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I'm not getting the expected Stay Fast Guarantee or minimum broadband speed

We want you to get the best possible broadband speeds so you can do more of the things you love at home.

Use our broadband test to see if you've got slow speeds >

For the first 10 days or so after we connect your broadband, your speed might go up and down while we try to find the best speed for your line. You can help by leaving your Hub on all the time.

You can improve your broadband speed with some simple changes. Take a look at What affects your BT Broadband speeds >

If you're not getting the expected Stay Fast Guarantee or minimum broadband speed, please contact us and we’ll do our best to fix it. If it stays that way, and we can’t improve it, you may be able to exit your contract without penalty.

If you have Fibre 100 or Fibre 250, please see What is BT's Stay Fast Guarantee for Fibre 100 and Fibre250? >

Stay Fast Guarantee or minimum download speed

If you ordered BT Broadband or renewed your BT Broadband contract since 1 March 2019, you’ll get the Stay Fast Guarantee or minimum download speed we quoted when you placed the order.

Download speed is the rate at which data is transferred to your BT Hub. This will vary throughout the day and is likely to be slower during busy periods, especially between 8-10pm. This is the internet equivalent of the rush hour, when lots of people are using the shared elements of the network at the same time. You'll get at least the Stay Fast Guarantee or minimum download speed we quoted at any time of the day or night, no matter how busy it is.

This may be different to the actual speed you receive on your device, which is affected by a wide range of factors. Things like the number of devices connected to your Hub at the same time and whether you’re using wi-fi or a wired connection.

If you're not getting the Stay Fast Guarantee or minimum download speed, please contact us and we’ll do our best to fix it.

If the fault is within our control and we can't improve your speed, you’ll be able to exit your contract without paying a charge for cancelling it early. This includes your phone line, broadband and TV, but not BT Mobile. And you'll also be able to claim a £20 pre-paid card, whether you choose to leave us or not.

You can cancel your service if you meet the following conditions:

  • You must complete all checks within your home as requested by our Helpdesk advisors
  • You must allow at least one engineer visit
  • We have up to 30 days to fix the fault
  • You'll be able to cancel your contract without penalty and claim a £20 pre-paid card if we're still unable to improve the speed measured by our speed test to above the Stay Fast Guarantee or minimum download speed 

 

We have signed up to the Ofcom Better Broadband Speed Information - 2022 Voluntary Code of Practice

 

Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed

The broadband line speed you can get will vary depending on a number of factors. These include things like how far away your home is from the local telephone exchange and the length of your line.

We group customers with similar lines together. The Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed is the fastest speed that someone in the bottom 10 per cent of a group can get. For example, customers are in the same group if they live 3km from the exchange and have the same level of service, such as 'average 30Mb broadband'. If there are 20,000 people in the group covered by this example, we look at the 2,000 lines with the slowest speeds. The Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed would be the fastest speed amongst that group of 2,000.

If your line speed is significantly lower than the estimated range that we quoted when you placed your order, please contact us. We'll always try to improve your line speed. If the cause of the problem is outside our control, we'll explain the possible causes and give you advice on how to improve things.

If the fault is within our control and we are unable to resolve, you may be entitled to cancel your broadband contract without paying a charge for ending it early.

You can cancel your service if you meet the following conditions:

  • You must report the fault within the first 90 days of your contract start date
  • We won't accept speed faults within the first 10 days initial stabilisation period
  • You must complete all checks within your home as requested by our helpdesk advisors
  • You must accept at least one engineer visit if your line speed is below the Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed
  • We're allowed up to 28 days to resolve the fault
  • You'll be able to cancel your contract without penalty if BT is still unable to improve the speed to above your Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed
  • The Minimum Guaranteed Access Line Speed relates to line speed only, not to download speeds

 

We have signed up to the Ofcom Better Broadband Speed Information - 2022 Voluntary Code of Practice

 

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