BT Customers

[Redfern]

Hi, I have decided to switch from TalkTalk as my connection keeps droping and we are not happy with some other changes and I am looking at BT. I was wondering if any of you have experience with BT (Infinity) what speeds you are getting, what you're meant to get, the experience of switching and if you get any dropouts or similar, thanks.

[KieranFretwell]

I get 75 MB/s down and 19 MB/s up, which is pretty much what i am supposed to get. I don't get any slow downs at all the only complaint i can have is the wireless is pretty useless for me and i have to change wireless channel pretty much every day to get my wireless speeds back to normal. This is probably not the same for all people though. 

[TheGamingBarrel]

You are meant to get 72/16, But most people get 80/20, given they live close enough to their cabinet, but their support isnt the best, and I have my line profile frequently changed ( Dropouts) and they are relatively useless with their engineers.

[TheGamingBarrel]

I get 75 MB/s down and 19 MB/s up, which is pretty much what i am supposed to get. I don't get any slow downs at all the only complaint i can have is the wireless is pretty useless for me and i have to change wireless channel pretty much every day to get my wireless speeds back to normal. This is probably not the same for all people though. 

Try disabling BT-WiFi

[KieranFretwell]

Try disabling BT-WiFi

I have (the BT-WIFI with FON SHEET)

[TheGamingBarrel]

I have (the BT-WIFI with FON SHEET)

It really is

[MattBoxer]

I'm doing the same, because of the same exact problem, but because BT own a different part of my cabinet i will have to wait a max of 2 weeks with no internet

 

EDIT: This is only because of fiber if it was regular internet it would only take 2 hours max .

[Redfern]

I'm doing the same, because of the same exact problem, but because BT own a different part of my cabinet i will have to wait a max of 2 weeks with no internet

 

EDIT: This is only because of fiber if it was regular internet it would only take 2 hours max .

 

Shame I must check, thanks

[MattBoxer]

Shame I must check, thanks

Also i've read that its good to turn off the BT smart setup on the router and separate the 2.4 & 5 GHz bands for better performance.

[Madgemade]

When it comes to wifi with the BT Home Hub you should disable it completely and use a separate access point.
I do this because the HomeHub broadcasts two wifi networks when enabled. An ordinary private one that you use with the password they give you with the router AND a public unprotected network that becomes part of the BT WiFi cloud and can be used by anyone who has a BT account and others who use a paid subscription.

The problem with this is that while data used on this public network doesn't use up your allowance it still uses your bandwidth and has the potential to slow your speeds as there will be additional users on your connection. Security is the main issue as anyone who has a BT account can use the hotspot and anything they do will appear to be done from your IP and could be associated with you.

Also the wifi itself is rubbish with only integrated aerials and very few configuration options.

[MattBoxer]

When it comes to wifi with the BT Home Hub you should disable it completely and use a separate access point.

I do this because the HomeHub broadcasts two wifi networks when enabled. An ordinary private one that you use with the password they give you with the router AND a public unprotected network that becomes part of the BT WiFi cloud and can be used by anyone who has a BT account and others who use a paid subscription.

The problem with this is that while data used on this public network doesn't use up your allowance it still uses your bandwidth and has the potential to slow your speeds as there will be additional users on your connection. Security is the main issue as anyone who has a BT account can use the hotspot and anything they do will appear to be done from your IP and could be associated with you.

Also the wifi itself is rubbish with only integrated aerials and very few configuration options.

You can opt out of it though http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12958/~/how-do-i-opt-out-of-bt-wi-fi%3F

EDIT: But you do loose your unlimited hotspot usage.

[Madgemade]

Ive heared that opting out dousn't always work.  What I do know is that on my Hub BT WiFi has been disabled since the day it was installed and I can use hotspots fine. They don't know if you have it disabled or not but as you have to opt-out on their site they will know about that and you will not be able to use hotspots. "If you opt out you will lose the benefit of unlimited Wi-Fi usage from BT Wi-fi hotspots." as stated on their site. I have been using a TP-Link access point for my home wifi connected straight to the hub and this has loads more config options thean the Home Hub and I can continue to use hotspots but nobdy can use my connection as one.

[arronleeds]

My girlfriends mum has bt infinity and the company itself is a con, always over charging her and I kept getting drop outs and it was due to the poor home hub 5 which now has to be used with an openreach modem so it doesn't drop connection 20 times a day.

She only had 57 down out of the 80 she was quoted and I had to have 4 engineers out to fix it, honestly I would stay well away from bt, Sky on the other hand are very good, the router isn't the best although I still got full 38 down on wireless and the connection is solid and the latency is good.

[burnttoastnice]

I get 75 MB/s down and 19 MB/s up, which is pretty much what i am supposed to get. I don't get any slow downs at all the only complaint i can have is the wireless is pretty useless for me and i have to change wireless channel pretty much every day to get my wireless speeds back to normal. This is probably not the same for all people though.

Mb-megabit or MB-megabyte? They are two different things. Speedtest.net results are in megabits.

8Mb = 1MB

 

Ive heared that opting out dousn't always work. What I do know is that on my Hub BT WiFi has been disabled since the day it was installed and I can use hotspots fine. They don't know if you have it disabled or not but as you have to opt-out on their site they will know about that and you will not be able to use hotspots. "If you opt out you will lose the benefit of unlimited Wi-Fi usage from BT Wi-fi hotspots." as stated on their site. I have been using a TP-Link access point for my home wifi connected straight to the hub and this has loads more config options thean the Home Hub and I can continue to use hotspots but nobdy can use my connection as one.

By the way, when others use your homehub as a hotspot, their speed is throttled down to around 200-500KB/s as to not interrupt your internet usage.

 

Hi, I have decided to switch from TalkTalk as my connection keeps droping and we are not happy with some other changes and I am looking at BT. I was wondering if any of you have experience with BT (Infinity) what speeds you are getting, what you're meant to get, the experience of switching and if you get any dropouts or similar, thanks.

Been with BT since before 2009, even changed property and kept the phone number. Haven't had any connection problems. They came and replaced our HH2 with a HH3 & Openreach box when fibre started rolling out. Speeds are around 6-7 megabytes down (more than enough for 5 simultaneous YouTube HD streams indoors), and 1-2 megabytes up. Haven't had any downtime at all that I can currently remember

[KieranFretwell]

Mb-megabit or MB-megabyte? They are two different things. Speedtest.net results are in megabits.

8Mb = 1MB

 

By the way, when others use your homehub as a hotspot, their speed is throttled down to around 200-500KB/s as to not interrupt your internet usage.

 

Been with BT since before 2009, even changed property and kept the phone number. Haven't had any connection problems. They came and replaced our HH2 with a HH3 & Openreach box when fibre started rolling out. Speeds are around 6-7 megabytes down (more than enough for 5 simultaneous YouTube HD streams indoors), and 1-2 megabytes up. Haven't had any downtime at all that I can currently remember

I meant mb/s 

[Nuluvius]

If you are considering entering any kind of contract with BT I would urge you right now NOT TO DO SO as they are absolutely dire! I have had nothing but grief with them in the past and mostly all of their support and call centres are outsourced to the middle east.

 

I have lived in a number of locations across Britain and have given them chance after chance and honestly it is the exact same wherever you go. They are completely and utterly totally incompetent at resolving or even comprehending any problems that may arise. Moreover the process to even attempt to get something sorted out can easily take upwards of a month with many days spent either on hold or getting fucked around from pillar to post (yes indeed, time wasted on the phone to them can easily accumulate to days) - and that is a conservative estimate. Then you actually have to go through the crap engineer visits where they come out and clown about in a vague and random manor attempting but failing to fix the actual problem - or worse, actually creating more problems and/or damaging your property in the process!

 

If I were to list and detail the number of problems that I have experienced related to BT it would literally fill 10K words very easily.

 

There is a reason that most of their contracts are 18 months long... Ignore my warning at your own peril.

[.:MARK:.]

Honestly the internet you get from BT and TalkTalk is no different, I am on TalkTalk and get the best internet connection available to me. Go with the fastest TalkTalk plan of 80/20, get yourself a Huawei HG612 and a decent WiFi/Router. And you will have a great connection.

[arronleeds]

If you are considering entering any kind of contract with BT I would urge you right now NOT TO DO SO as they are absolutely dire! I have had nothing but grief with them in the past and mostly all of their support and call centres are outsourced to the middle east.

 

I have lived in a number of locations across Britain and have given them chance after chance and honestly it is the exact same wherever you go. They are completely and utterly totally incompetent at resolving or even comprehending any problems that may arise. Moreover the process to even attempt to get something sorted out can easily take upwards of a month with many days spent either on hold or getting fucked around from pillar to post (yes indeed, time wasted on the phone to them can easily accumulate to days) - and that is a conservative estimate. Then you actually have to go through the crap engineer visits where they come out and clown about in a vague and random manor attempting but failing to fix the actual problem - or worse, actually creating more problems and/or damaging your property in the process!

 

If I were to list and detail the number of problems that I have experienced related to BT it would literally fill 10K words very easily.

 

There is a reason that most of their contracts are 18 months long... Ignore my warning at your own peril.

They're scum are bt, saying that my girlfriend mum cannot talk to the retension team as she has to pay the remainder of her bill off when she can't because they're charging her 3 months in advance when she's no longer in contract, I screwed over the phone and told them that they can go f*** themselves and ive reported them to ofcom, it's bye bye bt, I hope they get sued badly.

[Adamz946]

Hi, I have decided to switch from TalkTalk as my connection keeps droping and we are not happy with some other changes and I am looking at BT. I was wondering if any of you have experience with BT (Infinity) what speeds you are getting, what you're meant to get, the experience of switching and if you get any dropouts or similar, thanks.

 

I've found BT to be a very good provider, despite the controversy you always hear about. I'm on Infinity2 in a rural area, and live super close to the green roadside cabinet so I get max speeds for the package. I understand if you live quite far from your roadside cabinet, their fibre packages drop off in terms of speed, but this would be the same with any provider here. You can put your current phone number into the BT wholesale ADSL checker and that will provide you with an accurate speed that you'll get.

 

I had lot's of drop outs when I first switched to fibre, but it was due to a cable fault, once their support team realises what the true fault is, it gets resolved very quickly, however can take some time for them to stop suggesting all the basic **** like reset your router. All in all, I give BT a solid 9/10. And no I don't work for BT for all those that dislike the ISP 

[MattBoxer]

 

I had lot's of drop outs when I first switched to fibre, but it was due to a cable fault, once their support team realises what the true fault is, it gets resolved very quickly, however can take some time for them to stop suggesting all the basic **** like reset your router. All in all, I give BT a solid 9/10. And no I don't work for BT for all those that dislike the ISP 

I think there must be a problem with my line, however my internet only cuts out when putting medium to high stress on it at around 10-15 Mbps and sometimes when I use my VPN as well.

[.:MARK:.]

The idea that the ISP will provide a different connection quality is a myth, they all use the same lines and equipment at the exchange and DSLAM. Just stick with TalkTalk, go on the TalkTalk forums to get your line profile raised or altered for stability, and make sure your home infrastructure is optimal.

[Nuluvius]

The idea that the ISP will provide a different connection quality is a myth, they all use the same lines and equipment at the exchange and DSLAM. Just stick with TalkTalk, go on the TalkTalk forums to get your line profile raised or altered for stability, and make sure your home infrastructure is optimal.

You're wrong. Exchanges offering Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) can have ISP specific equipment and software. Yes you have no option but to suffer with the terrible line quality provided and maintained (or not) by BT but this option often does improve the connection.

Furthermore one can benifit from better deals including improved speeds aswell as english speaking call centers.

[MattBoxer]

The idea that the ISP will provide a different connection quality is a myth, they all use the same lines and equipment at the exchange and DSLAM. Just stick with TalkTalk, go on the TalkTalk forums to get your line profile raised or altered for stability, and make sure your home infrastructure is optimal.

Well we've tried this many times and behold we get the same result no matter what and it was ever the same when I was with talk talk with no fiber, plus i'd rather talk to a robot than talktalk's help center. 

 

Also when we move to BT we have to wait a max of 2 weeks (usually under 1) for them to swap our line to their LLU section :3

[arronleeds]

Bt rents it's equipment out to sister ISPs (talk talk,plusnet and sky) the difference is the backhaul which is shit on bt and very good on sky, sky is a much better provider than bt, bt have the worst customer service in the uk and it's a proven fact by ofcom, coming from someone who's on bt please stay well away and go with sky, they will never over charge you like bt and won't lie about there being an issue with your line then try to charge you for an engineer who didn't do anything.

Also BT have just upped their prices without consulting customers, the 76 package has gone up by £3.50, absolute disgrace.

BT pros- can use any router you want without an issue

Sky pros- much better consistent latency, a lot better customer service, better uptime, don't overcharge, monthly bill.

You can use your own router but it has to support MER encryption which is usually on dd-wrt firmware.

We are not in contract and bt are still trying to charge 3 months In advance..... We will be leaving when the bill is paid off, I've reported them to ofcom.

[ed4546]

First of all, my Internet speeds are around 40mb/s download and 32mb/s upload using TP-Links they provided when they installed my fibre optic. My experience with the company though is quite negative, I was on a data usage limit of 20GB and I thought I was being fairly sensible with my usage and as it turned out I used 40GB over my usage and they charge £5 per 5GB you go over. So I was faced with a very large bill at the end of the month. To make things worst, they defended themselves by saying that they had sent me emails letting me know that I had gone over my allowance of the month WHICH THEY DID NOT. Now I am on the unlimited plan so now I won't have that problem anymore.