[GavMJM]

Hello All,

We're considering moving from BT, Sky and Be Unlimited to BT, BT and BT.

There are, from what I can see, a few advantages to BT Broadband, such as access to BT hotspots, however, I'm worried about the quality of the service itself. We'd be moving from Be's 8Meg service, and Be is considered to be one of the best ISPs in the country.

Would Unlimited Option 3 offer me the same Quality of Service as Be, and does BT impose any throttling?

We need subtitles in our house. Does BT Vision offer subtitles on it's programming? I know they claim to, but do they offer it consistently across most of it's programs?

Finally, I make the cost of BT Broadband Option 3, BT Vision Bronze and the Unlimited Anytime Calling Plan to be £50.01/month (ignoring the introductory offers) with a £24.99 setup charge (including the ESPN card), is that correct? If so, are BT at all negotiable on price?

I appreciate I've asked a lot but I've never had any BT service other than telephone before

Thanks,

[noise747]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GavMJM

Hello All,

We're considering moving from BT, Sky and Be Unlimited to BT, BT and BT.

There are, from what I can see, a few advantages to BT Broadband, such as access to BT hotspots, however, I'm worried about the quality of the service itself. We'd be moving from Be's 8Meg service, and Be is considered to be one of the best ISPs in the country.

Of all the people I know that uses BT broadband none of them have used a hotspot and yet most of them have got mobile phones that have wi-fi.
The problem is these hot spots are few and far between and normally in coffee bars and restaurants

The Fon system that BT uses is not that good either. I do find it useful with my Bt broadband anywhere phone as I can use Fon when I am at friends place, thatr allows me to use BT broadband talk, but that is about it.

Quote:

Would Unlimited Option 3 offer me the same Quality of Service as Be, and does BT impose any throttling?

Be offers a better service than BT broadband, BT broadband do throttle and sometime pretty hard.

Quote:

We need subtitles in our house. Does BT Vision offer subtitles on it's programming? I know they claim to, but do they offer it consistently across most of it's programs?

I have no idea to be honest, I have seen BTV and even used it, but since I or my friend don't need subtitles, I have not noticed if it can use them.

Quote:

Finally, I make the cost of BT Broadband Option 3, BT Vision Bronze and the Unlimited Anytime Calling Plan to be £50.01/month (ignoring the introductory offers) with a £24.99 setup charge (including the ESPN card), is that correct? If so, are BT at all negotiable on price?

I don't think you will be far off, BTV is not cheap, well it is cheap, but not when you add on the internet and phone
Bt are not very negotiable, but then you are a new customer, so you may have luck.

It seems like Bt try hard to get new customers and let old customers go.

Quote:

I appreciate I've asked a lot but I've never had any BT service other than telephone before

Thanks,

Good luck.

[johnson293]

I'll try and offer some advice.

I have read on here of people who have experienced throttling by BT - BT call this 'traffic shaping' - but it can/does happen.

You don't mention whether you need unlimited BB - if so, then BT Option 3 isn't unlimited - it is subject to Fair Usage policy - and some other have been hit by it recently.

Do a search on these forums, and you'll find more threads/discussions about it.

I've never used Be broadband, so can't comment. However, when i had BT BB Option 3, I had no problems with it - it was just too costly in the end, along with the phone line rental/calls.

If you currently have Sky for TV, then you need to look at what you currently subscribe to, what BT Vision offers, and what you really want to watch.

Sky - Latest first run shows, Live Premiership/sports, Linear HD channels, Loads of linear channels and content not available on BT Vision, OD programming selection (anytime).

BT Vision - Freeview, Catch up Terrestrial via OD, VOD content, full series without ads/dogs - but nothing current, HD films via download, Free Live ESPN with catchup full and highlight matches.

Not sure about subtitles - but I'm sure someone on here can advise better.

If you are in an LLU unbundled exchange, you can possibly get your Broadband and Phone cheaper than BT (depending what service available on your exchange) - but it depends whether BT Vision appeals to you, as you must have BT broadband for that.

Pricing - you already mention that BT's poducts come with an introductory period offer - but if you dont ask, you dont get, so maybe asking the question when you enquire - they may throw you an extra discount/incentive.

By the way, i am a former BT Vision subscriber, and current Sky Subscriber, but dont hold that against me!

Anyway, hope this helps.

[iniltous]

If subtitles are a must then you should be aware that the VOD stuff doesnt have subtitles, just the 'freeview' part of the service.
Lots of people will give negative comments about BTBB but obviously they will have had a bad experience and are vocal about it, I've no complaints, did have a 10 day period of poor speeds ( due to being regraded and entering a new 'training' period ) and the offshore customer service were poor in explaining what was going on, I asked for a call back from a UK rep and they explained what was happening much better ( didnt speed things up, but I was happy enough )...most SP have fair usage policys , BT aint the cheapest but if you have LLU competition in the exchange then they may well offer a deal, BTBB has extras that some dont, like a second virtual line BBtalk, and free storage for photos, mobile dongle and BTanywhere where your mobile can use the wifi etc,

[stuntmaster]

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