BT Broadband Problems and Exchanges

[db00707]

There are a number of exchanges and areas of the UK where customers and businesses are experiencing serious disruption to their broadband service as a result of BT problems at exchanges or on the BT network, and due to work being carried out by BT.


I have experienced slow broadband, no broadband, slow latency, DNS failure, websites not loading, intermittent connections and extremely poor service from my ISP, BT Yahoo, and BT.

The bulk of these problems have been caused by problems and work being carried out by BT at the Goole Exchange.

My problems started in July, two days after some scheduled update work was started to try to resolve on-going congestion problems.

It started with very slow, unusable speeds. My download speed fluctuated between 6kbps and around 30kbps. I could not upload at all. I could not retrieve my emails into my mail client. My broadband was completely unusable. What have I been paying BT for?

This has been a big problem, and especially so for me as I work from home. I am also reliant on the Internet in other ways too, as I am disabled. So having fast, reliable broadband is vital for me.

The problem went on for weeks. I was calling "technical" support every day, and they were just sending me around in circles. I am pretty sure that this is done by design to some degree, a sort of management technique.

However, from my perspective at the time, I needed to be sure that there was no problem my end.

So, I turned off my firewall and anti-virus software. The problem still remained. I uninstalled my firewall and a/v software; still no change.

I then replaced the router and all cabling with new equipment - still no change.

Then, I tested with two other computers, one of them new. And guess what – I still had the same problem.

I decided to take my PC to someone else I know in a different city and when I tried connecting to his broadband, there was no problem.

So, I was 100% sure that there were no problems my end.

Several weeks had now passed and I had lost a lot of income and business. I had also lost a client because there was end in sight to this problem; I had no way of knowing when the problem would be fixed.

Throughout all this time, "technical" support just kept saying the same things over and over again. They simply ignored the evidence that clearly pointed to a problem either at the exchange, or with BT's servers, or somewhere on the BT network.

There had been a reports on local radio from people in my area, who had called them as they were having problems and getting no response from BT. There are also forums on the Internet where people have detailed their own similar experiences.

BT staff also lied to both myself and my wife about work that was being carried out at the exchange. This happened on more than one occasion. It is simply not acceptable for this to happen.

We were also given incorrect and conflicting information from different members of staff.

If I documented all the problems we have had with BT during the past 8 weeks, I’d need several more pages; this is just a snapshot.

Nine weeks on, and there are still problems. I have been in touch with other people in the area that are having the same problem – though not everyone is affected.

You can see evidence of the work and problems via these links:

BT Major Service Outages

Exchange Status Checker

Exchange Status Checker

Please Note: the ETA fix time on the last link just gets updated and goes on and on and on.

If you have experienced slow broadband, websites not loading, inability to retrieve emails, slow latency, DNS failure, gateway failure, then do not assume the problem is on your PC. The problem could be at the exchange or on the BT network, or as a result of work at the exchange.

I would advise anyone who has had problems like this in the Goole area or elsewhere to formally complain about their problems and the service they have received. The same applies if you think you have been mis-sold a broadband package. I would advise that you write to the Chairman’s Office. Please contact me if you would like a name and address to write to.

Do not be fobbed-off by technical support; if you are sure or confident that any problems you might be having are down to BT, complain about it to the Chairman’s Office and BT Wholesale.

If you would like me to do this on your behalf or would be interested in a collective complaint, then please feel free to contact me.

I would advise that you write to the regulator; write to your MP (he can write to the new BT Chairman on your behalf); contact your solicitor; contact your local radio station and news channels.

If you have lost any business or money as a result of such problems, I would like to hear from you. I have ended up losing thousands, as well as clients.

If anyone is planning legal action, I would be interested to hear from you. From people I have spoken to already, I think there would be enough people to form a collective or class action.

I would also welcome any constructive advice on this.

[inq80]

this is interesting - i've had the same thing.

i keep ringing the tech department about dropping connection on both internet and dsl. happens just randomly when you visit websites, access email, download stuff...

been going on for since about april time. they are arranging for an engineer to visit to test the line. i dont live in goole though, i live in nottm.

[tooth_fairy]

Same here, for the last 3-4 months, I'm changing broadband providers.
I rang for my MAC code and they basically told me that it was my fault, even though I have reported the faults to them every single time.

The worse case was when we had no internet for 2 weeks and BT refused to half the broadband cost for that month.

Their customer service is just appalling.

I'm in Cardiff BTW.

[WebMaster]

I've been in a similar boat to you DB. I need my connection for work too; and when my connection is down, I'm losing money (although luckily I've had no problems in getting line rental refunds from my supplier, NTL).

The usual excuse seems to be a vague 'oh, work is being carried out in your area', which they just seem to wheel out as standard.

You could take a look at our broadband mini-site - The National Broadband SpeedFinder Survey . As well as a speed test, it'll tell you the name and location of your nearest exchange. We're planning to improve the site so that poorly performing exchanges can be easily identified - should help people in your situation to determine if it's a PC problem or an exchange-wide problem

[MrShed]

I deal with BT as part of my job, for various customers. They will ALWAYS deny all fault at their end, even if the fault is down to publicised exchange maintenance!! The company is a disgrace. What is worse is that going with another ISP doesnt even help that much, as they pretty much all have to speak to BT about technical problems as some point anyway!

[db00707]

I would advise anyone that has had these problems to:

- Contact the BT Chairman's Office and make a formal complaint

- Contact BT Wholesale, inform them of your problems, and ask them to investigate

- Get a Director's home address from Companies House - write to them at their home address

- Contact Ofcom

- Write to your MP, and ask them to contact BT and the new BT Chairman on your behalf

- Contact Watchdog

- If you use broadband for work, contact the BBC's Working Lunch

- Contact the media and newspapers - there is a public interest factor to this

I have been in touch with BBC Look North, and they are interested in possibly doing a story but would want to interview and identify people in the story. This is not particularly good for me, as I work as a software and web developer; the last thing I want to do is advertise the fact that I have broadband problems! If you're willing to be interviewed, contact the BBC and local BBC news.

However, there are clearly many people being affected, and many being fobbed-off by BT. We should not have to pay for broadband when we do not get that service. I specifically upgraded to 8Mb. I knew that I would not get 8Mb, but on average it has been 2Mb. Since July, it has been less than 500kbps.

I know a person who has lost her business because of these problems. 15 years gone in a matter of weeks, thanks to BT.

In my case, in addition to all the problems, BT lied to me.

I know it is time consuming and a hassle but things will not change until BT hear enough people complaining and it hits the media. If BT carry out work and upgrades that disrupt our lives, we should not be charged for that and we should be compensated for any losses.

Please, if you make the time, write and complain to these people; as citizens, we do have the power to make things change and improve.

Thanks
Darren

[The Dweller]

I moved to Ingleby Barwick around 2 and a half years ago, I was very disappointed that Persimmon Homes couldn't be bothered putting in the Virgin Media cables in so we have no cable broadband so we had to go with adsl, we hunted around and decided to go with BT, our local exchange was set up with 2mb broadband so it wasn't too bad, they also informed us that of this summer (2007) it would be upgraded to either 3 or 5mb which was a comfort.

But in June of this year we noticed a massive drop in our broadband speed (yes I am a sad git and always check our broadband speeds weekly, I like to know what i'm getting for my money) so I contacted BT but never got a response (apart from the annoying autoresponse email to say they have recieved my message and will deal with it within 48hrs) well four weeks on and 12 emails later we are no further forward (apart from recieving 12 autresponse forms from them), telephone conversations put us on hold either for 20 minutes and I hang up sick of waiting or they just go dead.

I decided I had to put in an official complaint, and yes you guessed it, I got the auto response email but still not a real email from a real person or even a telephone call, further to this, after doing a search on the internet for information about our exchange I have found that the exchange has been downgraded to 1mb and not upgraded!!!!!, am I stupid and was it always 1mb and my connection for the first few months at 1.8mbps was just a fluke or are we really being diddled out of our hard earned cash so BT can stretch its broadband capacity to fulfil the thousands of new homes being built wthout upgrading the system or buying new equipment to cope with the demand.

Someone please enlighitng me with there thoughts, I did check back through my speed checks and I can verify that I was reaching speeds of up to 2mbps when we first signed up with BT.

[blueeyedboy1980]

Try living in an area that is serviced by TPON fibre lines. Broadband is completely unavailable in these areas. We have just had our lines upgraded after 6 years waiting and we're now having trouble because BT's systems think we dont have the upgrade.

[meatfeet]

I was on 2MB until recently and had no problems with BT,since they upgraded me to 8MB in august i have had nothing but bother (slow speed/dropped connection/no connection etc etc etc).BT said that i had to give it 3 weeks for the system to settle down.Well guess what 10 weeks have gone by and it has got worse.They even had the cheek to say that the problem must be my computer but they are willing to send someone round to check my system at a charge(bloody cheek when i didn't have the problem on 2MB).

[RichardM]

I've had a similar problem since being upgraded from 2mbps.

The system works perfectly during the day, and I very often used to leave it on and connected to the internet all day. Then at about 7pm until midnight, the line is continually dropping out with lose of DSL or PPP. Redialing returns a "no dial tone" error, and my connection speed varies from 5.8mbps during the day down to 4.0mbps during the evening.

I'm thinking of telling them to restore my line back to a 2mbps as in reality, the download speed is little different to what itr was but the connection far more stable.

[poza78]

I have a problem as I have moved from a cabled area to a new non-cable area, I rang BT to get the point activated and they're charging me £124 to activate the line as its a new build apartment, and I also have to subscribe to a 12 month contract at £11 a month or thereabouts. Is there any way I can avoid having to pay BT line rental as I'm not even planning to user a landline due to the fact that I already have a mobile which I need. I know talktalk have their problems but free broadband must be a bonus and I'm not really that bothered about download speeds, just already been hit for £124 so another £132 over a year is something I'm wanting to avoid paying, there's a £70 charge if I cancel my subscription within the 1st yr.

[threeamp]

I am at the end of my contract with BT and i have had a couple of minor blips with them. I found that by telling them it was fine for them to send an engineer out to check my equipment at a charge but if he found it be nothing to do with my equipment then no fee would be paid, i also informed them my masters is in computer science so the wool would not be pulled and that i have more than on laptop/pc in the house aswell as other routers/modems so all the tests that an engineer would do have already been done. They gave me two months free and a load of waffle about upgrades to the line but free is free.... good luck to all

[laddie007]

i used to be with bt and was on 2 meg for ages they kept fobbing me of saying the exchange wasnt ready and its a gradual upgrade from area to area across the northwest,got mac went on talk talk ,day one 8 meg never drops never goes of and its half the price,bt are lying fraudsters.