BT TRAFFIC SHAPPING

[wizeman1986]

IMPORTAND : TO EVERYONE WHO IS PLANNING TO BUY BT BUSINESS BROADBAND OR EXISTING USERS WHO ARE PLANNING OF RENEWING

- I AM A BT BUSINESS BROADBAND CUSTOMER ,I HAVE THE MOST EXPENSIVE PACKAGE WITH THE 8 MBPS UNLIMITED

- BT IS TRAFFIC SHAPPING ME WITH RESULTS MY BUSINESS TO LOOSE MONEY BECAUSE OF THAT

- I HAVE CALLED BT AND TRIED TO EXPLAIN THAT BUSINESSES REQUIRE MORE BANDWITH THAN THE REGULAR USER,AND THIS WAS A REASON I CHOSEN THEIR PACKAGE! THEIR REACTION ? THEY HANG UP THE PHONE TO ME !

- UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE CONTRACT WITH THEM AND I CANT LEAVE,THEY ASK ME TO PAY 1000 POUNDS TO LEAVE FOR FUTURE SERVICES THAT I WILL NEVER USE ,THIS IS ILLEGAL , MOST OF THE REST OF THEIR COMPETITORS OFFER SMALL 6 MONTH CONTRACTS WITH THE OPTION OF PAYING A SMALL AMMOUNT IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE EARLIER

- UNTIL TODAY MY BUSINESS IS LOOSING MONEY BECAUSE OF BT'S ILLEGAL POLICIES. WHEN I REGISTERED WITH BT BY PHONE AND ASKED IF IT IS UNLIMITED THEY SAID YES,I CAN USE IT AS MUCH AS I WANT,NOBODY SAID ANYTHING ABOUT (THE ILLEGAL)TRAFFIC SHAPPING

- WHY I CANT USE THE BANDWITH I AM PAYING FOR ? WHY NOBODY PROTESTS ABOUT THAT ? WHY DO THEY ADVERTISE UNLIMITED IF ITS NOT ? WHAT IS FAIR FOR ME WHAT IS FAIR FOR THEM ?

WARNING : DO NOT BUY BROADBAND FROM BT ELSE YOU WILL END UP LIKE ME

FROM  A FRIEND

Message Edited by wizeman1986 on 03-29-2008 10:32 PM

[chris]

Traffic shaping unfortunately is necessary for ISP's to maintain stability for all users these days and BT Business are not alone in doing this, the truth is most ISP's that charge a flat monthly fee will do this. The few ISP's that don't, will make it very clear that you have a limited amount of bandwidth available per month.

However that said I know that the hardware used to traffic shape can be tailored to any configuration, wether 1 user of 100,000 users.

While I do not know your exact issue and what ports BT Business are shaping that is effecting your business, I can advise that BT Business can be reasonable and if you have a genuine business need to have a particular port excluded from the traffic shaping then ask, if they can not do this for you then I am sure under the circumstances that you would be released from contract without penalty.

If I were in your situation I would call them back and talk the situation through calmly, advising why you need these ports open and for what purpose, should they advise there is nothing they can do then ask to be released from contract without penalty.

Should the worst happen and you are being told that they can not help and can not release you from contract just ask their escalation process and follow it, I am 100% sure that this would be resolved to your satisfaction should you have a genuine need to be excluded from the traffic shaping.

Chris.

[Robert_Sole]

Firstly how is traffic shaping illegal? its in your contract. its part of fair usage policy. read the contract.

2nd it is unlimited, just that when your being throttled.. you can still download as much as you like.. just not at top line speed.

3rd it probably shouldnt effect most businesses as traffic shaping is between 4pm and 12am afaik and the limits before being traffic shaped as fairly good.

[mike123acc]

I think the point is missed. The question that needs to be answered is how much this is being done.

I have no particular issue with this myself, but I have a friend who feels the same as the first poster here. It's not illegal, of course not. But fair usage works both ways.

I can tell you one thing from my own experience. My general broadband speed (I have the fastest available connection speed business phone and broadband package with BT) is slower than a neighbour's (business next door) Tiscali speed (I think it's Tiscali - it's not BT, and it's a cheaper package than mine). It doesn't affect my business, so as I say it's not an issue for me. Still, it does make me wonder.

@Chris. I think you are being over generous if you think BT will terminate a contract so easily, and if believe dealing with BT to be so easy and straight-forward. I have been trying to dicuss my service and contract with BT for a week and getting to talk to someone that can make a decision is hard enough. A quick search on the net re. BT will tell you that if it was so easy to do get out of the contracts, BT would have far fewer customers due to BT's slow response times. I think the point is that this is a business line. We have these contracts for our business' and if the connection doesn't function as it should it will very likely have a negative effect on the business. This is not what we should be expecting.

Message Edited by mike123acc on 04-01-2008 05:40 PM

[lyonssolutions]

Fair usage applies for every ISP i know about. BT's stand on this is that if you are downloading x amount of data that effects the usage of other users then you will be capped. Now i don't think it's unfair.

If everyone wants to download 10GB a day (just an assumption) this will slow down everyone. You can be selfish and say that I pay for the service so I should have the right to use as much as I want. But hey everyone else does it. So why should they slow down for you?

Like it or not this is the way it is. If you need to download then download after 12pm and download till 5pm the following day.

This won't bother other users. This is a fair restriction I think.

[ilovelizardS]

heya,

as everyone has said, it's in the fair use policy.

i'm sorry that your business is suffering, but we all stand to benefit from traffic shaping, as we share your connection.

if you're a heavy user then maybe this isn't the product for you?

sorry not to be more helpful!