Broadband in small village?

Horizon81

Hello, I'm wanting to get the internet installed in my home but as I live in a small village I'm not sure its going to be possible to get broadband. I know some people in the village have it, so I've put my landline number into BT's broadband checker and it's come up with the following:


Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial test on your line indicates that it is VERY UNLIKELY you will be able to receive fixed 512Kbps or 256Kbps broadband service due to the very long length of your telephone line.

However, your order will be accepted if you still wish to order. An engineer may need to visit who will, where possible, supply the broadband service.


Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 1Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 750Kbps and 2.5Mbps.
Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 1Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 1Mbps and 3.5Mbps.

I'm not that savvy when it comes to broadband but I know that 512kbps or 256kbps is pretty poor for broadband to say the least. Can anyone shed any light on the info above please. It says my line is ADSL (broadband) enabled but the speeds will be exceptionally poor, or will they be non existant? Is it saying I can pay for it to be installed (how much?) but no guarantee of it working? Even if it's slow will it at least still work no worse that dial up? What's that about an engineer? Does somebody need to visit and physically install an ADSL line?

Another question is, is dial up still available? Should I get that instead of broadband or is it just too slow to do anything? Is it even still supported?

So many questions and any clarity would be welcomed!!

penrhyn

Put you phone number into Samknows Exchange checker and report what you get.

No one needs to install anything, your line is what it is.
An engineer may visit to confirm the attenuation (AC resistance) of your line, as this along with noise determines what you may get.
You don't have to use BT as your ISP of course.

kwikbreaks

The original fixed speed services such as 512kbps had pretty conservative requirements before BT would install them to ensure that they would always work. Later a rate adaptive service (ADSL Max) was introduced and that is mostly what is used now and what the second part of the BT text is talking about. With that you get the best your line can support at any given time.

There is no way of knowing what your line will actually achieve before it is activated an the only way to find out is to try. I'm not sure if they still do engineer installs or not but certainly on a long line you need to optimise your internal wiring to get the best out of it - do you have any extensions for instance as these are what cause problems or rather the long ring wires inside them do and there are several ways of isolating those.

Horizon81

Thanks for those replies. I think I was seeing the 'Very Unlikely' as my general chance of getting broadband but if I understand it rightly, that only relates to the fixed speed service??

I don't understand this bit though:

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 1Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 750Kbps and 2.5Mbps.

It says the line supports an estimated line speed of 1Mbps so how come typical speed could be as high as 2.5Mbps? And if typical speed is from 750kbps then why can't they offer a fixed 512kbps or 256kbps service?

Do I need to involve BT at all? Could I just contact another ISP to provide it? I thought something had to be done to the line.

Horizon81

Samknows:

Summary of results for XXXXXXXXXXXXX at 13:59 04/02/2011
Congratulations, you are in a broadband enabled area.
Click here to compare packages available to you.

The following services are available in your location:

• BT Wholesale ADSL
• BT Wholesale ADSL Max
• BT Wholesale WBC (21CN)
• BT Wholesale SDSL
• AOL LLU
• O2 / Be LLU
• TalkTalk (CPW) LLU
• Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU
• Tiscali LLU
• Orange LLU (Formerly Wanadoo)

Please select the options on the left for more information about broadband availability at your location.
» Confused about what's available to you?

kwikbreaks

As I said in my previous post the criteria for supplying a fixed speed service were higher - I don't recall exactly what but a line they would decline for 512kbps fixed could maybe run at a meg or more on Max.

On any line the speed achieved depends of the signal level at the end which is pretty much fixed by the length and cable quality and doesn't vary significantly and the noise level which can vary all the time and so may the speed. That isn't the real reason they quote a range though - that's because in truth they haven't a clue and it could vary between not working at all and maybe a couple of Mbps completely stable.

The only way to find out is to suck it and see. If it works at all it will be cheaper and better than dial up. If it doesn't then is the time to consider alternatives.

kwikbreaks

Sorry I missed this bit...

Horizon81 wrote: »

Do I need to involve BT at all? Could I just contact another ISP to provide it? I thought something had to be done to the line.

The ISP of your choice will deal with BT. From that set I would normally recommend O2 or Be but I'm not sure if Be would take your line on and O2 TS is not the best in the world in my experience. If you don't mind paying more for better support and with a long line you may need some then Zen would be a good choice.

Horizon81

Thanks again. By trying it you mean sign up to a minimum of 12 months contract?

Oh, and is BT's Total Broadband the same as ADSL max, i.e. it gets the best speed it can at any given time, so will go up and down?

penrhyn

No, there will be a training period over the first couple of weeks whilst the speed is adjusted for stability. It will then essentially be fixed.
BT Total broadband is a marketing not a technical term.

If you have Sky TV then they would be cheaper than BT.

Horizon81

No Sky unfortunately. Been looking on BT's website and it just says 'broadband'. There's no mention of the variable speed or fixed speed, unlike on their broadband checker as detailed above.
So basically.... they'd run it for a few weeks, then fix it. Potentially at 200kbps?

penrhyn

How far are you from the exchange?