Wi-Fi Router - DSL Line - Advise

Vaseblue

I’ve currently got a slow copper line (6-10mb) provided by BT using their standard smart hub. I’m out of contract and paying £40 for this service. But every hour it will drop for 10/15 mins and or be very slow (sub 1mb). Multiple engineers can’t find a fault, but note it does drop. One independent suggested a different router (note I live by myself but lots of devices). 

So question is which router should I buy, is it worth upgrading considering it’s dsl ans should I either into a new 18 month contract to save money?? 

NB giganet claim to be coming to my address, but I’m in a ground flat and according to a technician they won’t install. Many of my house living neighbours have completed the installation so suspect the website is wrong. Also note I can’t use a 4G router as I don’t even get 2g in the property. 

oldernonethewiser

£40 for that slow a service is very poor in this day and age.

Have you looked to see what other providers there are?

I am currently paying Now £25 for approx 65Mbps but am moving to Zen shortly.

Mark_d

£40 per month for your broadband service is excessive.  Maybe go for a 36Mb FTTC package with someone like EE or Plusnet.

Your drop in speed could be down to interference on your WIFI but it could also be due to the number of devices you have using your network.  Better bandwidth on your internet connection and a new router will likely solve your issue.

I wouldn't be concerned with an 18month or even a two year contract.  Would you?

I have no experience with giganet so can't comment on that

Vaseblue

@Mark_d@Mark_d thanks for the reply, unfortunately FTTC isn’t an option either, the box that serves my property is full according to BT. Any recommended router whilst I’m stuck with DSL to support the devices?

iniltous

If you are in an area that has a FTTP Alternative, it’s hard to believe that the Openreach ( not BT ) FTTC ‘cabinet’ is full , perhaps you can post the results for your address from this  site 

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome

Vaseblue

Hi @iniltous, these are the cabinet results, do they align with what they’ve told me? 

Vaseblue

@iniltous part 2…

iniltous

Although you have cropped the image in an unhelpful way ( the right hand side has important info that’s missing from the image  ) because there isn’t an entry for FTTC/SoGEA ,I suspect it’s not that the FTTC ‘cabinet’ is full that’s making FTTC unavailable , it’s there is no FTTC cabinet to start with , or that you are so far away from it ( distance wise ) FTTC would actually perform worse than ADSL so it doesn’t show as available  …..

Unfortunately it’s impossible to give any helpful advice, if this Alt Net was definitely going to be available soon and will service your MDU, then I would not commit to a new minimum term even if it were cheaper than continuing on an out of contract basis, but unfortunately Alt Nets have a habit of saying ‘coming soon’ and years later are still saying ‘coming soon’ …the fact you are in a flat/apartment only complicates the issue ….
TBH , its really a choice only you can make and time will tell if it were a good or bad choice, I suppose an advantage of renewing with BT ,should FTTP from Openreach become available while within the new minimum term you can upgrade to it for ‘free’ .