UK ISP BT Offers up to 76Mbps Superfast Broadband Boost for Free

[Detection]

I'm on BT Infinity and whilst my problems aren't as bad as yours, I agree that their router is a joke. The WiFi just randomly decides to stop working about 3 times a day, and the whole connection (wired too) drops daily requiring a reboot. >_<

Yea I got rid of the Home Hub 3.0 after about a week of getting weird router crashes everynight around the same time, replaced it with my own and rarely goes down now

[Detection]

Do you have that Huawei HG612 Openreach modem (not the router, the VDSL modem).

They're known to fail in this way and as such have been replaced by newer 2B and 2V revisions (Should be sticker on the back which says if you have a 2x revision) and also Openreach are now providing modems manufactured by ECI (Although I think this depends on whats in the cabs rather than because of the Huawei's failing).

They get notoriously hot. Even the two newer versions aren't exactly reliable unfortunately.

Just checked mine, its the 2B and doesn't seem to have any problems

[Biohead]

What happens to the speeds when you plug directly into the modem, bypassing the router? I think you need to set it up as a PPPoE connection, although as you've changed the router you'll know the settings yourself.

If you get the same poor speeds I'd bet your modem has started to fail.

[Detection]

What happens to the speeds when you plug directly into the modem, bypassing the router? I think you need to set it up as a PPPoE connection, although as you've changed the router you'll know the settings yourself.

If you get the same poor speeds I'd bet your modem has started to fail.

I tried it quickly once and couldn't connect but I might have had a static Internal IP set on the PC so it would have been on the wrong range, I guess your PC would be given an external IP if it worked

Doesnt sound like a very safe thing to do though

[Biohead]

All you're doing is removing the router. As long as your firewall is up and running then it's just removing a potential piece of faulty equipment. If his speeds are still low then its either a fault with the 612 (Google HG612 overheating) or a problem on the line - both of which Openreach have to sort out.

As Paul says, he went off to restart the router. When he did another speed test, the results were still poor. To me, it's looking like its not more the router at fault but his actual internet connection.

It's like back when ADSL first came out, you pretty much needed an ADSL modem and a separate router as combo devices were rare and expensive. If there was only one computer in the house, you could plug the modem directly into it. No need for an internal network etc.

[Detection]

All you're doing is removing the router. As long as your firewall is up and running then it's just removing a potential piece of faulty equipment. If his speeds are still low then its either a fault with the 612 (Google HG612 overheating) or a problem on the line - both of which Openreach have to sort out.

It's like back when ADSL first came out, you pretty much needed an ADSL modem and a separate router as combo devices were rare and expensive. If there was only one computer in the house, you could plug the modem directly into it. No need for an internal network etc.

What acts as a DHCP server though? Your ISP ?

[Paul Ferson Veteran]

Do you have that Huawei HG612 Openreach modem (not the router, the VDSL modem). They're known to fail in this way and as such have been replaced by newer 2B and 2V revisions (Should be sticker on the back which says if you have a 2x revision) and also Openreach are now providing modems manufactured by ECI (Although I think this depends on whats in the cabs rather than because of the Huawei's failing). They get notoriously hot. Even the two newer versions aren't exactly reliable unfortunately.

Just checked now - it's the HG612 here as well. Best bet is to replace it then, right?

[OOOOOOOO]

The contract will require another year signup min I bet. Also ... 76mb?! PAH! :p

[torrentthief]

shame there is no date for my exchange. My county will be getting 90% FTTC/FTTP by the end of 2014 but my 20mb virgin cable will do me until then, getting free upgrade to 60mb hopefully in july. I hope BT reduces the cost of FTTC in the near future as it is around ?30 inc phone line for the cheapest FTTC from any ISP as a result of BT charging ISP loads. Yet i can get 30mb virgin cable for ?22.50 ish, fttp is too pricey at the moment.

[RadishTM Veteran]

One restart later, and here are my results from both:

Date of Speed Test: 2012-04-11 16:45:54 Download Speed: 680 kbps (85 KB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 6828 kbps (853.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Ridiculous, to be honest. I've had nights where it's absolutely silky smooth as well, which makes it even more frustrating to me.

Check the IP Profile for your line and post back with details - http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ (click the "Fibre to the Premises Diagnostics" under Note 2).

A stuck IP Profile with low download speeds usually indicates a fault due to line noise or restarting the modem/router quite frequently on your end (which also shows your local exchange there is instability), contact BT to reset it and/or get them to sort you out a new router.

Once they do, it can take up to 3 weeks to get the maximum speed for your line (providing there are no other issues).

[Biohead]

What acts as a DHCP server though? Your ISP ?

You don't need dhcp, your PC gets directly assigned the external IP address e.g. 82.114.32.234

[Paul Ferson Veteran]

Check the IP Profile for your line and post back with details - http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ (click the "Fibre to the Premises Diagnostics" under Note 2).

A stuck IP Profile with low download speeds usually indicates a fault due to line noise or restarting the modem/router quite frequently on your end (which also shows your local exchange there is instability), contact BT to reset it and/or get them to sort you out a new router. Once they do, it can take up to 3 weeks to get the maximum speed for your line (providing there are no other issues).

I got 3.67MB. Still not good, but it's an improvement. I checked with my mum and we'll see about getting a replacement for the current HG621 we have in the house as well. If there's a new router too, that'd be great.

[Detection]

You don't need dhcp, your PC gets directly assigned the external IP address e.g. 82.114.32.234

Yea that's what I thought, not going to help if the openreach modem is the problem though

[ToneKnee]

I've just placed an order for this BT product. The house I'm in is a new build and not to mention the cab is less than 100metres, so I'm hoping to get nearly the full speed. I'll find out next Thursday (the 19th) any ways. :)

[McKay]

Wish I could get that in my area. Stuck on 14/2.5 :(

Stuck on 6.5mb down. Who knows up.

[Phemo]

Been on the 40/10 (sorry, 38/9 as BT are now forced to advertise it as...) Infinity package for months now with no problems - had full speed since the day it was installed and no downtime. Was on Virgin 50 meg at the time but it was diabolical in this area so I moved to VDSL. I'll certainly be renewing my contract for the extra speed tomorrow. Should see at least 70Mbit out of it given how far I am from the FTTC cab.

[FlintyV]

Aww. Still stuck on 6mbps/448kbps :(. Guess that's what you get for living with a tiny amount of exchange subscribers.

[Biohead]

Yea that's what I thought, not going to help if the openreach modem is the problem though

It narrows it down to it being the modem rather than the router though. Its only a method of fault finding - its not any form of fix if that's what you thought I meant!

Been on the 40/10 (sorry, 38/9 as BT are now forced to advertise it as...)

I wondered why they'd stopped using 40!

[Detection]

Aww. Still stuck on 6mbps/448kbps :(. Guess that's what you get for living with a tiny amount of exchange subscribers.

My whole internet life I was always on a crappy slower than 90% of anyone connection no matter where I lived, it has only been a few months since I finally got FTTC

Kinda makes up for all those years of hair pulling to get a huge upgrade twice in 12 months

[Crisp]

Sucks that my exchange has had its date changed 5 times over 2 years.

[jakem1]

Why not, I'm not going with any other ISP while BT are providing these sorts of speeds, quite happy to renew

That's fine if you're happy with BT but not everyone wants to be stuck on a contract for internet. To be honest, I don't even know why there is such a thing as a contract for internet access - what exactly are you paying off?

I was a BT Broadband customer years ago when they offered unlimited ADSL. I wasn't effected but I saw a lot of people stuck when BT changed their terms of service and introduced download limits - all the people on contracts were stuck with nowhere to go. I've been considering BT Infinity because the speeds look so good but I really don't want to end up stuck with BT because they're dodgy, unreliable, overpriced and their customer service is the worst I've ever had to deal with. Seeing them force users to extend their contracts just to take advantage of network improvements is not the sort of thing that makes me want to switch.

I've been with Be* for the last few years. They don't have contracts (you just have to give them a month's notice I think), they offer things like static IP addresses as standard and their customer service is top notch. The only problem is, they don't have any clear plan to migrate to fibre-optic any time soon :angry:

[Detection]

That's fine if you're happy with BT but not everyone wants to be stuck on a contract for internet. To be honest, I don't even know why there is such a thing as a contract for internet access - what exactly are you paying off?

I was a BT Broadband customer years ago when they offered unlimited ADSL. I wasn't effected but I saw a lot of people stuck when BT changed their terms of service and introduced download limits - all the people on contracts were stuck with nowhere to go. I've been considering BT Infinity because the speeds look so good but I really don't want to end up stuck with BT because they're dodgy, unreliable, overpriced and their customer service is the worst I've ever had to deal with. Seeing them force users to extend their contracts just to take advantage of network improvements is not the sort of thing that makes me want to switch.

I've been with Be* for the last few years. They don't have contracts (you just have to give them a month's notice I think), they offer things like static IP addresses as standard and their customer service is top notch. The only problem is, they don't have any clear plan to migrate to fibre-optic any time soon :angry:

Yea contracts suck in general, but I'm not planning on moving house any time soon and not planning on leaving BT so it really doesn't make much difference to me atm

But I get where you are coming from, the only reason I can think of contracts is for when they actually have to install equipment your end or they could spend millions doing that every day only for the customer to leave them 1 month later and keep all the gear

[jakem1]

Yea contracts suck in general, but I'm not planning on moving house any time soon and not planning on leaving BT so it really doesn't make much difference to me atm

But I get where you are coming from, the only reason I can think of contracts is for when they actually have to install equipment your end or they could spend millions doing that every day only for the customer to leave them 1 month later and keep all the gear

Yes, I presume BT argue that the contract covers the cost of the modem/router. Of course, nobody actually wants these and I can't think of the last time I ever used an ISPs hardware. Be* expect you to give them the router back when you leave them (or charge you for it if you don't return it) which I think is fair and much better than being stuck on a contract.

BT also make you sign contracts for landlines despite the fact that they're not supplying any hardware and they force you to renew the contract if you ever try to switch packages. I think they're just taking the p*ss to be honest and I know they use it as an excuse to lock you in and charge you extra if you ever want to change anything.

Anyway, hopefully everything will work out for you with BT :) In the meantime, I need to make a list of pros and cons to see whether I can stomach returning to BT.

[Detection]

Anyway, hopefully everything will work out for you with BT :) In the meantime, I need to make a list of pros and cons to see whether I can stomach returning to BT.

Thanks, well I have to say since getting FTTC I haven't had an ounce of bother with them, their ADSL package is a joke though, constantly resetting routers and emailing and calling them to try get something working, but the lines are old, so no wonder FTTC is more or less problem free, it has removed 95% of the copper line from the equation

[jakem1]

Thanks, well I have to say since getting FTTC I haven't had an ounce of bother with them, their ADSL package is a joke though, constantly resetting routers and emailing and calling them to try get something working, but the lines are old, so no wonder FTTC is more or less problem free, it has removed 95% of the copper line from the equation

That's good to know. My ADSL connection gets really unstable in Autumn and Spring as the temperature shifts (weird, I know :)) and it would be nice to have a stable connection. I just wish BT offered static IP addresses on their consumer packages because I could accept the customer service problems if I didn't have to find workarounds and alternatives to the things I do now. BT Business plan prices are steep when all you want is a static IP address.