Can someone check this information that BT are feeding me?

[Dan]

For the past two weeks we've had a very patchy broadband service.

16 days ago a fault was diagnosed on the line where they remotely tested from the test socket with a new ADSL filter. A "line reset" was sanctioned where they said it would take 10 days and that it would fluctuate in the meantime. That time has passed and it is still not resolved, patchy and intermittent internet access.

Every time I ring BT, the line according to their tests at the time, is within the acceptable parameters. After being told today there was nothing they could do unless they see a bad line on their tests I then jumped on the live chat to make a complaint. Trying to "catch" an intermittent fault is tricky but luckily whilst I was typing the broadband cut out where I was able to get a poor speed reading from their own test site http://www.speedtest.btwholesale.com/

The chat operator then said they were going to do another line reset and that it would take up to 10 days, exactly the same thngs they said 16 days ago. When I said I was not happy and wanted to take it further I was told that's all they were going to do and promptly disconnected me from the chat!

I have now rang up again to make a further complaint and finally have a manager ringing me back so fingers crossed.

This whole experience mirrors previous dealings with BT when things go wrong and I've found out that different BT operators tell you very different and sometimes conflicting things.

As this is a forum of users who aren't BT staff and probably know more about these things than me, I have a few questions that I'd like to ask:

1. What does a line reset actually do and why does it take so long? They've tried to explain it to me as "line cleaning" but the detail is never there.

2. If a line reset hasn't worked last time why should it a second time unless it's a fob off?

3. One operator said that I was to reboot our Netgear router if broadband got particularly bad during the "line reset" period. One of the last operators I talked to categorically told me NOT to reboot the router douring the line reset as that would adversely affect the conditioning of the line. Who is correct here?

4. We cannot afford a leased line unfortunately. We also can't get fibre in this area either although we are asking Openreach for it. We've been suggested other ISPs as a backup if BT goes down again but have conflicting advice about them all using BT architecture. If another ISP, say Virgin, is using BT lines then if there is a fault, won't both services be affected if we subscribed to both? I had a BT operator say that it would not as the signal from another ISP "goes another route" and the chances of the BT and the other ISP being down at the same time are remote. Is this true?

5. Previously we've been saved from a BT broadband outage by an old Cisco ISDN router dialling up to an on demand ISDN dialup service to provide internet connectivity. When I queried BT about a proper paid for ISDN service for backup purposes i.e. their ISDN service I was told not to bother as it was "slow"...even though "slow" is better than "none"! I am still looking at that as an option but want something a bit more reliable than the last ISDN provider I used which seemed a bit fly by night. I guess I'm asking what really are my options regarding a backup broadband service?

Any pointers or answers to these questions greatly appreciated! I'd love to rely on and trust everything that BT say but experience tells me not to unfortunately.

Thanks

Dan

[MHC]

The reset actually takes just moments ... however the 10 days refers to the time over which the DownLoad Manager forms a picture of your line performance and sets the normal speeds.

Disconnecting occasionally during the 10 days is not a problem but if you do several within a short time frame it can see them as a possible line fault.

The best way to disconnect is to power down the Hub - it will tell the DLM that it is not a line fault in the "Last Gasp/Dying Breath" comms between modem and DSLAM.

Have you checked all of your local connections?   What happens if you run it with just the modem connected?

Rather than ISDN - which is both expensive and slow,   can you get a suitable 3G dongle from one of te mobile operators?

[Dan]

Thanks MHC,

Local connectiions are fine ie LAN to router. Haven't tried the modem as we probably don't have that anymore, we have been using Netgear routers as long as we have been with BT. The "test socket" line test, or so I was told, is what decided that there was an actual fault on the line and more accurately I think they said they were seeing fluctuations in speed.

I've had a very helpful manager ring me back and an engineer is coming out on Monday. Depending how patchy it is till then that will have to be OK.

I've been told about channel bonding might be good for us in that it is something that will:

a) give us increased speed as we really are on a poor boradband speed for business purposes

b) a backup as it would require another BT line and broadband account, and for both lines to be down would require the exchange to be faulty and that is unlikely, so I've been told.

Dan