PLEASE NOTE: This FAQ has not yet been updated to include information on our LLU packages. All information currently on this page applies to our standard Home and Office packages, not LLU ones.
Activation & order details
How do I view the status of my order?
Upon completion of your initial payment and us receiving a response from BT wholesale you will receive an email (usually within a few hours of payment) containing your activation date and relevant information such as your ADSL username/password, webspace/e-mail details and so on.
Once you receive this e-mail you can login to the My account section on our website with your username and password to track the status of your order
How long does it take to be activated/migrated?
All orders take approximately 5 working days from when you complete your payment details on our eBilling site after placing your order. This schedule is down to BT Wholesale and therefore we cannot guarantee any timescales. You will receive an e-mail confirming the expected activation/migration date within 24 hours of your initial payment being received.
Does an engineer need to visit my premises?
No. All the work is done on your line at the telephone exchange by a BT engineer on the day of activation (or sometimes earlier depending on their schedule). They will enable the broadband on your line and then route it to our network enabling you to get connected with us without anyone having to visit your premises.
Can I cancel my migration/activation after making the initial payment?
Please note that after your order has been sent to BT Wholesale and they have assigned an activation/migration date, we have no control over the order. If you do wish the order to be cancelled, then please note that BT Wholesale charge £50.00 for this.
If you do need to cancel, it may be cheaper for you to let the activation/migration happen, and then either request a MAC in the first month and migrate away.
All activation/migration fee's are non-refundable by BT Wholesale and thus by us too.
What to do on activation day
Soon after you sign up with us, you will receive an e-mail (or call if requested) confirming your scheduled activation date. On (or before if new activation) this day you will need to make some changes to your modem or router configuration (see below).
Please be aware that the actual time of activation could be anything up to 8pm on the day, so don't worry if it gets to 4pm and you still can't connect.
Also note that on migrations, you may not lose connection to your old ISP (there may be an overlapping period in which you can use both your old and new ISP). It's simply a case of entering your username/password in to your modem or router configuration page at various times of the day to see if it connects. You can also check the status of your order in the My account section of our website. Once logged in, click on the BT status reports. If it shows "Installed" or "Completed" as the last entry, you are all set to go. If it shows "Assigned or Commited" it's still in progress.
Making the changes to your ADSL equipment
As stated above, you will need to make a small change to your modem or router configuration. These steps are outlined below under the modem/router headings. You may also like to note the following settings which you may (or may not!) have to choose on your router:
- Multiplexing/modulation: VC-MUX or VC-BASED
- Encapsulation: PPPoA or PPP over ATM (RFC2364)
- Authentication: CHAP or Auto
- VPI: 0
- VCI: 38
- IP address: Automatically obtain
- DNS: Automatically obtain
If you are using a USB modem (on Windows)
- Disconnect from your old ISP connection in the normal way
- Double click on your usual connection icon either on your desktop or in the network connections section of the Control Panel
- Remove the old ISP's username and password details
- Enter your new ADSL username and password as shown in the activation e-mail
- Click on Connect
- You should now be connected to ADSL24
If you are using a router (any operating system)
- Open up your web browser
- Type your routers IP address in the address bar of your browser to access it's configuration pages
- Enter the router username/password if prompted - these should be in your router manual if you haven't changed them
- Go to the page that asks you to enter your ISP username/login and password
- Enter your new ADSL username and password as shown in the activation e-mail
- Click on the Apply or Submit button
- You should now be connected to ADSL24
Billing
What payment methods are available?
We accept cheque, credit or debit cards for your initial payment, and then credit/debit card or Direct Debit for your ongoing monthly payments. You are free to change your payment method at any time via the eBilling website.
General queries
What are the key benefits of ADSL?
- A faster connection to the Internet - at least 10x the speed of a 56K dial-up modem. Web sites with feature rich pages will download virtually instantly, and downloads will take seconds/minutes not hours/days.
- An always on connection - so no need to waste time 'dialing up' every time you want to go online.
- Flat monthly fee - no call charges for the time spent online unlike dial-up
- Simultaneous phone usage - you can use the Internet and your phone at the same time. The ADSL service runs over your existing BT telephone line, so there is no need to pay for an extra phone line to be installed.
What is the minimum contract period?
All our services are based on a 1 month contract.
We do not tie you in like most ISP's and there is no cancellation fee due if you migrate away to another ISP with a MAC code supplied by us. After the first month, you are free to request a MAC code to enable you to transfer to another ISP if you wish.
If you choose to migrate away from us or cease then you will be refunded for the remaining days of the month you have paid for in advance (based on your billing date).
Do you block any ports?
No. We do not block any ports whatsoever so you are free to run servers or connect to third party mail servers etc.
Do you block P2P or Usenet etc?
No, we do not block any traffic no matter what the application or protocol.
How can I track my usage?
We offer tracking facilities free of charge via our website. You can log in to your My account page and click on the Usage link to view your current months usage and past 12 months history.
You can also opt-in for e-mail reports which can either e-mail you a breakdown of your usage each morning, or notify you if you are reaching your limit.
Do I still pay line rental to BT etc?
Yes - your line rental will still be payable to whoever supplies your phone service.
What does usage allowance mean?
Usage allowance is the amount of bandwidth you are allowed to use per month.
The following applies to the new Home and Office packages:
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Home - Your normal allowance is consumed between 8am and midnight whereas the free allowance period is is midnight to 8am. All weekend is classed as the free allowance period too, so that's midnight Friday through to 8am Monday.
Office - Your normal allowance is consumed between 8am and 8pm whereas the free allowance period is is 8pm to 8am. All weekend is classed as the free allowance period too, so that's 8pm Friday through to 8am Monday.
If you go over your normal allowance, you will still be able to access the Internet but the download speeds will be reduced to 128 kb. You can purchase a top-up at any time to restore the full speed or simply continue at the reduced speed until the usage resets. If a further 1 GB is used the connection will then be temporarily blocked until a top-up is purchased or the usage resets on your bill date.
You can easily track how much bandwidth you are using on our website, via the My account page, or by signing up to e-mail reports.
The normal allowance limit specified on the product pages is the total amount of bandwidth you use which includes both downloaded and uploaded data.
If you are likely to keep exceeding your monthly limit you may wish to upgrade to the next package.
Do I get a static IP address?
Yes, all our accounts come with a fixed IP address. If you require more IP addresses, a block of 8 come free but 16 addresses are available for a £25+vat one-off fee. The addresses are not listed in any known DNS based blacklist so you are free to run a game server, web or mail server etc without problems.
Does the usage include upload too?
Yes, the usage allowances shown are per month and include the total transferred data, so both download and upload
Are ADSL services guaranteed?
Due to the nature of how ADSL works BT Wholesale do not guarantee that a line will have 100% uptime. The cost of ADSL to end users is so low that there is no uptime guarantee included in any ADSL based services we offer. If for any reason you are having problems we will liase with BT Wholesale to get you back up and runnning as soon as possible. BT Wholesale do not operate a "fix within xx days" policy and as such we, nor BT Wholesale do not offer any compensation for any downtime occured.
Can I migrate to your service?
Yes, you can migrate your broadband service to us FREE of charge with a 1 month contract. Note if your line is on LLU, there will be a migration fee applicable, but we estimate around 90% of lines are not on LLU.
You can check to see if your line is on LLU or not via our availability checker.
What is a MAC?
A MAC (Migration Authorisation Code) is a long alpanumeric code that enables you to transfer between two broadband providers without any downtime. To transfer to us, you need to get a MAC from your current provider, and likewise, to transfer to another provider from us you will need to request a MAC from us. MAC are always free of charge. A MAC looks like this: LZMR1234567/HD10P
Can I change my username or password?
Of course, just drop us an e-mail, ticket or call us with your old and new username and can will do this for you.
Can I transfer my ADSL24 account when moving house?
Of course.
When you move house, we can arrange for your account to be transferred from your current premises to your new one. This means you can keep the same usernames, passwords, webspace and e-mail accounts etc. This will NOT move the actual ADSL connection only the details that are associated with it. If you are moving house you will have to order a new connection that we can then add your details onto.
You need to contact us at least a week before you move in order for us to process the request. Please note that you will need to place a cease on your current ADSL line through your My account page, so that it will be switched off on or shortly after you move out of your current premises, and then place a new order for your new premises on the phone number you have been given by BT for the new line.
As BT class this as a new activation, the standard activation charge will be applicable as this is not the same as transferring between providers with a MAC code.
Below you will find details on the process involved for both having a new number and taking your current number with you.
Moving house - New telephone number
When you move out of your current house, ensure you place a cease on your current line at least 5 working days before you move out. This will ensure that the line is clear for the new owners and you will not continue to be charged for the old service. Once in the new house and BT have activated the line we can then place a new order. This will be subject to the BT activation fee as it is a new order. Once the order is placed and we have had the initial payment, the line will be active 5 working days later. There may be delays in the order process if there are exchange problems but we try and let you know about these issues should they happen. We are not able to speed up the provision of the DSL service and cannot waive the activation fee due to it being a one month contract. If you are able to activate the new line a few days earlier, in your name, we can place the order before you move in. This should cut down on any downtime you have.
Moving house - Taking same telephone number
If you are moving house but keeping the same phone number, you will need to place a cease on your line to complete the day before you move out, this will ensure the tag is clear. This is also subject to the BT activation fee.
If BT do not update the checker, or the tag does not vanish we will be prevented from placing an order until it is all sorted. We are able to keep your username, passwords and if you let us know with enough time, we are able to keep the IP address for you too.
Do you offer Newsgroup (Usenet) access?
Although not a supported or inclusive part of your ADSL service, we have a FREE text based news server you can access should you wish:
news.enta.net
You do not need to enter a username and password, as it's anonymous access to all customers.
If I migrate to you will my connection go down?
If you migrate to use using a MAC, the broadband with your existing supplier will still work up until the day of migration to us.
As long as BT Wholesale do not find any problems at the exchange when they are switching your line over, the migration process is very straightforward and you should not encounter any downtime.
Do you support Xbox Live?
Yes - we do not block any ports or protocols so you are free to use your Xbox Live on our ADSL and ADSL2+ service.
How do I change my package?
You can change your package via your My account page or by giving us an e-mail or call.
How do I request a MAC?
You can request a MAC at any time via your My account page.
The MAC should be generated within 24 hours but this can take up to 5 days occasionally. Once generated it will show up in your My account page - Order details screen, The MAC will expire after 30 days.
Do I need 1, 8 or 16 IP addresses?
For 99% of our home customers a single IP address is all that's required. This IP will be picked up by your modem or router and you can still use as many PC's as you like connected to your router at the same time. The only reason why you would need a block of 8 or 16 IP's is if you wanted to run your own servers such as a mail, web or other server which you prefer to have it's own IP address - different to the one you access the Internet with. Again, it's mainly only business users who will need more than 1 IP address.
If you are unsure whether you need more than 1 IP address, please contact us for more clarification. You can always upgrade to 8 or 16 IP's at a later date if required
If I migrate to you, do I need to cancel with my old ISP?
You should only cancel with your current ISP after you are online with us - as cancelling before may result in your ISP putting a cease on your line, meaning the migration cannot go ahead. If this happens, you may have to pay a new activation fee to BT to re-enable broadband on the line
Do you supply a modem or router?
By default we do not provide any equipment to keep costs low and in order for us to be able to offer you a 1 month contract.
We do however sell routers at great prices - see https://adsl24.co.uk/store/.
Do you offer line rental or phone call packages?
At the current time we have no plans to provide line rental services in our portfolio. This means we can concentrate on what we are good at - providing you with the fastest broadband speeds and stability that your line can handle. It also allows us to provide aftercare and support to an excellent standard. We do however offer Voice over IP.
What is the Standard and Enhanced Care Level?
BT offer two types of care levels which you can choose to receive.
Standard Care - Free
This is recommended for most home users who do not require a higher priority on fault resolutions.
Priority Care - £14.69/month inc. VAT
This is recommended for home users or businesses who rely solely on their ADSL connection for Internet connectivity and is therefore mission critical to them.
BT's policy on enhanced care is to respond to a fault report within 3 hours and to resolve a fault within 20 hours of it being reported to them.
Out of hours engineer visits may be available to repair a fault if access to the propery is not available during BT's normal Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm appointment slots.
The 3 hour response time is BT's commitment to act on the fault reported either by running tests or allocating a resource. This does not guarantee a resolution within these 3 hours, only that the fault is being investigated.
Compensation may be also be available on receipt of a claim in writing for any downtime occured if the fault is not resolved within the 20hr resolution timescale. The amount of compensation will be a maximum of half of your monthly subscription charge and will vary depending on the amount of your downtime.
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Please note that these care levels generally come in to effect if your ADSL connection fails causing no Internet connectivity. It does not apply to normal types of faults where you still have connectivity but at a reduced service level (e.g. slow speeds, occasional dropouts, intermittency), however BT will in general prioritise any fault reports we make to them if you have enhanced care.
Bank Holiday Usage
There is no change to the usage due to these days, it should be considered a normal day of the week or weekend schedule.
Tech questions
Does the training period start again after migration?
BT Wholesale do not offer any clear advice as to whether the training period starts again after a migration, so we are unable to say for sure. What we have noticed is that some connections end up having a stuck IP Profile, whereby their speed is restricted to 2 Mb (2000 kb) immediately after migration.
While this should solve itself after a few days, if it does not, please contact us with the results of a BT Speedtest and we can look into this and log the fault with BT Wholesale if necessary.
What is a microfilter?
A microfilter (sometimes referred to as a 'splitter' or 'filter') is an adapter that plugs in to your telephone socket(s) when you have ADSL broadband. The microfilter separates the ADSL signal from the normal phone signal.
You plug both your phone and your ADSL modem/router in to the microfilter which then goes in to your phone socket. This allows you to use both the phone and your broadband at the same time with no problems or interference.
It is important you use a microfilter in every socket where you use a phone, fax, sky box or any other telephony device as not doing so can cause many problems such as slow speeds and disconnections to your broadband.
See our Setup guides for more information on microfilters and where they should be positioned.
Note in some premises BT may have installed a master socket filter which means that the main socket in your house will already have a filter built in, along with two ports on the front of it - one for the phone and one for the modem or router. If you have this type of socket, you will not need to use normal filters in any other sockets in your house.
What is ADSL?
ADSL is a broadband technology (just like cable) that operates over your normal BT telephone line. The ADSL signal is carried by two modems - one in your premises, and one at your local BT telephone exchange (called a DSLAM). These modems use the existing copper telephone line to your premises to achieve much higher speeds than dial-up.
A microfilter separates the telephone signal from the ADSL signal, so phone calls can be made at the same time as you are online without interference.
What is ADSL Max?
ADSL Max is the latest offering which provides a downstream speed of up to 8 Mb. At the same time, it provides an upstream speed of up to 832 kb (448 kb for home packages). This technology was rolled out to the majority of exchanges in April 2006.
Whereas with standard ADSL connections, where you usually sign up to a particular speed, eg 512k, 1Mb or 2Mb, ADSL Max will be a variable connection speed. This means that you sign up to an "up to 8 Mb" service - and the length / quality of your phone line will determine how much speed you actually receive.
Not everyone will get 8 Mb. Infact, BT Wholesale cap everyone at 7.15 Mb to start with regardless of your distance from the exchange or ISP. If your house/premesis is quite a distance from the exchange, your line will connect at the maximum speed it can reliably achieve.
The further away you get, the lower the speed will be. This is just a factor of how ADSL works and not because the ISP is slow or capping your speeds.
Can I receive up to 8 Mb on ADSL Max?
Not everyone will get 8 Mb. Infact, BT Wholesale cap everyone at 7.15 Mb to start with regardless of your distance from the exchange or ISP. If your house/premesis is quite a distance from the exchange, your line will connect at the maximum speed it can reliably achieve.
The further away you get, the lower the speed will be. This is just a factor of how ADSL works and not because the ISP is slow or capping your speeds.
All ADSL connections rely on two main factors that are unique to your phone line. These are known as SNR margin and Attenuation.
The SNR margin is how much signal you are receiving as opposed to noise on the line, and attenuation is how much loss of signal you have on the line. The SNR margin will often fluctuate at different times of the day, so it is difficult to monitor, whereas attenuation is fairly static, and depends on the actual length of your phone line between your premises and the BT exchange.
For SNR margin, higher is better (meaning not much noise on the line), but for attenuation, lower is better (meaning not much loss of signal on the line).
The SNR margin will reduce as you connect at higher speeds. For a reliable service, the SNR margin has to be above 6, and ideally above 10.
For example, if you have an SNR margin of 10, and you are on a 2 Mb ADSL service, you would not gain much better speeds from ADSL Max, as if you were to connect any faster, the SNR margin may drop to below 6, causing disconnections and download speed problems. But, if you have an SNR of 30 on a 2 Mb ADSL service, you should receive the full 8 Mb on ADSL Max, which will cause the SNR to drop to about 8-10, just enough to operate reliably.
One thing worth noting is that for the ADSL Max service, there will not be a limit on whether you can sign up to it or not. You will simply be provided with the service, and the equipment at the exchange will automatically determine what speed your line is capable of providing each time you connect, based on your SNR margin. This is usually a good thing, as while you may connect at a slower than expected speed, it will help stop your connection from disconnecting due to a low SNR margin.
We are sure most people would rather have a stable, always on connection, than a slightly faster, intermittent one.
Will my current modem/router work?
Yes - all our ADSL services support all ADSL modems and routers, so you should have no problem using the one you have now or any new one you wish to use.
However, if you are on or intend to upgrade to our ADSL2+ service you will need a router that supports ADSL2+
We sell ADSL2+ ready routers - see https://adsl24.co.uk/store/.
What is the contention ratio on the Home/Office plans?
The legacy Home fixed speed plans (512k, 1Mb, 2Mb) have a contention ratio of 50:1, whereas the Office fixed speed plans (512k, 1Mb, 2Mb) have a contention ratio of 20:1.
Both the Home/Office ADSL (up to 8 Mb) and ADSL2+ (up to 24 Mb) plans do not have a quoted contention ratio as BT stopped this when they launched the Max service hence why we do not quote any contention ratios on our website.
BT do quote however that that Office plans have a higher priority at the exchange thus the Office plans are still favourable because of this.
Settings and guides
How do I set up my e-mail?
We provide unlimitedfree e-mail accounts with all our broadband packages.
You will have been given a default e-mail address when your account was processed. You should have received these settings in the activation e-mail that will have been sent to the e-mail address you signed up with shortly after your order was accepted.
The settings you may require when setting up your e-mail in a client such as Outlook/Express or Thunderbird, Mail (Mac) etc are below:
E-mail address: you@username.adsl24.co.uk
Incoming mail server: mail.username.adsl24.co.uk
Outgoing mail server: mail.username.adsl24.co.uk
Incoming server port: 110
Outgoing server port: 25
Username: you@username.adsl24.co.uk (your full e-mail address)
Password: your_password
SMTP authentication: required (you need to turn SMTP authentication on to be able to send mail)
You can always add/edit/delete your e-mail accounts, set up mail forwarding, responders and spam filtering etc by logging into cPanel with your main username and password.
FTP and webspace
We provide 200Mb free webspace with all our broadband packages. To be able to create your own website, you will need to upload your website via FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
To do this, you will need an FTP client such as FlashFXP, CuteFTP or SmartFTP. These can be downloaded for free from Download.com.
Your FTP client will ask for the following settings:
- Hostname
- Port
- Username
- Password
You will need to enter the following:
Hostname: ftp.your_username.adsl24.co.uk
Port: 21
Username: your_username
Password: your_password
Of course, be sure to substitute the "your_username" and "your_password" for your real ones.
When you click connect on the FTP client it will then log you in to your FTP site. You will usually see two windows side by side. One contains files on your PC, and the other window contains the files on your webspace. You need to simply drag and drop files from your PC to the "public_html" folder of your webspace to upload your website/files. They are then accessible via your free website - www.your_username.adsl24.co.uk.
Modem/router settings
When setting up your modem or router, you may be asked for a few different settings. The recommended selections are below:
- Encapsulation: PPPoA or PPP over ATM (RFC2364)
- Multiplexing mode: VC-BASED or VC-MUX
- Modulation: Multimode or Auto
- Authentication: CHAP or Auto
- VPI: 0
- VCI: 38
- Login/username: username@adsl24.net.uk
- Login/password: password
- IP address: Obtain automatically
- DNS servers: Obtain automatically
- Idle timeout: 0
If in doubt leave the setings as default and consult your router manual for further instructions.
No-NAT (block of 8/16 IP's) configuration
When setting up an NO-NAT (sometimes called routed IP) connection please ensure that:
- You have a NO-NAT compatible router
- NAT is disabled on the router
- The DHCP pool is setup for your 5 usable IP's (or disabled) on the router
- The WAN and LAN IP addresses of the router are the same and the router IP address shown in your activation e-mail or My account page
- The subnet mask is the same for both the WAN and LAN on the router. For a block of 8 IP's the subnet mask is 255.255.255.248 and for a block of 16 IP's the subnet mask is 255.255.255.240.
- All machines connected to the router have been given a manually assigned IP address from your block of usable IP's. With a block of 8 IP's you will have 5 usable IP addresses after the router IP. You must also ensure that the subnet mask assigned manually on the PC matches the subnet mask entered into the router as outlined above. The gateway address should be the router IP
What are your DNS server addresses?
Our DNS servers are as follows:
Telford site
- Primary DNS: 195.74.102.146
- Secondary DNS: 195.74.102.147
London site
- Primary DNS: 195.74.113.58
- Secondary DNS: 195.74.113.62
Please note you do not need to enter these values in your modem/router as it should pick them up automatically by default.
You can use both the Telford or London DNS addresses if you wish.
We also recommend use of the OpenDNS servers if you are having any DNS issues. They are free provided by www.opendns.com and are:
- 208.67.222.222
- 208.67.220.220
Speed issues
Why are my speeds slow?
This can be down to a number of issues. Read the following to be clear on what could be causing slow speeds.
First of all, let's establish the main factor - your actual connection speed. If you are on the standard ADSL 8 Mb service, then the maximum you can ever receive is 7.15Mb.
If you are on the ADSL2+ up to 24 Mb service, the maximum throughput you can ever receive is 21 Mb.
This is because of how BT's equipment caps you.
As your line distance from the exchange increases, speed decreases. This is a physical limitation problem whereby as the line get's longer, the signal gets lower, thus if you are a fair distance from the exchange you are never likely to achieve the top speeds on any ISP.
How to determine your current connection rate
- If you use a USB modem
Take a look at the connection icon in the bottom right of your screen, near the clock (for Windows users). Hover this icon and it will show you a speed. This could be anything from 256 kb to 8 Mb.
- If you are using a router
Login to the configuration page and view the ADSL status screen. This will show you your connection speed, which will be anything from 256 kb to 8128 kb on ADSL or 256 kb to 24 Mb on ADSL2+. The higher the better, of course.
If this shows say 4400 kb (or 4.4 Mb), then that is the maximum you will achieve on your line with any ISP as thats what your physical line to the exchange can handle. It is not the ISP who is only giving you 4.4 Mb, its purely because of your distance to the exchange.
So, now we've ironed that out, we can explain what speed you should be getting based on your connection rate.
Refer to the table below as it shows the maximum download speed you can achieve based on the connection rate your USB modem or Router is showing.
ADSL connection rate |
BT IP profile |
160 - 287 |
135 |
288 - 415 |
250 |
416 - 575 |
350 |
576 - 863 |
500 |
864 - 1151 |
750 |
1152 - 1439 |
1000 |
1440 - 1727 |
1250 |
1728 - 2015 |
1500 |
2016 - 2271 |
1750 |
2272 - 2847 |
2000 |
2848 - 3423 |
2500 |
3424 - 3999 |
3000 |
4000 - 4543 |
3500 |
4544 - 5119 |
4000 |
5120 - 5695 |
4500 |
5696 - 6239 |
5000 |
6240 - 6815 |
5500 |
6816 - 7391 |
6000 |
7392 - 7967 |
6500 |
7968 - 8127 |
7000 |
8128 - 9087 |
7150 |
9088 - 10207 |
8000 |
10208 - 11359 |
9000 |
11360 - 12479 |
10000 |
12480 - 13631 |
11000 |
13632 - 14751 |
12000 |
14752 - 15903 |
13000 |
15904 - 17023 |
14000 |
17024 - 18175 |
15000 |
18176 - 19295 |
16000 |
19296 - 20415 |
17000 |
20416 - 21567 |
18000 |
21568 - 22687 |
19000 |
22688 - 23839 |
20000 |
23840 + |
21000 |
So for example, if your modem or router is connected at 6424 kb, your max download speed will be 5500 kb (5.5 Mb) - as thats what profile you fall in to based off the above table. This profile is set by BT at the exchange, and therefore we have no control over it.
If your modem or router is connected at a high speed, say 7500 kb, but you are seeing much slower speeds (say 2000 kb) for over 72hrs, you may have what's known as a "Stuck profile". This is where your profile at the BT exchange has got stuck at a ceratin level, meaning your download speed is capped at a certain level.
You can check what profile you are on by using the BT Speedtest. Refer to the table below to see what profile you should be on with your modem/routers connection rate.When the test completes, take a look at the result. It will look something like:
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 5500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps (UP-STREAM) 6688 kbps (DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 5380 kbps
Note the figure in green will vary depending on the time of day, congestion on the Internet etc - this is normal.
If your IP profile is correct for your modem/router connection rate, but your actual download speed is still very low, then try the BT Speedtest a few times each day for 3 days, then send the test results to us via a ticket or an e-mail so we can investigate this for you.
NOTE: You can almost certainly improve your modem/router connection rate and stop disconnections from happening by ensuring your modem/router is plugged in to the main, master socket in your house rather than in an extension socket or at the end of an extension cable. Try our FAQ guide named How can I improve my connection.
If your speeds continue to be slow after 3 days please let us know so we can investgate further.
What's the BT Speedtester and how do I use it?
The BT Speedtester is used to determine your current speed as well as whats called your IP Profile.
If your modem or router is connected at a high speed, say 7500 kb, but you are seeing much slower speeds (say 2000 kb), you may have what's known as a "Stuck profile". This is where your profile at the BT exchange has got stuck at a certain level, meaning your download speed is capped at a certain level.
You can check what profile you are on by using the BT Speedtester. Refer to the table below to see what profile you should be on with your modem/routers connection rate.
ADSL connection rate |
BT IP profile |
160 - 287 |
135 |
288 - 415 |
250 |
416 - 575 |
350 |
576 - 863 |
500 |
864 - 1151 |
750 |
1152 - 1439 |
1000 |
1440 - 1727 |
1250 |
1728 - 2015 |
1500 |
2016 - 2271 |
1750 |
2272 - 2847 |
2000 |
2848 - 3423 |
2500 |
3424 - 3999 |
3000 |
4000 - 4543 |
3500 |
4544 - 5119 |
4000 |
5120 - 5695 |
4500 |
5696 - 6239 |
5000 |
6240 - 6815 |
5500 |
6816 - 7391 |
6000 |
7392 - 7967 |
6500 |
7968 - 8127 |
7000 |
8128 - 9087 |
7150 |
9088 - 10207 |
8000 |
10208 - 11359 |
9000 |
11360 - 12479 |
10000 |
12480 - 13631 |
11000 |
13632 - 14751 |
12000 |
14752 - 15903 |
13000 |
15904 - 17023 |
14000 |
17024 - 18175 |
15000 |
18176 - 19295 |
16000 |
19296 - 20415 |
17000 |
20416 - 21567 |
18000 |
21568 - 22687 |
19000 |
22688 - 23839 |
20000 |
23840 + |
21000 |
When the test completes, take a look at the result. It will look something like:
Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
IP profile for your line is - 5500 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps (UP-STREAM) 6688 kbps (DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 4780 kbps
The figure in blue is your actual profile speed, which indicates the maximum speed you can download at.
The figures in red are your actual modem/router connection rates. If your IP profile is significantly lower than your down-stream connection rate, then you should submit a ticket or an e-mail to us so we can get BT to fix the discrepancy to give you faster speeds.
The figure in green was your actual download speed for the test. This again will always be lower than the blue IP profile as thats the maximum speed you can download at.
Note the figure in green will vary depending on the time of day, congestion on the Internet etc - this is normal.
If your IP profile is correct for your modem/router connection rate, but your actual download speed is still very low, then try the BT Speedtest a few times each day for 3 days, then send the rest results to us via a ticket or an e-mail so we can investigate this for you.
NOTE: You can almost certainly improve your modem/router connection rate and stop disconnections from happening by ensuring your modem/router is plugged in to the main, master socket in your house rather than in an extension socket or at the end of an extension cable.
Connection tips
How can I improve my connection?
With the rollout of the ADSL Max and ADSL2+ services many people are receiving a much lower speed than their line is capable of.
The main cause of this is down to poor or incorrectly wired extensions and the setup of microfilters. Even if you think your extensions are correct, or have have them checked by BT, this page may help you improve your connection speed, stop disconnections from happening and generally improve the stability of your broadband connection.
Please note that your master socket must be a standard NTE5 like the image in Step 1 below. If it is not, you may still try this guide, but it may be slightly different to perform the steps.
If you get a much better connection when performing Step 3 (Using the test socket), it is highly likely there is a problem with your extension(s) - as this test bypasses your extension wiring completely. Check that all other sockets are correctly wired as in Step 4. Remember, only wires 2 and 5 need to be connected in all sockets you have.The colour of wire 2 needs to be the same on every socket, as does the colour of wire 5. Eg, if at your master socket, 2 is blue and 5 is blue/white - this needs to be the same in every extension socket you have.
The below diagrams show you the positioning of filters required for broadband to work properly.
Take particular note of where the filter(s) need to be placed. This is essential and if incorrectly setup, will stop the broadband from working.
Example One (Telephone and modem/router)
Example Two (Telephone and modem with an extension)
Example Three (Telephone and modem/router with a hardwired extension and second BT socket)
ADSL availability checker 
ADSL2+ exchange dates LLU availability checker MAC validity checker Username availability LLU router setup