Is BT broadband still terrible?

Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
and generally be a nightmare.

Is this still the case though?

--
bellajonez at yahoo dot co dot uk

Bella Jones wrote:

> Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
> advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
> for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
> and generally be a nightmare.
>
> Is this still the case though?

Why would you WANT BT broadband when so many better companies provide
superior service over the same BT line ?

Avoid any company that has TV adverts btw. It means they're spending their
money in the wrong place. A simple and efffective filter.

I use Idnet btw. Impeccable. Highest scoring ISP on thinkbroadband.com and
only costs a few quid extra than the average but the service is awesome.

Graham

In article <1imh9qg.10hzthzvjvgk8N%(E-Mail Removed)>,
Bella Jones <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
>advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
>for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
>and generally be a nightmare.
>
>Is this still the case though?

Through the BT Wholesale system, you have a choice over over 100
providers. BT Retail is just one of them.

Personally I don't like putting all my eggs in one basket and that's
what I generally advise my clients - however keep the copper line with
BT, but choose your connectivity ISP with care and your domain/email and web
hosting ISP with more care.

A lot will boil down to budget though, and if money's tight, then there
are combined deals avalable - phone, broadband, mobile (and TV
sometimes) all in one package.

But you get what you pay for!

Gordon

"R. Mark Clayton" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Eeyore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>>
>> Bella Jones wrote:
>>
>>> Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
>>> advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
>>> for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
>>> and generally be a nightmare.
>>>
>>> Is this still the case though?
>
> Funny - never remember seeing that advice. There is plenty wrong with BT,
> but technical quality is not normally one of them.
>
>>
>> Why would you WANT BT broadband when so many better companies provide
>> superior service over the same BT line ?
>
> Anyone who wants to deal directly with the provider when things go wrong
> and actually get the promised bandwidth delivered without shaping etc.
> etc.

I used to think that also. But bitter experience has shown that BT cannot
provide technically competent support to individual ADSL users. So you
should choose an ISP that can - AAISP, Idnet, and Zen are all recommended
here. These ISPs do of course buy their ADSL service from BT and re-sell it
to you, the end user; but somehow they can get BT to respond sensibly when
there is a problem.

--
Graham J

In article <48b90d3c$0$2928$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Graham J <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>"R. Mark Clayton" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> "Eeyore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>
>>>
>>> Bella Jones wrote:
>>>
>>>> Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
>>>> advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
>>>> for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
>>>> and generally be a nightmare.
>>>>
>>>> Is this still the case though?
>>
>> Funny - never remember seeing that advice. There is plenty wrong with BT,
>> but technical quality is not normally one of them.
>>
>>>
>>> Why would you WANT BT broadband when so many better companies provide
>>> superior service over the same BT line ?
>>
>> Anyone who wants to deal directly with the provider when things go wrong
>> and actually get the promised bandwidth delivered without shaping etc.
>> etc.
>
>I used to think that also. But bitter experience has shown that BT cannot
>provide technically competent support to individual ADSL users. So you
>should choose an ISP that can - AAISP, Idnet, and Zen are all recommended
>here. These ISPs do of course buy their ADSL service from BT and re-sell it
>to you, the end user; but somehow they can get BT to respond sensibly when
>there is a problem.

Most likely because they are small and value their customers and don't
have a behemoth of a corp-rat entity behind them with pages and pages of
checklist and procedures to wade through before actually contacting BT
Wholesale..

Gordon

> Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
> advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
> for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
> and generally be a nightmare.
> Is this still the case though?

I suspect they haven't changed since I left around ~2002 - at which
point they were sending me emails threatening disconnection for "heavy
use" a couple of months after i'd already left them...

Two small things to bear in mind:

1) Indian tech support
2) Phorm

"R. Mark Clayton" wrote:

> "Eeyore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > Bella Jones wrote:
> >
> >> Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
> >> advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
> >> for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
> >> and generally be a nightmare.
> >>
> >> Is this still the case though?
>
> Funny - never remember seeing that advice. There is plenty wrong with BT,
> but technical quality is not normally one of them.

No, There's no problem with BT *the telecoms* provider but their broadband
division is not the same company and it's not in the same league.


> > Why would you WANT BT broadband when so many better companies provide
> > superior service over the same BT line ?
>
> Anyone who wants to deal directly with the provider when things go wrong and
> actually get the promised bandwidth delivered without shaping etc. etc.

None of those problems with Idnet for a couple of quid extra over the average
retail ISP ! Idnet also seem to have a 'fast line' to Openreach. Problems get
solved in hours not days or weeks.

Free Migration to IDNet
Free UK Based Technical Support
Unlimited Email Accounts
No Port Blocking, No Traffic Shaping, No Bandwidth Throttling
One Month Contracts
http://www.idnet.net/solutions/homeofficebroadband.jsp

Oh, and they forgot to mention, their backbone always has more capacity than
demand.


> > Avoid any company that has TV adverts btw. It means they're spending their
> > money in the wrong place. A simple and efffective filter.
> >
> > I use Idnet btw. Impeccable. Highest scoring ISP on thinkbroadband.com and
> > only costs a few quid extra than the average but the service is awesome.

See above. Not 'cheap' but damn good and the bandwidth doesn't fall off in the
evenings.

I rate them the #1 ISP in the UK as does thinkbroadband.com.

Email me on the address in my headers and we both get a bonus if you transfer to
them. With only a 1 month contract what have you to lose ?

Graham

Graham J wrote:

> "R. Mark Clayton" wrote
> > "Eeyore" wrote
> >> Bella Jones wrote:
> >>
> >>> Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
> >>> advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
> >>> for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
> >>> and generally be a nightmare.
> >>>
> >>> Is this still the case though?
> >
> > Funny - never remember seeing that advice. There is plenty wrong with BT,
> > but technical quality is not normally one of them.
> >
> >> Why would you WANT BT broadband when so many better companies provide
> >> superior service over the same BT line ?
> >
> > Anyone who wants to deal directly with the provider when things go wrong
> > and actually get the promised bandwidth delivered without shaping etc.
> > etc.
>
> I used to think that also. But bitter experience has shown that BT cannot
> provide technically competent support to individual ADSL users.

Unless you can decode Indian English !

Graham

Gordon Henderson wrote:

> Bella Jones <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
> >advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
> >for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
> >and generally be a nightmare.
> >
> >Is this still the case though?
>
> Through the BT Wholesale system, you have a choice over over 100
> providers. BT Retail is just one of them.
>
> Personally I don't like putting all my eggs in one basket and that's
> what I generally advise my clients - however keep the copper line with
> BT, but choose your connectivity ISP with care and your domain/email and web
> hosting ISP with more care.

Agreed. I do.


> A lot will boil down to budget though, and if money's tight, then there
> are combined deals avalable - phone, broadband, mobile (and TV
> sometimes) all in one package.
>
> But you get what you pay for!

Uhuh.

Graham

"Bella Jones" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1imh9qg.10hzthzvjvgk8N%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Their site has all sorts of packages on it, but since I take most of my
> advice from technical people, I have always avoided it like the plague
> for adsl, as when things go wrong they seem to pass you round the houses
> and generally be a nightmare.
>
> Is this still the case though?

Call centre in India, high price for what you get, and - a distinct
possibility of them adopting the Phorm advert/spy system soon, so you get
targeted adverts, dependant upon which websites you've been visiting.
I left BT for the first two reasons.

George