Confirming Internet Speed

ajayre

Thanks for all the great replies!

I double-checked the exchange distance and it is 0.6 miles by road. People in the village where the exchange is get 6Mbps according to uswitch.com.

There are about four neighbours so it's possible none of them have internet, however I will ask if I need to.

The exchange does not appear to have any other internet providers and is not scheduled for fibre optics.

Tooway offer satellite internet but I'm not sure Skype and Vonage will work with it. Also what happens if they go out of business?

I called BT and they were quite obstinate about details. They wouldn't even give me a cost for the vendor to add broadband and then cancel it and initially told me that wasn't even possible. So if they gave me hassle about this over the phone they are sure to give the vendor hassle also.

Finally they told me that the vendor can call BT, give them their existing account number, say they want broadband, ask for the guaranteed minimum speed and then end the call. According to BT if you don't get the guaranteed minimum then they either repair the problem or let you out of the contract.

So what do people think about getting the vendor to find out the guaranteed minimum? Too big of an ask? No reason they shouldn't do it?

Thanks, Andy

Jules2012

BT own plusnet now you should try them as they are cheaper and I don't think they slow it down at peak times.

I agree with the above. 7.5mb you will probably get around 4mb. When I use to have standard bb it only ever dipped to 2mb when there was a fault on the line.

It was always quick enough to stream, never noticed any issues. You can't really download on it unless your happy to keep it running as it will take ages.


Edit: remember you have 7 days grace when you order a good or service online from when you RECEIVE it so at least you can judge the speed for a few days and cancel if need be.

artbaron

molerat wrote: »

BT state that broadband is available on a relatives number out in the sticks so they had bb installed. Not a thing on the router, engineer came out and immediately said "won't get broadband on this line" and went away. So no, their estimate is not reliable :mad:

What was the estimate in their case? I'll bet it was something like 0.25Mb, which essentially means "you might get it if you're lucky."

0.6 miles from a bb enabled exchange as for the OP with an estimate of 7.5Mb it's impossible to fail to get bb unless there's a line fault, in which case it would be repaired. I was in identical circumstances to the OP and my estimate was 7Mb and I have a solid 8Mb, which is the maximum for this exchange. I thought it might be a bit lower, as it's a village exchange that looks like somebody's chicken shed, but it seems to do the job.

lee111s

I was estimated 3-5 I'm in sync at 7.5meg and get about 6.8 on a speedtest.

Paul_01

Seems pretty reliable to me from the posters so far.

ajayre

Vendor has rung BT and asked for the guaranteed minimum and they were told it will take 72 hours to get back to her with it. Bizarre... Perhaps they are confused or perhaps they will perform testing over that period... who knows...?

And yes, Google Streetview show the exchange looks like a chicken shed. :laugh:

Andy

andrewmp

Try asking the vendor to order broadband (you pay). Plusnet offer a 1 month contract.

molerat

http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/broadband_speed_in_my_area.aspx
Tried here ?
or here
http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/speedtest/

ajayre

Thanks. Both have no results for the area the house is in. Only the village where the exchange is 0.6 miles away.

Andy