BT Records Out of Step

[#1]

About 3 weeks ago I was switched to a new, much closer cabinet courtesy of BDUK. My Download has shot up to 39950kbps from its previous 16-17000kbps, with a max achievable speed showing around 74000 kbps. The BT Availability Checker is still showing 15-25Mbps as the available line rate.

Presumably this will get sorted sometime but will it cause any issue if I were to request a move to the fibre extra package before it is changed?

[#2]

Hi Mac51@,

Thanks for getting in touch!

Unfortunately until DSL checker shows that you are able to receive Fibre Extra speeds the orders wouldn't be accepted by our suppliers.

DSL checker does update on a regular basis.

Please feel free to check back with us in the next 7-14 days and we will investigate further.

Kind Regards.

- Ollie

[#3]

Thanks, Ollie. We'll see what "regular" means!

[#4]

This has still not been sorted by Openreach or Wholesale or whoever in BT ins responsible since the service was upgraded on 12 December. Logic would say that a job is not complete until the records have been updated. If this is the way BT operates then it is not surprising that they have so many data quality issues.

The effect is that I cannot upgrade to a better service and BT, Plusnet or another ISP miss out on increased revenue.

Can Plusnet nudge BT to correct their records?

Thanks

[#5]

Hi @mac51,

I'm afraid we don't have a way to nudge BT to update their records regarding the line speeds in your area. It's important to note that these records reflect what BT feel they can consistently provide on average and that they won't be changed if they feel a higher speed wouldn't be possible to promise.

That being said, it doesn't hurt to check back on the DSL checker every now and then and if the records do update, we'd be happy to see what deals we could offer you on the Unlimited Fibre Extra package.

[#6]

Hi and thanks for the reply, but I don't think it reflects what has happened.

On 12 December I was moved from cab 11 on Kesgrave exchange to cab 30 as part of the better broadband upgrade initiative. Instead of being about 1.7km away from the cabinet I am now about 300m away. My speed jumped from 16Mb/s to 40Mb/s with a potential to reach about 70Mb/s.

So these records do not reflect BT's view of what they can deliver, they reflect the fact that BT have not got round to changing their records. The line speeds on the checker have not changed from those that were listed for cab 11. However the checker now shows that I am served by cab 30 with the speeds that I used to get from cab 11.

Can PLusnet not find a way of breaking through this?

[#7]

Hello @mac51,

I'm sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you, however, I'm afraid I can only echo what my colleague above has mentioned. We cannot nudge BT to change or update their records unless they feel they are able to provide those speeds consistently and able to deliver on the promise of the speeds quoted.

If you notice a change in DSL checker please do get back to us and we can support you further. Please do let us know if there is anything else we can assist you with.

[#8]

Hi Mads and thanks for the reply. I do however think Plusnet's response to this has been stunningly unhelpful. Again you repeat the issue of whether BT can guarantee the higher speeds. If they can only guarantee the speeds that were available from cab 11 (which is what DSL checker says) there was obviously no point at all in installing the new cabinet and Suffolk Better Broadband's money was wasted.

I will monitor the DSL checker to see if it eventually reflects reality but I have to say that it is now much more likely that any move to a faster service will be with another ISP.

[#9]

If they can only guarantee the speeds that were available from cab 11 (which is what DSL checker says) there was obviously no point at all in installing the new cabinet and Suffolk Better Broadband's money was wasted.

@mac51 have you tried contacting Suffolk Better Broadband and advising them of the situation, maybe they could poke BT with a stick to get the estimate corrected

[#10]

Thanks Mister W. That's a good point and I'll give it a try.

[#11]

Hi @mac51

While I'm not confident that this will actually resolve the issue I've submitted a formwize to the Openreach fibre enquiries team explaining the situation, though I imagine it's not something they'd be able to sort out as generally the records they'd arrange to be updated either show fibre to be available or not to be available but we'll see what response we get back.

It should be within the next 5 working days we receive a reply and I'll post back once we do.

[#12]

Thanks, I've also contacted Suffolk Better Broadband to see what they can do.

It still seems strange to me that BT should be satisfied that the DSL checker is still showing the speeds from the previous cabinet even though it identifies that service is now from a much nearer cabinet which is providing much higher speeds to its users. Just sounds like an oversight/delayed update activity to me.

[#13]

No problem. Fingers crossed something changes soon.

[#14]

@mac51, I’ve received an email from our suppliers advising that your speed estimates should now be updated. Unsure as to whether it was something they’ve done or just a coincidence that the estimates had improved by the time they picked up the query, but they’re looking a lot better now.  hope this helps. 

[#15]

Thanks, @Gandalf, that's excellent. I've just checked and they're as expected following the change of cabinet. I don't know how the system works, and it may be that if I'd waited it would have happened eventually, but 6 weeks seems a long time before the updates are made. If BT had a visible update target it would allow you to set expectations.

Thanks again!