Hi, Hopefully someone can offer me a little advice with a BT problem
I'm having !

I've recently moved house, giving up an NTL cable connection in the
process, and now I'm trying to get ADSL broadband at my new home.
After spending some four hours on the phone bouncing between Orange
(my chosen ISP) and BT, I've got nowhere fast.

In short, my neighbours either side of me can get 6.5MB minimum ADSL,
as we are all just 200 metres from the exchange. I can get nothing.
Not according to Orange and ultimately BT via their ADSL checker page,
as my line is "too far from the exchange" !!

Looking outside my new house I can see that my neighbours are
connected to telegraph poles on our side of the road. I, on the other
hand, am connected to a pole on the opposite side of the road, and
what's more, I am the ONLY wire coming off that pole. This is
certainly the cause of my ADSL woes.

I am trying to get BT to move my line to one of poles that my
neighbours are connected to (one of which is actually physically
nearer to me than the one I'm currently connected to !), but it's like
trying to get blood out of a stone.

One chap at BT suggested I order an additional line, which (according
to his screen) they could guarantee would support at least 6.5MB ADSL
(i.e. it would be coming from one of the other poles), then transfer
my number from the old line to the new one, then cancel the old
line..... but this would cost me £125 plus any extra costs involved in
moving the number etc.

I don't think this is fair. If BT move my line, they will be getting
the extra income from an additional broadband subscriber, AND they
would no longer have to look after the pole as without my connection,
it's obsolete.

I have complained via email to BT and am awaiting a reply - but I'm
not hopeful. My experience of BT in the 5 days I've been a new
customer of theirs is very disappointing indeed.

Does anyone have any suggestions please ? I'm slowly going insane
trying to get something done about this.

Many MANY thanks to anyone who can help me !

Cheers,

Kev.

On Feb 22, 3:21 pm, pcmang...@orange.net wrote:

Kev

You might find that you're on the border of two exchange areas and
that your line is fed from a different exchange from your neighbours -
it might be worth running an ADSL check on yours and your neighbours
number - you can then see if the serving exchange code of each is
different or not. If you're on a different exchange then moving the
line to the other pole will be impossible. If you're on the same
exchange then you're looking at a line plant rearrangement - which
will be expensive.

My gut feeling is that you could be served off a different exchange,
in which case ordering a new line and requesting being served off the
nearer exchange would be the best and cheapest option.

"Ash" <ash.potter@ournewbusiness.com> wrote in message
news:1172158197.681032.6920@v45g2000cwv.googlegrou ps.com...
On Feb 22, 3:21 pm, pcmang...@orange.net wrote:

Kev

You might find that you're on the border of two exchange areas and
that your line is fed from a different exchange from your neighbours -
it might be worth running an ADSL check on yours and your neighbours
number - you can then see if the serving exchange code of each is
different or not. If you're on a different exchange then moving the
line to the other pole will be impossible. If you're on the same
exchange then you're looking at a line plant rearrangement - which
will be expensive.

My gut feeling is that you could be served off a different exchange,
in which case ordering a new line and requesting being served off the
nearer exchange would be the best and cheapest option.


Find the worst driver in your area with the largest vehicle and ply him with
drink. He might run into the old pole and cure the problem :-)

We are all on the same exchange - it would appear that my line is
connected to the exchange via the pole over the road, then via nova
scotia or somewhere, before returning to the exchange 200 metres
behind my house ! :-)

Oh, I've thought of all the options on that front... Trouble is,
they're all illegal :-)
....and the BT engineer may just repair the damage to my line / pole
and leave me in the same position !

What I'm having trouble understanding though, is that before I moved
to the new house, I put the previous owner's number
into Orange's broadband checking page and it said that not only was
broadband available on the line, but I could
expect between 6.5 and 8 Meg !! Now, that's the same line, on the
same pole, just two weeks ago. All that's changed is that
the line now has a different number (brought over from my old NTL
account). How on earth can one number have broadband and a new number
not, when we're using the same hardware ??

pcmangler@orange.net wrote:

Have you explained this to them ?

Why Orange btw ? In such cases it pays to have a helpful and competent ISP ! The
bigger outfits seem to be universally incompetent, differing by degrees only.

Graham

When your number was transfered from NTL there would probably be some delay
before the broadband checker is updated. Try again in a few weeks and I
expect you would get a positive result.
In this situation a good ISP would offer to raise the broadband order
manually with BT Openreach.

Fred

The Simpsons wrote:

Exactly.

Graham

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:45DDC817.F1A7EB54@hotmail.com...
So, go back to your chosen ISP and explain the problem. Give details of
your neighbour who has Broadband and ask for it to be dealt with between the
ISP and their supplier (BT Wholesale). If your chosen ISP will not (or say
they cannot) help, this is a good example of what you can expect in the
future from their customer service. At this point ditch that choice of ISP
and chose another one and start again.

JJ

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:45DDC817.F1A7EB54@hotmail.com...
or some isp will not take NTL numbers. I was am ntl customer 4 years ago.
Moved to Bt casue of service issues. Got broadband with plusnet (fine up
until the end). I tried move to talk talk & they said no cause it was an ntl
number despite being a bt customer. NTL still own that number and if its
ever give up ownership goes back to NTL to reuse not BT. Some ISPs or at
least Talk Talk have a problem with this !

Regards

adam

"dylan30" <dylan30@harbour.me.uk> wrote in message
newseGdnV43vJncSEDYnZ2dnUVZ8qugnZ2d@eclipse.net. uk...
AIUI the rules on migrated numbers (ie one that has moved from one telco to
another) is that the customer can now chose to move it to a 3rd, or even 4th
telco, without hitting this issue, **PROVIDED** it is the SAME customer.

SO Mr Blogs could have had 01234 987654 with Firts Telecom, then moved it to
Slightly Cheaper Phones, and then on to Rock Bottom Calls without any
problem. And at some date in the future he could then move it on again, if
he so chose.

However, if Mr Blogs gives up service on 01234 987654 it **MUST** be offered
back to the original doning telco, in the above example Firts Telecom.

IIRC the only exception would be if Mr Blogs shuffled off this mortal coil,
and it could then be transferred to Mrs Blogs.

It definately works with Mobile Numbers. Mine started out with Cellnet,
then moved to Orange, then Vodafone and now resides with Virgin. At no time
have I had a problem moving it. The same SHOULD apply to landlines AIUI.

HTH

JJ

pcmangler@orange.net wrote:


1. find yob
2. buy £20 banger at scrap yard
3. point yob at banger & pole

Hopefully BT will agree that it's cheaper to re-provision you from
another pole than it is to put the broken pole back.

Oh .... it's probably a really bad idea to go out there at night, rip
the cable cover off of the pole and yank as hard as possible on the
cable, too. Rent a yob to do it instead.

Denis McMahon

pcmangler@orange.net wrote:

Availability database doesn't like the ported number?

Denis McMahon

"Capt Jack Sparrow" <no.reply@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:y6qdnXfmoKyHSkDYRVnyhwA@bt.com...
There is no obligation on a service provider to port a number in, however
they must be able to port it out if requested by another sevice provider.
Note that it is the service provider who makes the request NOT the customer.
Therefore Talk Talk or Orange are quite within their rights not to take the
number, albeit they may not get your business.

Peter

Capt Jack Sparrow wrote:

This may prove problematic if you're talking to Indians over a poor VoIP
connection of course.

Graham

"Peter Andrews" <p.andrews@blueblueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:JWmDh.709$HO5.610@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk.. .
Good point, I forgot to add that bit.

JJ

Thanks for all the info so far. The situation now is that I have a
complaint in with BT and a chap on a broadband website is also helping
(I believe he has some contacts etc).

I am sorely tempted to knacker the pole, but knowing my luck, I'd end
up in court and have no broadband or telephone !

The reason I'm persisting with Orange is that I bought a new contract
mobile *specifically* so I could get their Broadband Unlimited package
for £5 per month. If I go to another ISP, I've wasted my money - but
it's still an option if I get nowhere with Orange.

As for trying to explain *anything* to *anyone* in BT - and
particularly Orange, forget it. I've spent FOUR HOURS on the phone
speaking to about 20 people now - and every one of them seems
genetically incapable of thinking outside the box. It's "computer
says no" all the time.

The really annoying part is that BT say that if I cough up £125 I can
have a second line that WILL support broadband, yet trying to get them
to move my existing one - you'd think I was asking for them to rewire
a major city.

There is some 'progress' to report, though I'm still no nearer to
getting broadband ! I got a reply from BT complaints dept stating
that my existing line DOES support broadband "up to 8Mb", I responded
with a screen dump of their BT Wholesale ADSL Availability Checker
saying that my line doesn't and asked them to explain the difference.
They replied with the output from their "BT Total Broadband Speed
Checker" saying that it does and offering to sell me BT Total
Broadband. I've just replied to that with an explanation that I want
my broadband from Orange as I can get it for £5 per month, and what I
want them to do is to correct the erroneous data on the BT Wholesale
checker as that is where non-BT ISPs check. I shall await their
response. I've also now had confirmation from the previous owner that
they did indeed have broadband here, on the existing line, from
Tiscali. The ball is now in BT's court again.

What a pain in the arse this is turning into !

pcmangler@orange.net wrote:

Considering that BT put the line in and you may get your phone from a different
company and your broadband from another, it's amazing it works at all.

Graham

On 22 Feb, 15:21, pcmang...@orange.net wrote:
Try http://www.britishtelecomandcustomerservicess***.com for any
enquiries you may have.

M

On 22 Feb, 15:21, pcmang...@orange.net wrote:
A BT Anecdote:

Once, some time ago, I lived in a village and requested a second BT
line. It took two weeks, three BT Engineers and two BT Vans.
Apparently because the pole was unsafe for a ladder. Hm...
My suggestion: Breed woodworms and release them near the pole. That's
the only way.

I'm surprised that the ignorant BT representative hasn't asked to
which pole you would like to be transferred. North or South? But then,
why would you work for BT if you had paid attention in geography?

And another BT Anecote:

I wondered why I had two BT lines in my apartment. It turned out that
the previous tenant had requested a BT line but the BT Engineer didn't
figure that the existing socket must have been hidden behind some
furniture. There's an odd cable running through the house to my flat.
Somone was charged for it. It wasn't BT.

M N Feuersteiner
martin@invent2b.com