Comments on: BT Total Broadband Review http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/ PHP/MySQL, REALbasic, Javascript Developer Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:11:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: David Hurst http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-16409 David Hurst Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:18:37 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-16409 I never had a problem with BT although I moved to Tiscali a while back for cost reasons and because the Home Hub started doing very odd things thanks to BT's overnight upgrades. BT would not accept there were any faults so I moved. Tiscali is definitely slower, but it is reliable and quick enough for everything I need. We use BT Network Broadband at work, which is brilliant. I guess that, as with all things, no company can get it right 100% of the time, and it looks like you are the unlucky one Pauline. Sorry to hear about your woes, but thanks for posting. It's good to get a fair reflection of their service. I never had a problem with BT although I moved to Tiscali a while back for cost reasons and because the Home Hub started doing very odd things thanks to BT’s overnight upgrades. BT would not accept there were any faults so I moved. Tiscali is definitely slower, but it is reliable and quick enough for everything I need.

We use BT Network Broadband at work, which is brilliant.

I guess that, as with all things, no company can get it right 100% of the time, and it looks like you are the unlucky one Pauline. Sorry to hear about your woes, but thanks for posting. It’s good to get a fair reflection of their service.

]]> By: Pauline Thoburn http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-16398 Pauline Thoburn Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:00:12 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-16398 I've renamed BT Total Broadband as "BT Total Disaster" It is the most appalling service I have every had from anyone. I 'upgraded' to it after almost 6 years of faultless service with the previous BT Broadband service. It was a complete disaster from day 1. No connection for over 2 weeks. My husband and I spent not hours, but complete days on the phone to BT's appalling Indian callcentre. They were incapable of understanding us, or we them because many of them had such a poor grasp of English (my husband spends a great deal of time in India and even he had problems understanding them). They wouldn't get off the script and seemed to have little grasp of technical issues. They constantly lied to us, and made promises that they didn't keep. It simply took over our lives for the whole period. It turned out they had completely messed up domain name registration. The service we got performed much worse than the previous one. It was slower and far less reliable, and 10 days ago it went down again. They have not been able to restore it. We had exactly the same appalling call centre service with many more lies and broken promises. They seem utterly incaple of sorting out the mess they have created. One of the UK help team (as rare as hen's teeth) confirmed our fears - in india they've screwed up all the domain registrations yet again. I would recommend that NO-ONE signs up for this dreaful service. I’ve renamed BT Total Broadband as “BT Total Disaster” It is the most appalling service I have every had from anyone. I ‘upgraded’ to it after almost 6 years of faultless service with the previous BT Broadband service. It was a complete disaster from day 1. No connection for over 2 weeks. My husband and I spent not hours, but complete days on the phone to BT’s appalling Indian callcentre. They were incapable of understanding us, or we them because many of them had such a poor grasp of English (my husband spends a great deal of time in India and even he had problems understanding them). They wouldn’t get off the script and seemed to have little grasp of technical issues. They constantly lied to us, and made promises that they didn’t keep. It simply took over our lives for the whole period. It turned out they had completely messed up domain name registration.

The service we got performed much worse than the previous one. It was slower and far less reliable, and 10 days ago it went down again. They have not been able to restore it. We had exactly the same appalling call centre service with many more lies and broken promises. They seem utterly incaple of sorting out the mess they have created. One of the UK help team (as rare as hen’s teeth) confirmed our fears - in india they’ve screwed up all the domain registrations yet again.

I would recommend that NO-ONE signs up for this dreaful service.

]]> By: David Hurst http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-15233 David Hurst Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:41:56 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-15233 Carolyn, It's been a while since I wrote that post, and I'm actually now with Tiscali, who have been great and very cheap. I think I can answer this one for you though as a web designer. Don't use free hosting tied to your ISP. You probably can't have a domain name with the home account, so you will end up with a very poor domain name which will be hassle to move if you ever want to go elsewhere. Domain names are cheap, and so is basic hosting. Keeping the connectivity separate from your hosting gives you more freedom to move ISP to get the best deal. Expect to pay about £7 per 2 years for a .co.uk domain name, and reasonable hosting can be had for £2 per month. Give 1&1 a try - www.1and1.co.uk. Carolyn,

It’s been a while since I wrote that post, and I’m actually now with Tiscali, who have been great and very cheap.

I think I can answer this one for you though as a web designer. Don’t use free hosting tied to your ISP. You probably can’t have a domain name with the home account, so you will end up with a very poor domain name which will be hassle to move if you ever want to go elsewhere.

Domain names are cheap, and so is basic hosting. Keeping the connectivity separate from your hosting gives you more freedom to move ISP to get the best deal. Expect to pay about £7 per 2 years for a .co.uk domain name, and reasonable hosting can be had for £2 per month. Give 1&1 a try - www.1and1.co.uk.

]]> By: Carolyn http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-15232 Carolyn Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:32:18 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-15232 Dear David, I am interested to hear about your positive experience of BT Total Broadband as I am thinking of migrating from Orange and BT is near the top of my list of possibles. Do you by any chance know if I could set up the most simple of websites - with my own domain name, and e-mail address with it - using one of these home packages? It would contain some brief info only, definitely no e-commerce. I ask because I am wavering between the Home and Business packages that BT offer, and am getting conflicting answers depending on who I speak to. In many ways the home package would suit me better (free Norton, inclusive phone calls), but I would like the domain name and I don't think the home packages supply the fixed IP address that I believe I would need. Some BT people say it would be fine. Others say out of the question! Will I fall between Home and Business and find myself in no man's land? Any thoughts? Many thanks, Carolyn Dear David,
I am interested to hear about your positive experience of BT Total Broadband as I am thinking of migrating from Orange and BT is near the top of my list of possibles. Do you by any chance know if I could set up the most simple of websites - with my own domain name, and e-mail address with it - using one of these home packages? It would contain some brief info only, definitely no e-commerce. I ask because I am wavering between the Home and Business packages that BT offer, and am getting conflicting answers depending on who I speak to. In many ways the home package would suit me better (free Norton, inclusive phone calls), but I would like the domain name and I don’t think the home packages supply the fixed IP address that I believe I would need. Some BT people say it would be fine. Others say out of the question! Will I fall between Home and Business and find myself in no man’s land?
Any thoughts?
Many thanks,
Carolyn

]]> By: Neil Smith http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-14899 Neil Smith Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:29:52 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-14899 I upgraded to BT Total Broadband, or at least tried to. I got the hub when they said I would and since then have had nothing but hassle - I've phone the Indian call centre many times and even had an engineer out to the house - all to no avail - that damn orange broadband light won't stop flashing. Total frustration. I upgraded to BT Total Broadband, or at least tried to. I got the hub when they said I would and since then have had nothing but hassle - I’ve phone the Indian call centre many times and even had an engineer out to the house - all to no avail - that damn orange broadband light won’t stop flashing. Total frustration.

]]> By: David Hurst http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-12306 David Hurst Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:54:57 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-12306 Ashley, I think you would be better looking at 1&1. www.1and1.co.uk Web hosting that is included with broadband packages, generally won't have scripting and database features, nor will it be suitable for business use. Regards, David Ashley,

I think you would be better looking at 1&1. www.1and1.co.uk

Web hosting that is included with broadband packages, generally won’t have scripting and database features, nor will it be suitable for business use.

Regards,

David

]]> By: Ashley Revell http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-12280 Ashley Revell Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:46:11 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-12280 Hi I'm looking at setting up a forum. I'm aware i need ahosting package that supports PHP and mySQL. I'm currently tied in with BT and wondered if their web service could be used to run the forum? Hi

I’m looking at setting up a forum. I’m aware i need ahosting package that supports PHP and mySQL. I’m currently tied in with BT and wondered if their web service could be used to run the forum?

]]> By: David Hurst http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-4639 David Hurst Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:14:58 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-4639 I think I should point out that BT do clearly state that they ship the equipment to arrive on the day your broadband is activated, but that your broadband may not necessarily be activated by the time the equipment arrives. Mine arrived at 9.30 and my broadband came on just after lunch. I think I should point out that BT do clearly state that they ship the equipment to arrive on the day your broadband is activated, but that your broadband may not necessarily be activated by the time the equipment arrives.

Mine arrived at 9.30 and my broadband came on just after lunch.

]]> By: Dave http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-4624 Dave Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:27:29 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-4624 After been with telewest cable broadband suddenly Mr Branson took over and turned us to his virgin empire which is taking over the world at the moment then my phone bills got higher my broadband got worse so it was time for a change so went for the BT broadband package three with this smart slinky black hub well the hub arrived and I was ready to go well I thought so I was all connected waited for about two hours nothing ok customer support here I come after about 30 minutes I got through well to bangeldeshi telecome what hell after trying to understand what the earth they was saying and been put throught to many advisors I got a answer I have not been activated yet ok I After been with telewest cable broadband suddenly Mr Branson took over and turned us to his virgin empire which is taking over the world at the moment then my phone bills got higher my broadband got worse so it was time for a change so went for the BT broadband package three with this smart slinky black hub well the hub arrived and I was ready to go well I thought so I was all connected waited for about two hours nothing ok customer support here I come after about 30 minutes I got through well to bangeldeshi telecome what hell after trying to understand what the earth they was saying and been put throught to many advisors I got a answer I have not been activated yet ok I

]]> By: Michael Borthwick http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-2115 Michael Borthwick Thu, 10 May 2007 17:05:42 +0000 http://www.davidhurst.co.uk/2006/10/13/bt-total-broadband-review/#comment-2115 Hia, I have been with BT Total Broadband now for about 2 weeks in which I have encountered a number of problems so far. Firstly the equipment did arrive by courier on the date given by BT, but the activation didnt happen on the arrange date (3 days later). Secondly, my Broadband is poor in which Im only getting around 300Kbps, to which I have been constantly on the phone to the Technical helpline. Just seem to be past from pillar to post and Im pretty fed up with it. I hope its just a case that I hope it does increase and I Just wanted to add that its great that the Technical helpline is free, but it is really difficult to understand the people there, as per usual the call centre is probably abroad. Hia, I have been with BT Total Broadband now for about 2 weeks in which I have encountered a number of problems so far. Firstly the equipment did arrive by courier on the date given by BT, but the activation didnt happen on the arrange date (3 days later).

Secondly, my Broadband is poor in which Im only getting around 300Kbps, to which I have been constantly on the phone to the Technical helpline. Just seem to be past from pillar to post and Im pretty fed up with it.

I hope its just a case that I hope it does increase and I Just wanted to add that its great that the Technical helpline is free, but it is really difficult to understand the people there, as per usual the call centre is probably abroad.

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