Inside Info - ADSL headaches

Ah, the joys of broadband! A fast, always-on connection, instant access to your messages, and a carefree attitude to huge downloads. Certainly the privileged few who have ADSL or a cable modem will tell you it's the best thing since sliced bread, but I'd urge you to ask them again once their initial contract has expired and see if they still think that.

You see, services like ADSL are operated on 12-month contracts, and most users have still to complete their first year. But what happens if you spot a better deal and want to swap providers after the contract's expired?

Well, as I discovered, it's nowhere near as simple as you'd hope. I was among the lucky few to be on one of Demon Internet's early ADSL trials. Sure, there were some serious teething troubles at first, but these are exactly the sort of issues that trials are there to identify and resolve.

All good things come to an end though, and after 12 months Demon contacted me to see if I'd like to continue. I'd have loved to, but the trial involved one of Demon's top-of-the-range Ethernet services, costing at least £150 per month. The cheaper £40 a month USB deal was more in my league, so I decided to swap services and, for research purposes, also try out an alternative internet service provider (ISP): BT OpenWorld.

This was my mistake. As one ISP has since admitted, there's actually no set procedure for changing ADSL providers. Demon may have given me plenty of notice as I approached the end of my contract, but infuriatingly no other ISP would actually raise a new ADSL order until the old one had officially ceased.

Sadly my old order wasn't even ceased when my 12 months were up with Demon either. Sure, the ADSL service stopped dead perfectly on time, but according to OpenWorld my line was still not ready for a new order.

One week later a BT engineer came round to pick up the old Ethernet boxes but, without a new order, couldn't install my new service. About one hour later my line was officially ceased. I know this because, due to an administrative error, the exchange engineer had mistaken 'cease ADSL' to 'cease entire line', as my phone was once again temporarily cut off.

But at least with an officially ceased line, I could now finally raise a new order. As anyone who's tried to order ADSL knows though, this can take some time. Most ISPs quote 15 working days, but I didn't get an appointment from BT OpenWorld until five weeks after the last engineer had left my home. One week later still, and my new USB service was finally installed, coincidentally by the same engineer who had removed my old boxes.

In the end, no fewer than eight weeks had passed between the day Demon switched me off and BT OpenWorld switched me back on again - and let me assure you that I was doing everything in my power to get ADSL back into my home ASAP.

A BT OpenWorld spokesperson told me that the company "recognised that a lack of broadband connectivity during this transition period is not ideal". You can say that again!

I was in a huff because I had to revert to my 56K modem for two months, but what if you were relying on broadband for a mission-critical solution? Online backup perhaps, or renting hosted services?

By changing ADSL provider for a better deal, you could find yourself up a certain creek without a paddle. Even upgrading your ADSL from 1Mbit to 2Mbits (using the same provider and equipment) incurs a charge, a new 12-month contract and could knock your service out for up to a week.

One year ago, the industry scratched its head about how to install ADSL and now, with the first 12-month contracts beginning to expire, there's gonna be many a furrowed brow as users try to figure out how to change services.

If you absolutely rely on your ADSL, my advice is to stick with your current provider and service even if there's something more desirable - at least until they can figure out how to swap them with an acceptable disruption. Otherwise, like me, you could find your broadband dream rudely awakened.

This hardly bodes well for the future of outsourcing services or Microsoft's long-term vision of .Net, does it?

See also:

Slow ADSL not our fault, says Pipex

Puts the blame at BT's door  15 Mar 2002

Entrepreneur hits out at ADSL 'whingers'

The price is right, but BT should do more, he says  20 Nov 2001

Broadband rural deprivation

For firms out of the main city drag, the route to high-speed internet and VPN connections is ill-defined.  15 Oct 2001

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