This topic

Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Louq — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 07:57:06 GMT

I am considering cancelling my BT contract.

started in July with 900mbs and the speeds are averaging 300mbps and often the internet drops out completely. Unfortunately I’m in an area where the mobile signal is patchy as well and therefore having no connection is risky particularly as I moved to the area to support my elderly mum who has needed emergency help a few times this past month and was unable to reach me.

i am contracted for 900mbps but guaranteed speed is 700mbps but real speed is usual 200-300mbps on a good day. in two months the internet has reached this maybe twice to my knowledge as I run a speed test daily. However it drops after a few minutes and so there’s two issues 1) the speeds are too slow for normal household usage 2) the speeds fluctuate so much that there is no reliable bottom line because the internet drops completely on occasion.

I flagged this many times now.
BT can’t help. They told me the engineer tweaked something and they have managed 710 but this was not verified at my side.

Furthermore Saeed from BT customer support technical told me he would follow up and that my complaint would not be closed - it was a long winded and strange phone call as he was pushing hard for me to close the complaint. I felt pressured but didn’t give in and insisted he follows up as I was not receiving a normal service. He told me he would arrange to send an engineer or that I could do so at any time by clicking on the link he sent when I returned home. So I did exactly that and it took me to a page that said ‘your complaint is now closed’!

Saeed had closed my complaint after I asked him to please leave it open. This call was recorded.

im now fed up not having stable internet and extremely low speeds since July and I want to leave BT.
even when I opened a new complaint 3 days ago nobody followed up with me.

i tested the LAN and it corresponds to my wifi and also behaves erratically.

is it worth going to Vodaphone as someone I know in the area has this and says its super fast and reliable and cheaper too.

any suggestions welcome thanks.

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Kimberlin — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:14:33 GMT

@Louq Only if BT agree that it cannot provide you with the minimum guaranteed speed on your package, you might be able to leave your contract penalty free. If they don’t agree, you’ll potentially be left hundreds of pounds out of pocket as you’ve only been on the present contract for a couple of months.

How have you been measuring speeds? Using Ethernet cable or over WiFi? Are you getting broadband solely over mobile signal?

No one can really tell you whether moving to another ISP will solve your problems. In some cases, especially in very rural or remote areas, something like Starlink might be your only viable alternative.

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

iniltous — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:33:24 GMT

The chances are there is nothing wrong with your service as far a speed is concerned, it’s just the way you connect and measure speed , and TBH , even if there was a speed issue , 200-300Mb is fast , your assertion the speed is too slow for normal household usage isn’t true , normal household useage can easily get by with 50Mb , browsing , emails , etc is not bandwidth intensive, watching a UHD video is around 25Mb , HD video around 5Mb , so unless you have 8 TV’s watching a UHD film online simultaneously even your supposed 200Mb is adequate , but if you are paying for 900Mb you almost certainly will be getting at least the guaranteed minimum.

Thats not to say you don’t have a problem, but the way FTTP works , generally it works or it doesn’t , you could have a problem of losing your connection but this wouldn’t result in poor speed , you would be disconnected and gave no service for a period.

What you need to do first is, is check with a wired device and a one modern enough to make use of the Gb speed available, using WiFi devices has too many variables that your provider isn’t responsible for or can mitigate, WiFi only indicates the limitations of WiFi , not your connection.

if your service is unreliable, keep an eye on your ONT , the thing your router is connected to , does the LOS (red) light ever come on (it shouldn’t) .

The way FTTP PON’s work is everyone connected to your splitter (that’s upto 30 people) have identical performance so if there were a network problem (congestion for example) then everyone on the PON is affected, you could have an individual issue , like your router or the ONT being defective, but to start you need to have a reliable baseline , testing with a wired Gb capable device .

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Louq — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:18:06 GMT

"How have you been measuring speeds?" Using BT's own website

"Using Ethernet cable or over WiFi?" Both

"Are you getting broadband solely over mobile signal?" the broadband is provided via smart hub 3 and transmits a good strong wifi signal but the speeds are lacking

"Only if BT agree that it cannot provide you with the minimum guaranteed speed on your package, you might be able to leave your contract penalty free." This is incorrect. I am not obliged to wait around for BT to decide when it wants to follow up. Internet is considered critical infrastructure and in any case if there is a breach of contract I am entitled to leave. However I would prefer to resolve things - just seems BT is totally disinterested/ incapable of doing so.

The family who lived here before had Starlink apparently.

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

garybs29 — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:27:53 GMT

The 700 is to the hub not to devices, as long as getting it to the hub BT are supplying what was agreed.

Also when did internet become critical infrastructure? It's not, ultimately if speed to the hub is 700 you're getting what wa sagreed

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Louq — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:36:41 GMT

"but to start you need to have a reliable baseline , testing with a wired Gb capable device" - Unless you are suggesting something different - I have already used the ethernet cable to test - it correlates consistently to the wifi

As mentioned the issue is two fold - one is the 'average speed' which has been measured daily when Im home. Over two months. I disagree it's fast enough because plenty of movies on our large screen dont stream well and we need to wait until the speed catches up.

Second issue is that there are drops down to 30mbps which I have captured so 'getting by' is not what Im paying for. This is with LAN not WIFI

Finally if what you describe was the standard BT aim to deliver and contractually offer then fine but that isn't the case -they offer a stable continuous service of at least 700mbps and they offer guaranteed speeds for a reason. But if I want to drop the average down I would measure the speed 6 times a day or only when it drops. Then it would be closer to 100mbps.

This contract is proving to be a drain on our time and resources and affecting our response time to urgent situations.

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Kimberlin — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:41:30 GMT

@Louq If the previous occupants had Starlink, then that probably answers one of your questions regarding overall service issues in your locale.

Do you genuinely require 900mbps broadband? It could be argued that many households simply don't need those speeds. It seems the ISP's are constantly encouraging customers with various deals undercutting some lower speed packages, to get people onto 900mbps + speeds, the advantage to the ISP being, that obviously if customers don't renegotiate every couple of years, the 900mbps package ends up attracting a larger monthly income for the ISP. In my own situation, I have 500mbps with a partner working from home and over 30 devices connected at any one time and the speed is perfectly adequate. Then again I'm on FTTP using my own router and the connection is 100 percent rock solid 100 percent of the time.

You're clearly unhappy with BT and their responses to your complaints. As this is merely a customer to customer forum and is essentially not a direct conduit to BT, then apart from 'advice' from other forum members, you're actually wasting your own time and resources posting here. You'd probably be better off just asking to cancel your contract.

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Louq — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:01:44 GMT

The replies here so far are strange in that they imply Im asking for things like 900mbps speed when I have clearly detailed the issue is Im receiving a small fraction of this. Telling me Im wasting my time based off a pointless reply and talking about how fast your service is - good for you. 500mpbs may be good enough for you - that doesn't mean anything. But just to answer your Q - it would potentially be good enough for me as well I hope but I have yet to receive it for a consistent few minutes!

I do hope there are some customers out there who have encountered similar issues and how they dealt with.

@Kimberlin meanwhile and since BT didnt bother to follow up to the complaint I will now request cancellation

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Louq — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:07:30 GMT

"critical infrastructure" - can you live without any internet for a few days? I don't have a mobile signal / very weak but it works in one of the bathrooms in the house...I guess Ill move there when my FTTP is not working!

It should be clear from my post that Im not getting anything like 700mbps so I guess I need to update my original post to mention this one more time

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Louq — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:09:24 GMT

I said "started with 900MBPS" - this means I started a BT contract for 900 mbps. To be clear I have never received 900MBPS or even close.

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

licquorice — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:24:52 GMT

This is very odd, FTTP is not a rate adaptive service unlike FTTC, it's an all or nothing service unless there is a very strange fault. Changing suppliers won't make any difference as it will still be the same infrastructure used unless you do go to Starling.

To rule out your router being the problem, connect your laptop directly to the ONT.

You need to create a PPPoE connection using the credentials bthomehub@btbroadband.com and password BT.

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Louq — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:34:14 GMT

"To rule out your router being the problem, connect your laptop directly to the ONT.

You need to create a PPPoE connection using the credentials bthomehub@btbroadband.com and password BT."

Thank you - I will paste this in AI and try and follow the step by step and report back.

Also the fact you say FTTP is an all or nothing service - what do you mean by this? Does this mean the speed should never be variable as it has been with my connection?

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

iniltous — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 11:01:24 GMT

This is probably in some respects an unfair question , but what do you think the issue is ?,

Most of the respondents on here have an understanding of how GPON FTTP works , that’s why often some complaints on here seem unreasonable in that they are incompatible with the way FTTP actually work , as stated FTTP isn’t rate adaptive, reducing speed depending on your lines attributes (long line or poor condition slower speed , short line in good condition good speed) it’s a completely different service , generally it works as it should or it doesn’t work at all .

Some complaints that could make sense as opposed to those that don’t ‘fit’ with how GPON FTTP works , so have some ‘credibility’

I’m not getting the speed I pay for , it’s consistent but consistently less than I pay for …that could be a mis provisioned service , basically the account configured incorrectly at setup , say 300Mb was entered for the customer instead of 900Mb , obviously you would never get 900 because your throughput is held at 300 ,

at busy times , speed slows noticeably …possibly a few intensive users on the same PON are hogging the bandwidth , but this is why the minimum speed guarantee is 700 on a 900Mb service to take that into account ….congestion is easily checked , try a speed test at a quiet time , after 9pm for example, if speed OK at quiet times and noticeably slower in busy times of the day , generally taken to be 6-9pm , perhaps it’s congestion, but it’s only an issue if speed consistently falls under the MSG and even a few intensive users on a PON rarely affect the total bandwidth to the point where people get less than their minimum speed guarantee.
‘Connection goes off completely then comes back on or goes off and stays off’ this is an understandable fault , in that it’s clearly the behaviour to expect with a physical problem on the passive optical network , a defective splice for example, what this can’t do is occasionally turn 900Mb into 30Mb , it either is working or it isn’t .

That’s why the overwhelming reason for problems like you describe ate outside of the network providers responsibility, when knowing how GPON works , usually the only real way the service can perform as alleged is if the local environment or equipment is suboptimal , or the way you use the service is the problem, more often than not WiFi is the usual culprit.

Post the evidence of your 30Mb speed tests , and confirm it was on a wired device while no other devices were consuming bandwidth at the same time , for example if you had a device downloading an updated operating system, a TV watching a UHD movie and other devices on line consuming bandwidth , running a speed test in those circumstances is pointless, you obviously don’t get 900 on a speed test if the other devices collectively are consuming 300Mb .

As stated , what do you think the issue is ?

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

gg30340 — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 11:25:31 GMT

If you have a contract for the 900Mbps that is what you should get give or take a few Mbps for overheads.

Unlike copper cables which deteriorate and speeds drop off or fluctuate due to water ingress etc Fibre does not unless there is a fault and most if not all fibre faults can be resolved by a competent engineer.

The speed is as has been pointed out the speed to the router. This is to eliminate any issues with your router or devices within your network.

If you are not getting about 900Mbps you should first of report a fault to BT and request that the slow speeds be resolved.

See the link for what BT guarantee as regards your speed. Use the link provided in that to carry out the speed test or use the speed tester Fast.com which is used by Openreach. If possible use an Ethernet cable connection however if you have to use a wireless connection you should still get a good consistent speed albeit it may be considerably slower than an Ethernet test. In any event when BT test it remotely they are testing to the router and that is what they will base their fault finding on.

https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/learn-about-broadband/what-is-bt-s-stay-fast-guarantee-

Depending on which BT hub or router you are using that could be a bottleneck for your wireless speeds hence the reason to use a wired connection for speed teats. If you are still using a BT Smarthub 2 you could try asking for a BT Smarthub 3 which may help the wireless connection. BT may however just send you another SH2.

If BT can not get you your minimum speed that they guarantee you are then able to inform them that you are wanting to leave your contract penalty free if that is what you want to do.

Beware that if the problem is not fixed and you move providers the problem may just follow you there.

If you have already lodged a complaint regarding the problem and nothing has been done which resulted in you getting 900Mbps you should email the BT CEO, you will find her email address with an Internet search. She will not receive the email but her Executive Team will and they should take the complaint on board and resolve the problem to your satisfaction.

EDIT: Just noticed that you are using a SH3.

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

imjolly — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:46:06 GMT

@Louq

as someone posted earlier the 900mb is to your SH3 what you get to your devices will be less than that especially if you are using wifi connections or poor ethernet cable

Re: Cancel BT. No internet 2 months

Kimberlin — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:52:12 GMT

@Louq If you’re connected via Ethernet (minimum Cat6 cable) directly from a 1gbps port on the back of the router to a specific device, say a laptop, then the speed from FTTP should be fairly consistent. If I do this, it makes no difference as to what time of the day or night I do it, it’s steady at 500mbps. The moment I switch to WiFi on the laptop, the speed can vary between 200 and 400mbps. Everyone’s environmental circumstances are different.