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Broadband access explained please

Dear all, for years I haven't been able to get any kind of broadband where I live. Up till recently I've used dialup and then moved to a mobile dongle with Orange which is ok and gets a couple of bars 2G if it hangs out of an upstairs window. About the same type of speeds as dialup but heaven forfend if, as today, someone sends me a largish pdf, I can go out and come back three hours later to find it still downloading. However at least the phone line isn't tied up nor am I limited to 2 hours at a go.

I've rechecked today, as I do every few months, and on the BT site it says :

Your broadband checker results
We have tested your line and of our two broadband products, BT Infinity and BT Total Broadband, you can get the option(s) below. If you don't see BT Infinity, please check back regularly for updates.

Broadband option : BT Total Broadband
Maximum connection speed : 0.256Mb download
When you can get it : Now
You can get fast and reliable broadband with speeds of up to 8Mb.

Now this is very exciting news. However the speed seems pretty low though I dont understand really how it works. At the moment the highest ever is 53.6 kbps with the dongle. What would the above speed enable me to do? I'd particularly like to watch things like iplayer, would this be fast enough? Is it worth paying £16 a month for this as I would still have to pay for the mobile broadband too on contract for another year - is it that different from what I can do now? (no games, just general browsing, emails, can't really share photos at the moment and would like to do my course online but that's not possible now either)

The other thing is that I would prefer to stay with Orange. If BT can offer this, then would the same be true of Orange? Presumably the line can carry this so it just depends on which provider I go with. I started trying to research it a bit but got caught up in stuff about LLU and 21c networks - all I want is usable broadband - after all in the darkest depths of Africa, outer Mongolia and the Arctic they can get it, so why can't I in the Midlands?

Thanks for any advice

DS
«13

Comments

  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    That suggests that your exchange is enabled but you have a very long line. It is only an estimate but is suggesting that you can only get half of the speed that ADSL launched with.

    You are correct that if BT can offer you a serfvice then so can other ISPs who simply resell the BTw product. Whether it is worth taking is another question though as I suspect it will just bring you continual headaches.
  • downshifter
    downshifter Posts: 1,122 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    kwikbreaks wrote: »

    You are correct that if BT can offer you a serfvice then so can other ISPs who simply resell the BTw product. Whether it is worth taking is another question though as I suspect it will just bring you continual headaches.

    Oh dear! Thanks for your response. What sort of headaches? Would you recommend going straight to BT then for this if it's likely to be a bit problematical?

    Can anyone tell me if I can watch iplayer/ etc with this speed please?

    And are there any novel ways that might be piloted for broadband access in difficult areas? Such as through the electric supply, I read about that a while ago, or using a sky satellite maybe? (I know about normal satellite bb, but it's far too expensive)

    Many thanks again

    DS
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    edited 28 January 2010 at 3:29PM
    The main problem a line that is only just capable of 256kbps would present is that it would sometimes sync low and then the BT IPprofiling system (that's BTw the real ADSL provider rather than BT the ISP) will punish you with even lower speeds - possibly for several days after the glitch has passed.

    Low definition iPlayer would maybe work but could stutter a bit.

    BT Infinity could maybe be installed in your area which would cure your speed problems at a stroke.

    ==

    Have a look at http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php and check if you can get any LLU operators (over on the right of the results page) - if so they may bemore viable as they won't be using the abysmal system BTw do so a line glitch will only be a problem as long as it lasts. They'd likely be cheaper too but may refuse to give you service as long lines = more support work for them usually
  • ComplexP
    ComplexP Posts: 328 Forumite
    Dear all, for years I haven't been able to get any kind of broadband where I live. Up till recently I've used dialup and then moved to a mobile dongle with Orange which is ok and gets a couple of bars 2G if it hangs out of an upstairs window. About the same type of speeds as dialup but heaven forfend if, as today, someone sends me a largish pdf, I can go out and come back three hours later to find it still downloading. However at least the phone line isn't tied up nor am I limited to 2 hours at a go.

    I've rechecked today, as I do every few months, and on the BT site it says :

    Your broadband checker results
    We have tested your line and of our two broadband products, BT Infinity and BT Total Broadband, you can get the option(s) below. If you don't see BT Infinity, please check back regularly for updates.

    Broadband option : BT Total Broadband
    Maximum connection speed : 0.256Mb download
    When you can get it : Now
    You can get fast and reliable broadband with speeds of up to 8Mb.

    Now this is very exciting news. However the speed seems pretty low though I dont understand really how it works. At the moment the highest ever is 53.6 kbps with the dongle. What would the above speed enable me to do? I'd particularly like to watch things like iplayer, would this be fast enough? Is it worth paying £16 a month for this as I would still have to pay for the mobile broadband too on contract for another year - is it that different from what I can do now? (no games, just general browsing, emails, can't really share photos at the moment and would like to do my course online but that's not possible now either)

    The other thing is that I would prefer to stay with Orange. If BT can offer this, then would the same be true of Orange? Presumably the line can carry this so it just depends on which provider I go with. I started trying to research it a bit but got caught up in stuff about LLU and 21c networks - all I want is usable broadband - after all in the darkest depths of Africa, outer Mongolia and the Arctic they can get it, so why can't I in the Midlands?

    Thanks for any advice

    DS

    Basically it looks like you can get broadband but it is right at the low end of that definition.

    From the sound of it you may well find that this 0.256MBits is a massive jump from what you are used to so it might be worth doing. Will it be good enough for the iPlayer? No. But at least a large PDF might download in 10 minutes rather than 3 hours.

    At that sort of speed I think a 10MegaByte file would take just under 7 minutes to download.

    As Kwik pointed out, if BT can give you that speed, any of the other providers could also do it so it would be worth checking what is available in your area. I would NOT recommend BT.

    Finally, since you wont be able to get much higher than 0.5MBits by the look of it, it's not worth paying for a really expensive package. Any of the budget broadband packages should be sufficient I think.

    Good luck.
  • ComplexP
    ComplexP Posts: 328 Forumite
    kwikbreaks wrote: »
    BT Infinity could maybe be installed in your area which would cure your speed problems at a stroke.

    Sorry, what is this? This is a new one on me. Cheers.
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    It's the name BT are calling the new FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) system they are rolling out - supposedly 20m homes by 2012 - always assuming the world doesn't end then naturally.
  • ComplexP
    ComplexP Posts: 328 Forumite
    Ah, thanks. I'll have to keep an eye out for that. 'Infinity' eh? I guess FTTC wasn't very marketable. ;)
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    They'll obviously cherry pick areas where they think they can justify the investment. It probably means they'll install it the same places NTL thought were worth laying their cable.
  • ComplexP
    ComplexP Posts: 328 Forumite
    I hope not, because the people who need FTTC the most are those who are currently at the end of a very long line with no other options...
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    Much as I hate to say it this is an area where market forces deliver the wrong result.
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