Cannot get broadband connection down my BT line?

[alfwithhair]

My son has recently moved into a new property. He is the first occupier.

He has contacted Orange, Tiscali, Madasafish and BT about a broadband connection. He has a BT line.

None of them will supply the connection.

They say it is not available on his phone line.

 

The report he gets from BT site is;

 

Note: Our Records indicate that you have a product or service supplied to this line that is currently incompatible with broadband. You will need to have the product or service ceased before broadband could be provided. If you place an order before the incompatible product or service has been ceased then the order will be rejected.

 

and from Orange;

 

You have a service on your phone line that won’t work with broadband. This could be FeatureNet, TPON, DDI, Fibre or an alarm service. Before you can Join Orange Broadband, you’ll need to contact your phone provider and have this service removed.

 

He has nothing on the line that he has ordered and has contacted BT about it, who say he must of ordered something on the line, but he hasn't, the was no line at the property when he moved in and all he asked BT for was a standard residential line, which is what he has been given.

 

He has connected BT about 20 times now in the last two months about this, but all they say is that, there is a service on the line that he must of ordered, but they will look in to it. They obviously haven't looked into anything as he still can't get broadband of anyone 3 months down the line.

 

He has told them that as he can't get an internet connection with them he is goig to change his line provider to toucan, they said he can't do that as he has not fulfiled his 12months minimum contract?

 

What can he do to make BT get what ever it is off the line so he can get an internet connection?

 

Also why can't he get out of the 12month minimum contract, they are not providing a full service on the line? are they not breaching their terms of the contract?

 

He is totally p***sed off with BT now, as he bought a new PC which is useless to him as he can't get a broadband connection.

 

Any advise or assistance most appreciated

Alf

[dx100uk]

not that tthis will answer the other issues as such

but i always find this site useful

;

 

Samknows Broadband - Broadband Availability Checker

 

dx

[alfwithhair]

Same response from there

 

Congratulations, you are in a broadband enabled area.

However, there is another service on your phone line (e.g. ADSL, LLU, DACS, etc) that would prevent you from ordering a new ADSL connection.

The following services are available in your location:

BT Wholesale ADSL

BT Wholesale ADSL Max

BT Wholesale SDSL

AOL LLU

TalkTalk (CPW) LLU

Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU

Orange LLU (Formerly Wanadoo)

 

Please select the options on the left for more information about broadband availability at your location.

 

So same old story.

[locutus]

This is most likely a tag on the line.

 

Check here for guidance

What is a "Tag on the Line" | Ofcom

 

If he calls BT again, get him to ask for the "tag helpdesk"

Edited September 18, 2008 by locutus

[robin9342]

Interesting. It is possible you have DACS on your line, which is the modern version of the old-fashioned "party line". These are used by BT when there is a shortage of physical lines in an area. DACS is definitely not compatible with broadband.

 

You should specifically ask BT if you are on a DACS line. If so, they should be able to un-DACS your line as long as there are enough people not already using broadband.

 

DACS FAQ

[locutus]

New build, new line. It won't be DACS

[robin9342]

New build, new line. It won't be DACS

It still could be. New builds can suffer from lack of lineplant too.

[MrShed]

Also he hasnt got BTs "light user" package does he? Coz that doesnt allow broadband.

[alfwithhair]

He has a standard BT line. I think it is called option 2? You get free evening and weekend calls

[locutus]

It still could be. New builds can suffer from lack of lineplant too.

I thaught in this age of ADSL being so common they would've stopped that stupid practice! I was unaware it still went on.

 

Still, the "tag helpdesk" should be able to confirm. They're BT Wholesale so have more access to line information than the BT Retail drones you normally talk to, unfortunatly they don't talk to customers... only service providers.

[alfwithhair]

Well son has come back from his holiday this morning and checked the line. his tag is still on there.

 

Rang BT and got threw to this tag line eventually, who said a engineers report was initiated 2 weeks ago (which was when he rang last) to removed the tag, but it had failed. They still gave him no reason as to why the removel had failed or what/who/where this tag was from.

 

They have told him they have put a request in again to remove the tag, but this will be another 7 days. So they have already has nearly two months to sort it out and done nothing, now they want another 7 days.

 

It is just getting beyond a joke now.

[locutus]

Keep checking the checker posted by dx100uk. It may be sooner.

[alfwithhair]

Contacted BT again yesterday - another 45mins going through the whole story again - guy told me " Will sort it for you, give me 24 hours, sorry for the inconvenience". 24 hours later

Still nothing-Same results showing

Absolute waste of time BT Customer services

 

Congratulations, you are in a broadband enabled area.

However, there is another service on your phone line (e.g. ADSL, LLU, DACS, etc) that would prevent you from ordering a new ADSL connection.

 

The following services are available in your location:

BT Wholesale ADSL

BT Wholesale ADSL Max

BT Wholesale SDSL

AOL LLU

TalkTalk (CPW) LLU

Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU

Orange LLU (Formerly Wanadoo)

Edited September 25, 2008 by alfwithhair

[robin9342]

Try ringing BT wholesale on 0800 783 5639. They probably wont want to speak to you, but be polite and insistent - its worth a try.

[daz1981]

Couple of points on this thread.

 

DACS - this won't show as an incompatible product, it's removed as part of the provisioning process so the line shows as 'clear' to place an order (it will actually show as status code E -DACS on the line, but won't prevent the ISP placing an order). DACS may cause the normal 5 working day lead time to be extended, and unfortunately there is no official limit to how long this can take, but it won't prevent an order being placed.

 

Tags on the Line is no longer contactable by the general public, it is an ISP only contact and they do ask for the ISP references before they will deal with you. They should be able to explain to your ISP what the TAG is, and if it;s another ADSL service they should be able to get this removed.

 

What I'd recommend doing at this stage would be to get it confirmed whether it's and ADSL service on the line, or an 'incompatible product'. The ISP should be able to tell you this within a few seconds, as the phone line check will show whether it's ADSL or something else. It should also say which ISP is on the line, although occassionly this information is missing.

 

If it's an incomaptible product then that is something which you will need to speak to BT (presuming their your phone provider) about, however your ISP should be able to find out what the problem is by speaking to the Tags helpdesk.

 

What i'd recommend is getting the information listed above from the ISP and post here and we can provide further advice. If the ISP is unable/unwilling to provide this then I'd probably recommend speaking to a more reputable ISP, as if they can't sort the issues out before you are connect then how much help will they be if a problem arises during your contract?

 

I've worked in the provisioning department of one of the highest rated ISP's for a number of years, just in case anyone was wondering where the information was sourced from.

[daz1981]

Try ringing BT wholesale on 0800 783 5639. They probably wont want to speak to you, but be polite and insistent - its worth a try.

 

BT Wholesale is an ISP only contact and they will not speak to the general public. They are advised to simply hang up on you if they realise your not from an ISP. They are also likely to ask for order references which you don't have access to, as they no longer use phone numbers as the order references.

 

You may get lucky and speak to someone who wants to be helpful, but by doing this they are breaching the data protection act by providing information to an unauthorised contact, and I think it is also just painting over the fact that ISP should be doing this. If they can't then do you really want them to provide your service?

 

In additon to this BT wholesale is only able to help if the service is provided through them. If the service is with a different LLU provider, such as Orange, Carphone Warehouse etc. then they will have no information available. Your ISP is in the best position to get any problems resolved

[alfwithhair]

Couple of points on this thread.

 

DACS - this won't show as an incompatible product, it's removed as part of the provisioning process so the line shows as 'clear' to place an order (it will actually show as status code E -DACS on the line, but won't prevent the ISP placing an order). DACS may cause the normal 5 working day lead time to be extended, and unfortunately there is no official limit to how long this can take, but it won't prevent an order being placed.

 

Tags on the Line is no longer contactable by the general public, it is an ISP only contact and they do ask for the ISP references before they will deal with you. They should be able to explain to your ISP what the TAG is, and if it;s another ADSL service they should be able to get this removed.

 

What I'd recommend doing at this stage would be to get it confirmed whether it's and ADSL service on the line, or an 'incompatible product'. The ISP should be able to tell you this within a few seconds, as the phone line check will show whether it's ADSL or something else. It should also say which ISP is on the line, although occassionly this information is missing.

 

If it's an incomaptible product then that is something which you will need to speak to BT (presuming their your phone provider) about, however your ISP should be able to find out what the problem is by speaking to the Tags helpdesk.

 

What i'd recommend is getting the information listed above from the ISP and post here and we can provide further advice. If the ISP is unable/unwilling to provide this then I'd probably recommend speaking to a more reputable ISP, as if they can't sort the issues out before you are connect then how much help will they be if a problem arises during your contract?

 

I've worked in the provisioning department of one of the highest rated ISP's for a number of years, just in case anyone was wondering where the information was sourced from.

 

Thank you for your advice. I would get this information you mention if I had an ISP. As I have said before, this is a new bulit (Less that 12mths old) We are the first occupiers and we have never had broadband at this address or any other address, So contacting the ISP would just be usless as we don't and never have had one.

[locutus]

what daz1981 is saying, is choose an ISP and phone them and get them to sort the problem. If they cannot sort your problem do you really want to give them your custom?

[daz1981]

The fact it's a new build is not really relevant. The phone number you have is likely to be one which has been used at another address, so although your physical line may not have had a service in the past, the phone number might have. As a result of this you need to get all records associated with the number removed, to ensure the records associated with that number are clear.

 

It's also possible that you've added part of a featureline when ordering your phone service, which is incompatible with ADSL. A featureline is things like 1471, callback etc. which most people will view as standard services. The ones mentioned will work fine, but some of the featureline options are not compatible with ADSL.

 

When I was referring to an ISP you should be able to get an order placed with an internet provider, who will then work with you to help get the line clear. It's likely you'll have to pay the initial setup costs to get the order on their system, and if they are unable to clear the line you would get a full refund.

[alfwithhair]

The fact it's a new build is not really relevant. The phone number you have is likely to be one which has been used at another address, so although your physical line may not have had a service in the past, the phone number might have. As a result of this you need to get all records associated with the number removed, to ensure the records associated with that number are clear.

 

It's also possible that you've added part of a featureline when ordering your phone service, which is incompatible with ADSL. A featureline is things like 1471, callback etc. which most people will view as standard services. The ones mentioned will work fine, but some of the featureline options are not compatible with ADSL.

 

When I was referring to an ISP you should be able to get an order placed with an internet provider, who will then work with you to help get the line clear. It's likely you'll have to pay the initial setup costs to get the order on their system, and if they are unable to clear the line you would get a full refund.

 

Line does have 1471, 1571 answerphone and callers display on it.

The ISP I am trying to get the internet connection with is BT, but them seem incapable of sorting this problem and will not accept the order until this problem on the line is sorted. It is the same with Orange, Tiscali and madasafish. They will not accept the order.

[daz1981]

Have a look at the medium size ISP's with a good reputation, as they tend to be more customer focused. What you need to bear in mind is that you generally get what you pay for, so some of the more expensive ISP's will offer a better service, so you need to decide what your budget is and make a decision based on that. Check some of the review sites to see who comes out on top a lot, for instance PC Pro have recently completed an ISP comparisson:

 

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/awards/index.php?pageId=11

[alfwithhair]

Well at long last tag removed. Total broadband ordered from BT.

My son thanks you all for your help.

Regards

Alf

[alfwithhair]

Well at long last tag removed. Total broadband ordered from BT.

My son thanks you all for your help.

Regards

Alf

 

Spoke to soon, email from BT this morning, cannot complete the order, Tag on the line!!!!

 

"Thank you for your e-mail dated 27/9/08 about your recent order for BT Total Broadband.

Having carried out a check on your line today, I can advise that there is a tag on your line from the company AOL. This may be from a previous occupant at your property or some other service.

 

As this tag belongs to AOL, you will need to contact them to have this removed. Unfortunately as the tag does not belong to us we are unable to request to have it liftedl. The link below might offer some help should you encounter difficulties in having this removed."

 

So rang AOL. Told there is no active account or record of anything on the phone number. SO back to square one again.

 

This rearly is getting beyond a joke now.

[locutus]

The BT department that deals with competetor related stuff (mostly when people want to leave BT to join a different ISP) is the Customer Options Team. Maybe they'll be able to help? 0800 800 030

[alfwithhair]

The BT department that deals with competetor related stuff (mostly when people want to leave BT to join a different ISP) is the Customer Options Team. Maybe they'll be able to help? 0800 800 030

 

Tried them earlier, less that usless.

I don't want to leave BT, I want to join, but they don't seem interested in helping in anyway, not their problem contact AOL. So obviously not interested in my business.

 

Contacted AOL again, nothing they can do as can't find any record of an account with them, which is correct because I have never had one, so just going round in circles. Guy said he would ring me back but never did as usual.

 

All a waste of time the lot of them, soon as the 12 months in up on the BT line will be going to another phone company, sick of them now they can stick the broadband where the sun don't shine