What is the best non-fibre optic broadband?

jetsetterjoe

Hi all,

I'm wondering what, at present, is the best, non-fibre-optic broadband in terms of speed and consistency.

I'm not too worried about price or value for money (sounds insane I know), mainly because I'm moving to an area in which I'm forced to use a phone-line *sadface*

Having been used to fibre-o, working from home regularly (what I do is very bandwidth heavy), I need some real speed.

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks all!

notbritishgas

jetsetterjoe wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm wondering what, at present, is the best, non-fibre-optic broadband in terms of speed and consistency.

I'm not too worried about price or value for money (sounds insane I know), mainly because I'm moving to an area in which I'm forced to use a phone-line *sadface*

Having been used to fibre-o, working from home regularly (what I do is very bandwidth heavy), I need some real speed.

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks all!

Normally it is not the provider of the broadband that dictates speed, it is more the quality of the line and the quality of the internal wiring,

A poor quality noisy line can drastically reduce speed but that can mostly be rectified by fault reporting.
Also the internal wiring and length of extension sockets used can affect it, but once again that may be remedied.

However the most crucial factor is distance from the supplying exchange and hence the attenuation loss on the line. Unfortunately that cannot be rectified if you have already bought a property. If not look for one next door to the local exchange.

I have no experience of this but perhaps a LLU supplier may be slightly faster that a resold BT wholesale product.

jetsetterjoe

Incredibly useful.

Thank you very much indeed.

If anyone has anything to add to this, I'm all ears (or eyes in this instance).

C_Mababejive

If you shimmy over to samknows and find out which ISPs have a presence in your local exchange that would be a start.

If there are no independent presences then you will have to purchase the BT wholesale BB product.

I have O2 in my local exchange and am very happy with them in all respects.

I have finely honed my internal installation to make sure i eek the best throughput from what they provide for me.

macman

There is no universal best, because ADSL broadband is exchange-specific. So start with an exchange search on www.samknows.com for your available LLU providers.
If you have been using VM cable, then BT-based FTTC may be available to you at the new property, now or in the near future.
Both are however only FTTC, not fibre to the home-the link from street cab to home is still good old-fashioned copper wire.

jetsetterjoe

Such great answers.

I've managed to find the LLU providers in this area -

AOL LLU
O2 / Be LLU
Bulldog LLU
TalkTalk (CPW) LLU
Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU
Pipex LLU
Tiscali LLU

Any ideas as to who to pitch for?

As for internal installation, what sort of hardware are you using to maximise what you're getting?

mattyprice4004

I prefer BT-based IPStream providers - they use BTs equipment and getting things fixed in the exchange seems to be easier (no passing to and from the ISP).

I used to work with an LLU provider, and now work for an IPStream BT provider - the difference in service time etc is noticeable.

macman

Since your LLU options are O2/Be, Sky or TT, Sky is the obvious choice if you want an unlimited service. (If you want cheap, TT).
02 can be competitive if you can get the £5pm discount by registering an O2 mobile number to the account.
For non-LLU providers, Zen usually come at or near the top of all the consumer surveys, but you will pay a lot more.

C_Mababejive

Good to see you have O2 in your exchange and i recommend them. The only time i had a fault they didnt just pass the buck back and forth with BT. They took ownership of it,raised order,mr openreach came and sure enough it was their bit of wire. It was obvious really as it was clearly knackered.

HappyMJ

I like tesco broadband's price myself. Unlimited internet for £24.75 a month including line rental and unlimited anytime inclusive calls. If you don't want any inclusive calls then it's £20.25 a month.

jetsetterjoe

It's definitley possible for me to register an O2 number to the account. I'll have a look and see what I can get and come back with deals.

Thanks again everyone, you've all helped more than you know.