Two broadband providers in same house?

I run a business from home and are dependant on a quick connection at certain times of the day.

I used a modem, its not a wireless connection. Its supplied by EE (orange) and is a speedtouch modem.

Someone I share the house with would like to have thier own connection.

If they did could this interfere with my connection?

thanks.

I assume you mean with a second line? (Which would normally be a different pair in the same physical cable from the distribution point to the house).

No problem at all. Plenty of people have multiple lines to their house.

The second connection cannot be on the same line.

In reply to a post by purpleronnie:

is a speedtouch modem.

Which Speedtouch modem? Is it this one: http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php#44 ? That's only one I remember Orange supplying. If so, it cannot cope with the faster BB speeds.

yes it's a speedtouch 330. I'm just concerned it might slow my browsing speed.

So if they went for BT broadband (as we rent a BT line), his connection wouldn't affect my connection in any way?

It will certainly affect your existing service if they order it on your existing line. As has been said, you / they need to have a second line installed to use with a separate broadband service.

To be fair to the OP, having to have a second phone line (installation + line rental) wasn't made all that clear if they are someone trying to understand how things work

????

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I assume you mean with a second line?
...
The second connection cannot be on the same line.

Is that unclear?

Unfortunately, it could affect your connections, at least temporarily around the installation phase; and possibly longer term through cross-talk.

Keep in mind that for the vast majority of phone connections in the UK, the actual physical cable, cabinets etc from the exchange to the house, are owned and maintained by "Openreach BT".

So for the majority, no matter the BB Provider (ISP), a Line Rental is paid in some manner to Openreach BT - and any line faults etc are dealt with by OR or its own sub-contractors - NOT your ISP, who has to report such problems to Upenareach or possibly BT Wholesale.

The cable from the PCP (typically grey or green distribution cabinet) has a cable running to your house, either overhead (poles etc) or underground (chambers about every 200 yards normally in the footpath), ending in your house at nrmally a Network Terminating Unit - ie the white outlet of the same size as a single electrical outlet.

The cable normally has four conductors/wires, of which two will be in present use for "your phone line/connection".

The other two are effectively stand-by and not connected at either end, in case a problem occurs with the working pair, either as a pair or as single wires.


There would be total loss to both users if that cable was broken by say, a tree falling over it (overhead) or an excavator breaking through it (underground), just as there is such risks with only one user at present.

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So the simplest, quickest and CHEAPEST way to get a second BB connection technically is to make use of that second pair of wires - involving Openreach making the necessary connections at each end including back to the exchange via the PCP cabinet, additional NTE etc

You would automatically lose the stand-by aspect by not having that pair available.

It would also imply greater chances of cross-talk because of the intimate close proximity of another BB signal along the same length of cable.

The other additional ISP need NOT be BT or any of its subsidiaries - although that may lead to further complications!

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Another way would be that the new BB ISP arranges that Openreach provide a separate cable - but that I understand is expensive.

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Another possibility but also with more cost implications would be some form of satellite or line-of-sight radio arrangement.

As to whether any of those varieties are available in your area ...?

The easiest option would be to upgrade your existing router to a wireless one, that might improve your speeds anyhow, since the one you are using is out of the ark. Can you post some line stats using the link Xray posted ?

In reply to a post by purpleronnie:

So if they went for BT broadband (as we rent a BT line), his connection wouldn't affect my connection in any way?

This is very confusing.

I can see two things you might mean in your opening post:-

1) The person wants to connect their computer to your telephone line and get broadband on it. On the same telephone number but a different broadband supplier;

2) The person wants their own line and number, with a broadband service on that - which is what I said I assumed in my first reply.

Choice (1) of those is not possible. There can only be one supplier on a line, and only one service from that supplier. (That service can be shared by several people, see the third option later in this post).

Choice (2) is what I talked about originally.

A third option, that you didn't seem to mean, is for the other person to use your existing broadband connection as well as you. That is possible, and what most households do.

In that setup if they use it at the time you need fast access, then they could easily slow you down. If they use it at other times instead, then it would probably be fine. We would need some technical info from your connection statistics to advise further.

In that setup if they use it at the time you need fast access, then they could easily slow you down.

I reckon that option three was what the OP was on about, and if 'fast access' is what they require, no doubt it ain't as fast as they think it is. The 330 will be making a hash of it.

It will certainly slow your connection speed.

You must have been with Orange/Wanadoo for ages (2005?) starting with Fixed 1 or 2 Meg BB. I hope you are still not on that. Haven't you upgraded since to ADSL2+? Didn't Orange send you a proper ADSL2+ router at that time? They should have done. You should ask them for one.

EDIT: You certainly won't be able to share your existing connection with someone else (Roberto's Option 3) over the Speedtouch 330, esp. as you do business from home. For starters, it's not even a router; it only handles a single PC. They will need to install a 2nd landline with its installation costs and 2nd line rental.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Sun 17-Nov-13 18:34:52)

Thanks for everyones help, I apologise if I wasn't clear.

I very much doubt they would be willing to pay for another line because of the extra line rental costs.

So the only option would be for them to share my connection.

If they did share it, but didn't actually use the internet in the times I needed it most, I assume it wouldn't affect my speeds at all? is that correct? But if we were online at the same time it could slow mine down?

Sorry for the questions I know nothing about this stuff....obviously.

Edited by deleted (Sun 17-Nov-13 18:41:06)

First step in that case is to replace the ancient modem you have (i.e. just USB) and replace it with a modem wi-fi router, most providers will supply one for free (might want you to commit to another minimum term) but free often has implications.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

First step in that case is to replace the ancient modem you have (i.e. just USB) and replace it with a modem wi-fi router, most providers will supply one for free (might want you to commit to another minimum term) but free often has implications.

Thanks, so were my assumptions in my previous post correct?

In reply to a post by purpleronnie:

Thanks, so were my assumptions in my previous post correct?

You can only have one broadband connection per phone line.

If you share it the same amount of capacity is used by two of you.

If the other person is out and all their kit is off you get 100% of the capacity.

Not if the other person wants fast access and high usage, as is the modern tendency, and you are still on 1 or 2 Meg Fixed BB. Do you know?

In reply to a post by yarwell:

You can only have one broadband connection per phone line.

This may not be clear to OP that you mean only 1 BB service on the phone line. He can have as many PCs as it will take connecting to that service.

The ST330 is a usb modem not a router it has no firewall ect, And it is limited to 8mbps so doesnt not support ADSL2 /2+ and as been said already is something out of the ark, it should have been upgraded free without a new contract by your isp assuming it has always been the same isp ?
Seeing as you are using a modem that is probably 7+ yrs old from the days when the max adsl speed was 8mbps Ip data stream,(shudders at the name ) If you updated this to a modern all in one ADSL modem /router it would support speeds upto 24mbps by using ADSL2+ ,

As for another ISP this would require as said a second line ,So would also mean additional line rental & install fee/min term contract & calling plan, and the assoiciated fees for another bb product

Is FFTC /P available to you ? if so this would negate the need for a second line as you could get speeds of up to 80mbps down & 20 mbps up or higher with FFTP

Edited by tommy45 (Sun 17-Nov-13 20:55:42)

In reply to a post by purpleronnie:

Thanks for everyones help, I apologise if I wasn't clear.

I very much doubt they would be willing to pay for another line because of the extra line rental costs.

So the only option would be for them to share my connection.

If they did share it, but didn't actually use the internet in the times I needed it most, I assume it wouldn't affect my speeds at all? is that correct? But if we were online at the same time it could slow mine down?

Sorry for the questions I know nothing about this stuff....obviously.

Don't worry - we all started with knowing very little . You've got it right in that post.

Having said that, there is a high possibility your line could give you a lot more than it does at the moment. So stick with us and let's see what we can do. Once we've sorted that the question of how to handle the second user should answer itself.

First, can you check and tell us what package you are on with EE? Also what exchange you are on.

Second, please can you run this speed test. There is a chance it will not run for you, but let's see. Ignore all those instructions in red - just go for it . If it runs OK, at the bottom of the results page click the Further diagnostics button. Give it your phone number then when you get the result from that copy and paste the contents of the two text boxes of results. That could tell us a lot.

Third - you do need to do what MrSaffron said - replace that modem with a modern modem/router. Then you will almost certainly get more speed straight away, and also we will be able to get information from it that will tell us a huge amount about your line. A decent one can be quite cheap, especially off eBay. We can suggest something after we get the info I just asked you for.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

First, can you check and tell us what package you are on with EE?

To find out log into Your Account: https://membercentre.orange.co.uk/MCPres/regrade/index and then click on 'Change your home plan'. and it will tell you, like:

Your current home plan is: Home Select - £12.26 a month, up to 20 Meg speed, wireless router, unlimited usage allowance (fair use policy applies).