware which BT provide is unreliable. The hardware with cable companies is proven technology.

I have worked with the companies which design it and sell it i.e. Motorola

BT give you Alcatel crap which doesn't work well. It's a cut down product that doesn't give reliability.

At the end of the day it's your choice.

Cable would be my solution.

LL34

[SoftTop]

Did a BT bloke (or blokess) test the line from YOUR premises? With the line length being "25m too short" (wonder how they measure to that degree of accuracy over a 3 mile cable route) they should give you the benefit of the doubt and at least send an "engineer" to do a definitive line quality check.

I work quite closely with BT in Scotland and up here they are very pro-active (in my experience). No horribly bad crossing of swords etc.

I'm assuming that you have some association with aircraft, and that it might be with an ATC provider. If you do work for an ATC provider, have a word with one of your ATEs and see if he/she can give you a name in BT that might have some clout and try to get one of their engineers on-site to TEST the line rather than just look up line length records. If you don't work for ATC, have a word with your local ATC unit and chat to their engineers (ATEs).

It's NOT possible to test line loss or noise with the standard BT line jack termination from a remote location or exchange. For that to be possible you need a Line Termination Unit (LTU) which is an active device, installed in you premises, and can be interrogated from one of BT's management centres. We use them on lines that we class as operationally important and have to pay a premium for the privelige.

Hope you have some success.

awra best

ST

[steve757]

Might be worth waiting a week and trying again!

Wednesday 18th August 2004


BT abolishes 6km limit on 512K broadband
[PC Pro] 11:33

BT Wholesale is to remove the distance limit on 512Kbps ADSL connections and extend the range of 1Mbps services.
From 6 September, anyone connected to an ADSL-enabled exchange will be able to get broadband. Previously connections were limited to properties within 6km of the exchange when measured along the phone line.

At the same time, the range of 1Mbps services will grow from around to 4km to 6km, meaning that anyone who can currently get 512K will be able to upgrade. 2Mbps services will continue to be restricted to 4km.

Despite abolishing the 512K limit, BT says that a few properties may be so far from the exchange that it will simply not be able to provide a reliable service. In other cases, BT engineers may have to modify wiring at the property or update local cabling. This service will be free.

Trials in Milton Keynes, Fort William and Dingwall found that dropping the 512K limit would raise the average number of homes that could get broadband from 96 per cent of those connected to an enabled-exchange to 99.8 per cent.

Together with the current exchange upgrade pro


gramme, by the end of next summer, 99.4 per cent of UK homes and businesses will be able to get broadband, which is the same proportion that can receive 'good quality' analogue TV.

Anyone who has previously been rejected, should re-apply for whichever ASDSL service they require once the limits have been changed. Service availability can be checked at www.bt.com/broadband.

BT Wholesale is currently connecting around 6,000 new ADSL subscribers every day, bringing the total to over three million. There are also some 1.7 million cable subscribers plus several thousand who use LLU-based services.

[jimgriff]

Thanks for all the responses.
No I cant get cable here in Wild West Wales. A cable is something yoiu tie your goat up with when you want to milk it!!

My ISP is AOL (and yes I am happy with them before you ask) and I did want to get BB through them, but they have to get BT to "provide" the facility at the exchnge....hence my problem.

Ho Hum..
Maybe I wait a week and try again!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

jimgriff,

If you are getting your DSL Service though AOL, my guess, BT would be less inclined to work with you, than if you were a direct BT customer.

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. If you know how to surf the Net and check Email, you already have the skills to dump AOL. ;)

[amanoffewwords]

Doubt it Richard - AOL and BT are in partnership - and you must have a BT, Telewest or NTL line in the UK to be able to subscribe to AOL (since neither of the last two are likely to be available in Wild West Wales ergo jimgriff must alas be with BT).

Incidentally, when I was first looking at the possiblity of getting ADSL, BT said I was out by a couple hundred yards ....then changed their mind a few days later by which time I had fortunately signed up with Telewest - bit more expensive by A* service.

Charles

[Memetic]

Definately ask for a site visit. We had the same problem, different distance for our new office. Constant dripping from us wore the BT stone. We have had ADSL up and running fine for about 2 years now.

BT email / ISP services on the other hand.... Don't ask, DONT BUY!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Charles,

Here things are a little different. Usually do not get as good service if you are not setup directly with the hardware provider.

Take Care,

Richard

[Lost_luggage34]

Sadly BT still retain the monopoly on the Local loop.

It's their copper wire in the ground and they don't want to give it up.

So much for de-regulation.

I am a very anti-BT person - as I have stated here before.

Go AOL or other providers, but at the end of the day BT still own those copper pairs into your house.

[amanoffewwords]

Richard,

There is a twist to the AOL-BT partnership story: BT released a press statement last year stating that they were forming a partnership with Yahoo - hence btyahoo.com was formed. The statement specifically stated it was intended as direct competition against major providers such as....AOL!

Shortly after reading that I installed a PC connected to AOL Broadband - the modem had a sticker on it which read "AOL, working with BT"

Go figure,

I like BT, they're one of the reasons I quit my last job, set up my own Co. and never looked back..)

C.

[Keef]

I would certainly have a word with someone at BT. I had to be a bit pushy to get them to sort out the problems here, but since they did that, it's been flawless. I use Pipex as the ISP - good speed, reliable, and almost no customer service. I know several folk who are on AOL and have all kinds or trouble - yet still insist they want to stay with AOL. Very odd.

BT aren't bad per se - it's just like any large outfit - you get good and bad experiences. Bad ones need strong reaction, and they get fixed.

There used to be a "line test" number, that would test the line and phone back to tell you your line length - as I recall, it was 19090 then 3 1 2. It stopped working a year or two back.

[Out Of Trim]

jimgriff,

I would reapply after 06Sept'04 see below:-


No limit to the 0.5Mbps ADSL service
Author: MrSaffron

BT Wholesale has made its official announcement on new limits for the 0.5Mbps and 1Mbps services. Readers should note that the new limits do not come into effect until 6th September 2004, so do not expect ISP sales/support staff to be ready until that date, or to be able to order using the new limits until then. The full BT press release can be found here.

The 0.5Mbps ASDL service is to have its test limit abolished, and the 1Mbps service is to have its limit raised from 41dB to 60dB. The 2Mbps services will remain on the 41dB test limit. The effect of this is that almost all people who can get a 0.5Mbps service now, should be able to receive the 1Mbps service, and a lot more people will be able to get the basic 0.5Mbps service.

"“By pushing the boundaries on broadband reach we are building on our exchange upgrade rollout programme which means the remaining gaps in the broadband Britain jigsaw are getting smaller and smaller."
Alison Ritchie, BT chief broadband officer



As mentioned some time ago, for around 20% of the people beyond the previous 60dB limit an engineer visit may be required to install an ADSL faceplate on the master socket, or to rectify problems with the customers wiring or the local BT network. This work will be carried out for free, though unfortunately it will still be the case that a small number of lines will not support ADSL at all, estimates suggest this will be around 0.2% of lines. How the 'no limits' ADSL service will work is that if the line is connected to an ADSL enabled exchange the 0.5Mbps service will be enabled. Subsequently if the service does not work, then the ISP can request an engineer visit to try and resolve the issue.

The key message here is that if you have applied for 0.5Mbps ADSL previously and failed, or not bothered because the online checkers said no, then order the service after September 6th, and the chances are that you will be able to get it. For the growing number who had failed the 1Mbps tests, then the same applies, order a regrade. We would suggest that rather than relying on the online ADSL checkers ISPs provide, that you visit the BT Wholesale website, because in the past a few providers have been slow to update their checkers.

Much of the greatly relaxed approach to limits is down to the experience gained in Milton Keynes, Fort William and Dingwall during the long reach trials. These trials have shown that the effect of phone extensions on very long lines can be mitigated by the use of the ADSL faceplates.

This announcement puts the UK on target for 99.4% ADSL broadband coverage by summer 2005. This is amazingly on a par with the number of households that can receive BBC1/2,ITV & Channel 4 and well above the number able to recieve Channel 5. Issues like TPON is been addressed, with an increasing number of those areas now having ADSL coverage, though the copper overlay program still has some way to go before completion.


This info from www.adslguide.org.uk

;)

[Groundgripper]

Keef,

the line test number is 17070. The four options you get after it confirms your number are ring back, quiet line, fast test and fast cleanse. Not quite sure what they all do, though.

GG

[SoftTop]

What a difference a day makes .....

Just been onto the BT broadband site (http://www.bt.com/broadband) and checked a couple of numbers to see if they had "improved" overnight. The power of the calendar! I am now eligible for up to 1M link at home and one of the office numbers can be upgraded to 2M.

I've now asked my ISP (http://www.pipex.com) to upgrade the home number and I'll let you know the outcome. They (BT) might have to put a "proper" ADSL faceplate on the presentation in the house, I assume that simply means that BT's bit of bent and mangled three pair copper into the premises will be properly terminated and tested to show that they can deliver 1M at that point. If, by the time it snakes its way round the house to the PC, it doesn't manage 1M - hey, that's tough. Still only get 256k uplink though.

The doubling of downlink speed will cost 45% more than the "unlimited" 512k. I think that's a good deal ......

[SoftTop]

Just had the e-mail from Pipex. They advise that good ol' BT will be doing the work on 13 Sept. and that it can take up to 2 hours, but usually much less.

No need for a BT engineer to visit apparently.

ST

[jimgriff]

As you can tell, I got a bit upset about all this with little ol' me being left without BB whilst all those around me were getting theirs. I wrote to everyone (this forum incl) and lo and behold, yesterday had a call from BT who assured me that I could now get BB at home (yes this is post 6th Sept and line length is lifted)
So me gets it in 7 to 10 days....
WOO HOO!!!!

[mikedurward]

Hiya

BT :( have recently announced that the line lenght is to be increased to 6miles from exchage by the end of this month.

Mike

[jimgriff]

I now have 1mb BB and am a happy bunny!!:ok:

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

jimgriff,

Enjoy the speed. ;)

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. Do you feel like, "How did I ever get around without it" yet?

[jimgriff]

I was lucky enough to have it in work so was aware of what I was missing.
However, me can now access the sites I want to from home....AT SPEED:}