5 Year old property... no fiber?!

Good afternoon all,

really hoping for some insight into my issue here. In short, I am due to complete in the next few weeks on our house purchase. I have started researching broadband options and I am very shocked to see that I can only get speeds of "up to 10mgps" and no fiber options.

The property was built in 2014-2015 by Persimmon Homes. I have contacted their own provider, Fibernest and they do not service this development.

The results of the BT Broadband checker are here - LINK

It is part of the Saxon Gate development in Broomfielf, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 4FH.

I have contacted Plusnet and BT who were both at a loss - simply saying there is no Fiber there.

What are my options?

Thanks very much.

Edited by deleted (Wed 17-Mar-21 12:21:24)

In reply to a post by Tootall:

What are my options?

6 Mbps ADSL or 4g

It looks as if you should be able to get up to 6Mbps download on ADSL2+.

If that isn't enough, then you should look at 4G - it looks as if all the networks have some coverage, although EE looks to be the best according to the ofcom checker. So a 4G router and an unlimited SIM is probably your best bet.

In the longer term, the Superfast Essex shows your area to be within some commercial operator's planned build.

In reply to a post by sheephouse:

It looks as if you should be able to get up to 6Mbps download on ADSL2+.

If that isn't enough, then you should look at 4G - it looks as if all the networks have some coverage, although EE looks to be the best according to the ofcom checker. So a 4G router and an unlimited SIM is probably your best bet.

In the longer term, the Superfast Essex shows your area to be within some commercial operator's planned build.

That is helpful and insightful - thank you. Lets hope so.

I am quite into online gaming on the PC ... is 6mbps going to be sufficient or will I need 4g?

If you put your postcode into https://countybroadband.co.uk/ it indicates they are looking to build, so you can at least get registered.

Games don't tend to use a lot of bandwidth in my experience - unless you are using an online platform such as Stadia.

For many games it is the latency that important. ADSL2+ is likely to have lower, and less variable, latency than 4G.

I use EE 4G as my only other choice is USO-level ADSL2+, and it is is quite fast (60-80Mbps), but the latency is quite variable. It is fine for most purposes (streaming, browsing, zoom etc.), but competitive games or Stadia struggle.

In reply to a post by sheephouse:

Games don't tend to use a lot of bandwidth in my experience - unless you are using an online platform such as Stadia.

For many games it is the latency that important. ADSL2+ is likely to have lower, and less variable, latency than 4G.

I use EE 4G as my only other choice is USO-level ADSL2+, and it is is quite fast (60-80Mbps), but the latency is quite variable. It is fine for most purposes (streaming, browsing, zoom etc.), but competitive games or Stadia struggle.

So you would reccomend the 4g for my purposes then?

In reply to a post by jpm:

If you put your postcode into https://countybroadband.co.uk/ it indicates they are looking to build, so you can at least get registered.

Wouldn't rely on them as far as I can throw them, maybe they are now starting to deliver where in the past they have been all talk and no action.

In reply to a post by Tootall:

really hoping for some insight into my issue here. In short, I am due to complete in the next few weeks on our house purchase. I have started researching broadband options and I am very shocked to see that I can only get speeds of "up to 10mgps" and no fiber options.

Only now researching your broadband options at this stage in the process is a bit stupid really (actually it is a lot stupid). I am quite sure you checked many other things out before making an offer. Presumption is the mother of all f!$kups as they say and the age of a property is no guarantee of decent broadband.

What are my options?

6Mbps ADSL, 4G or pull out and next time start checking what broadband is available at the property before making an offer.

In reply to a post by jabuzzard:

In reply to a post by Tootall:

really hoping for some insight into my issue here. In short, I am due to complete in the next few weeks on our house purchase. I have started researching broadband options and I am very shocked to see that I can only get speeds of "up to 10mgps" and no fiber options.

Only now researching your broadband options at this stage in the process is a bit stupid really (actually it is a lot stupid). I am quite sure you checked many other things out before making an offer. Presumption is the mother of all f!$kups as they say and the age of a property is no guarantee of decent broadband.

What are my options?

6Mbps ADSL, 4G or pull out and next time start checking what broadband is available at the property before making an offer.

Well thank you for your insightful advice and life coaching. I'll be sure to pass that on to my grandchildren.

the checker may be conservative for adsl2 mine said 6mb but i got 11mb with 1.1-1.2mb upload, fine for online gaming.

In reply to a post by Tootall:

In reply to a post by jabuzzard:

In reply to a post by Tootall:

really hoping for some insight into my issue here. In short, I am due to complete in the next few weeks on our house purchase. I have started researching broadband options and I am very shocked to see that I can only get speeds of "up to 10mgps" and no fiber options.

Only now researching your broadband options at this stage in the process is a bit stupid really (actually it is a lot stupid). I am quite sure you checked many other things out before making an offer. Presumption is the mother of all f!$kups as they say and the age of a property is no guarantee of decent broadband.

What are my options?

6Mbps ADSL, 4G or pull out and next time start checking what broadband is available at the property before making an offer.

Well thank you for your insightful advice and life coaching. I'll be sure to pass that on to my grandchildren.

The reply to you was a bit blunt but its seen quite a bit that people who find good internet important don't check before they buy a new property.
Its not especially difficult to use an online checker to find out expected speeds

Thanks Dan

I'm somewhat sympathetic to people who don't check broadband well enough - it's easy to assume it is OK, as in most cases it is.
I did check before I bought my house, and it was due to be upgraded from ADSL to FTTC by the local BDUK scheme a few months after we exchanged - so I took the risk. Seven years later it is still only ADSL2+ (it was upgraded from ADSL Max by BT/OR a couple of years ago). So even when you do check sometimes things don't work out.
Fortunately, 4G works for many people, including myself.

Edited by sheephouse (Wed 17-Mar-21 15:28:03)

In reply to a post by Tootall:

What are my options?

It may be that the FTTC cabinet serving that locality is full and no capacity for a new customer.

Looking on the Thinkbroadband map for that postcode, speeds higher than 6 Mbps are mentioned, so something isn't quite right.

Chelmsford is a fibre first town and looking at the Openreach maps its completed some and building other areas. One network site has a fair number of BT/Essex council roadwork telecom symbols all around you for the future.
My only worry is you are right on the north edge of the town. If you are lucky you might be sooner than most, or then again you could equally be missed and at bottom of queue. I was told in 2013 we were due to get FTTP, took them 7 years to get it done.
Lesson learnt, I could never go back.

In FibreFirst roll-outs the cabinet 13 area would be one I expected to be done very early on, maybe was a case of road had not been adopted by council until more recently.

If ADSL2+ behaves then might stretch to 10 to 12 Mbps, but that is a might, I would plan on just 6 Mbps for now.

Gaming over ADSL2+ is perfectly fine, but while gameplay is fine, don't expect to broadcast to twitch and voice chat might be borderline. What will be a pain is the monthly big texture/game updates so will mean doing them overnight and leaving console/PC on.

4G can work for gaming but latency will more variable, so actual gameplay might be smoother with ADSL2+.

In reply to a post by Tootall:

What are my options?

StarLink, as mention in 'Other Broadband Technologies'.

Yes, seeing some impressive speeds in the US now.

Speedtest

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