BT throttled my connection

SeanW

-TK^Creator wrote: »

Can someone tell me what happens to users who are on a bt line with a cap and you go over it?

I was looking thru the site and couldn't find anything except that you may be charged/suspend/disconnect but someone mentioned being charged 2cent for every mb you go over your cap by.

I regularly go over my 20gb cap per month by maybe 5-7gbs but I don't get the bill to see if we're getting charged

I am assuming you're using BT?

Back when I was using BT packages that had caps (the old 2MB package, then the old 3MB package before the upgrade) I used to break my caps occasionally in both directions (up and down) by between 1GB and 10GB from time to time. Never got cut off or charged. Last month on the new unlimited(ish) I went a little nuts, 65 down, 68 up or thereabouts, didn't get throttled, even though the old usage meter warned me I had exceeded my allowance.

If you routinely break your cap, I would recommend stepping up to the next package just to be on the safe side.

vibe666

feck 'em, I'm switching to the BT business package and be done with it.

spoke to support on friday and they have said my residential cancellation is already in progress andas soon as that goes through on Monday I'm all set.

one of the advantages of being an IT contractor is that I get to be the director of a limited company, so techinically a business.

having said that though, when I asked to switch and said I needed it for the business they only asked for the company name and I actually gave them the name slightly incorrectly and thats all they asked for and didn't even ask for the correct spelling or anything like that, so I don't think it was checked.

my business pays for the broadband anyway, so in my case at least it's all 100% legit, but I don't see how they'd know if it wasn't.

i'll let everyone know how it goes and if indeed it is sorted out promptly etc.

BenAndJerry

The latest I have received from BT after asking specific questions on usage limits:

"Sorry for the delay. Your email address has been added to the contacts section of your account. You should receive a warning before you are throttled but depending how fast you overuse your connection this might be generated at the same time as the throttling comes into effect. The only specification I have been told in relation to limits is "heavy use which is having a negative effect on the connections of other people sharing the line with you".

I was able to confirm however that going over 30GB will not result in throttling as this is no longer your limit."


I think I am going to consider other options. What is the cost of the BT Business connection and do they specify that it is unlimited?

Going to look up Smart Telecom and see what they have to offer too....

Cheers

Blindpew

branners69 wrote: »

I hate this cráp of not knowing how much I can download before I will be throttled! I usually just wait til near the end of the month and then hammer it so if I am throttled it will only be for a couple of days!

If you were throttled and all of your downloads were within two days, you might have to wait 28 days to be unthrottled. The end of the month or the begining of the month doesn't matter, the throttling is based on the previous 30 days. You're far better off to download 3gbs everyday. That way after a month you'll be on the verge of being throttled all the time. But it won't last long as you won't be much over the 100gb cap. Downloading 110 gbs in 2 days would have you throttled for a month.

TCP/IP

Well just a quick update they have un throttled me

BenAndJerry

TCP/IP wrote: »

Well just a quick update they have un throttled me

wish i was so lucky. I have been throttled for a week and am still waiting for the connection to speed up again - it's been almost unusable for the last week :mad:

I have been emailing the BT customer service without reply on most occassions - they really are dreadful.

24 Mbps connection is great, but if you have issues that you need BT to deal with or if you are a heavy user and get capped, it's not so good.

slave1

my connection speed is pure cak at the minute, trying to upload photos and nothing happening, don't know whether I'm throttled or not because my stats page has been stuck on a stupid "error, stop doing that" message for the last month or so, so I can't see whether I'm throttled or not

Phlann

slave1 wrote: »

my connection speed is pure cak at the minute, trying to upload photos and nothing happening, don't know whether I'm throttled or not because my stats page has been stuck on a stupid "error, stop doing that" message for the last month or so, so I can't see whether I'm throttled or not

I've noticed it no longer allows me to go straight to the usage stats here: http://broadband.iol.ie/cgi-bin/sec/dsl. Have to go to this page first:

http://broadband.iol.ie/usage/

Try it and see if it works.

Mjedl

Talked to BT yesterday re my 3MB broadband connection (Tralee), 120kbps download and 220kbps upload. Thay didn't say i was being throttled although he did say i was over my limit , feck it. Also they are having some network problems, so he says. I'm definately being throttled though as i've seen it happen to me once or twice before.:mad:

BenAndJerry

Mjedl wrote: »

Talked to BT yesterday re my 3MB broadband connection (Tralee), 120kbps download and 220kbps upload. Thay didn't say i was being throttled although he did say i was over my limit , feck it. Also they are having some network problems, so he says. I'm definately being throttled though as i've seen it happen to me once or twice before.:mad:

Check here - http://broadband.iol.ie/usage/ - it should tell you once you login if you are throttled or not.

If you are, it's anyones guess when they will unthrottle you - I have been waiting over a week now and I can't get any useful information from the incompetent BT support :mad:

Blindpew

BenAndJerry wrote: »

Check here - http://broadband.iol.ie/usage/ - it should tell you once you login if you are throttled or not.

If you are, it's anyones guess when they will unthrottle you - I have been waiting over a week now and I can't get any useful information from the incompetent BT support :mad:

It's pointless getting on to BT if throttled, if it says throttled on the usage page then throttled you'll remain until your last 30day usage falls under a 100gbs. Ringing them is only increasing your phone bill.

BenAndJerry

Blindpew wrote: »

It's pointless getting on to BT if throttled, if it says throttled on the usage page then throttled you'll remain until your last 30day usage falls under a 100gbs. Ringing them is only increasing your phone bill.

I believe the limit is 130 Gigs over the last 30 days. If they can tell me my usage over the previous 30 days I could estimate when I might be unthrottled which is not pointless from my viewpoint (i work from home).

BT are getting away with what I consider very poor customer service... I will do what I can not just to put up with it.

Blindpew

BenAndJerry wrote: »

I believe the limit is 130 Gigs over the last 30 days. If they can tell me my usage over the previous 30 days I could estimate when I might be unthrottled which is not pointless from my viewpoint (i work from home).

BT are getting away with what I consider very poor customer service... I will do what I can not just to put up with it.

Best of luck to you, but I doubt you'll succeed where countless others have failed. They'll tell you nothing and charge you for the call.

BenAndJerry

Blindpew wrote: »

Best of luck to you, but I doubt you'll succeed where countless others have failed. They'll tell you nothing and charge you for the call.

Indeed, nothing ventured nothing gained though.....

I have been primarily contacting them via email - the most recent of which tells me a manager is due to call me tomorrow.... we shall see!

Cheers

slave1

tks for the updated link to the stats page, just the 8 gig over my limit so not throttled, dare I say it my concerns lie in the other "BT really slow the last couple of days" thread, had to leave the PC overnight to upload photos, crazy stuff

vibe666

forgot to mention I was unthrottled at some point on Monday, but I have so much to catch up on I dare say i'll be strangled agan in no time.

no word yet on my switchover to business tho. i keep calling them but no matter what number i call i get through to the same automated options and no matter what option i choose on that the first person i speak to is always some idiot receptionist who says oh okay i'll pass you on to xxxx who then leave me in another queuing stystem which then is inevitably the wrong department and i then get xferred again and about 50% of the time it's my 3rd go before i get onto someone with half a brain, but a lot of the time i don't have the patience for all that and hang up.

there's something up on the BT support site about the recent slowness too I think.

Phlann

My usage page says I'm throttled... but I'm not. Speeds are ok.

The message only appeared when I hit a little over 100gigs for the 30 days, I've been keeping an eye on it.

tony-od

I've been throttled at 85gbs.So much for unlimited

BenAndJerry

I have been throttled now for three weeks. BT are a complete joke. The "Customer Service" and "Technical Support" are probably the worst I have ever encountered.

I was told by tech support that I would be throttled for up to 30 days but someone in the Customer Service team told me via email that I should have been unthrottled several days ago - she is now no longer replying to my phone or email messages.

Very annoying!

tony-od

Just been told that I will be unthrottled on Mondy,Will belive it when iI see it.Also told the the unlimited download is 3gb a day.They really have to come up with a unified answer

BenAndJerry

The latest....

The girl in Customer Service has just come back to me and said:

"Have just spoke with Tech support, they have advised if you do not attempt to download for a week then you full usage of bb will be returned automatically. "

they are suggesting that after being throrttled already for 21 days that I stop using the connection completely for another week - genius!

Blindpew

I put up with that nonsense for 4 months and finally switched to UPC. I'd advise ye to switch provider, if you can't get UPC or Smart I'd switch to Eircom, they don't seem too bothered about downloads. BT are rubbish.

Phlann

Well, in the end the throttling did kick in but it only lasted a day or two. Back to normal now.

The people saying they were throttled at 85gb or whatever: Are you basing that on the monthly usage stat that BT provide or are you keeping a record of it yourselves? As has been stated here before, they throttle you based on your usage over 30 days and not just for the calendar month.

I got hit at almost exactly 100GB and was unthrottled when I dropped to about 90GB (roughly, I'm using my uTorrent stats as a guide).

Telgere

Average about 200-500 gb a month on smart.

BenAndJerry

It looks like they are just after unthrottling me after 3 weeks. I haven't been home to run a speed test but the usage page on the BT site no longer has a a message saying I am throttled.

No idea really about what the download limits are going forward - i have been told many different things from BT.

Also, does my 30 day rolling usage get reset back to zero now or is it the case that it has just fallen below there limit today? If the later is the case then a few big downloads this evening could see me capped again! Terrific!

qbasic

Are you sure you are all being throttled and its not part of the post-upgrade screw up?

http://btireland.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/btireland.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=337&p_created=1085137638&p_sid=m8ia5gej&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD00NTAmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055368054

BenAndJerry

qbasic wrote: »

Are you sure you are all being throttled and its not part of the post-upgrade screw up?

http://btireland.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/btireland.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=337&p_created=1085137638&p_sid=m8ia5gej&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD00NTAmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055368054

I definately was throttled, can't speak for anyone else but I don't think they would be mistaken.

BT support just emailed me:

"You are no longer throttled."

Doesn't go far to explain things mind and this is after there customer serivce said to me today:

"Have just spoke with Tech support, they have advised if you do not attempt to download for a week then you full usage of bb will be returned automatically. "

Glad to see the BT machine is operating smoothly.

qbasic

BenAndJerry wrote: »

I definately was throttled, can't speak for anyone else but I don't think they would be mistaken.

BT support just emailed me:

"You are no longer throttled."

Doesn't go far to explain things mind and this is after there customer serivce said to me today:

"Have just spoke with Tech support, they have advised if you do not attempt to download for a week then you full usage of bb will be returned automatically. "

Glad to see the BT machine is operating smoothly.

Just checking cause BT are known for giving different answers depending on the operator. Even though they acknowledged the problem in a mail to me some people still got told there were no problems. Hell I was even asked was there a possibility that my router was faulty after the acknowledgement that there was an issue was given.

tony-od

Monday came and went no improvement.No suprise either.They really will have to get their stories straight and have a consistant policy as unlimited it is not.

rrolfe

TCP/IP wrote: »

Hi there,

As above my BT 7.6meg connection is been throttled for the last three days. I downloaded 110gb 60 of which were over a two day period. Does anybody have an idea when I am likely to get my connection back to full speed as at the moment it is barely usable.

I rang BT and support did not know and were useless. Surely I am not the first person for this to happen to so somebody hopefully will have an idea.

Thanks
TCP/IP

so you download 36 gigs per day for 3 days ?
what the hell are you downloading ?

are you actually listening to / watching / using what you download?