Bloody broadband.....

[need_my_wedge]

Had an immensely frustrating day yesterday.

I have been having some serious issue with my broadband connection, it keeps dropping out - 60 or 70 times every couple of hours. The provider is O2. I have spoken to them a number of times now, they confirm the drop outs, I have gone through all the troubleshooting steps with them, eliminated, routers, microfilters, extension leads etc. They say the problem is the BT landline. I called BT, they tested the line OK. Back to O2, quote "you can hear the noise on the line" - which you can, this is causing the problems, it's a BT issue. Back to BT, engineer called, came to the house, checked all the line OK. Went to the exchange, said he found a loose connection and fixed it - all good for 1 day. bare in mind that this has now been ongoing for nearly 3 weeks...... yesterday (1 day after the fix), exact same issue. From then all that happened was me getting caught up in between the two sides - O2 saying that it's noise on the line and a BT issue, BT saying the line is fine. I made at least 6 calls to each company, to be told every time that it was the other's responsibility.......

Where do I go from here? Who can I talk to? Someone has to take ownership of the problem and resolve it. My opinion is that it is O2 as they are the company I'm paying for the broadband service. Yes BT provide the cable infrastructure, but shouldn't it be down to O2 to liaise with BT to resolve the issue, not for me to have to waste a whole bloody morning (when I'm supposed to be working at home) making at least a dozen calls trying to find the right person to fix it?

I spoke to customer services on both companies, suggested I leave and go elsewhere, neither company was botherered. I then started trying to find a broadband/ call in one package. I'm limited in my options here since I use BT unlimited currently, with International Freedom. This is a neccessity as we call Japan and US on a daily basis. BT and Orange were the only two companies that offered Japan on their International anytime call options. To switch my broadband from O2 to BT and keep the same features I already will cost £15 more than I currently pay. The cost with Orange will be the same as I currently pay, but I've read some horrible reviews on their service, I don't want to cut my nose off to spite my face.

Welcome any thoughts with regards to getting the current problem fixed, and options going forward....

thanks
Bryan

 

[Aztecs27]

I was going to suggest changing your provider to O2, but this clearly won't help

I've been with O2 for nearly 3 years and the only problems have only ever come when a power cut shorted the router.

Other than that it's been the best BB provider I've ever had.

 

[Fyldewhite]

The only problems I've had with broadband since I've had it (8 years and 2 providers) have been BT related. Each time I've had an audible crackle on the line and each time a BT engineer has been up the pole at the back of the house to fix a physical fault. I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure the bit between the exchange and your house is the most vulnerable part of the connection and it's unlikely to be O2. I'd do all the checks BT say (sure you have) and push it with them. If their action fixed it last time (even if only for a short while) I think it firmly points the finger at BT.

 

[USER1999]

We are with BT, and their BB has been terrible for the last week. Have checked the router, and called an IT bod round, and his view is the problem is with BT.

It was back up last night, but for how long?

 

[forefortheday]

Have you had a recent upgrade to ADSL2+ (Up to 24 meg)?

This can cause issues due to the amount of bandwidth being pushed down the line this can cause drop outs.

PM me your home number I might be able to assist.

 

[dieseldave]

I had exactly the same problem with o2 more disconnected than connected this went on for about a month,and it was solved by o2 getting BT to put in a new line.

 

[Smiffy]

Try disconnecting the bell wire in the BT socket and installing a filtered face plate rather than inline filters.
The face plate only costs about a tenner and removing the bellwire costs bugger all.
If I can do it, anyone can