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I want to move to a DSL enabled area...

NTL have no spare cash to even consider physical rollout.

If you can stand Newport, come to Malpas - we have cable :P

Within Cwmbran, Llantarnam (the end closest to Newport) can't get DSL either. The new estates there don't have cable.

At least one person there has been considering ehotspot as a solution.

However, I'd just modify a sky dish, and see what *cough* unsecured access points sharing broadband you can find *cough* :rolleyes:
 
Heh, I know Malpas has cable ("bumped into" a guy from there on-line who`s using NTL) the Net`s a small place eh!? ;)

I think Llantarnam does have cable, Oakfield definately does so I suppose they`re not too bothered about DSL then. :D That does explain why I haven`t seen NTL vans near any holes in the roads for a long time though!

Thanks for the ehotspot tip, I`ll check that out since I`d like BB sooner if possible because I haven`t yet found the right property at the right price and the hit & miss approach of trying to ensure there is BB capability at an address a person doesn`t own makes it harder than it ought to be. :(

Sky dish? I ain`t even got a digibox! :laugh:
 
Llantarnam itself has cable, but the three or four new estates (abbey fields etc) don't. These cannot get DSL.

Although you can't find out for certain if a property can get DSL or not without ordering it, a pretty darn good guess can be made based on the location, the exchange, and a little local history (cables tend to follow old main roads). If you can find a phone number close by, entering it into the checker will give you a good indication as to whether its pretty certain, or on the borderline.

The reference to a sky dish was purely a technical one - Its the old analogue ones that are interesting - replace the LNB with a 2.4GHz feed, and you have yourself a nice little scanner for open wireless access points for a few (maybe as many as 10 or so) miles radius :rolleyes:
 
Which would suggest that they follow the old Llantarnam road which makes it odd why they can`t get DSL. :confused: Though it would explain Henllys.

So it looks like there`s definately no way to be sure of getting BB, other than to buy a place that has cable installed. Damn. :hrmph:

Problem with that is that most cable is installed on big sprawling housing estates, usually older ones (due to some road adoption / planning regs I believe they can`t lay cable until that`s done :shrug: ) and this greatly limits choice of house/area.

Doesn`t help that the cable companies (NTL/Telewest) don`t seem to step on each others toes and compete in the same areas so if either miss an estate/district there isn`t anyone else to cover it. :( What`s the biggest cost in cable installation? Digging up the roads and planning costs is my guess.

If NTL doesn`t have the finances for rollout, what about Telewest? Their service is allegedly fantastic.

One final thing: how do I spot an exchange? I`ve no idea where it is in this town and I doubt BT would tell me. :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the feedback you`re all giving, it`s much appreciated. After all, I don`t fancy spending 6 figs on a property only to find out the hard way that I`m BB less again! :eek: It would be a VERY expensive mistake that I don`t want to make!
 
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The government dished out the cable franchises - only allowing one company to serve each area. Eventually, telewest and ntl have bought out nearly all the franchises. They are now looking at merging as it makes business sense.

Both have recently avoided bankrupcy, and are still re-building their finance structures. The chances of them having any money for rollout into new areas for a number of years is very slim.

Civilian work (planning, and digging/ducting) is certainly the most expensive. Figures of £40 per metre if you want a leased line installed have been touted. The next biggest cost is copper. It would be cheaper for them to run fiber to customers instead of copper! Unfortunately, the cost of equipment at the customer end would make that unviable.

The Cwmbran BT exchange is in here: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.s...&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&dn=747

When you follow the probably cable route, it leaves the new housing estates at the newport end of llantarnam about 6.5km or more from the exchange. Henllys is about 7km.
 
You could always use the phone book. If you see a property you like, then there is a good chance there name will still be on the door. If not just look for names on neighbours doors then compare it to the phone book and you got there telephone number enter in on the BT website BB checker.

BT seem to not realise that they kinda break the Data Protection Act by entering a number on the BB site it tells you if BB is enabled. :hrmph:
 
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CRONIK said:
You could always use the phone book. If you see a property you like, then there is a good chance there name will still be on the door. If not just look for names on neighbours doors then compare it to the phone book and you got there telephone number enter in on the BT website BB checker.

BT seem to not realise that they kinda break the Data Protection Act by entering a number on the BB site it tells you if BB is enabled. :hrmph:


BT are not breaking the Data Protection Act. There are all sorts of myths & misinterpretations of that act. Some people would even claim telephone directories break the data protection act.
 
The test here is "has the user given permssion" - in a telephone directory they have (except for ex-directory). There was a spirited discussion of this on adslguide recently.
 
You are given the option of being in the phone book, but you are not asked if you want to be known if you have bb enabled on your line, so it is still a form of breach however it is soft and isn't giving away your life story.
 
Thanks for all that info Pete! It clears up a good few things for me. :)

I`ve always assumed that cable companies ran fibre optic not copper. I think I`ll have to do some research to find out if any telco anywhere in the world is using fibre, just out of curiosity.

Thanks for the location of the exchange also. Can anyone find this info out for any town/city etc or is it restricted? I`m thinking that my best bet is to find a place on the outskirts of a small town that has a DSL enabled exchange and clock the mileage in my car via every major road between the house and exchange, if I can`t find out from neighbours.


CRONIK:

Nice idea but sadly I`m not in that end of the 6 fig property market, :( though I wish I was! :)
 
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