Problems with getting broadband to our property

gino_76ph

Hi there!

Me and my wife had just moved-in to a new ground floor flat (bungalow style) in SW19 London and we have a problem as regards getting broadband (and landline) services to our property.

I was with Talktalk with my previous address and was having 30MB speeds via their fibre optic. i am well aware that fibre might not be available to our new property so i had set my mind to that.

When i asked TT to have my services moved to my new address they somehow cannot find it. now, a few days before i actually rung TT i spoke to RoyalMail to register the address. that's done now. but TT say it might take a while before their systems get updated which is understandable. this was all last week.

Back to today a week after i rung Royal mail and a good 5 days since i rung TT i rung the latter again and said they still can't find my new address. they kept saying that it might take a while before their system gets updated (same old story).

Furious i rung BT. they said they can't find my new address but they said further that they can "create" an address in order to start supplying services. what i didn't liked is the speed they can offer me (after maybe doing an initial line check) is between 2-6MB which in a real-world 21st century life is extremely slow and is a step back to 10 years ago when i first has Tiscali internet.

Tried ringing Virgin & Sky. same story.

I checked ( and rung) Royal Mail and definitly our new address & post code are all there. same with the council.

We can't live any longer without basic landline and an (acceptable) boradband speeds.


so, any advice please?


ny advice please.

Owain_Moneysaver

If 6MB is all your local line and exchange can provide then your option for faster landline broadband is to pay for the installation and rental of multiple lines and get an ISP who supports line bonding.

However it is possible that the sales rep is being very cautious because it's a new line and they don't know how it's going to be provided yet.

gino_76ph

I don't see the point of line bonding as it is not practical and perhaps expensive if what you are suggesting to "pay for the rent of multiple lines".

I do not see the sales rep being cautious to be honest; the property has been there for years but has been well kept so it looks new inside & out. there is a BT Openreach socket there and the estate agent told me that there was someone who lived in the property previously as also evidenced with a letter i found in the postbox.

Like i said i am not expecting fibre optic speeds but atleast have a speed of 10-20MB and not a backward/third-world speed of "up to 6MB max" as BT, Sky & Virgin has told me so far.

I don't usually depend too much on comparison sites. i still think ringing them is the best way.

And what i don't understand is that why does it take eternity for these internet providers to seemingly update their systems relating to Royal Mail database of post codes & addresses.

so, what are my options please?

System

gino_76ph wrote: »

Like i said i am not expecting fibre optic speeds but atleast have a speed of 10-20MB and not a backward/third-world speed of "up to 6MB max" as BT, Sky & Virgin has told me so far.

Most of the country outside cities is on what you call backward/third-world speeds and have no option about getting fibre either through Virgin or BT. Hell! I can't even get ADSL2 and there isn't even a date for upgrading the exchange to for it.

withabix

gino_76ph wrote: »

a backward/third-world speed of "up to 6MB max"

so, what are my options please?

Britain is a 3rd world country when it comes to broadband.

Welcome to the rest of the country.


Your broadband speed is proportional to the distance from the exchange (just like it is for everyone else), except in areas which have BT fibre-to-cabinet or other cable provider.

Your options? Move closer to a telephone exchange.

ktothema

withabix wrote: »

Britain is a 3rd world country when it comes to broadband.

Welcome to the rest of the country.


Your broadband speed is proportional to the distance from the exchange (just like it is for everyone else), except in areas which have BT fibre-to-cabinet or other cable provider.

Your options? Move closer to a telephone exchange.

Exactly we're 3.5km from our exchange and only get between 3-7mps. That's greater London btw, not some rural village.

david29dpo

I am twice that distance and get 1.2 mps (and glad of it!)
Other than software updates (which i do overnight) its fine.

Gordon_Hose

We're turning into a nation of broadband snobs.

You need a reality check if you think 6Mb is a rubbish connection.

duchy

When I bought this house before I put the offer in I checked what BB was available to the address as I knew it was important to me. One of my friends teased me about it.......A year later they moved and didn't check as like the OP they assured their 18 meg was commonplace. They were less than impressed to discover 3 meg was all their new exchange could offer.

OP I find a week is about right for RM to list an amended address. Its down to the owner to do it so if you are renting RM may have rejected the change from you as a tenant.....sometimes they seem to slip through. A friend got hers done in two days however so sounds like you need to be chasing it by now.

It's probably worth checking when fibre is due as new areas are coming on line with it weekly. If it shows on the BT website then other providers like Sky will be able to offer it too.

Oh and it is not the BB providers not updating . It is RM who are slow to update ..the BB suppliers have to access the RM database not the other way around .

penrhyn

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

We're turning into a nation of broadband snobs.

You need a reality check if you think 6Mb is a rubbish connection.

Well said, most services are accessible with a 6mbps connection.
OP asked for advise, the obvious, non helpful, answer would have been to have checked out the availability of broadband services prior to the move.

withabix

Your biggest problem with BT is throttling and not necessarily the 'typical' speed.