Do I need to switch to fiber?

mindthegap2

Hello everybody,
I'm currently with Orange on their unlimited home starter plan for £7 and I get between 10 and 12 Mbps on speed test.

I'm posting this because I would like to get a streaming TV service which recommends a minimum connection of 3Mbps but my son will also be using his own computer to browse the web and watch videos while we're using the service so what I don't want happening is our program to not stream properly due to his usage.

Do you think that I would need to switch to a fiber service or will we be ok with our current service?

Thanks for reading.
Advice will be appreciated.

iniltous

You will probably be fine with what you have already got, you could always upgrade to fibre if it proves to be unsatisfactory , but if your TV provider states minimum 3Mb and you get 12Mb that leaves a lot for browsing etc

mindthegap2

I did forget to mention one thing in my initial post.

When I watch videos during the evenings on my computer the loading times are noticeably longer than the times during the day even though my speedtest is telling me that I'm at something like 11Mbps.

Why does this happen, I only thought that ISPs throttle when you use P2P during peak times?

almillar

Probably because of contention. You're sharing a connection at some point along the line with 50 of your neighbours. If they're all on at the same time as you, streaming, it'll place more demand.
Also, whoever you're streaming from could be under heavy load, or your ISP, or any other connection points between you and your destination.

mindthegap2

So basically, I won't know how my new TV streaming service works until I actually start using it?

How long does it usually take to switch from my provider to a fiber setup?

Is there a particular provider which is seen as pretty good?

flashg67

My fibre changeover took about 10 days. An engineer had to visit to change the main BT socket, took about 30 mins and I was online.

Everybody has tales of poor service - I had a nightmare with TalkTalk and their overseas customer service, but they were good value. Been with Plusnet for 18 months and customer service is much better, so I'd recommend them.

mindthegap2

Thank you for your reply, I was leaning towards Plusnet as well. Their prices and service seem pretty good.