I've seen several posts on forums etc, slating ISP's or BT in respect of fault finding adsl connections. What some people may not realise is that the vast majority of adsl connections today are sold as self install, and therefore the onus is on ourselves to try and troubleshoot our connections as much as we can before BTw will accept a fault procedure.

If BTw have been called out to an adsl fault and it is found that the problem lies with the home owners equipment then BTw will make a charge to the end-user.
Below is a post I made a few months ago on this subject.

I think that what some people do not realise here is that once upon a time _all_ adsl connections were fitted and sorted/serviced by BT.

However welcome to cheaper adsl and what is known as self install... in other words the DIY version.

If you want the non DIY version BT still offer this today.
The connection fee is £293.75 (compared to £47)
The BTw monthly port fee to the ISP is £20.45 (compared to £9.87).
Several years ago, there was no CBC so the port cost was even higher and you would have been looking at at least £50 for a 2Mb connection.

So adsl was too expensive and one of the ways of making it more affordable was self install - which for many is a good thing. It gives us the option of choosing and maintaining our own hardware. It makes adsl available to many that wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise.

However, when it comes to self install adsl, then one of the things that comes with this is that we have to be prepared to do some of the legwork ourselves.

As has already been stated, if the fault lies with BTw then fair enough then they will not charge. However, if the fault lies with your own equipment or something that you've done wrong at your end, then BTw have every right to charge for the call out.

Plusnet do try and make this clear, and I've heard of tales from users of other ISP's who have been presented with at BT bill for the call out, when their ISP hasn't even advised them of this in the first place, nor run through some of the most basic checks.

I suppose its the same with any service, if you buy a new laptop for eg, and you have to send it back, one of the first things they advise you is that if the fault turns out to be software related then they will make a charge.

In the past I have had correspondence with a BT technical engineer who works for BTw fault finding, who advised me for example that one of the most common reasons for slow speeds is the fact that so many users have unsecured wireless networks.

Therefore before we place a complaint about our connection, it is our responsibility to ensure that we have carried out basic fault finding procedures ourselves.