Talk Talk Switchover

[Barewolf]

Hey Guys,

Having a slight problem here. I have moved in with my Girlfriend from the Manchester area into Bromsgrove, West Midlands.

She is on Talk Talk at the moment, and the speed here is 3mb, to slow for my requirements. Not only that but if 2 of us are using the net, one or both PC’s disconnect and we have to reboot the modem. Not an ideal situation for things I like to do online.

I rang “Virgin” and they said they didn’t have a service for the 20mb in the area, but couldn’t give me what speed they were able to offer me, but I did actually check online and it said it was available.

I also checked with “BE” and you need a BT line, like so many others. This is something I don’t understand because this line used to be a BT line, the line itself hasn’t changed, just the phone provider, she pays the line rental to Talk Talk but BT installed the line. So in reality this “IS” a BT line.

I just don’t know what to do, I really can’t put up with this broadband, it’s not reliable and it’s too slow.

Does anyone have any recommendations, ideas, or solutions?

I would be quite happy with 16 meg upwards for my needs, but I am having no luck finding anyone to install it unless I pay £120 connection to go back to BT, which she said she can’t do, and I can’t afford that either.

[webcrawler2050]

The line is a "Talk Talk" Line - I have it too - it's the biggest pile of well, I sharn;t say.

Basically, the line is "talk talk" provided by BT Wholesale. So technically, it is a BT line - the only way to solve, it - is to transfer the line BT but, there is a risk all services, will be wiped off the line.

There isn't much you can, BT won;t charge you - as the "hardware" is already there..

[Barewolf]

Ok webcrawler, So basically you mean?

If she rang BT and explained, they would connect her back up without charging the £120? Thus allowing a better package for broadband and Telephone?

[webcrawler2050]

Hello,

Yes, they won;t charge you as the line is "already there" BT would take over the line and thus give you better options on the broadband options. BT would simply take over the line.

[Barewolf]

Ahh ok, ty mate

Will have to think now as she is self employed so dont want her losing work from not having talk talk.

[webcrawler2050]

No Probs. I would speak to BT first, they may be able to take over the line, without loosing any services.

[Matth]

Check for any unfiltered phones, a friend was getting 1.7Mbit, and I thought - aha!, then when they said the phone crackled.

Sorted the filtering, and the speed jumped from 1.7 Mbit to 5.3Mbit. Don't forget other phone connected devices, such as seperate answerphone, Sky box, cordless phone base, extension bell, or that forgotten phone in the corner that's only used if a power failure takes out the cordless!

Also, for ADSL, other things which can improve throughput are:

1. If the ADSL is from the main point, use a filtered faceplate that splits the ADSL as early as possible and isolates it from the extension wiring.

2. If the ADSL is on an extension, then using an I-plate, or cutting the bell wire, gives better line balance and avoids interference pickup on the bell wire - best to use the I-plate, as it allows for simpler reversal - if you cut the bell wire (number 3) then any phones not using an internal bell feed will be relying on the bell capacitor in the microfilter.

[Ignitionnet]

A couple of points.

The line will not be provided by BT Wholesale, it'll be provided by BT Openreach, it will presently be connected to Talk Talk equipment in the exchange and nothing to do with BT Wholesale.

Changing lines will cause an outage. An engineer will have to physically move the line to BT equipment.

Another issue is the Talk Talk contract. If the line is inside the 18 month contract still early cancellation will cost a few quid.

Migration from Talk Talk to another supplier of internet will, sadly, likely be a multiple stage process with a prolonged outage involved. Moving the phone line to BT will cause an outage of DSL service as the Talk Talk service will immediately be ceased, and the BT database will take a little while to be updated with the line's information so it will not be possible to order another DSL service until this has happened which may take a couple of days. After this period is up average wait time for a new DSL install is around the 1 week mark.

I'm not aware of a way to do all of this in one hit though a migration from the WLR product Talk Talk sometimes use to BT and an SMPF service might be possible, you'd need to discuss this with the provider you want to move to.

Worse still it's unlikely that any new supplier will be able to give any more performance than Talk Talk, chances are that the limitation is from line length rather than from Talk Talk. If you could post the stats from the modem we can confirm this for you but I would suspect you're stuck. If your line is significantly underperforming there might be some options to improve things but I really wouldn't hold your breath. You may be needing to say good bye to streaming HD, P2P, Usenet, etc.

[webcrawler2050]

Well...

I am aware, that if you move you're line to BT and order broadband with say the line supplier, in this case BT - They are normally, able to "activate" the broadband within 24 hours.

The line will not be provided by BT Wholesale, it'll be provided by BT Openreach, it will presently be connected to Talk Talk equipment in the exchange and nothing to do with BT Wholesale

Hmm not sure.. The line is rented to the "company" in this case Talk Talk by BT Wholesale http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/products/wlr/wlr.do

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by webcrawler2050

Well...

I am aware, that if you move you're line to BT and order broadband with say the line supplier, in this case BT - They are normally, able to "activate" the broadband within 24 hours.



Hmm not sure.. The line is rented to the "company" in this case Talk Talk by BT Wholesale http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/products/wlr/wlr.do

The key there web is the website you are getting that info from - Openreach. Wholesale rent lines from Openreach via WLR same as everyone else. While it has 'Wholesale' in the name it's an Openreach product which is why it's on the Openreach website and price list.

Regarding moving the line to BT I would be careful with what they claim will happen - BT Retail are in no way special, BT Wholesale get no special treatment and can get a line connected no quicker than any other operator, if they could it would be breaking the rules of equivalence of access. BT Openreach who actually connect the lines have no idea who they are connecting the line to as all orders for DSL are placed as LLU. BT Retail have no special access to BT Wholesale and cannot 'expedite' connections any more than any of the other hundreds of ISPs who offer services via BT Wholesale products.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, Talk Talk don't use WLR in most cases they use MPF unbundling on-net with WLR reserved for the areas they don't serve with their own equipment.