I live directly next to an exchange, any tricks for speed?

Hello all

I live in an area which has only got 8meg available with 384k upload speed, however I live literally 15 meters from the exchange. The speeds are pretty good for 8meg but I am really interested in something faster which is not officially available in our area.

BT are very unhelpful and when asked when or even if Infinity will be available, I just get a canned response along the lines of "you cannot get Infinity where you live, please see our other options" and they never take the time to read or respond to the question in an acceptable manner.

I am extremely happy with my current provider Freeola (Entanet) and would love to stay with them as long as possible (it's been 8 years so far) as I do get excellent service from them (with 8 free NO-NAT IPs) and never had a problem. What I am really after is a higher upload speed as I run several game and other servers from home. If I knew a BT engineer with access to the exchange, is there anything unofficial they can do to give me higher speeds? Or is there any possibility of having an ethernet cable or fiber direct to my house? I realise this may cost slightly more but when I live so close to the exchange it seems silly not to ask, I'm just not sure who to ask.

My ISP has enabled my account for 24meg speeds over 4 years ago yet I still cannot get it due to the BT not upgrading the exchange, and they don't seem willing to do so. Do I have any other options? My exchange is Slinfold if this gives you anything to go by.

P.s. I get faster speeds on my 3G phone, sometimes over 12meg, shame they only give it a NATed IP

In reply to a post by fitzy89:

I live in an area which has only got 8meg available with 384k upload speed,

You will have the ability to get an 832k upload service too with Max Premium.... but I'm sure that's not the point you're making

Three data generally gives you a real IP instead of a NAT'd one. I've always had my own when using the dongle.

Matt

Infinity is just the BT Retail name for FTTC which is actually installed by Openreach, so BT Retail have no more clue than Freeola should have on roll-out, so try asking Freeola when they think it will come to your area.

I'd make a guess at some time in 2014.

You hint at something faster that is not officially available, what is this unofficial faster solution you are talking about?

I live directly next to an exchange, any tricks for speed?

Move in?

Codger

According to SmaKnows Kijoma broadband (wimax?) appears to be in your area. They're offering 30 meg down/10 meg up for £31 +vat per month. Seven years ago at my old address in Kent, i used to be with a wimax operator called Telabria, one of the first wimax isp's in the country. Fantastic speeds, very low latency and it was pretty cheap.
http://www.kijoma.net/tiki-view_articles.php

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Infinity is just the BT Retail name for FTTC which is actually installed by Openreach, so BT Retail have no more clue than Freeola should have on roll-out, so try asking Freeola when they think it will come to your area.

I'd make a guess at some time in 2014.

You hint at something faster that is not officially available, what is this unofficial faster solution you are talking about?

Well if he is next door to the exchange maybe a cat6 cable and a Gigabit network connection direct into the backhaul from the exchange

Edited by deleted (Tue 10-Jul-12 15:51:13)

Modem Status Connected
DownStream Connection Speed 23417 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 445 kbps

This is from my boss home address he is like 150" from the exchange.(wish I was)
connection is with www.fast.co.uk/
If OP is that close there is no point in FTTC, just a decent provider and you should be golden.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Modem Status Connected
DownStream Connection Speed 23417 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 445 kbps

This is from my boss home address he is like 150" from the exchange.(wish I was)
connection is with www.fast.co.uk/
If OP is that close there is no point in FTTC, just a decent provider and you should be golden.

12 feet 6 inches - a pretty accurate measurement.

You will have the ability to get an 832k upload service too with Max Premium

Shh ! It's a secret !

DownStream Connection Speed 23417 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 445 kbps

Capped upstream ?

Could be like Orange! They forgot when they moved users from IPStream to WBC on 21CN exchanges that their upstream was still capped at 444 K

Plusnet cap it until uncapping is requested.

Yes but PN know what they are doing; Orange doesn't!

Orange wouldn't even understand such a request; they wouldn't understand what you were talking about

Edited by XRaySpeX (Wed 11-Jul-12 00:21:30)

In reply to a post by k1elec:

Well if he is next door to the exchange maybe a cat6 cable and a Gigabit network connection direct into the backhaul from the exchange

That's the sort of thing I was thinking of I'm not aware of any other ways to make things faster, I'm guessing as we are in a rural location that the backhaul wouldn't be more then 100meg. From everyone I have spoken to elsewhere, including OpenReach engineers, there's no plans for FTTC for at least another 3 years (no details available to this particular engineer over 3 years).

I've spoken to around 40 people (pretty much everyone that has a computer in the 3 roads surrounding me, most others are elderly) on the same exchange and had them do speed tests, I've got the highest upload of them all, many struggle to get even 256k upload. These were on various providers, BT, Sky, Orange, TalkTalk...the usual big boys that don't have a clue.

Actually, funnily enough, since posting this thread upload has increased....slightly. I had checked before my first post and checked again just now, who's watching? lol.

Modem Status Connected
Connect Mode G.DMT
Down Stream 8128kbps
Up Stream 448kbps

Has anyone had any significant improvements when using an I-plate? Tempted to fit one but don't think it would make a noticeable difference in my case, think I'm pretty much on as good as I'm gonna get.

I have looked at Kijoma but it is significantly more expensive for such a low-capped service, and no word of if they offer multiple public IPs (which are necessary for my servers, I've currently got 8 IPs for free. For the Kijoma, the only way I could use their service would be to run that alongside my Freeola connection and just have the servers use Kijoma (if multiple IPs were possible) and keep everything else that doesn't need the speed on my existing one, but I would still be looking at around £70 p/m (inc VAT) to run both which I can't afford right now, I'm currently paying £25 with Freeola which is the cheapest available in our area even from the main ISPs like TalkTalk that advertise it for like £6 or whatever, as soon as I put my post code in it shoots up to around £30ish last time I checked.

Anyway, I've had a few to drink tonight and starting to ramble, I'm off for now, see ya guys, cheers for your responses.

Has anyone had any significant improvements when using an I-plate? Tempted to fit one but don't think it would make a noticeable difference in my case, think I'm pretty much on as good as I'm gonna get.

It wouldn't increase your connection speeds but it may reduce your error counts. Whether that would make any difference depends on the error rates.

The error counts are available from many routers. Have a look here for help getting the full stats. If you get them, please post the whole shebang, not just what you think we want to know. There's a lot of useful stuff dotted around.

Importantly, we need to know how long since the last re-sync of the router. That doesn't often show.

Having said that, all the iPlate does is filter the ring wire out. The same or better effect is obtained by removing it. (Ignore the bit on that page about seeing if the test socket stats are better. In your case, as you are at the maximum, they won't be).

One thing that hasn't been suggested is line bonding. You could get a second line and bond them together. As I understand it that should double the speed you get.

You could also upgrade your broadband to a "Premium/Business/whatever Freeola call it" service. That wouldn't improve the downstream, but would give an 832kbps upstream, if that's of any use.

Hi RobertoS

I'm already on their top business/VIP package but sadly the speed is limited by the exchange, I've mentioned it to them already but there's nothing they are able to do and OpenReach and BT haven't got any upgrades planned

The speed is not limited by the exchange, as you can get 832k upload on your exchange as opposed to 448k.

Our Office packages all offer 832k on any 20CN exchange, or 1.4Mb upload on any 21CN exchange.

Take a look on our website at Office 15, 45 and 90.

Thanks

James