BT Broadband Guides

BT Broadband Accelerator

Monday 30 April 2012

By Duncan Heaney

The BT Broadband (www.BT.com) Accelerator - also known as an iPlate - is capable of boosting some broadband lines by as much as 4Mb.

According to BT, the small and easy to install Broadband Accelerator has increased speeds by an average of 1.5Mb per household. However, it doesn’t work with every line. It is only capable of improving speeds on copper wire, ADSL broadband connections - and then only with certain types of sockets.

How does the BT Broadband iPlate work?

Many copper wire ADSL phone sockets still have the old “bell wire” that used to send the old “ring, ring” around your home. Modern home phones no longer need this wire and it now often just acts as a conductor for electrical interference, which can affect your broadband connection.

Removing the bell wire, or installing a BT Broadband Accelerator, gets rid of electrical interference on your line and can boost your broadband speeds.

Will a BT Broadband Accelerator work for me?

The Broadband Accelerator won’t work for every home. If you’re a BT customer, the ISP will run through a series of questions with you to see if your connection could benefit from one. You can also get a BT Broadband Accelerator for free - though you will have to pay postage - if BT thinks that removing your bell wire would improve your broadband connection.

How to fit an iPlate or BT Broadband Accelerator

The first thing you should do when fitting an iPlate or Broadband Accelerator is run a broadband speed test to see how your broadband is performing beforehand. That way you can measure any improvement once it has been installed.

Your phone and broadband services will stop while you install the iPlate, but will start again automatically once you’ve finished.

Step 1: Unscrew the bottom half of your socket and slide it forward gently, taking care not to disconnect any wires.

Step 2: Slide the iPlate into place, guiding wires through the designated slot at the bottom of the device and ignoring any loose wires inside the socket.

Step 3: Replace the front half of the socket, securing it over the iPlate and fastening with the screws provided.

Troubleshooting

Bear in mind that it could take up to 48 hours for any speed improvements to show.

However, if you fit your iPlate and find that your broadband isn’t working, restart your router and computer - this will solve most problems. If you’re still having trouble, visit BT’s troubleshooting page for more tips.

What if I’m not a BT customer?

Even if you're not a BT Broadband customer, you could still benefit from removing the bell wire in your phone socket, or installing an iPlate, which you can buy online or in stores for as little as £10.

Talk to your broadband provider to see if you would be able to benefit from an iPlate today.

Read our complete guide to speeding up your broadband or run a speed test to see how your provider performs.

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