How can I tell how fast an internet connection is?

dllive

Hi,
I've found a house I want to buy. I work from home so its essential to have broadband. The vendors are elderly and dont currently have an internet connection. Ive done a bit of research and can see that the local telephone exchange is only a few hundred metres away. The local exchange supports ADSL and ADSL Max (whatever that is). Is this any guarantee that the connection will be fast? Whats the best way to see how fast the connection is in the neighbouring houses? If I did move in and the wiring would need changing (maybe the old copper wiring in the house would need changing to improve the connection), how much would this be? Its a massive gamble to buy a house on the assumption that its got a good internet connection.
Any suggestions/advice would be great.

macman

Assuming it's a BT line, put the phone number into this:
http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome
If you go to this site you can use the exchange mapping tool to give you more detailed info from the address.
https://www.samknows.com
Look for the LLU options on your exchange (column on r/h side)-these will be the best options.
You can't rewire upstream of the master socket, that is BT's property, but you can rewire extensions if necessary, that's a straightforward DIY job.

dllive

hi macman. Samknows says that the exchange is 650 metres from the house. It supports ADSL and ADSL Max (but not ADSL 2). The BT checker confirms this. There are no LLU options - does that mean Im stuck with BT (which I dont mind). Its crucial I have broadband and I cant buy this house without there being some guarantee I can get atleast a half decent connection. Seeing as the exchange is so close it should be OK, so it comes down to the copper wires.

macman

What speed does the exchange mapping tool on samknows give for your address? This is usually pretty accurate.
Exchange distance is not always relevant, as it is the straight line distance, whereas the actual cables tend to follow street patterns.
No you are not 'stuck with BT', you can use any non-LLU provider you wish, of which there are dozens. Depends what your usage is, the cheapest is probably Plusnet, which is £12.99 on a Market 1 exchange, but it's capped at 10GB a month. Quidco cashback available.
BT will probably be one of the most expensive options, and certainly one of the worst.
Since your (non LLU) service will be running over the BT network regardless of the ISP, the speeds are unlikely to vary much, so you may as well go for the cheapest option.

dllive

The Exchange Mapper cant seem to find the exact house, although Ive selected one of the other houses on the road. Teh Mapper tool came back with:
ADSL available at ~6Mbps
BT Total broadband
TalkTalk non-LLU (8M is £15pm)
Sky Connect (non-LLU) (8M is £17pm)
AOL broadband (non-LLU)
Pipex broadband
Plusnet broadband
Tiscali broadband
And many more...

That looks fairly promising doesnt it?
What makes you say that BT are 'certainly one of the worst'? I agree that BT are truely awful (Ive had expereinecs with them in the past), but Ive heard good and bad things about every ISP. I thought that if its BT's hardware, then theyre more likely to give a better service - although I may be completely and wholly wrong!

kwikbreaks

dllive wrote: »

I thought that if its BT's hardware, then theyre more likely to give a better service - although I may be completely and wholly wrong!

My vote goes to macman on that one.

This ratings page has them just pipping Karoo and VM ADSL....
http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php

macman

I thought that if its BT's hardware, then theyre more likely to give a better service - although I may be completely and wholly wrong!

Every non-LLU provider is going to be using BT's hardware. BT's Retail side is entirely separate from the BT Wholesale side, they have the same relationship with it as does any other ISP. Go with BT and you will pay a premium price for a sub-standard service.
Plusnet Value is probably the cheapest deal at present without any LLU options, and they also offer phone bundles. However you need to be aware of the 10GB cap.

dllive

hhhm, interesting. After reading reviews on BT, I dont think Ill be using them! I currently use TalkTalk. At my last house they never managed to connect me to the internet (it took a year of phone calls!). At my current house theyve been pretty good, and their support has been good too, so I suspect theyve cleaned up their act a lot. On one of the reviews from http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php , it says "Talktalk fail to mention that there will be an additional £15 per month charge for broadband, if your local exchange is not unbundled.". what does that mean?

macman

dllive wrote: »

hhhm, interesting. After reading reviews on BT, I dont think Ill be using them! I currently use TalkTalk. At my last house they never managed to connect me to the internet (it took a year of phone calls!). At my current house theyve been pretty good, and their support has been good too, so I suspect theyve cleaned up their act a lot. On one of the reviews from http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php , it says "Talktalk fail to mention that there will be an additional £15 per month charge for broadband, if your local exchange is not unbundled.". what does that mean?

It means exactly what it says. If your exchange is not unbundled for TT, then you pay another £15 per month over the standard Essentials £6.99 tariff.
We've already established that your exchange has no LLU options, so TT would not be a good choice.

kwikbreaks

dllive wrote: »

At my last house they never managed to connect me to the internet (it took a year of phone calls!). At my current house theyve been pretty good, and their support has been good too, so I suspect theyve cleaned up their act a lot.

Sorry - off your topic but I've picked up the impression that TalkTalk are improving too - a lot less horror stories and sometimes even praise. They are cheap and have pretty wide coverage so could be one to watch where the mighty O2 have no presence.

As to your choice that is more difficult with no LLU at all but good that you've understood that BT are a poor choice. The real problem is that there are far more lemons than there are good ISPs and buying on price will usually land you with poor speeds and support.

brightonman123

have a look at mobile dongle deals- working fine for my home pc, using USB port rather than the knackered modem socket..

various deals through cashback sites, too!

:beer: