Rate your broadband service!

Happy with broadband? Or is it letting you down?

Rate your broadband ISP here >>

Pimp your broadband connection

BT says it will improve your broadband connection, or give your money back.

It has announced a new service to help customers speed up their (ADSL) broadband connection.  As part of BT’s Home IT Support service, it has launched “BT Broadband Accelerator”, a service which involves a home visit to the customer’s premises.

The visit costs £90, and aims to improve the performance of the customer’s computers and speed up the broadband connection.  BT says customers will be refunded the £90 if a 0.5Mb improvement on speed is not achieved.

Sluggish computers and quality of wiring in the house are among the points checked during the visit.

“Based on our research we are confident that up to 60 per cent of customers could benefit from the Accelerator service.” says  Taza Mohammedbhai, Head of BT’s Home IT Support service.

The research referred to is a recent poll by BT that found that 44 per cent of computer owners surveyed, noticed slowing performance when surfing the net.

BT’s service appears to be aimed more at tackling issues with the performance of home computers in general, which can cause broadband connections in turn to be slow.  The advice on checking the quality of wiring in the premises, and use of the BT master socket to connect, are all tips that are often explained by the customer support of many ISPs or on their website.

The Accelerator service however might be useful for those not wishing to get involved in technical aspects of improving the performance of their computer or trying to generally improve broadband speeds.

Basic checks to help improve ADSL broadband connection speeds

• Connect the modem/router to the master BT phone socket in the premises for the best connection.  BT also showcased a new product several months ago, called an iPlate.  This is a device which fits in the master socket and claims to reduce interference on the line from electrical items in the house.  This in turn can help improve speeds. It is expected to be available soon and should cost around £10.
• Install micro-filters in ALL phone sockets in a house.  Any item that connects to the phone line must go through a microfilter, eg. Fax Machine, Sky TV Box, Telephones, Analogue dialup modems.
• Install up-to-date anti-virus software.  A virus on your PC can often slow down your connection.
• Clear out temporary Internet files from your web browser (usually in the options menu).
• Do not open lots of applications when surfing if possible.  Too many applications being open means more memory gets used up, and leads to a slowdown in performance.

Customers should note that overall maximum broadband speeds are affected by the distance from the premises to the local BT exchance, and the Internet is often slower at peak times, when there are more users online.