Confirming Internet Speed

ajayre

We have found a house we would like to put an offer in for and we have viewed it twice. It's an old farmhouse about a mile from the nearest village.

I work from home so broadband internet is critical.

The vendor doesn't have a computer so they don't know.

Entering the address into the BT website tells me that the exchange is one mile away (in the village) and "You can enjoy BT Broadband now" @ "7.5Mbps".

The exact speed is not critical for example I don't mind if it is as low as 2Mbps and I know that old wiring can have large effects.

This is too important just to trust the BT website - no broadband is a deal killer.

How should we proceed? I presume put an offer in and then somehow get BT to confirm the speed? Does BT do that? Any other ideas?

Thanks, Andy

cycloneuk

No one can confirm the speed unless they access broadband from the property and run a speed test, everything else is an estimate.

ajayre

theartfullodger wrote: »

You know the answer: Pay vendor to order BB then measure it.

End of!

As I mentioned - the owner doesn't have a computer. What would they measure it with?

Andy

ajayre

cycloneuk wrote: »

No one can confirm the speed unless they access broadband from the property and run a speed test, everything else is an estimate.

Yes, that is my question. How do I do that if the owner doesn't have a clue about any of it?

Andy

Better_Days

ajayre wrote: »

As I mentioned - the owner doesn't have a computer. What would they measure it with?

Andy

Well, you could take along a laptop and modem/router and measure it yourself.

I do understand your concerns, internet access is very important these days.

propertyman

:money:The best way is to find the cheapest provider with the best cancellation policy so if its in, and doesnt work, you are only out those costs.

While I am sure BT engineers could be paid to visit and test, if you can get past the sales call centre, the likely costs is going to be about the same as an installation and cancellation.

Ivana_Tinkle

You can get satellite broadband anywhere. It's more expensive (isn't everything in the countryside?) but not prohibitively so, and that's less of a problem if you can write it off as a business expense.

Sally22_2

Satellite broadband IS expensive! Ours is £50pm before you have even done anything for UPTO 2mbps (in reality we are lucky to get 1mbps plus if its raining/bad weather it will cut out/not work) with a 10GB download limit and £1 per GB usage after that. So with a household of 5 people using the internet for various things, work/xbox/general browsing, the bill can get quite high. Unfortunately we don't have a choice, where we currently live, BT aren't willing to make broadband available via the exchange as not enough people in the village to make it worthwhile. Cant wait until we move out in a few months to be away from it!

Cant answer the question on how to check speeds when you don't live there yet though, sorry!

Ivana_Tinkle

Blimey, that is a lot. I've been looking into it (we have broadband but it's SLOW) and the deals seem to start at about £25/month but the upfront costs are a couple of hundred quid. Didn't realise it was so unreliable though.

[Deleted User]

Can always get bonded ISDN lines in if broadband not available.

Also if its the quality of the connection you're after and not the biggest speed and download limit, then you need to be looking at a decent ISP. Not the likes of TalkTalk, SKY, BT Retail, etc.

ecgirl07

ajayre wrote: »

We have found a house we would like to put an offer in for and we have viewed it twice. It's an old farmhouse about a mile from the nearest village.

I work from home so broadband internet is critical.

The vendor doesn't have a computer so they don't know.

Entering the address into the BT website tells me that the exchange is one mile away (in the village) and "You can enjoy BT Broadband now" @ "7.5Mbps".

The exact speed is not critical for example I don't mind if it is as low as 2Mbps and I know that old wiring can have large effects.

This is too important just to trust the BT website - no broadband is a deal killer.

How should we proceed? I presume put an offer in and then somehow get BT to confirm the speed? Does BT do that? Any other ideas?

Thanks, Andy

could you ask a neighbour of the new house with broadband what speed they get??? would that work?