BT Vision - Even more frustrated

Question

I was invited to upgrade my BT service & opted for a package that included BT Vision bronze pack + BT Anytime + broadband. The Vision box was delivered & service activated on July 8 but minus the new BT Homehub so I connected up to my existing BT hub. Set up was no problem but all I got was the error code V04 & after spending considerable time searching, duly discovered this to be a common problem relating to insufficient broadband speed. I conducted a couple of speed tests using the on-line BT speed tester link on this forum & the results were disappointing to say the least at just 893 & 1096 Kbps, way short of the minimum recommended 2000Kbps. I contacted BT sales who confirmed my Vision service activated & they advised to try reinstalling when the new hub arrived. This was delivered on July 12 but as I was going on extended holiday, did not have sufficient time to set up/install; it was supposed to be in use for the folks living in our house while we were away but I had to leave everything until I returned yesterday. Having set up the new hub & reinstalled the Vision box this morning, I still get the error code V04 & a further speed test shows only a marginal improvement on the new hub at just 1146 Kbps. This is obviously not fast enough & BT sales advised I contact the BT Vision technical help desk which I have E mailed today.
During an enquiry about BT Vision a couple of years or so ago, a speed test conducted then indicated my line speed was insufficient so I was unable to proceed. I assumed things had changed/improved since then as I have had numerous phone calls & E mails from BT sales advising that my rural location was now capable of receiving Vision & a further line speed test run as part of the Internet sales procedure also indicated sufficient speed at 2000Kbps. Not so as it seems this was not a real “speed test” at all but merely the maximum achievable speed derived from a “look up” table; 2000 Kbs appears to be the minimum speed required for Vision in any case!
I find it difficult to understand how BT sales can lead unsuspecting customers through a sales procedure prompted by an on line advisor to subscribe to a service that my “actual” line speed is clearly not capable of delivering, why are BT sales allowed to mislead in this way just to achieve a sale! What do I do now; is it likely there is a fault on my line? My speed needs to increase in the order of 100%+ which I rather doubt is possible so is there anything that can realistically be done to allow Vision to run or is my rural location just not suitable? If nothing can be done I assume I will be able to cancel Vision, get a refund for the “on demand” packages to which I subscribed but which I am unable to receive & pay a reduced monthly payment reflecting this?
I feel I have been badly mislead by BT sales!

Answer 1

Hi again
Sorry to have to bump this thread but the problem still persists & I’ve had approx 2 weeks On Demand availability from my 3 months Vision subscription now & I don’t seem to be any closer to getting a solution. There seems to be no continuity on whose dealing with the problem on the Help Desk either, after getting back onto them last week, I’ve had to go over the same ground again with someone else & all I got back from that was “engineers can find no fault on the line”; that was last Friday.
After the first engineer did the initial work in my home, things worked fine for around 5 days but then my speed dropped back & my IP Profile reset to 1500Kbps which won’t support Vision On Demand. To cut the story short, another Engineer visited, found no further problems at my end but did change my connection at the local distribution box for one with a faster throughput speed (his words). All was fine again for a week & then my speed started dropping again & I’m now really back to square one. I’ve been Monitoring what’s happening on my line on a daily basis & although my DSL rate doesn’t seem to vary that much (between 2200 & 2400 Kbps), my IP Profile & therefore achievable download speed is all over the place & varies between 1500, 1750 & 2000Kbps. 1500Kbps won’t support On Demand & even when it’s set at 1750, On Demand kicks in & out like a yoyo making it unusable with any reliability. My line clearly seems capable of supporting sufficient speed for the service but what seems to be happening is I’m constantly being kicked into touch by network monitoring equipment at the exchange!
In discussion with one of the engineers & on another forum thread, I’ve come across reference to “assured rate”. Now to my simple mind, this seems to me what I’m missing, or have I got it wrong? If I’m on the right track, how do I get a line with an assured rate  IP profile set at 2000Kbps which is what’s needed for Vision On Demand to work with any degree of reliability! Or should I just pack the whole lot back into the box, send it back to BT Wholesale, cancel my Vision subscription & demand a refund?