Cannot Order 900mbps Despite Showing Available on BT Wholesale

[BenHughesDS]

I am at my wits end.  I have been trying to upgrade to Fibre 900 for months now, specifically with EE who are now part of BT but every time the order goes through fine, about a week later from hearing nothing I call them and am told it was cancelled.  BT/EE claim that, though EVERY other provider on the internet says I can get 900mbps, I can only get 300mbps.  Bear in mind here that the BT wholesale checker says I can get 1000mbps, and if I use my neighbours house number on the BT site (they are literally connected to me by a wall) they can get 900mbps from BT.

I have had several conversations with Openreach who say that they can't see the problem, and even had an engineer round to confirm that all the hardware in place is capable (it is).  BT, on the other hand, blame Openreach, saying that the order is rejected with the error "The contact details supplied with your order do not match our database, Error 2044: Maximum supported speeds by line are Downstreamspeeds: 330.000 Mb/s."  This is blamed on Openreach's database, even though Openreach themselves claim no problems should occur and have even given me granular detail on how many connections the cabinet can hold and how many are in use.

I honestly don't know what to do here - BT/EE blame Openreach, Openreach blame BT.  I tried ordering 900mbps around March last year with another supplier, and that order was also cancelled inexplicably, which I can only surmise means that Openreach are to blame but are not doing anything to change it.  Worst thing is I can't make a complaint with them directly as there is no avenue to do that.

Has this ever happened to anyone before, and if so how did you overcome it?  I have spend many hours on the phone to BT/EE, nobody ever gets back to me after claiming to do so, so I am now grasping at straws as I fear I will be forever locked to 300mbps as neither entity believes they are at fault, ergo nothing will change.

Many thanks in advance.

[Keith_Beddoe · Accepted solution]

@BenHughesDS 

Welcome to this user forum for BT Retail phone and broadband customers.

Please can you post on the EE forum, as its totally separate to this one, and people there should be able to help.

https://community.ee.co.uk/

Thanks

[BenHughesDS]

Many thanks for the reply.  I thought it was pertinent to BT as they are my current provider and the only place on the internet that shows me as being falsely (but at the same time apparently not falsely) limited to 300mbps.

I'll try and post there as well/instead.

[yorkspark]

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@BenHughesDSwrote:

I am at my wits end.  I have been trying to upgrade to Fibre 900 for months now, specifically with EE who are now part of BT but every time the order goes through fine, about a week later from hearing nothing I call them and am told it was cancelled.  BT/EE claim that, though EVERY other provider on the internet says I can get 900mbps, I can only get 300mbps.  Bear in mind here that the BT wholesale checker says I can get 1000mbps, and if I use my neighbours house number on the BT site (they are literally connected to me by a wall) they can get 900mbps from BT.

I have had several conversations with Openreach who say that they can't see the problem, and even had an engineer round to confirm that all the hardware in place is capable (it is).  BT, on the other hand, blame Openreach, saying that the order is rejected with the error "The contact details supplied with your order do not match our database, Error 2044: Maximum supported speeds by line are Downstreamspeeds: 330.000 Mb/s."  This is blamed on Openreach's database, even though Openreach themselves claim no problems should occur and have even given me granular detail on how many connections the cabinet can hold and how many are in use.

I honestly don't know what to do here - BT/EE blame Openreach, Openreach blame BT.  I tried ordering 900mbps around March last year with another supplier, and that order was also cancelled inexplicably, which I can only surmise means that Openreach are to blame but are not doing anything to change it.  Worst thing is I can't make a complaint with them directly as there is no avenue to do that.

Has this ever happened to anyone before, and if so how did you overcome it?  I have spend many hours on the phone to BT/EE, nobody ever gets back to me after claiming to do so, so I am now grasping at straws as I fear I will be forever locked to 300mbps as neither entity believes they are at fault, ergo nothing will change.

Many thanks in advance.

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Have you fttp already installed? Check your ont make/model, as it sounds like yours is an eci ont, and as such they are limited to 330/50  and this cannot be improved or replaced without network rerouting/headend work.

In a nutshell, your stuck with 330 for the considerable foreseeable.

clicky! 

[BenHughesDS]

Yes, I have FTTP installed.  I had an openreach engineer round last night who confirmed that the gear I have is perfectly capable of 900mbps.  The house literally attached to mine has the same stuff and the BT site shows they can get 900mbps.  I got an email from openreach in September 2023 saying I could order it.  The BT Wholesale and Openreach sites say I can order it.  We are connected to the same cabinet and there are 12 available connections, 7 in use.

I do not and will not accept that I am stuck on these speeds as there is no acceptable reason for it.

[BenHughesDS]

OK, it is an ECI ONT, but I will not accept being capped at this because "reasons."  They need to come and upgrade it ASAP in that case given I'm living next door to people connected to the same damn cabinet getting the speeds I should be able to get.

[yorkspark]

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@BenHughesDSwrote:

OK, it is an ECI ONT, but I will not accept being capped at this because "reasons."  They need to come and upgrade it ASAP in that case given I'm living next door to people connected to the same damn cabinet getting the speeds I should be able to get.

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Nothing will be happening ASAP! no matter what you say.

They will not upgrade you until they plan to replace all the other customers on the same headends ont , also, you are not connected to a cabinet either. Did you read the clicky?, you are on the max possible with eci equipment and until there is an exchange upgrade, there is nothing you can do. 

[yorkspark]

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@BenHughesDSwrote:

Yes, I have FTTP installed.  I had an openreach engineer round last night who confirmed that the gear I have is perfectly capable of 900mbps. Not if its ECI it isnt, the engineer was wrong. The house literally attached to mine has the same stuff and the BT site shows they can get 900mbps. It will do, however as explained, eci cannot deliver faster than 330 . I got an email from openreach in September 2023 saying I could order it.  The BT Wholesale and Openreach sites say I can order it.  We are connected to the same cabinet and there are 12 available connections, 7 in use.

I do not and will not accept that I am stuck on these speeds as there is no acceptable reason for it. Yet there is, I repeat, ECI physically cannot go faster than 330.

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[BenHughesDS]

You mean like my neighbour, who as I say is literally connected to me?  If I put my address into the BT Wholesale checker (or Openreaches site) it says I am connected to cabinet 18.  I even had an engineer round last night (from Openreach) who looked at the gear and said it was OK, though apparently he was mistaken.  Openreach have told me on the phone a number of times there should be no issue.

If their MO is to upgrade me "when they upgrade everyone else," surely this would have happened by now seeing as running some nearby addresses through the checkers say they are all connected to the same cabinet and capable of being sold 900mbps.

I don't see how a) I have to find this out from a message board and not BT/Openreach or b) that it is acceptable to be singled out from a bunch of houses for no reason and told to wait indefinitely.

[yorkspark]

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@BenHughesDSwrote:

You mean like my neighbour, who as I say is literally connected to me?  If I put my address into the BT Wholesale checker (or Openreaches site) it says I am connected to cabinet 18. You may of been for adsl/vdsl,  however you have been told FTTP does not come from a cabinet. you could be connected to an fibre exchange not even in your town. I even had an engineer round last night (from Openreach) who looked at the gear and said it was OK, though apparently he was mistaken.  Openreach have told me on the phone a number of times there should be no issue. You have been told the reason your limited to 330, which is legacy equipment.

If their MO is to upgrade me "when they upgrade everyone else," surely this would have happened by now seeing as running some nearby addresses through the checkers say they are all connected to the same cabinet and capable of being sold 900mbps. Nope, don't believe they have upgraded anyone on eci kit yet, as its a logistical nightmare, and just so you know, every address with FTTP shows as 1000 been available.

I don't see how a) I have found this out from a message board and not BT/Openreach or b) that it is acceptable to be singled out from a bunch of houses for no reason and told to wait indefinitely. Not been singled out, all properties on the same node will be limited to 330, despite your protestations, as obviously, they are all connected to the same eci headend, which physically cannot go any faster ,and as has been said repeatedly, there is nothing you can do. 

So your options are either 330/50 or a non openreach isp.

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