BT are Blooming Terrific (sometimes) (BT Openworld ADSL)

Member Name: offy

Product:	BT Openworld ADSL
Date:	11/06/02 (524 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Generally fast speends, easy to set up, quick to sign on

Disadvantages: Expensive, can't get through on the technical lines, don't always get the benefit of the fast speeds

I’m an impatient person. I hate waiting for anything - food, being served, friends, petrol, the weekend and most importantly, waiting for my internet pages to load.

I have been with Lineone (Tiscali) for a couple of years now and had no problems with them, but I was getting very impatient with the slow internet speeds (in general, not Tiscali). My partner needed the telephone line free for work purposes, but I was clogging it up being on the internet every evening, so we were considering another line. Then I heard that BT had reduced the price of their Broadband offering to all internet companies. This was the solution! Not only would I have a speedy internet, but it would keep our line free for telephone calls. I immediately went onto the Tiscali site and tried to sign up. For starters they had not reduced their price from £39.99 a month to £29.99 and secondly, when I did a line check (more on this later) it said that I would not be able to get Broadband.

•• MY EXPERIENCE OF SIGNING UP ••
Off to BT I went, but was also disappointed to see that their site hadn’t been updated either so was still showing £39.99 a month. I have also heard some dreadful things about BT internet, so with some trepidation I rang them up. They explained that the price was coming down the following month (April 2002), so I could sign up now (March) and the price would be reduced from April. They performed a line check to see if I was close enough to the telephone exchange and confirmed that I was (why would Tiscali and BT be different – it is the same telephone lines?). They then told me that I would be charged £150 for installation and an engineer would come out to my house. Now, I had heard on TV that they were going to reduce their charges, so I queried it. They reluctantly admitted that from the next day they were launching their ‘plug & play’ package that would only cost me £85 for the equipment. Bl**dy chee
k trying to charge me £150 when the very next day the price was dropping!

I duly rang back the next day and signed up after a very long wait in the telephone queue. They explained that the contract was for a minimum of 12 months and my credit card would be charged each month. I was given an activation date (2 weeks ahead) and told that the package would be delivered to my home address following a final line check, which I passed.

•• THE GOODIES ••
The package arrived about a week later and I waited until just before the activation date to set it all up. I am not exactly known for my technical skills but even I managed to set it up easily. You are supplied with the relevant wires to connect to your telephone line, some software and an Alcatel ADSL external modem, which looks a bit like a green space ship. The instructions are very clear and basically you connect the wires to your telephone line, install the modem software, connect the modem, install the BT Openworld software and off you go! A day before the activation date I gave it a go, and lo and behold I was surfing at incredible speeds.

•• AM I IMPRESSED? ••
Yes, generally. I am connecting at 576,000 bps and up to 288,000 bps downloading. Attachments on hotmail load incredibly quickly as do software upgrades. When you first turn the PC on everyday and sign on to the internet, it is wonderfully quick without all that slow dialling and verifying password. However, I have been disappointed with some sites where I don’t appear to be benefiting from my fast speeds. Even Dooyoo sometimes reverts to my pre broadband speeds (despite the internet icon saying I am still on 576,000 pbs). However, generally I have been very impressed.

My credit card has been debited with the correct amount and I have had absolutely no downtime or problems at all. Their e-mail is generally reliable. although I have had two days where I was
unable to send e-mail immediately, but they eventually went about an hour later (the message was something to do with the server having too many connections). You can have up to 5 e-mail addresses, although I am only using the one. There is free web space available, but again it is something I do not currently use.

In 3 months of BT I have been unable to log on on 3 evenings. I rang the technical support line - what a waste of time! For anyone needing it the number is 0845 6007020 option 2 (charged a local rate). They then give you another free phone number for a status update of 0800 1690199. The number was constantly engaged on each occasion. I did ring the status line and it always played an up to date recording explaining what the problem was if there was one. It always tells you to to unplug the modem, reboot the PC, and plug it back in when the PC is at the desktop. This works as long as you reboot one extra time.

•• WHAT IS BROADBAND ••
I’ve already said that I am not a techie, so this is my simple explanation from what I have managed to understand. ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, and it works by using your normal phone line but splitting the data over the frequencies on the line which, means you can be on the internet and the phone at the same time – wonderful! The problem with this technology is that the further away you are from the telephone exchange, the more the signal degenerates. This means that you can only get ADSL if you are 5.5 km or closer to the telephone exchange, which restricts many people.

One advantage is that you have permanent access to the internet with no timing out after a couple of hours. One disadvantage is that it can leave your PC open to ‘abuse’ from the internet and so you should consider installing a firewall before getting broadband.

•• HOW DO I SIGN UP? ••
The website is now up to
date, so visit www.btopenworld.com. It walks you through the process, which is: check the product suitable for you, availability (line and PC check), pricing and order. The minimum specification for the home package is:

++ PC USERS ++
+ Pentium 500 Mhz
+ 32MB RAM
+ 16-bit sound card
+ 4-speed CD-ROM player
+ Video card/display 800x600, 256 colours
+ 150 MB free on hard drive
+ Windows 98,98SE, ME, 2000 Professional or XP
+ An available USB port

++ MAC USERS ++
+ PowerPC 601 or equivalent 200Mhz
+ 32MB System memory (RAM)
+ 2-speed CD-ROM player
+ Video driver/display 800 x 600, 256 colours
+ 100MB free on hard drive
+ Mac OS 8.6 and higher
+ An available USB port

•• THE WEBSITE ••
The BT Openworld website is pretty boring, concentrating on the sign up procedure, a speed demo, latest news and an about us section. However, the BT site (www.bt.com) is much more comprehensive, with everything from directory enquiries, to customer services and from buying phones to paying bills. No news updates or magazine type stories like many other ISP websites though and I have not received any newsletters from BT since joining.

•• ADVANTAGES ••
+ Generally excellent speeds
+ No two hour cut off
+ Easy to set up
+ Quick and reliable to sign on

•• DISADVANTAGES ••
+ It’s very expensive at £29.99 a month
+ The £85 equipment charge
+ You need a firewall to prevent hackers.
+ You don’t get the benefit of the fast speeds on some sites
+ You must have a credit card
+ The BT sales people are sometimes economical with the truth
+ The technical support line is constantly engaged
+ You need to unplug the modem and reboot the PC quite a lot

Overall, despite the occasional problem, recommended so far.

Summary: