Confused by the claque

Hi
Background: I live in the country and use BT for my residential line, business line and separate data line. In other words three lines. They are all, according to DSLchecker.bt.com connected to Cabinet 13 on the Shrivenham exchange, the information showing as follows:

Telephone Number XYZ on Exchange SHRIVENHAM is served by Cabinet 13
Featured Products
Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)
Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)
Downstream Range(Mbps)
Availability Date
FTTC Range A (Clean) 48.7 33.8 10.1 6.4 -- Available
FTTC Range B (Impacted) 40.3 24.1 10.1 5 -- Available
WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 2 -- 1 to 3.5 Available
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M Up to 2 Up to 0.5 1 to 3.5 Available
ADSL Max Up to 1.5 -- 1 to 2.5 Available
WBC Fixed Rate 0.5 -- -- Available
Fixed Rate 0.5 -- -- Available
Other Offerings
Fibre Multicast -- -- -- Available
Copper Multicast -- -- -- Available

I have been told by the local expert that if I apply now to Infinity I might get it by November.
Question: With this cabinet now "enabled" can I only use BT. How do I find other potential suppliers - e.g Sky who I currently use for TV.
Question 2: Should I consider switching to VOIUP and get a small VOIP telephone system for the three desks we currently have for calls and data.
Many thanks for any help and advice.
Nick the Aging Newbie

If you want to check Sky and TalkTalk availability, simply use the DSL checkers on their websites.

Order an FTTC product NOW and you will get it as soon as BT / Openreach can assign staff to install the cabinet links, so it could be next week or it could be three weeks.

You can easily get rid of two lines and move those to VOIP - if you want to retain a number then that needs to be managed and undertaken AFTER the install - you could do it before however, my advice is to take it one step at a time. You will need to decide which line you want the service on - the residential or the business. I can have three or four VOIP calls in progress and the effect on the line speed is negligible

As you run a business, I would suggest you ONLY look at business type packages that will give you a higher level of support and faster response times. I use BT Business and when I have had problems they are on site the next day whereas a residential service could mean 3, 4 or 5 days.

Thanks for that. I suppose I was really wondering how long before any other company knew the cabinet was enabled and whether BT HAD to give them access.

Thanks for that. Useful advice. Could you give me a clue as to the phone system you use?

I suppose I was really wondering how long before any other company knew the cabinet was enabled and whether BT HAD to give them access.

All the service providers have equal access to all the information. It's Openreach who have done the work to enable the cab.

I don't!

My router actually does a VOIP to analogue conversion and I currently use standard handsets. In addition I have teh BT Communicator software (rebadged MS I believe) running on PC to provide further access - which is great when travelling. It suits our needs 99% of the time.

I do intend to get a N300A ip made by Gigaset to install and provide DECT capability - it will handle several VOIP lines plus one analog.

Sky and TalkTalk are special cases and may need to do something at the exchange if it hasn't already been done.

And unless it's changed I believe can get very unhappy about business use if on residential broadband.

Accountants and HMRC are not too happy either.

They can easily come back and ask "Why is Mr X having his home phone and broadband paid by your company?" Whilst the response will be "Because it is for company use", HMRC can then ask "Prove it, and confirm that Mr X sees no personal benefit from the installation" which then means it should not be used for residential purposes. And often, residential bills include a statement "This is not a VAT invoice" meaning it can be harder to recover that element too. The costs in terms of time can soon outweigh any savings.