Will my speed be slower with a different ISP?

We are 3 miles from the Tomatin exchange (NSTTN) so unlikely we will ever get fibre. We have been with ADSL24/Coms.com/Timico for a few years and get between 4.5 and 5.5 Mbps. I am thinking about changing to BT unlimited, however when I check the speed available it says 1.5 Mbps. Does this mean my speed would drop? As there are 235 residential premises and 18 non-residential premises it�s likely that the majority are with BT so would that mean more contention and hence a slower speed?

The underlying infraastructure will not change, however teh termination at te exchange may do - from one line card to another. So, your speed should not change drastically. There might be a minor up or down change caused by the change of termination - if you understand termination impedances which can vary slightly you would understand why.

Do not worry about contention - it is unlikely to have any effect especially as teh exchange has fibre back haul.

And who says you will not get FTTC? There are exchanges only slightly larger than yours where it has been rolled out - Rhynie is one example.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm thinking that because of the distance from the exchange we won't get fibre. There are just six properties in the glen.

Check that the technology is the same. Sometimes BT don't have ADSL2+ whereas LLU operators do.

Assuming samknows is up to date there is no LLU and no BTW ADSL2+. Some areas with FTTC.

The OP needs to check using this checker to see if their number has FTTC available, but I get the feeling they are already using that checker. Speeds should be basically unchanged on migration.

In reply to a post by andyfr:

Thanks for the reply.

I'm thinking that because of the distance from the exchange we won't get fibre. There are just six properties in the glen.

FTTC availability has nothing to do with how far you are from your exchange, its based on your local PCP cabinet being connected to a new fibre cabinet and according to Digital Scotland the Tomatin area has FTTC availability. What does the BT checker say for your number?
Edit: RobertoS beat me to it!

Edited by deleted (Fri 06-May-16 15:14:52)

So, you are well out of the village!


I hear that the Findhorn is doing pretty well for salmon this year.

Yes that's the checker I'm using. It says that fibre isn't available when I check.

In reply to a post by MHC:

So, you are well out of the village!


I hear that the Findhorn is doing pretty well for salmon this year.

Yes, not far from the Findhorn.

If I go on to the OR site it says:

Your cabinet is enabled for Superfast fibre however you're not able to order fibre just yet. This might be because the length of the line is too long to get Superfast speeds. We're actively looking at other options.