ISP change from Virgin to BT!!! is it worth it?

[lastminute]

I'm with Virgin, and have been since it was Telewest eons ago..Bt have offered me the same unlimited service at about 4 to 7 times the speed!!
I'm concerned about losing my email contacts..Bt say they have a system which informs all my contacts about my new details!
Does anyone know about this...will it be a smooth transition?
I'm not too sure.

...grateful for any advice!

Gerry

 

[marcros]

i would be tempted to buy yourself a domain name, so that if you ever change again, you can retain the same email address. they are only 3 or 4 pounds per year- and you could have for example [email protected]

it shouldnt be a huge issue to inform your contacts on a new email address.

 

[Graham Orm]

The last contact I had with BT was 3 years ago....a 3 month no internet nightmare with the only contact at the end of every number in the far east. NEVER again for me. Now happily with virgin.

 

[Webby]

have had no problem with BT after changing from virgin never lost any contacts as i never used the virgin or bt email address just kept the same email adress as used on Yahoo

Dave

 

[andersonec]

If you are on Virgin then I presume you are using cable (fibre optics) if so Virgin can do faster speeds than BT, just ask them.

Andy

 

[Fishandchips]

Don't do it!

Bt are great when things go right but let me tell you when they go wrong bt are the worst company in the world to deal with!

We had to end old contracts and start new contracts at work because of a change of legal entity on 6 lines, we gave bt 2 months prior warning and they still managed to make an hash of it. In total 14 months later I had probably spent over 50 hours trying to put thing right with them.

I can honestly say they are "the worst company to deal with".......

Ring virgin and tell them your thinking of changing to bt, they will offer you a similar or better deal to keep you.

 

[DMF]

If your in a virgin media area i just can't understand why you would want to change to bt! It's like a choice of being hit in the face with a Holly Willoughby or a dog egg, each to there own of course

 

[johngraves]

Don't do it. BT are a nightmare to deal with.


John

 

[petermillard]

+1 to all the above. I'd be *very* suspicious of anyone claiming a 4-7 x speed increase over Virgin - unless you're not on the Virgin fibre-optic network, and BT are comparing it with their f/optic 'Infinity' service, in which case it's not a like-for-like comparison.

Re. emails etc.. - an email addy independent of your ISP (@gmail, @outlook, @yahoo etc.. etc..) is no bad thing; you can usually set up a rule on the ISP server side that automatically re-directs incoming mail to the new address. I did this with my old @btopenworld email when I left their service with all the regret of a man scraping dog mess off his shoe...

 

[Chippygeoff]

Bt are a rubbish company. I fell victim to the sales talk, what they did not tell ne was that I had a 30 gb limit per month, I upgraded to 40 gb a month and with my phone as well I am paying a minimum £40 a month. for every 5gb I go over my limit they charge me £5, according to there reckoning I used 65gb last month. I would change tomorrow but it would cost me £150 in cancelation of contract. Apparently sky can provide the same service for £14 a month unlimited broadband as well.

 

[lastminute]

I have had the same modem for years now (Motorola SB5100)..should I have been offered an upgrade?
My speeds read as download = 10 and upload = 1 (using the free speed tests!!)
Is there a better way to determine speeds?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Stay with Virgin. They may not be perfect but BT are absolutely dreadful. Worst ever company on the planet.
S

 

[cambournepete]

Ask virgin for a new modem and a free upgrade - you should be on a 20 download by now.
They upgraded us for free from 1-10 years ago and then 10-20 with a new modem 3/4 years ago.
We were very happy with them.

 

[RogerS]

BT......short for Bloody Terrible.

 

[Jerry]

I may be the dissenting voice here but I have been with BT broadband for years ( over 15 ), moved 2 times and have never had a problem. Now enjoy 75mb download and 20mb upload for the same price I was paying them for 2.5mb download and 512k upload a year ago. The switch to BT Infinity2 went very smoothly too.

Would I switch to another provider, No! I get unlimited access and a low contention ratio which means that the Internet very rarely slows down even when everyone in the house is connected. Just counted and the number of devices connected to my router, and thus the Internet, is 15.

I did ditch their provided router for a decent Cisco product that maximised the bandwidth available, i.e not BT Fon connection sharing.

 

[johngraves]

BT infinity2 isn't unlimited wifi as it says in their small print that BT's fair use policy applies. Admittedly its a fairly large limit but its a limit nevertheless and you will be charged if you exceed this limit. What annoys me is that you really have to trawl through the small print before you find mention of the fair use policy.
Virgin's is definitely unlimited.

John

 

[petermillard]

BT infinity2 isn't unlimited wifi as it says in their small print that BT's fair use policy applies.

Ahem - "BT Pulls Limits from Unlimited Broadband"

Virgin's is definitely unlimited.

"Virgin Media Cable Traffic Management Policy"

Again, pretty hefty 'limits', but definite limits...

Pete (a happy VM customer)

 

[johngraves]

Hi Pete.

Thats not what it says on their website now.


'It's a cinch to use – just look out for 'BT Wi-fi' in the list of available networks on your device, click connect and away you go1
1 Our Fair Use policy applies'

Hope VM haven't changed their policy since I signed up.


John

 

[petermillard]

Hey there. The BT thing was only announced last week, so to be fair the it may not be rolled-out yet. I've been with VM for a couple of years, and they've always had a 'traffic management' policy in place AFAIK - they 'revised' it last year when they doubled broadband speeds

 

[toysandboats]

Another dissenting voice that likes (and is with) BT. They're delivering 24 to 36 Mb download (5 Mb up) through 30+ year old copper wires to the house - its fibre to the local box about 800 metres away.
The only way to beat it is with cable which Virgin don't want to offer me as they'll have to dig a long trench.

BT prices are a little more than the competition - probably 10% based on internet price offerings - but no-one else will offer me exactly what BT are providing. Have had the service for years and it is excellent.

The only thing where BT fall down is when you try to ring them - you may wait 20 minutes and be transferred through 2 or 3 departments. However as this happens roughly once a year, I'll stick with them.

For me it is a reliable service at a reasonable price - I have no qualms in recommending them to you despite all these other nay-sayers!

David