CRAIGFIN

Can anybody explain this to me!!

My broadband ISP provider, PIPEX, have offered me a free upgrade from my existing 512k connection to a 1MB connection, subject to a line survey from BT. The survey came back from BT as my phoneline being unsuitable for a 1Mb connection....fair enough I thought.
I then found out my next door neighbour currently has a 1MB connection which is about to be upgraded to 2Mb in a couple of weeks. I contacted BT to ask about this as I would have thought we would have similar systems / lines etc. Their response was that maybe our phonelines have taken a different route back to the exchange thus making his line suitable and mine unsuitable. I carried out a online check using BT's own website using mine and my neighbours phonenumbers and they both come back as our lines "maybe suitable for 1Mb connection but definitely not for 2Mb". As you can imagine, I am unhappy at the inconsistancy.

My questions to any online BT engineers are as follows....

1. Are two houses side by side likely to have differing route's back to an exchange?

2. Am I being cynical in thinking that its to do with me being with PIPEX and my neighbour being with BT Yahoo?

3. How can BT have already told my neighbour that he will be getting 2Mb when the online check of his phoneline using their own website deems it unsuitable for 2Mb?

4. Do BT keep maps of phoneline routes to confirm wheather or not they do take differing paths?

If anybody can shed any light on the situation then please do. Has this happened to anyone on here?

Cheers,

Craig.



Edited to add another question!!

paul-s

Im with btyahoo and was told i was getting a free upgrade from 1mb to 2mb, but since then have been informed that the line is unsuitable.
you should def get the 1mb upgrade tho, sounds like your line is suitable for that !

Lum

1. Yes, you may not even be on the same exchange! This is particularly true if your line was installed ages ago, and they then went and built a closer exchange or a new green box in the street later.
2. Probably. BT OpenWoe is a wholly separate department from BT WholeSale who provide the lines, they are not allowed to talk to each other, this will become apparent if you ever have a connection problem and OpenWoe have to get BT to fix something.
3. The online check isn't very good. It can work out where you are roughly, it may be able to work out which exchange you're on, it can't tell you how good the cable is or which way it goes.
4. No idea, but having once worked for one of their suppliers and witnessing several botched installs where they asked us to plan an installation into an exchange and the engineers got there only to find that the empty space on the map had newish kit in it, I doubt they would be any good anyway.

I don't work for BT, but my ex does, and my current GF works for another ISP so I regularly get to hear moans about BT and technical details.

One trick I've been told (and this works for people who can't get ADSL at all) is to order ISDN on the shortest contract you can manage (I think this is 3 months), they have a universal service obligation for ISDN and it requirers a much higher standard of line in order to work, so they will have to upgrade or replace your line with shiney new copper, then you ask them to convert it to ADSL and suddenly their line checker thinks the line is great.
However getting BT to sucessfully migrate ISDN to ADSL is a whole world of hurt all on it's own. (the same as getting BT to sucessfully do anything else you ask them)

My advice would be to move to cable, but only if you are not in an NTL area.

gso

I originally got told by BT that my line wasnt suitable for ANY broadband!!! Anyway...all the isp's didnt agree and i went on 512 with no probs.... now i'm on 2MB...explain that!

CRAIGFIN

Lum,

The online check says that me and my neighbour are on the same exchange which is why I'm miffed. The only reason I'm with BT anyway is because my estate is (relatively) new and we don't have Telewest Blueyonder plumbed in yet. Thats why I'm surprised that the line isn't suitable, it's not exactly ancient.


gso,

Thats what annoys me, the inconsistency of information. They should know their own lines.


Craig.

Lum

How new is your estate? Did BT plumb all the lines in in one go when it was built? If not they could have put in an additional green box in the road after yours went in.

Cut your neighbours wires and swap them with your own, then log a fault with BT that you are getting calls intended for your neighbour and vice versa, the lazy sods will probably swap lines at the exchange, and then you can have 2 meg

At least your area is destined to become Telewest and not NTL. All 3 are **** but I really wouldn't want to be with NTL.

CRAIGFIN

Lum,

I like your suggestion. If I knew how to do it I would. Our bit of the estate is less than 10 years old which is what I meant by relatively new. I will ask my neighbour about when they fitted the phonelines as he's lived in his house since they were being built. When he moved in, it was still a building site all around his house so he may know something.

Cheers,

Craig.

Lum

This is odd then you would have expected BT to plumb in the whole lot in one go and to provide capacity for every house during their initial installation.

I asked my GF and she reckons it's likely something stupid like a loose or slightly iffy connection, so it may be worth logging a fault complaining about voice line quality or difficulty sending faxes. Though this works better if there is actually a problem with voice calls.

dba

I moaned like **** and suddenly my line became suitable,just to make me go away it suddenly started working

i now have the feree 2mb upgrade,1 week after i cancelled the contract,spooky that

i was also told it wasn't suitable

maybe it was the tears? dunno,

CRAIGFIN

dba,

I agree with you, I think BT are just being petulant. If I went to them and said could you provide me with a 1Mb connection if I cancel my Pipex account....I bet they would say yes.....*******!!

dba

i bet they will also,give it a go

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

PM V5-Man as he used to work for BT and apart from having a large ladder on the roof of his van, he seemed to do some work some of the time for BT, so he might know !!!

he dosent work for them any longer but you never know

CRAIGFIN

SwissTony,

Cheers for the info, v5 man PM'ed.

Craig.

v5 man

iTrader: (4)

V5 MAN here Its BT talking ****e!!! If your estate is newish and your neighbours ok for the service, then barring any faults on your line, you will both be ok, or you both wont!!! Just another reason why I left BT

I was once sent to check a problem with connectivity at a customers house on broadband. The line was about 2 miles too long for the service. BT asked me to investigate, and if possible cut off any slack in the customers external wiring!!! wtf!!!

CRAIGFIN

V5 man,

Thanks for the reply. I think (as most people do) that BT are feeding me $hite. I think my line is fine for 1Mb as well. I need to think about what to do next. If I box clever I may get my 1Mb connection yet!!

Cheers,

Craig.