Unable to opt out of BT Wifi

[AJCrowley]

Hi,

I want to disable public wifi access through my router. From discussing this with support on the phone, they instructed me to opt out of BT WiFi.

I've gone through all the steps, and tried many times over a period of several weeks to opt out. Every time I try, I get the error:

Sorry something's gone wrong

There's been a problem while processing your request.
We have registered this problem and will be looking into it shortly.

From a search of these forums, it seems that this is a fairly common issue, yet I have seen no resolution posted publicly, the moderators always seem to want to take it to private messaging to fix the issue.

I really don't like the idea of anyone being able to access the internet through my equipment, aside from not wanting to share my bandwidth, there are massive security concerns that go along with this that I've seen confirmed from several sources, despite reassurances to the contrary from BT staff, if you're allowing people to connect to your router, you're inviting them into your private network, whether they have instant open access, or have to hack their way in, the only way to keep a network secure is to keep people out. In short, if I haven't given you my WiFi password, I don't want you connecting to my router.

Now can anyone help me with the fact that clicking the "Opt out of BT WiFi" link on the website doesn't work, and seems to have not worked for a number of users? Maybe we can resolve this issue in the open so that next time someone searches the forum with this problem, they can be informed of the solution, rather than seeing a thread ended with "please check your private messages".

Thanks,

Kris.

[licquorice]

The mods invite posters to respond by PM in order that personal account details can be passed to them rather than being publicly published on the forum.

There is currently no generic solution to the problem, hence the mods require your details in order to effect a fix.

There is no security risk with BT WiFi, it is an entirely separate network to your home network and there is absolutely no connection between the 2 networks.

In terms of using bandwidth, the owner of the hub has priority at all times and BT WiFi only uses spare bandwidth

If you are so concerned, you can always use a third party router rather than the BT hub.

[AJCrowley]

I know, I'd just rather turn off the public access wifi on my router, it seems like something that should be easy enough to do, and from a search of the forum, it seems like several people have wanted to do it, but been unable to for one reason or another. Thanks for clarifying on why the answer to the problem always seems to be hidden in direct messages rather than posted publicly.

[licquorice]

Its not just a question of turning it off on your hub, your access to BT WiFi also has to be terminated throughout the network, you can't take without giving (well you can if you use a third party router).

[AJCrowley]

Yeah, I spent ages on the phone with support regarding this and a few other matters, and they told me that I could turn it off through the My BT website. I understand that if I opt out, as well as turning off the public access on my router, I'm not able to access the internet through the public access on other BT customers' routers. I'm fine with that, it's not an issue for me, I have a decent data plan on my phone, and don't travel much with anything other than my phone which would need WiFi. I understand the tradeoff, and it's one that I'm more than happy to make.

However, the instructions given to me by phone support aren't working, hence the error message included in my first post. I'd just like to work out how to opt out of the BT Open WiFi, or rather, I know how to opt out, I want to understand why it's not working, and I want it to work.

[licquorice]

Unfortunately there has been a problem with the opting in and out via the website for some time. It was previously just opting in but seems to have evolved into a problem opting out also.

It will need the attention of the mods to opt you out individually.

I will alert them to your issue, they should respond when they return in the morning.

[AJCrowley]

Thanks for the help @licquorice, it's much appreciated.

[RobbieMac]

Hi @AJCrowley

Welcome and thanks for posting!

I am sorry for the problems you're having opting out of BT Wi-fi.  We'll be able to give you a hand with this from here.  I have sent you a private message with instructions on how you can send us over your details and we'll look into this for you. See: Private messages

Thanks,

Robbie