how best to complain to BT

hesker

I've been a BT customer for about 2 years with no complaints up to now. I'm currently on the 2mb package. In the last month I've ben experiencing terrible download speeds every evening. Come 6pm regular as clockwork my download speeds drop from about 1800kbps to between 100-400kbps. Just this evening I got a speed of 120kbps.

I've read loads of threads on this board about reasons for this and what factors can affect download speeds but outside of peak times the service is fine. I've concluded my line and modem are fine. The diagnostics look fine as the downstream noise margin is > 15db.

Looking for advice on how best to complain and what to complain about exactly as I'm anticipating a nightmare based on my and other peoples previous experiences with their customer support.

Below are a few screenshots showing how variable the service is.

zilog_jones

If I was someone working for BT I wouldn't accept results from speedtest.net and similar websites as proof there's something wrong with your net connection.

That screenshot from your modem suggests your line quality is well within limits for 2Mb/s ADSL as you said.

lucernarian

I've seen people on Magnet fibre (or was it ST) getting 16Mbps from Speedtest.net. I doubt they're that far off the reality. What do other BT customers get off speedtest.net I wonder?

But probably the most reliable gauge of download speeds is a download from ftp.heanet.ie. Download a large Linux file for 10 minutes or so to see what the speed is like.

rahtkennades

Your problem surely is contention. Come 6pm and you get clowns like me coming home from work and cranking up their PCs. On the rare occasions I've been at home during the day 'sick' it's flown along for me. Then come the evening and it's back to crawling along.
I think BT's maximum line contention is 48:1, so on a full 2MB connection you might only be getting about 42kbps?

hesker

Exactly. As BT seem to make no promises of quality of service is there any way to argue your way to a better service short of going elsewhere.

I've been watching this board for a while and it's not inundated with similar complaints which makes me feel I'm unlucky to experience this level of deterioration. Yes I know there have been a few reports together with reports of dropped lines etc but honestly I'd have expected much more.

It's gotten to the stage that loading web pages is slow and frustrating and watching any kind of streaming video is pointless.

rahtkennades

But Hesker, the point BT will make is that you signed up for a service knowing that it could have a contention ratio up to 48:1. As long as they give you 1/48th of a 2MB line, they're meeting their contractual obligation.

The best thing you can do is find a provider that offers a better ratio, pay more for a higher speed connection, or become a night-owl and only surf at 3am.:)