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[Changing ISP] Advice please

  • Thread starter Thread starter hubie
  • Start date Start date

hubie

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Hi there, I just stumbled across this site in Google and thought I would ask your advice.

I've been with BT for the last 2 yrs and while I've found their service to be fairly consistent (no drop outs, hardly any technical problems), I've become rather frustrated with my connection speeds. I'm paying for "up to 8Mbps" but I average at around 500kbps download speed at the best of times. This is generally fast enough for most of my online activities (streaming radio shows, downloading music, etc), but considering that I'm supposed to be getting "up to 8Mb" I feel I'm being ripped off somewhat!

With the assistance of SamKnows I have discovered that I live roughly 1.5-2 miles away from my 'local' exchange so I assume that this might be part of the problem (?).

Anyway, I'm considering switching to Sky Broadband (cos I've already got Sky TV - this would save me a lot of cash if I subscribed to their package) or possibly Be (my friend has recommended it). So having visited their respective websites, I entered my ph number into their line testers and got varied results: Sky said my line can only support up to 3Mb whereas Be claim my line can support up to 14Mb, which has left me confused!

So this brings me to my point (sorry for the drawn out life story!)... could anyone advise me of my best options? Can anyone recommend either of the above ISPs, or any better alternatives?

Thanks very much for your help! :)
 
It may be that Sky's faster unbundled packages cannot reach you, thus it would base the speed on its more costly BT based option. Likewise Be Broadband's (O2) unbundled service would appear to be enabled in your area, thus it may be able to offer you speeds of up to 14Mbps (though you shouldn't expect the best estimate).

Stick your telephone number into our checker, which will give you a simple report showing what services are available via your line (BT based and or unbundled [LLU]):

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/checker/

Generally speaking if you can’t get Sky’s unbundled service then I’d go with Be Broadband instead, otherwise Sky will make you take their more restrictive and costly BT based package. If you can get both unbundled solutions then I’d just go with whichever suits your needs the most as both are reasonable providers.
 
With the assistance of SamKnows I have discovered that I live roughly 1.5-2 miles away from my 'local' exchange so I assume that this might be part of the problem (?).

Internal phone wiring can sometimes also have some impact on speed.

If you've got any hardwired telephone extensions and the type of master socket with a removable lower panel, one thing to try is connecting your router to the test socket behind your master socket to see if either your router's sync rate/connection speed or the downstream signal to noise margin are improved (higher).

See:- http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm
 
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That's some excellent advice guys, thank you very much :)

It looks like both Sky and Be's unbundled services are available here. If i were to order one or the other, do you know how I can specify an unbundled service, as opposed to the standard broadband service? Cos as far as I can tell when I visit their sites there doesn't seem to be an option between the two

Thanks again :)
 
As far as I know Be don't do non-llu, and if your exchange is unbundled by Sky then Sky will only offer you their LLU products which are cheaper to provide.

Sky's LLU products are called Base, Mid, and Max, their (non-LLU) BT based Product is called "Connect" and is more expensive at about 17 quid.
 
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