75ZT Community

Evening all,

I am looking at changing by broadband provider and I'm thinking of going with BT Infinity which is BT's new fibre optic broadband giving download speeds of up to 40Mb

I can only get 5.mb on my line at the moment and this seems the only way to get a better connection.

I was wondering if anyone has this already or any other ideas.

Cheers

We've only just got electricity round here - fibre is a light year or so away

Stick your postcode in here: http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search
that will tell you what exactly is available to you at your exchange.

Not sure how techie you are and how much research you have done - I'm guessing quite a bit as you are looking at BT infinity. However, here's what I know, I'm guessing you have already covered it but it may be of use to others.

As I'm sure you know - Broadband speed is limited by the copper wire to you house, the closer you are the higher the attainable connection.
If you are on a normal exchange the very maximum is 8000kbps (or thereabouts) (8Mbps)
BT started upgrading their exchanges to 21Cn recently which gives a top connection speed of 20000kbps (20Mbps)

For a more immediate increase in speed - that costs nothing - try plugging your router into your master phone socket.
You can also disconnect the bell wire (that made the old analogue dial phones ring)
info is here :- http://www.jarviser.co.uk/jarviser/bell ... shell.html
an alternative is to fit a BT iPlate - more info is on the same site.

and if its possible remove anything else that's connected to your phone line anywhere in the house. (Even just to test)

Finally, and a little bit more technical. if you have a Netgear DG834 router (which is one of the most common ones) then you can get custom firmware to get the most out of it here :-
http://dgteam.ilbello.com/index.php?pid=12
with this you can set the SNR (signal to noise ratio) lower meaning you can get a higher attainable connection (ie nearer the maximum your line can give) but the trade off is a slightly less stable connection - default is 100%.
Mine is set to 5% and I haven't dropped in over 170 hours and am getting 7616 kbps - but in my case the exchange is very close.

Ian

oh and this link will tell you what speeds you should expect

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker

Ian_Stewart wrote:oh and this link will tell you what speeds you should expect

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker

Says 512kbps available in my area but not 1Mbps or 2Mbps - I get around 3500kbps. Me thinks it's info may be a little out of date with regard to broadband speeds available.

However the site also tells me my local exchange is moving to 21CN network at the end of March so should mean I can get up to 20Mbps from then . In real terms as I get 3.5Mbps out of a 8Mbps max then I should get around 8.5Mbps from a 20Mbps max?? That will do nicely, if it works out that way.

Still annoying that the houses opposite can get 50Mbps Virgin media for the same money I pay for my 3.5Mbps.

MrB wrote:

Ian_Stewart wrote:oh and this link will tell you what speeds you should expect

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker

Says 512kbps available in my area but not 1Mbps or 2Mbps - I get around 3500kbps. Me thinks it's info may be a little out of date with regard to broadband speeds available.

However the site also tells me my local exchange is moving to 21CN network at the end of March so should mean I can get up to 20Mbps from then . In real terms as I get 3.5Mbps out of a 8Mbps max then I should get around 8.5Mbps from a 20Mbps max?? That will do nicely, if it works out that way.

Still annoying that the houses opposite can get 50Mbps Virgin media for the same money I pay for my 3.5Mbps.

Have spoken with BT and the great news is the maximum I should expect at the moment is 3Mbps (I already get 3.5) but after they have changed over to 21CN, you've guessed it, I'll be able to get a whopping max of 3Mbps?????

They couldn't explain why the exchange kicking out 20Mbps after 31st March will mean no noticeable difference to my broadband after the changeover.

Progress is wonderful, is it not?

BT check on broadband speed is generally underestimated, checking the actual speed available via your router software is accurate but only in terms of no other users being on that node at the time of log-on. Bandwidth available will go up and down like the proverbial.... dependant on how many are on line. Probably teaching granny to suck eggs here.

As far as the exchange being upgraded to supply 20Mb/s, if they have not also upgraded the copper line from the exchange to your local connection box then you will only get the original speed as stated. Even so, to gain a significant increase in line speed fibre optic cable would have to be installed all the way from the exchange to your house. This being limited by the copper wire within your property.
The notion of 20Mb/s being available at your router is just that, a notion. You may on a good day get 7-8 Mb/s once the exchange has been upgraded, dependant on factors, such as, distance from exchange. users live on your local node, condition of cabling etc.
IMV the only way to get a consistently faster connection speed is to use a cable connection.
Having said all that at 3.5 Mb/s, you are still able to stream HD broadcasts from, for example BBC Iplayer smoothly (providing your local node does not get too busy thus diminishing the bandwidth).

Day off today sitting waiting for BT.