BT Essential broadband

[Kevyn]

Hi all, I am currently a  BT Halo 1 customer.  Unfortunately, I have been made redundant and I am struggling to afford to pay the monthly fee for  broadband, TV and landline.  I am hoping this will be a temporary issue.

I rang BT to enquire about switching my broadband to the essentials package and save quite a bit of £s, monthly.

I sailed through the eligibility check but at the end of the order the sales chap informed me that I would have to return all of my BT complete WiFi disks. ....

I completely understand that I do not own these disks, however I have a heavy reliance on them to connect to various IoT devices, including CCTV, 16 outside light bulbs , intruder alarm etc etc.

I am now in a position that the BT site survey indicated I needed these disks for complete WiFi coverage  and my own investigations confirm various black spots within the property, If I downgrade my WiFi will be unfit for purpose.

If I switch to BT essentials broadband I will severely degrade my wifi connectivity.  

Any Ideas?

1) How do I speak to somebody senior in BT who can authorise me to retain the WiFi disks but switch to BT essentials, temporarily?

2) If I take out the BT essentials package, will BT  enforce the return of the disks (I think BT are now tracking returns of old kit)?

3) Will BT  block my SH2 router from using the whole WiFi mesh disks, rendering them useless?

I am fully intending on getting full employment ASAP and will switch back to HALO 1, so this is only a temporary measure, however, I have built a massive dependence on the WiFi coverage for services other than browsing the web.

I am also in year 2 or 3 of using whole house WiFi and renewed contract last year (if that makes any difference)

Many thanks

[-Richie- · Accepted solution]

Sorry to hear about your circumstances, hopefully as you say only short term 🙂

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Policy is policy, the disc(s) are on loan whilst you're a complete wi-fi customer, the good news is you have options :

1 - You have 60 days to return them, if you get a new job and upgrade again, you have time to keep hold of them before the deadline to return them arrives.

2 - Take the hit, each disc comes with a £30 fee for not returning them, if after being charged you return them to BT within 2 years, you get a refund of the fee.

3 - You can buy the discs outright on the BT Shop, they cost £100 each but would be yours to keep, maybe not an investment to make until your circumstances change.

When you change to any non complete wi-fi package, part of that order that removes the promotion will trigger a returns bag and BT will send reminders to return them, if not returned a charge is applied, see If your equipment isn't returned 
BT won't block the disc(s) from the SH2, you just get a charge for non return.

[Kevyn]

Thanks for you reply  - I shall have a think on the best way to proceed.