Rant So BT decided to restrict my internet speeds for 30 days

Hello fellow Bit-Techers. My charming broadband provider, BT, decided that over the last few months that I had been using too much internet juice. I have been paying for the unlimited (ie, non-capped) broadband option from them for a number of years, and it obviously commands a price premium. So without notifying me at all, they capped my download speeds at 60KB/s for 30 days. Now when this happened, I was mystified, so I spent ages swapping round routers and testing the connection wirelessly and via ethernet cable. When I still couldn't understand it, I took the last resort option of phoning them up, and was expecting hours of being on hold then being patronised with questions like "have you reset your router?". Fortunately that didn't happen and I was quickly put through to an Indian lady who seemed to know her stuff. She told me my internet was restricted, and that the Sales department never inform customers about the true limits on their "unlimited" connection. She said it was a sales "trick" to describe it as an unlimited connection.

 

Time to end your contact I would say. But no doubt BT have a monopoly in your area...

If there was a poll of what business type had the scummiest business practises, ISPs would be up there in the top 5, in my opinion.

 

You should have read the small print, unlimited means "we'll limit you if we feel like it", it's there in almost every ISP contract. Onetel used to do one without a limit but I think they've stopped now.

Moriquendi

 

I can't believe what they get away with. They can described their speeds as "up to" 8 or 20MB/s, whereas in my area the best you can get is 3Mb/s. They can describe their caps as unlimited, but the person I spoke to told me to keep my usage under 50/60GB. I tried to explain that me and my brother download our games, and that a large game such as GTA4 can be 15GB, but she said the limit was the limit and there was nothing she can do.

 

Yes, but unless they give an actual figure on the limit, it's still deceptive.

My contract is unlimited and I can download over 150GB a month, so clearly not all ISP contracts are created equal.

 

Well I'd been downloading that kind of amount for months and never heard a peep from BT so I assumed everything was OK. How wrong I was...

 

This is an area in which I am quite informed as of late. I've had the same problem with o2 connections at my own two addresses and also at another business premesis where I installed and maintain a computer network with a broadband connection. It is my opinion that such behavior from any ISP, regardless of their percentage share of the market or the customers usage of their services is grounds for you to implement an immediate termination of your contract with your ISP. I believe that if you pay for a service such as an "unlimited broadband package" then it is no business of your ISP what you use it for or how much you use it. I have had numerous discussions with both legal professionals and with the customer services managers of two major UK ISP's (both of whom have already been menioned in this post ) and am baffled by the amount of this behaviour that they can actually get away with at this point. Granted, in the (not too distant) future, once a certain law is passed, this sort of action will be entirely at the ISP's disposal as the government will then legally require them to take such action. Until then, I suggest you do what I have done. Take it up with a solicitor and ask them to write a letter to both your ISP and to the Citizens Advice Bureau or another public watchdog organisation explaining that 1) a breach of contract between British Telecom and yourself has been instigated and 2) it has been found and can be proven that BT themselves employ false or misleading advertising techniques in attempting to attract customers to their various broadband packages.

The bottom line is this - I wouldn't stand for this sort of thing from any company, much less BT. Don't sit back and do nothing.

 

Read through your contract with them, if there's no limit put down at all you could probably easily take them to court (Would be settled outside of court) for breach of contract and false advertising.

 

I think BT are a bit smarter than that Pieface. Doesn't make it right though!

 

They usually put that 'fair use policy' bollocks in their contracts, but never tell you what their fair use policy actually is.

 

After the phone conversation, I had a read of their fair usage policy on their website, and not once does it actually mention what any limit might be. It just says, fair usage is what we think it is.

 

thats why they can get away with it. Almost all service providers over the internet (ISPs, Web Hosts, Datacentres) all have something in the contract which pretty much says they can kick you off if they think your taking up to many resources, no matter if you are on an unlimited package or not.

I will continue this rant a little and tell you there is no such thing as unlimited. I mean come on, unlimited internet is impossible as there are limitations of line speed, overselling etc etc. What the phrasing should be is unmetered.

Anyway in terms of a new ISP I am with plus.net on their business package at home and it costs roughly £25 a month and its "unlimited" and i have had months of going well over 300GB usage and never heard a peep or been limited. In my flat I have virgin cable and again use a lot but never been limited however i dont have the exact amounts i used there and am there less frequently.

 

i'm with BT total broadband full package unlimited, i always get restricted at PEAK times for downloading over 100gb in the previous month lol, doesn't really bother me, i was with tiscali before and they limited me in peak hours for heavy usage, but when tiscali limited me i could barely use the net at all, not even facebook cause it was too slow, but they were the cheapest until they merged with talk talk.....so ended up with BT

 

I'm with plusnet although any thing above your allowance you pay for, All downloads between midnight and 8 in the morning is free so if you are going to do a big download thats the time to do it. And I'm getting 6mb consistantly.

 

You might be able to get virgin there with the changes they have made

 

If possible, leave BT Broadband. What BT is doing is nothing new. Many (most actually) 'unlimited' broadband packages have Fair Usage Policies, but ISP's enforce them differently.

Try one of these providers:

• Be Broadband Unlimited (Has a FUP but was never enforced when I was a customer for over 3 years running lots of downloads and vent/game servers)
• Sky Unlimited (No FUP at all)
• Virgin Cable 50MB (No FUP, but may not be in your area)

There are probably more but those are the only ones I can remember off the top of my head.

 

Be* still don't enforce. I've had over 500GB in a month before now without a peep from them or a dip in my d/l speeds.

 

I would promptly dump them if you can. Thats a ridiculous cap to be under for using your connection for the data heavy apps that you download.

In the states there is talk with the FCC that they want to increase ISP speeds of up to ten fold. I wish ISP's had better UL speeds, 512Kb sucks when you have 200-300 gb's of photos you wish you could upload to your unlimited picture host. :/

 

+1 for sky unlimited (or max package, whatever it is called).

TRUE unlimited broadband, no caps, no FUP's. Just an always on, unlimited connection.
not the fastest, but with no cap, thats a better deal IMO.

I've been battering my connection for a few days (1st time in years TBH tho) and never had it throttled in anyway.

I went for the big package, not 'cos I'm a big downloader, I'm not. I just want a package that I'll never have to worry about.
I'll never hit a limit, 'cos this isn't one.
So I'll never get throtlleded, or capped or billed extra.

Kinda the way broadband was meant to be used when it first came out.

IMO, people get hooked into shi7 deals and then dont do anything about it.
So it become the norm, and therfore acceptable.

I don't find it acceptable and went for an ISP that give me what I want.


And avoid Virgin like the plauge.
Besides having a crap service (I was with them for 1 year, absolute garbage)
Virgin is a media content supplier, as such they have a vested interest in you NOT getting stuff online. They have been up to all sorts of deals about forwarding supected illicit use, rightly or wronlgy on to whoever. About as trust worthy as Roy Rodgers and Triggers building co.

 

I've had no problems with Virgin Cable for the past year now (aside from long wait times contacting support). They're also the fastest consumer broadband connection available with no FUP.