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Review by mimjed 
UPDATED: 314 days ago
member for 318 days, 1 visits, last login: 314 days ago
 LE17 6NA
 $29 per month
 "fairly reliable connection."
 "poor speeds, even poorer customer service, lots of false claims."
 "one to miss."
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the only reason i changed to bt was because i wanted bt vision. big mistake. i ordered the full works 8mb broadband, home hub 2, bt vision (gold) and a mobile. i was told from initial line tests i would be able to receive around 6.5mb/s....although i did not believe this i was assured this was the case.
then everything started to go wrong items missing from boxes, boxes not turning up, delays on line connection, poor speed when running.
after several hours of wasted phone calls i was put through to a different department who said they would stabilise my line and all my problems would be solved....err no several more hours of wasted phone calls being told my download speed is actually 8128kb/s and im told there must be a fault with my line.
but i already gave them a bt speed test from the test socket where i saw a huge increase of less than 50kb/s bringing me up to a grand total of around 600kb/s. a speed test on any other site reveals a much lower speed, and yet im supposed to believe its my fault and i need to pay over £100 call out charge and £99 an hour labour for some bloke to scratch his ass and feed me more lies....blow me ill go somewhere else!!
on the whole all i can say is steer well clear of large companies and go for the small fries. they are more greatful for your business and have time to fix your problems. odds are on they are local to you so you wont be patched through to india when you have a problem.
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 Review by wonko3fc
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 8.5 years, 2577 visits, last login: a few hours ago
UK
$5 per month (month by month)
 about 10 days
"Good call quality and price structure"
"Great when it works - pray it never goes wrong support is almost non-existant"
"More for the enthusiastic armature or professional than the home user."
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When this was first offered as a service way back in 2002/3, I became an early adopter on their UK launch trial.
Getting set up was reasonably painless although obtaining support to allow the then CISCO telephone adaptor to pass through the firewall was a near impossibility. As it turned out, you don’t need to open some 3,000 plus ports as the nice lady suggested to make it work, just port 69. Yet to this day the technical staff appear oblivious to this.
Okay, so it was early technology and problems were to be expected. What wasn’t really expected was the comprehensive lack of support from the incumbent telephone operator in the UK
Essentially, there is next to no support for the service at all and even less if you are not a BT Broadband customer/subscriber. As a Cable subscriber, I am then, the target audience for the service and to this day, I engage in interesting conversations with the ‘customer services’ people who always want to blame third party routers for anything when they learn it is not a BT Home Hub!
However, perseverance and many-many months of refunded bills later, the service is, at best, still flaky. To be honest, when it works, it is first class the call quality is excellent and on a par with my land line. Tariffs are as cheep as they come from the market research I’ve gathered from within the UK and the service offerings call divert, blocking etc are easy to use on the web site, that, whilst constantly changing from one year to the next is still navigable.
Another unexpected surprise was the forced change of server and subsequent telephone number as year or so ago. This is as a result of a technology uplift but it did impact on the service to which, regaining it was another trial of patience and frustration. It didn’t help that about three years ago, they outsourced the call centre support to India where, for the best will in the world, these good people have a very limited understanding of English and next to none of the UK telecom market.
The telephone adaptor has also changed several times as well, each time being replaced by a later and allegedly greater unit, currently a BT Voyager 10V.
These in turn have also had problems and faults both hardware and software requiring replacement units. To cut a long story short, there are/were different models of these with non-flash able firmware/middleware that needed uplifting to a more recent unit.
That said, various units were dispatched and did arrive in reasonable timeframes with various degrees of instruction on how to re-configure, given that the web site address had also changed – this they neglected to inform the customer of.
However, once again, jumping through all the hoops did eventually result in a working service.
I have to say, on balance, if I was offered the same service’s for the same price from another provider, I would have jumped ship a long time ago – the hassle factor alone is just not worth it. Yet I stay. Why? Well for the vast majority of the time, the service is functioning and actually very, very good. But! Be afraid, be very afraid if anything goes wrong. Your patience will be tested to the limit and I would suggest that the unit has more chance of being forced through the nearest window than the service returned – unless you have the patience of a saint and then some!
This is why I believe the service, whilst good when working, is probably better for the enthusiastic amateur or IT professional than the wider domestic market – for which it is aimed. IF they recovered the call centre to the UK, offered a fault resolution path to customers and have a responsive customer support, then yes, it would be well worth paying for.
MMmmmmm having been prompted by a system message, I was shocked to learn of the 200 days since I posted this. Still, having reviewed, I still feel the same way. However, various call packages have changed in the UK in the last year or so and as such; I no longer feel that the price structure is competitive in that the same discounts and similar pricing can be obtained from the generic BT domestic land-line.
Triple and quad play services from various ISPs also make it less attractive than it used to be. As such, I can’t really recommend this service as a viable product any longer, unless you particularly want a VoIP service from BT.
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Review by lozenge254
UPDATED: 1.8 years ago
member for 2.5 years, 9 visits, last login: 1.7 years ago
Beverly Hills,Los Angeles,CA
$32 per month (18 month contract)
about 5 days
"Surfing is OK"
"Anything else is gimped"
"Its cr@p, and the sales people lie through their teeth."
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I am absolutely appalled with this service. When I ordered I specifically asked if there were any port restrictions or bandwidth restrictions and I was blatantly lied to. From 4 p.m. till 12 p.m. P2P will not go over 25 kps which is an absolute joke. When I signed up I was told I would get 6.5 Mpbs,. the reality is 4 Mpbs. When I call tech support I inevitably end up in New Delhi or Calcutta, talking to a guy/girl who is obviously reading out of the "Internet for Dummies" playbook.
I am not a native of this country and I have to say that what most of these businesses are doing is down right fraudulent and I'm not sure why no one is calling them out on it. I was with Virgin before and their marketing campaign for their XL service (Cable) is in big bold letters "UNLIMITED USAGE", and then in small print, you can see the truth, which is that there is nothing unlimited about it. Its very much the same thing as me telling you I've sold you a Ferrari but when you show up on the lot, I hand you the keys to a Lada.
STAY AWAY!
PS : They use a software/hardware package called Ellacoya, which is similar to Sandvine. These programs exist to limit P2P traffic which is outright proof that BT sales people lie through their teeth.
EDIT - Not only do they limit P2P traffic between 3 p.m. and 2 a.m. (it has increased from 4 p.m. through 12 a.m). They are now limiting EVERYTHING from these times. Trying to download anything between these times results in speeds of maximum 50 kb/ps and is usually lower (this is on an 8 Meg line).
Something really has to be done about these liars as they still insist they do not do ANYTHING to limit bandwidth on their sales calls. Myself, and many colleagues have placed calls to the sales department and they are insistent that they do not limit bandwidth in any way.
Followup comments:  
andro
@btcentralplus.com
| bt behind you all the m8
last month they wanted me to renew some girl frm pakistan was phoning our house2-3 a day so i asked wat xtrs can thy give me thy prmise a blk box and digiphone if i sign4 18 months so like an idiot i did when the stuff was suppossefd 2 arrive nothing tried to call them my phone ran out of battery before they would answer 5 tmes this happend then1 night they answerd in 3and a half hours so put my gripe to them they denied putting m e on 18months and i dont qualfy 4 the black box jesus other companys giving away laptops never again never | |
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Belunder
@bell.ca | Lightyears ahead of Canadian internet service A Canadian could only dream of internet service that good. Our country has gone back to the dark ages of the internet. | |
| | lozenge254
join:2007-05-24
Beverly Hills, CA | Re: Lightyears ahead of Canadian internet service Im a canadian living in the UK. When I left Canada, the ISP situation was ok but after doing some reading I realise that it really is in a dire state. | |
| | | lozenge254
join:2007-05-24
Beverly Hills, CA | Re: Lightyears ahead of Canadian internet service ** Update **
Between 3 p.m. and 2 a.m. 12Kbp/s on a standard download from Nvidia's website.
What a joke. | |
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 Review by Dewi
Posted: 2 years ago
member for 8.1 years, 2562 visits, last login: 21 days ago
united kingd
$50 per month (18 month contract)
about 14 days
"Free hub/wireless router"
"Slow on peak times, charge you for support, long hold times, hub phone crashes"
"Not very worthwhile"
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I've had BT for about 2 months. After spending hours upon hours on hold, I finally managed to get them to fix a fault at the exchange. I found out they had been charging me for the call. They refuse to remove the charges.
The speed is good in the day: 6.5 Mbs, but dribbles into complete oblivion on weekends and evenings. Not even > 1MB. Hold times to BT are fantasically long. 1 hour+ and all the time you are being charged.
Ping times are pretty solid. There is a free wireless hub, and BT talk phone. The phone just constantly crashes and has become nothing more than an ornament.
Terrible service. Not even mediocre and adequate. And to cap it off, Ofcom does not deal with individual disputes.
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Review by bawbag
UPDATED: 2 years ago
member for 7.2 years, 98 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
UK
$60 per month (12 month contract)
"None, Very poor speed & very poor customer service"
"The whole Bt experience"
"Puntang !!!!"
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Speed is OK to begin, then drops off the very quickly to near dial up speeds, then when you phone the customer services dept, they go through the usual script !!
Was told it could take up to ten day's to re-build download speed !!!
Line can support downloads in excess 4500, but get between 250 - 1250.
Very poor all round !!!
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Review by u4e
Posted: 2.1 years ago
member for 2.1 years, 9 visits, last login: 166 days ago
united kingd
Contract price not specified.
"Has BRITISH in the name"
"That is all that is British about it!"
"Sold its customers out in favour of bigger profits"
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I'm not getting into a political rant - I am no xenophobe, but I do like to be able to understand what I am being told when I call for technical help. HA! Technical help - a very unfunny joke. Can they not get it through their thick skulls that the internet is no longer a brand new toy. 99% of us now know how to carry out basic connection tests, and a good number are much more advanced than that. Oh no - as the help desk is a premium rate number, we are told to click on every basic button from clearing history to cache. Any more than that, it is a new advisor who starts all over from the beginning. So you complain, only for them to request that you ring them yet again (what do we pay for calls included for if the bleeding company charges us?), only to start right from the beginning all over again.
I have been in regular contact with BT since November, 2006, when I first started with them. I have never had it explained to me why my home hub lights are always flashing when they are supposed to be steady after finding the best connection speed. Why, when I live less than a mile from the exchange, my download speed fluctuates from as high as 7Mbs to 346 Kbs. I reckon it is because BT is total BS!
I also want an explanation as to why my connection drops almost every day without fail. The hype declares that the hub needs to update itself but will reconnect automatically. Uh-uh - not unless you disconnect the hub from the power first - thereby restoring original settings.
I was a greedy fool, and committed myself to an 18 month contract. The scariest thing is that most ISPs in the UK have bad reputations - I know! I have just been to NTHell and back, myself!
What a pity that BT just doesn't seem to want to listen to everyone. Simple surfing might be acceptable, but to use it for anything serious is another story!
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 Review by MarkH
Posted: 2.1 years ago
member for 6.9 years, 1932 visits, last login: 1.4 years ago
undisclosed location
$55 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
"Very few."
"More than you could mention on one line."
"As soon as my minimum contract is up, I'll be leaving them."
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Where to begin?
I signed up to BT broadband in April this year, and I am eagerly looking forward to April next year when I can leave this pathetic excuse of an ISP without penalty.
Firstly you get all the hype of up to 8Mb, in reality, unless you live close to (and I mean within spitting distance) of the exchange, you'll never get even close to this. I manage to sync at 3700kbps now, and that is after many complaints about the quality of service.
When you ring prior to signing up, you get connected to a salesperson and they go through all the usual cheery chat about how wonderful the service is. Once they have you as a customer though, things change. You want technical support? Good luck getting it from the same well spoken people you talked to before you signed up, once you are a customer, you will be connected to a call centre somewhere in deepest darkest Asia to a script reading helpdesk employee. The person has an accent broad enough to cover the whole European continent usually, and is about as technically adept as your kids goldfish. They have a script, and they are not afraid to use it. They don't however have enough knowledge to deviate from the damned script, even if you can tell them what you suspect the issue is.
It takes days for them to deal with the slightest problems, and you are constantly passed from one person to another to try and get your issues resolved.
Then to top it all, if you want to complain about the poor quality of support, the same desks actually deal with that too.
As for the equipment provided, the BT Home Hub, well, all I can say about that piece of equipment is, it makes a great coffee table ornament to discuss with people, which is a good job really, because as a router it is not worth bothering with.
I use my own Linksys router with the service, because after the first few days of the home hub being unable to hold a constant connection I got sick of it, plus if you try to ring the service line, the first thing they want you to do if you are using their equipment is to reset it to factory condition. (Yup, all your settings wiped in one easy step, I know you can back up your config, but I still shouldn't have to spend time reloading it when I know the fault is with the line.)
The hub would sync with the exchange at 500kbps less than my own equipment can achieve, which when the best your line can manage is less than 4000kbps is a joke.
The best experience I have had so far with this ISP? Getting them to finally admit to an issue that I knew existed for a long while, and them finally refunding (well, reducing the cost of my next bill) some money for the service not being delivered.
The worst experience so far? Being stupid enough to sign up with them.
It would be so nice to Ofcom finally grow a pair and take BT to task about it's poor service, but unfortunately I don't see that happening any time soon, so roll on April when I can finally be rid of this joke ISP.
(Please note, the price is expressed as $US, the actual price is £26.99 per month.)
Followup comments:
FUCKINGWORM
@btcentralplus.com
| BT MAn you told EVERYTHING THAT I WANTED TO SAY, All the time that i need to technical support......i start to take drugs to keep calm and talk like, my really wish is to kill them all and stick the fucking hub up their asses!!!!!
but anyway, do you have any advice for each one would be better??? | |
|
MarkH
reserved for later use
Premium
join:2002-12-19 | Moving I'm planning on moving to www.vivaciti.net when my contract is up. They are a reseller of of etnanet services and seem to be highly regarded amongst various online communities. | |
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Review by pedrouk
Posted: 5.3 years ago
member for 6.4 years, 178 visits, last login: 224 days ago
NE29 7JD
$27 per month (12 month contract)
" Is there eney good points"
"there is loads off them"
"stay away from it"
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bt says there is nothing wrong with my service yea yea
I can stay on line all day with out eney problems
but wen it comes to 10pm at night it cuts me off
then i can connect agean for 5mins then it cuts me off agean
it keeps going like that all night
and they say its OK .
Followup comments: baffled_iyam
join:2006-11-20
| Useless BT has always taken the view, and will continue to take the view, that the customer is always wrong until it's time for an annual contract to end, at which poiont their sales people are on the phone repeatedly, offering this, that and the other.
I'm a btbroadband user and this is what you get for your money:
And all bt can say (after ringing to promise a connection speed of up to 8Mb) is that we're too far from their exchange.
Er, didn't they know that, before they started pushing out all this nonsense of high speeds that probably won't be seen by 90% of UK users, never mind unlucky sods like me.
The sooner this company is called to account by UK consumer watchdogs for its deliberately misleading hype, the better. (Though it's by no means alone, either.) | |
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 Review by NeO_JAW
UPDATED: 6.2 years ago
member for 7.8 years, 899 visits, last login: 230 days ago
Surrey, UK
$28 per month (12 month contract)
"No caps ;)"
"That customer care is so bad and its £27.99"
"Stay away from them"
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BT Broadband - NOT BT openworld.
I joined BT broadband on in late June, and the install was a nightmare,
it took 3 engineers to get the phoneline put in(new property) and then I
was told, I cant have broadband for at least 40 days! Streesed to the
max after this because the lady on the phone when i orderd the phone
line and DSL service, checked and I was told it would not be a problem
to have it activated straight away. So I phone up once the line was
installed to be told no, 40 days. I argued this and it was done 2 days
later, result I thought.
To my amazment, BT gave me a number of a person who was wanted by every
debt colection agency there is so I was getting 10-15 calls a day for
some bloke, so number change time. The number change went ok, and to my
amazement, they disconnected my DSL service in the process, 2 calls to
tech support, and only a 2 day wait it was done.
Now the service is sort of OK, speeds ok, and no complaint from them
about my downloading, and my only problem with them is no static
IP(which I should have checked in the first place) no email service, and
no web space.
EDIT: Had another number change, due to unwanted calls(15 a day), quess what, my broadband is dead! They have no idea why, just keeps dis-connecting! I'll keep you posted!
EDIT 2: Still not fixed, I think i might cancel this, and go with Bulldog.
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BT Broadband
BT Option 3