Super Fast Broadband Manchester & Salford

[LNGCats]

Originally Posted by Irwell

I quite often have torrents, netflix/lovefilm, xbox live, zune video, iplayer, etc. running over my internet. Any combination of two or more of those and I have to think about throttling things to avoid problems. Even when I'm not at home I'm usually accessing files from my nas. I could do with that high an upload speed too.

You need to get out more.

Seriously.

[WingTips]

Originally Posted by LNGCats

Out of interest, why do people need such high speed downloads?

I work from home and the 8Mb/sec seems good enough for me.

8Mb...I`m alright Jack! if only!

[Irwell]

Originally Posted by LNGCats

You need to get out more.

Seriously.

So the fact people in my house are doing those things in some way reflects on my social life? Not all of us are the only people using our internet connections you know.

[markydeedrop]

Originally Posted by andrewh1973

Sounds hopeful. Remains to be seen if Ordsall will get it, I'd be very surprised if the street I live in gets to benefit from it. I get 6mb/s here (Demon ADSL) and apart from random line sync loses in the evenings and early mornings (which Demon seem not to be able to get to the bottom of, but which mysteriously disappear for a few weeks whenever I complain) the service is good but it would be nice to have a faster service though, especially for VoD use.

It amuses me that people complain about only getting 3mb/s. I spent 1 year (in 2004) living in a dockside apartment in a (then) recently built development on the edge of London's Docklands (the one area where you'd expect that broadband would be a given for everyone). At the time only 512kbs ADSL was available anywhere and yet even that was difficult to get there. It worked ok in the evening but dropped out for hours at a time in the evenings and weekends. BT confirmed the problem was poor quality of lines into the development plus the sheer length of them back to the exchange, but it was not planning to do anything about it. 7 years on nothing has changed, the exchange is already Infinity ready but will not be available to folks in that development. BT optimistically state that average ADSL speeds are 1mb/s. So really, things could be worse!

You can check to see if/when you are getting Infinity by checking the BT Wholesale Broadband Availability Checker

https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html

[andysimo123]

Originally Posted by LNGCats

You need to get out more.

Seriously.

Says someone who posts on skyscrapercity.

Seriously through, 8mb? I bet its not even 8mb, probs 4mb or 5mb if that. Most of the stuff he posted was hardly 'i'm a geek.' PS3/Xbox, Lovefilm, iplayer, etc nothing mad there. Everyone I know uses most of that, yes even Women. They love iplayer, Facebook, iPhones, iPads etc they can't get enough of it. Using internet today with those features with a fast connection is very normal.

[apologiesforthedelay]

Originally Posted by andysimo123

Says someone who posts on skyscrapercity.

Seriously through, 8mb? I bet its not even 8mb, probs 4mb or 5mb if that. Most of the stuff he posted was hardly 'i'm a geek.' PS3/Xbox, Lovefilm, iplayer, etc nothing mad there. Everyone I know uses most of that, yes even Women. They love iplayer, Facebook, iPhones, iPads etc they can't get enough of it. Using internet today with those features with a fast connection is very normal.

Agreed. The faster the Internet connection the better.

[WingTips]

Virgin Media in UK-wide broadband failure

Cable broadband firm Virgin Media has said that services around the UK are now fully restored following a nationwide failure.

The firm apologised to users for Tuesday evening's blackout and said that the issue has now been fixed.

The problems come just days after Virgin announced that it would be turning up the speed dial on its broadband service.

Over the next 18 months, it plans to double most of its customers' speeds.

Twitter anger

The blackout occurred at peak evening surfing time - 17:00 to 20:00 GMT - on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Virgin Media told the BBC that the problem was caused by a routing hardware fault, but did not say how many of its five million customers were affected.

"Our customers may have experienced some problems getting online yesterday evening. Our engineers quickly fixed the problem and service was restored by 8pm. We apologise for the inconvenience," he said.

Some customers who tried to contact Virgin Media via the phone found they could not get through because of the high volume of calls.

Angry customers turned to Twitter to vent their frustration.

One offered some advice: "Dear Virgin Media, have you tried turning it off and on again, kind regards, the whole of the UK."

A statement on the Virgin Media website offered similar advice to those still experiencing problems.

"If you have still not been able to reconnect - please try powering down your router for five minutes and then turn back on and this should re-establish your connection," it said.


http://www.bbc.co.uk

[WingTips]

Ofcom reports lopsided gains in UK broadband speeds

The UK's average home download speed is on the rise, but it could be even faster if more users upgraded at minimal cost, according to Ofcom.

November's average broadband speed was 7.6 megabits per second, up from 6.8Mbps in May, says the regulator.

Upgrades offered by Virgin Media and BT helped boost the figure.

Ofcom says many of the 42% of homes which subscribe to speeds of 10Mbps or less would benefit from switching deal or provider at little or no cost.

The 22% headline speed bump is a notable improvement, according to the price comparison website broadbandchoices.co.uk.

"In reality, the average speed increase of 1.4Mbits will save you around 6 minutes when downloading a 2 hour film," said Michael Philips, the firm's product director.

"This doesn't sound a lot but faster connections improve your general web-surfing experience and are definitely worth the investment, for example if more than one person shares the connection in a household."

Ofcom noted that the price difference between many of the so-called super-fast services and current generation connections was "relatively small".

It said Plusnet customers could roughly double their promised speed to "up to" 40Mbps by swapping to a service with the firm that cost £5 more a month.

It said TalkTalk clients could enjoy a similar gain by paying their provider an extra £10 a month, while one of BT's deals offered an equivalent speed bump at no extra charge.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
It's disappointing to see the outcome of this survey, although it was not unexpected”
End Quote
Orange
Marketing restrictions

The figures are contained in Ofcom's sixth study into residential fixed-line broadband performance.

It is the first report since internet service providers were told they would only be able to claim a maximum speed if it was available to 10% of their customers.

The new rules come into effect in April. Using them as a guide Ofcom provided a breakdown of its figures saying that:

6Mbps was the average speed for services advertised as "up to" 8Mbps
14Mbps was the average speed for connections advertised as "up to" 20/24Mbps
The regulator said speed upgrades offered by Virgin Media and BT accounted for most of the period's gains.

Virgin Media's "up to" 50Mbps cable deal was the fastest surveyed offering average download speeds of nearly 49Mbps. The firm's 100Mbps service was not included in the research.

BT's roll-out of FFTC (fibre to the cabinet) technology helped boost its statistics. The move involves running fibre from its exchanges to street cabinets which are then linked to homes by normal telephone lines.

Since the cabinets are closer to most homes than the exchanges, users enjoy faster speeds.


Ofcom says 58% of UK homes with broadband subscribe to speeds advertised as above 10Mbps It has led to the creation of the firm's Infinity offer which promises "up to" 40Mbps. The service was found to provide an average speed of 36Mbps.

'Disappointing'

The study said that other ISPs "did not change significantly" over the six months.

Orange's "up to" 20Mbps ADSL service fared worst out of the maximum-speed offers surveyed. It was found to provide average download speeds of 7.2Mbps.

The firm said it believed the next report would show an improvement.

"It's disappointing to see the outcome of this survey, although it was not unexpected as it was conducted last year as we were moving a large number of our customers to our new broadband network," a statement said.

"Since this time, we have completed the migration and the vast majority of our customers have seen a significant improvement in the download speeds they receive."

The news site thinkbroadband.com said the research also highlighted the need for investment in out-of-town connections.

"Rural areas have an average of 3.3Mbps versus urban at 8.8Mbps," said the firm's editor Andrew Ferguson.

Ofcom says it plans to publish the next report in July, using data collected from tests run in May.

Summary of data speeds sampled by Ofcom in November 2011:

Service Average download speeds
Plusnet "up to" 8Mbps
3.7-4.9Mbps

BT "up to" 8Mbps
4.0-5.0Mbps

Virgin Media "up to" 10Mbps
9.3-9.6Mbps

Orange "up to" 20Mbps
6.3-8.1Mbps

Sky "up to" 20Mbps
6.8-8.3Mbps

TalkTalk" up to" 24Mbps
7.2-8.8Mbps

Plusnet "up to" 20Mbps
7.2-9.3Mbps

Karoo "up to" 20Mbps
7.7-10.0Mbps

BT "up to" 20Mbps
7.8-9.7Mbps

O2/Be "up to" 20/24Mbps
8.8-10.7Mbps

Virgin Media "up to" 30Mbps
30.6-31.4Mbps

BT "up to" 40Mbps
35.4-36.7Mbp

Virgin Media "up to" 50Mbps
47.4-48.8Mbps


I would like to see this broken down region by region...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology

[iheartthenew]

I've just plumped for Virgin. If it is rubbish, I'm blaming you guys

[WingTips]

Originally Posted by iheartthenew

I've just plumped for Virgin. If it is rubbish, I'm blaming you guys

I`m going to hang on for BT Infinity...

[andysimo123]

Just looking at the price.

BT Infinity 40mb (35.4-36.7Mbp) + landline. £35 a month.
Virgin Media (upgrading to 60mb after Feb) 30mb (30.6-31.4Mbps) + landline. £18.90 for the first three months. £32.40 a month after.

So Virgin is more reliable with advertised speeds, it will be faster and its cheaper. 50mb will increase to 100mb soon will so that will be £6 cheaper than BTs 100mb which is only in limited areas. Come mid summer I reckon BT have to drop prices to compete. Why would you wait for BTs more expensive and inferior system, when you can have cheaper fibre now? I've had it for years.

[WingTips]

Think I will sit tight and wait, we are supposed to have our exchange Infinity enabled next month.

[bogblaster]

Originally Posted by iheartthenew

I've just plumped for Virgin. If it is rubbish, I'm blaming you guys

I've had Virgin for about five years because I was let down by BT promising up to 8mbps and only able to deliver 1mbps maximum. My only complaint is they tend to charge new customers less for the same 20mbps service and now give the new customer 30 mbps. But that will change, both going to 50 mbps with the latest speed hike. Incidentally, two of us use the same connection, my son using a wireless connection, and both get around 8 mbps each.

[andysimo123]

Originally Posted by bogblaster

I've had Virgin for about five years because I was let down by BT promising up to 8mbps and only able to deliver 1mbps maximum. My only complaint is they tend to charge new customers less for the same 20mbps service and now give the new customer 30 mbps. But that will change, both going to 50 mbps with the latest speed hike. Incidentally, two of us use the same connection, my son using a wireless connection, and both get around 8 mbps each.

Thats not techinally true and you've made some mistakes. Depends if you have the old modem or the newer superhub. If you have a superhub, customer services will upgrade you free otherwise I think there's a small charge to have the superhub installed. Either way everyone who's upto date should be on 30mb. 20mb package only exists for those who haven't upgraded yet. I reckon if you still have the old modem, you could get them to waive the one off charge due to this big advertising campaign. Anyway anyone on the old equipment is limited to 20mb, so if they plan on upgrading those on 20mb package to 60mb(it's 60mb not 50mb) they'll all need the newer gear.

[bogblaster]

Originally Posted by andysimo123

Thats not techinally true and you've made some mistakes. Depends if you have the old modem or the newer superhub. If you have a superhub, customer services will upgrade you free otherwise I think there's a small charge to have the superhub installed. Either way everyone who's upto date should be on 30mb. 20mb package only exists for those who haven't upgraded yet. I reckon if you still have the old modem, you could get them to waive the one off charge due to this big advertising campaign. Anyway anyone on the old equipment is limited to 20mb, so if they plan on upgrading those on 20mb package to 60mb(it's 60mb not 50mb) they'll all need the newer gear.

I am still on the older modem. Saw no need to upgrade since I was satisfied with the speed anyway. Yes you are right, or partially so at least. The upgrade is to 60 mb but I have an email from them that says if I need a new modem, then it will be provided free of charge.

[WingTips]

One of the problems is Virgin is not available in all areas

[andysimo123]

Two pieces of good news for BT users but it does seem a little far fetched and an odd number. 80mb increase is coming soon, no doubt at more money unless they choose to compete with Virgins new plan. There are some questions. Will they achieve that? What sort of price will it be? If they can offer that at a sensible price what will Virgin offer in return? Virgin will offer 120Mbps as standard over the next few months and you have to think after 100Mbps, HD films download fast, so will we really see any benefits or changes.

BT promises epic 330Mbps broadband starting in 2013

Broadband: it's never as fast as you want it to be, is it? But there's good news for Brits living in areas where BT's Infinity broadband service is available -- even faster broadband is coming next year if you demand a speed boost.

The BT Infinity service currently offers broadband speeds of up to 40Mbps, because fibre is only laid to the street cabinet. From there your data is stuck in the slow lane by being forced to crawl along on ageing copper lines.

Getting the fastest broadband speeds in Blighty means having fibre-optic line laid right into your living room, at least until they work out a way to plug it straight into your brain. But for some reason, BT has been a tad reluctant to dig up the front gardens and driveways of everyone in the UK (hint: it's expensive) -- with only a few lucky areas getting the full-fibre treatment.

Starting in spring 2013, however, BT will offer up to 330Mbps broadband on demand -- digging up your driveway if you ask very nicely, provided you live in a BT Infinity area. If you live atop a Scottish mountain you're probably out of luck, but BT reckons it will have pushed fibre close to two-thirds of houses in the UK by the end of 2014.

With a commercial launch some way off, BT hasn't decided whether digging up your front lawn will be included in a more expensive monthly contract or an added extra. It's fair to say it won't be free though.

330Mbps will also be offered by ISPs who use BT's broadband network -- so if your ISP is not BT you'll need to check whether they're signed up to the ultra-fast broadband plan. And if not, find a new ISP, stat.

BT has just finished a trial of this ultra-beefy broadband in St Agnes, Cornwall -- famed for its glorious, surf-tastic beaches, and now for gloriously surf-tastic Internet. More trials are planned this summer, presumably so BT can be sure it has enough spades to go around.

And there's more good news: speedier broadband is also coming to BT Infinity areas this spring as BT rolls out some fancy new tech capable of doubling broadband speeds. Download speeds will rise to a maximum of 80Mbps, and upload speeds will get beefed up to up to 20Mbps.

Are you itching to get your hands on 330Mbps? And if so, what will you be doing with such almighty speeds? Let us know in the comments below or shout all about it on our Facebook wall.

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/bt-p...2013-50006833/

[WingTips]

And on the back of the above...

Zoom! That's the sound of your broadband connection speeding up. BT is boosting broadband speeds to 80Mbps this year, in the wake of increased profits and a fillip in new customers.

BT will boost the speed of broadband connections to a maximum speed of 80Mbps. BT's current fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) service, BT Infinity, can in theory offer 40Mbps. Virgin Media offers 100Mbps service, while a super-fast fibre network is being planned for rural areas.

The 80Mbps upgrade will happen at the end of the year, if trials go well. The new super-fast service will then be extended across BT's entire FTTC network in 2012. It isn't a physical upgrade, with BT increasing the amount of optical spectrum allocated within the fibre services to 17MHz from 7MHz -- so the upgrade is almost cost-free.

BT reckons it's currently getting super-fast broadband to 80,000 homes and premises every week.

Super-fast speeds are all very well, but there has been debate recently over whether speed is the most important factor. Regulator Ofcom upbraided ISPs delivering less than half the speed advertised, with the maximum speeds trumpeted in adverts bearing little relation to the actual speeds you get.

The company claims 64 per cent of people signing up to broadband are choosing BT. Overall sales are down but it's doubled its profits in the last three months, with a 71 per cent increase in the last year. BT raked in £20bn last year, turning a profit of £1.72bn. It does still face a £3.2bn hole in its pension fund, currently the subject of regulatory and court proceedings.

Are you a BT customer? How does the grand old British institution shape up against other Internet providers? Let us know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.

[WingTips]

Here we go the gloves are off...

BT to offer 300mbps fibre broadband 'on demand' in 2013


BT is to roll out "fibre to the premise on demand" with speeds of up to 300 Megabits per second in a move the company says is a "game changer".

That is three times the maximum 100Mbps speed it currently offers using the technology.

According to Ofcom the current UK average is 7.6Mbps.

BT said it hoped to create a "mass market" for high speed broadband among small and medium sized businesses.

The company made the announcement following successful trials of fibre to the premise (FTTP) in St Agnes, Cornwall.

"By December 2014, two-thirds of the country will have access to ultra-fast fibre if they want it" said Mike Galvin of Openreach, part of the BT group.

The firm plans to roll out the system starting next year.

Costly connections

Optical fibre links to street cabinets are widespread, but the connection from cabinet to premises is in most cases copper cable, limiting the speed of the connection.

FTTP will require a fibre-optic connection to the premise from the street cabinet to be installed.

But that may not mean digging up the road.

"It could be overhead, might be on a pole, might be in an existing ductwork," Openreach's Mike Galvin told the BBC.

But connection will come at a price. BT said the installation fees will most likely be in the high hundreds of pounds, possibly more.

What individual customers will have to pay will depend on whether companies who provide broadband connections, such as ISPs, pass them on to consumers.

Spending on speed

Installing a high-speed connection at a price is not in itself innovative, but BT believes the new product is a significant development.

"If you had the money you could have had your own private plane as well, and that's the difference - you are making something that was previously a high-end product and you're bringing availability to the mass market," Mr Galvin said.

He added that the FTTP system was "future proof" allowing BT to upgrade as still faster technologies were developed.

"There are technologies coming up which will give speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps)," he said.

BT said the roll out was enabled by changes to the way they use their network.

"We've re-engineered and re-looked at how we do fibre in our local network," Mr Galvin said.

"We think this is an absolute game changer. Overnight you've gone form a network that's got the potential to do 80Mbps across two thirds of the country to a network that on demand can do 300Mbps."

At present the company only offers fibre to the premise (FTTP) for the areas around 14 exchanges.

Changing commitments

Some rivals have accused BT of cutting back on previous commitments - namely dropping a target for the percentage of properties with fibre to the door.


Virgin recently announced they were doubling broadband speeds However, BT said it still planned to spend the same £2.5bn on fibre, and that in cases where the fibre only went up the cabinet, premises would soon be able to get 80Mbps speed.

A spokesman told the BBC, "Before this development FTTP was going to be available in a relatively small subset of our fibre footprint. This development means it can be available in the whole of our fibre footprint."

The government wants 90% of UK businesses to be connected to super-fast broadband by 2015

The announcement of BT's new product follows news of high-speed offerings from rivals.

A Virgin Media spokesman said: "We're about to boost the speeds for millions of people yet again with our doubling upgrade and the introduction of 120Mbps.

"Having successfully proven 1.5Gbps on our network last summer, Britain's broadband is moving in the right direction."



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news

[iheartthenew]

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