BT Anytime - If only !

[Flyswift]

Is it just me or is the munber always engaged now? Its been like this for the last week or so. I can only get through first thing in the morning.

Anyone heard anything about a problem at BT?

[Biggles Flies Undone]

The problem with BT is that their service is rubbish!

I was going to dump them about 6 months ago but hung on to see if the change to Anytime or the off-peak option improved things.

It didn't. I have the off-peak option as that's the only time I'm likely to surf. Connection takes many attempts and the dial-in software often hangs, involving a re-boot to clear the prob. Once online there is no guarantee of staying there and I get booted, on average, once an hour. AND now I've just got an e mail telling me how good they are and that the price is going up £2 a month!!!

I would never, ever recommend BT Internet to anybody I didn't hate and I'll be moving my business elsewhere as soon as I've finished researching the options :mad:

[SLF 999]

I have had a couple of problems recently but these were solved with a redial and then it connected ok.
Have you had a look at the network info on the frontpage when it loads up?, that may give you a clue to any problems.
To be honest I think anytime is not too bad, but maybe thats just tempting fate !

The only ISP I would totally recommend to anyone is Pipex ok its £14 pm but you connect everytime and the service is great, but you have to pay for the calls as well , if they have any packages for 24/7 they would be the ones to go for.
I found a link that I think was previously on here for ISPs, it may be of use.
http://www.internet-magazine.com/isp/index.asp

[fobotcso]

All this is very familiar to me because I have suffered the same irritation and frustrations with BT Anytime recently. It was so bad for three weeks up to last week that I thought that my ISDN Terminal Adapter was on the blink. I was on the point of uninstalling and re-installing; but things suddenly got better again.

I would connect normally (½-1 sec) and it would immediatley disconnect. This would sometimes happen several times before it would settle down.

Of course there are always slowdowns and Server problems (particularly e-mail Servers)
but it is back to normal again and I'm happy.
BT have listened when I've complained and recently I've had two free months Internet access (worth £30).

Not everybody does ISDN on unmetered access so they've got me by the short and curlies.

On the whole I'm happy when it works
When it's good it's good; when it's bad, ...

But heck, we are talking computers and computing here. What do you expect after less than 20 years since the advent of the Domestic desktop?

Oh, the number. No, it is almost never engaged in the part of the UK where I live. You are using the single point of presence number 0808 9933001 I hope?

[ 23 July 2001: Message edited by: fobotcso ]

[KwikPhix]

I fully concur with all of the above. I have to say though that Anytime has been very well behaved for over 2 weeks now.( maybe there was a glitch that they've now fixed) I connect 1st time 98% of the time at 46667 bps right now. Who/How did you contact to get your rebate. I would like one myself for the appalling service i got during mid May to mid june. i use the 0808 9933001 number to dial up.

[PPRuNe Pop]

I just don't like BT. I am with NTL and although there was a small problem which lasted about three weeks it is now fine and connects first go and always at 48000bps. Well on my puter anyway.

The £15 per month converts to telephone calls so last month my call bill was NIL. Nice, I like it. No charges for use of the internet either.

[EGTE]

I've had problems connecting to BT Anytime the last few days. After dialling I often get silence, nil, zilch - no data tone at all. Even tried ringing from my 'phone and got the same - so it wasn't the PC. Customer Service were unhelpful and put it down to the volume of traffic (probably true). hey, they are based in Exeter....I might just pay them a visit! :D

Don't get too excited about BT increasing the "gain" on your 'phone line. It's best set to "3" for optimum performance in most (but not all) cases. Increasing the gain also increases the noise on the line - a frequent cause of drop outs etc. It's worth a call to 151 to get the gain set though.

[CrashDive]

FYI.... this was sent last Saturday.....

Hi,

W.r.t FreeServe AnyTime account number: .......

At your insistence I recently moved from 'FreeServe Unlimited' to your new 'AnyTime' service.

Since doing so I've noticed that it takes up to 40 seconds to connect - previously I was getting on-line within 5 seconds, but much worse is that when I try and download things they 'stall', i.e. the download just stops / times-out midway through - which it very rarely did with Unlimited - and I'm now having to make several attempts to successfully complete downloads (when previously just one attempt was required). Now is this meant to be an improvement ?

When basically all that's changed at my end is the local access number, just what is going on at your end to have made it deteriorate so badly ?

I'm afraid to say that your once impeccable service is no longer quite so impressive, and unless I see a rapid improvement I'm going to move to another ISP.

Regards,

...........

Ps. I'm connecting with ISDN, via my BT Home Highway phone number ..... ... ..., to your access number 0808 993 3006.


Have received no reply as yet, and in any event I'm going to bite the bullet and (as cable is not available in my area) go ADSL.

[fobotcso]

CrashDive. 0808 993 3006? :confused:

Possibly a typo but, if not, try 0808 993 3001.

But aisleman and others point to the heart of the matter. And I think distance from the exchange is a major factor - particularly with Home Highway. HH is, for my personal circumstances, absolutely ideal. So much so that I am quite glad that BT have fallen behind with their ADSL program in my area and I don't have to make the decision about whether to change yet. I get a 64K link every time and at the moment the service is back to the previous high standard. But it sure can vary...

Home Highway and ADSL are incompatible at the moment, I'm told by my local BT gurus.

[spannersatcx]

ntl world for me anytime all the time £15/month, got rid of BT years ago, best thing I ever did. ;)

[FL310]

HomeHighway with BT Anytime....my choice after a very rude kick :mad: from my previous ISP...
Use it constantly, rarely any probs, only downloads of 42MB and more have to be cut in pieces due to the 2 hours limit... :rolleyes:
ADSL is not possible because the super-high-tech system does not run on glass fibre...rotten copper cables are required....
:mad:

[PPRuNe Towers]

Anytime works very well for me.

But then it's probably down to traffic. I live in the village where all the extras from the film Deliverance decided to live.

Seem to have much the same views on computing as they do regarding marriage outside the family :D :D :D

[Flyswift]

Towers......

Better watch what you say....I can hear faint banjo's playing in the distance.. :eek:
;)

[EGTE]

The following was recieved rfrom BTinternet Customer Service today:

Thank you for your recent email.

I understand you must be feeling frustrated with the BTinternet Anytime service you have experienced recently.

BTinternet are currently investigating reports of customers having problems connecting to the BTinternet Anytime server. Early investigations have revealed that customers connected to certain telephone exchanges are intermittently being affected by a problem on certain network devices. BTinternet is working with its suppliers to resolve this problem as a matter of urgency.

You may be experiencing some connection difficulties as a result of this and I can only apologise on behalf of BTinternet for the inconvenience this must be causing you at present.

You may alternately try connecting using an emergency Dial Up number for BTinternet Anytime. This is a free phone number and will not incur any extra charges to your bill.

To change the telephone number you are dialling follow these instructions (assuming that you are using Windows 98):

1.Double left click on My Computer,
2.Double left click on Dial Up Networking
3.Then right click on your BTinternet icon and select Properties.
4.In the General tab change the Area code to - 0800 and the Telephone number to - 5879089, 5.Then click OK.
6.Delete any Shortcut icon you may have and re-create a new one. This can be done by dragging the icon to the recycle bin or right clicking and selecting delete.
7.To create a new shortcut using the 0800 number simply right click on your BTinternet icon in Dial Up Networking and select Create Shortcut.

Once these changes have been made it is advisable to re-start your computer before trying to connect.

Again I can only apologise to you on behalf of Btinternet for the connection difficulties you have been experiencing and hope that this information will solve the problem at hand.

If you have any further problems do not hesitate to contact us again.


So, complain and try to get something done! :p

[fobotcso]

Very Useful! Working well for me as I type now. Thanks.

[Tartan Gannet]

Maybe I have just been lucky or Reading is a good area but I have not as yet had any problems with BT Anytime.

As the long suffering Jet Blasters will know only too well I surf the web very heavily so anything but a 24/7 option is of no use to me. I did try Worldonline, (formerly Screaming Net) but found their billing to be absolute pants, instead of a monthly DD they would leave it for ages then hit me with a mega bill. I went back to BT for my landline using Virgin as my ISP. My phone bill hit the roof, so when the option of unlimited 24/7 for £15 pcm came from BT Internet I leapt at it! As I say no problems as yet, landline phone bill way down, (I use my mobile a lot).

So sorry to be the disentient voice here but for me BT Internet works hands down. :)

[Flybywyre]

I have been on BT Anytime for 1 month now after transfering from Freeserve unlimited before it is closed down. So far I have found it to be very good.
I think there is definitely a link between quality of sevice and where you live. I live just down the road from "Tartan Gannet" at Maidenhead, it would seem that the Thames Valley area is generally pretty good internet traffic.
Regards
FBW