Fibre optic versus standard broadband?

Dollardog

Fibre optic versus standard broadband, is it always faster?


I have just agreed to change to EE fibre optic from standard broadband as downloading is so slow, trying to watch a program on I-player is almost impossible.
At the moment, I'm using an old Orange Livebox but have been sent a new Brightbox 2 for the fibre optic.
I'm hoping its going to improve the signal, I won't be able to plug it in to have a wired connection as I can't get to the back of my pc so it will only be able to work wirelessly, apparently it has a wider range though than the Livebox.

kwikbreaks

Dollardog wrote: »

I won't be able to plug it in to have a wired connection as I can't get to the back of my pc

That sounds plain ridiculous. Wired is always more stable and usually considerably faster unless you invest in decent quality wireless equipment - both router and PC.

Tr@cker

Dollardog wrote: »

Fibre optic versus standard broadband, is it always faster?


I have just agreed to change to EE fibre optic from standard broadband as downloading is so slow, trying to watch a program on I-player is almost impossible.
At the moment, I'm using an old Orange Livebox but have been sent a new Brightbox 2 for the fibre optic.
I'm hoping its going to improve the signal, I won't be able to plug it in to have a wired connection as I can't get to the back of my pc so it will only be able to work wirelessly, apparently it has a wider range though than the Livebox.

How did you find standard Bb for general use ? Ive been told 5.4 mb download speed with TalkTalk or thereabouts.

espresso

Dollardog wrote: »

Fibre optic versus standard broadband, is it always faster?


I have just agreed to change to EE fibre optic from standard broadband as downloading is so slow, trying to watch a program on I-player is almost impossible.

OK lets see what is actually available to you and what you are actually getting.

Click on this link here, enter your phone number and run the broadband availability checker.

I'm guessing from your posts that you will not be able to post a screen dump of your results into this thread, so fill in the following from your results:



A =
B =
C =
D =
E =
F =

Click on this link here, run a speed test and post your results.

After the test has completed, click on 'SHARE THIS RESULT' then 'FORUM' followed by 'COPY' then paste the link into your reply.

Dollardog

espresso wrote: »

OK lets see what is actually available to you and what you are actually getting.

Click on this link here, enter your phone number and run the broadband availability checker.

I'm guessing from your posts that you will not be able to post a screen dump of your results into this thread, so fill in the following from your results:



A = 80
B = 72.2
C = 80
D = 60
E = 5.5 - 7.5
F = 5-8
Click on this link here, run a speed test and post your results.

After the test has completed, click on 'SHARE THIS RESULT' then 'FORUM' followed by 'COPY' then paste the link into your reply.

I can't see where it says 'Share this result' so have filled in the figures

Dollardog

Tr@cker wrote: »

How did you find standard Bb for general use ? Ive been told 5.4 mb download speed with TalkTalk or thereabouts.

I'm not with TalkTalk, I'm with EE but I don't think I get anywhere near the speeds quoted as available. To download a program takes ages and keeps stopping and starting all the time, can't watch anything direct from I-player etc.

Dollardog

kwikbreaks wrote: »

That sounds plain ridiculous. Wired is always more stable and usually considerably faster unless you invest in decent quality wireless equipment - both router and PC.

Perhaps so but I will not be able to plug in and in any case, I usually use my laptop which is in another room, so even if the pc was wired in, which it won't be, the laptop would still be on wifi.

espresso

espresso wrote: »

OK lets see what is actually available to you and what you are actually getting.


Click on this link here, run a speed test and post your results.

After the test has completed, click on 'SHARE THIS RESULT' then 'FORUM' followed by 'COPY' then paste the link into your reply.

Dollardog wrote: »

I can't see where it says 'Share this result' so have filled in the figures

You have only posted half of the info requested - the predicted speed results from the availability checker.

The second link to click here, is to establish what speed you are actually getting.

The SHARE THIS RESULT button is displayed directly below the DOWNLOAD SPEED result after the test has completed.

The results from the availability checker suggest that you should easily have enough speed for iPlayer etc. and that you should get this problem fixed before getting any 'upgrade' as the same phone line into into your property is used even on fibre!

Dollardog

I think kwikbreaks has answered the problem of why my current broadband is so slow in the thread about fibre optic in rural areas.
At the moment, my Orange Livebox is attached to a phone extension lead which has to travel from the master phone socket around a room to where the nearest mains socket is and where it plugged into the pc. It also shared that socket with something else. I can get around this now so hopefully, the fibre signal should improve the speed. If nothing else, it will be cheaper. Thanks for your help.

Pincher

There is a variation on the positioning of the Wi-Fi router.


With FTTC fibre, you get a modem which plugs into the master socket, which has two distinct sockets, one for the modem, one for the telephone. On the local LAN side, the modem has a single Ethernet socket, which is supposed to connect to the router.


This means there is no reason why the router has to be in the same room as the master socket. There are CAT-6 flat Ethernet cables that can run under the carpet so it's very unobtrusive. I have a 25 meters CAT-6 flat cable, which allows me to locate the router anywhere I want, with no significant speed penalty.

espresso

Pincher wrote: »

There is a variation on the positioning of the Wi-Fi router.


With FTTC fibre, you get a modem which plugs into the master socket, which has two distinct sockets, one for the modem, one for the telephone. On the local LAN side, the modem has a single Ethernet socket, which is supposed to connect to the router.


This means there is no reason why the router has to be in the same room as the master socket. There are CAT-6 flat Ethernet cables that can run under the carpet so it's very unobtrusive. I have a 25 meters CAT-6 flat cable, which allows me to locate the router anywhere I want, with no significant speed penalty.

That is the old way, self install fibre is now commonplace and used by several ISP's including EE who supply a Bright box 2 VDSL 802ac router.

Set up info here and a Bright box 2 review here