Cannot Order 900mbps Despite Showing Available on BT Wholesale

[BenHughesDS]

@iniltous 

Thanks for that, TBH I'm hoping now that it is just a data integrity issue as I don't think being on lesser speeds than my immediate neighbours will never not annoy me.  Sadly I have ASD, ADHD and OCD (all the acronyms!) so stuff like this I just cannot drop and it makes my life miserable if not resolved (think Sheldon from Big Bang Theory with the overdue DVD rental).  If I found out everyone else was in the same boat, petty as it sounds I'd probably be able to relax a bit.

I guess I'll have to press the engineer on Monday to establish if I'm on the crappy old ECI OLT and if there's any chance of a change if so.  My biggest fear is if everyone but me in the local area has been upgraded, what motivation will they ever have to upgrade little old me unless I make a fuss.

[c64z86]

I don't know if it helps, but very few things on the internet today fully utilise a 330mbps connection, let alone a 900mbps one.

The few things that do are Steam, Playstation/Xbox and Cloud storage. Everything else is fine with much less. You would not notice any difference in day to day browsing or watching videos.

You are not really missing out. A comfortable minimum, if you are living my yourself today is around 100-150mbps, which is enough for about 3 4k streams and another 1080p stream on top of that.

For now, it really is a nice speed to have, even if it is much lower than 900. But in future as our data needs increase that will change though, but for now you are not missing out.

So even if your neighbours are on higher speeds, then they aren't really utilising all that bandwidth anyway? So in a way, aren't they are kinda missing out too and wasting their money? 😛

Maybe they will upgrade the ECI when our data demands increase? They'll have to replace it at some point when it wears out anyway. 😄

So if openreach decides not to upgrade it now, it really will have to become a game of patience for you instead.

[BenHughesDS]

@c64z86 

Thanks for the response, and for trying to make light of the situation.  I am a heavy gamer so I do use those services, but I accept overall that the capability may not be used in other avenues right away.

To tell you the truth I just want to get something definitive, even if it means I am kept on 300mbps for a while.  I just worry that if there is an issue that needs to be solved, or even just can be, leaving it alone is not in my nature.

[c64z86]

I know what you mean, I have the urge to get to the bottom of things myself. Even simple things, which has rubbed me off the wrong way on more than one person. You can't help but feel it is a conspiracy of some kind, even when it isn't. Like they can have those high speeds and you can't and laugh at you being the worst in the street or something. :c

I don't know what to say, other than this is a country going backwards that can't even fix it's potholes anymore never mind the drainage and the internet problems. I'm not old enough to remember the "good old days" but people tell me stories of how every service used to be better.. So now I just try and see the bright side of things, otherwise I would drive myself crazy obsessing over what a crud state everything is rn, and I don't want to be like that again.

I try to remind myself that what I have is the best(Even when it isn't), because it could really be worse... and that helps me calm down.

I know it's not an answer to this problem, but it's an answer that can change how you feel about it.

If you want an interesting fact to help while you wait for the ECI to be upgraded, I just asked ChatGPT and it told me that 330mbps is around 1,100,000 times faster than a 300 baud modem of the 80s. So that speed is still awesome in it's own way! 😄

[Turco73]

I also seem to be in this exclusive club of FTTP properties limited to 300mb/s.  I have been through several weeks of complaints, calls and grief only to have to self-diagnose via google.

The worst of it, is that there is no competitive package for 300mb/s so I'm paying way too much for a mediocre broadband.

Anyhow, thanks for this post and thread, makes me feel better that others have the same problem.. even if seemingly there's nothing I can do about it.

[BenHughesDS]

@Turco73 

Yeah it completely sucks that we've had to come to our own conclusions here, and also that there's no time frame to get it all sorted.

Since my last post I've spoken to OpenReach again, and the guy I spoke to actually seemed to think that OpenReach would replace the ECI gear at both the exchange and my house/every house affected, on demand.  Maybe he was speaking out of line, like the two O.R. engineers that came round and were seemingly uninformed when I told them about the whole ECI gear debacle.

I need to follow up with BT with whom I have an official complaint reference - as usual I should have heard by now but I'll have to chase them up.  I'll update the thread with whatever outcome is given.

From what I've seen BT (not EE) are the only people who offer 300mb, everyone else seems to go straight from 150 to 500, which I suspect would fail if I tried to order it in the same way 900 does.

[Turco73]

Hey @BenHughesDS 

Thanks for the reply.

I've also got a complaint open and Openreach have been sent off to have a look at the cabinet.  I have verified that my gear is ECI and passed on that information to BT, but its hard work trying to convince the various people that such a problem exists.

I'll let you know if I get any sort of positive conclusion, but after reading about ECI stuff on various forums there's no real reason to be hopeful.

My more pressing problem is that I've been out of contract for some time and am over-paying.  There are no competitive deals for 300mb/s from BT - and I'm not signing a new contract that I know to be uncompetitive.

[harrinp1]

Did you get a response and any way forward?

[BenHughesDS]

@harrinp1 After reaching the BT executive complaints dept. it has been all but confirmed that my local exchange has been upgraded, however I remain on a legacy ECI head end despite a newer, gigabit capable one being installed.

Openreach are saying that there are two ways to fix this - cease the current connection and set up a new line which would leave me without internet for a period of time (not acceptable) or order a second line.

Sadly BT are unable to offer a second line, so I've had to order one with another provider.  Once that's all set up, I already have it confirmed that I can exit my BT contract with no fees, so once the new line is up and running I'll be cancelling the BT line and hopefully waving goodbye to this nightmare!

[harrinp1]

Glad to see there is a route to get this resolved but it is hardly ideal.  I'm sure BT/OpenReach could provide a better service here.