Upgrading Broadand in the future?

Patrick20

I'm about to sign up to 02 broadband standard. Ideally I would like the Premium but according to BT's checker my line isn't capable. However, I hear its less than accurate. Anyway, IF i find out i can get premium speed could I upgrade to the premium service? Providing I renew the 12 month contract?

kwikbreaks

If you sign up for one of the > 8Mbps services and can't get > 8Mbps then O2 let you downgrade.

If you already have ADSL you can use the line stats from your router to estimate the likely ADSL2+ speed at a number of websites

Getting stats - http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php
Estimating ADSL2+ speeds from ADSL attenuation - http://www.dslzoneuk.net/maxspeed2.php

The stimates you get from BT and various ISPs are based on a BT database which may or may not be accurate. If the line has been used on a BTw based ADSL service it is usually fairly good. If it hasn't then it is a guesstimate based on historical records of line length.

Patrick20

So its best to go premium to standard than vice versa?

I've just changed to a bt line so have no broadband on it yet

kwikbreaks

If you hope to get better than 8Mbps then you may as well go for one of the dearer packages to start with. I'm not sure what would happen if you chose Pro and wanted to downgrade as it comes with a more expensive router and other benefits. Certainly if you pick Premium (which I have) and don't get >8Mbps you get the option to downgrade.

Mine syncs at ~ 11 - 12Mbps at the moment. In the winter when the nights are longer the MW radio interference builds up stronger so speeds do tend to be a bit less at this time of year than they are in the summer months.

The only time the higher speeds are a real benefit is when downloading something sizeable. For general web surfing there is little noticeable difference over (say) 2Mbps