Broadband HELP!

Guys, RANT ALERT
I’m at my wits end with broadband and I need help with what to do or how to resolve the situation.
To start with, we don’t have fibre in our area so all connections are copper. the fastest speeds available, up to 40gb.
I was with Sky broadband and TV for many years, we stated to notice our internet speeds were very slow a couple of years ago when we started to watch YouTube and streaming channels more and more, but as it never really interfered with life much, we just ignored it. Then I got a new job working from home. The need to be connected to the company VPN and attend TEAMS meetings highlighted we have serious internet issues, my VPN disconnects about 7-10 times throughout the day, I drop out of TEAMS meeting due to no connection in almost all meetings, even if I turned my camera off to save on bandwidth. We started to test our internet speed and we were getting a very unstable speed ranging from 0gb to 20gb as an average, good days it would get up to 30gb to 35gb but good days are very very rare. We asked Sky to sort this out, they put a monitor on the line and got Openreach to run tests. They both agreed the speeds are too slow and Openreach done some work in our house at the socket/filter, the line from the pole and in the manhole on the street, the work never solved anything. Sky then told us we can cancel our contract as they cant give us the speeds.
Now when the Openreach engineer come to work on the line, he said it looks like we are getting fibre soon as he can see a grey box had been put on our telegraph pole…. I got excited with this news and decided to stay with Sky in the hope that fibre would be available soon. Then as the months dragged on and no sign of fibre, I decided to pull out the Sky contract and move to BT in the hope they will sort the lines out. We got BT broadband up and running then a day later I noticed 2 guys working on our pole, I approached them and asked them when do they think the fibre will be available? they said the works are now 99% complete and they were just testing the available speeds, he was getting 2gig on his test, they advised to contact Virgin and ask them. VIRGIN! I thought it was Openreach doing the fibre and that’s what the grey box was. He said that Openreach are not putting fibre in yet and the grey box was a digital line not fibre.
Now I’m angry as I have just taken a contract with BT in the hope they are getting fibre soon. I have contacted Virgin and all they can tell me is that’s its not available in my area and cant tell me when it will be.
Today, 1 week after we started with BT, our internet speeds are the worst ever.
So, I have called BT today and cancelled my contract as its within the 14 day cooling off period, my service will stop next Friday so I have 1 week to find and internet source until the fibre from Virgin is ready to be launched.
So, to add more information into my dilema, we got new neighbours a couple of years ago, coincidently, it was when we stated to first notice slow speeds. We found out that he runs a company from his home designing and hosting websites, his office at home has servers in (we wondered why his office window was always open).
QUESTION TIME
1) Now it may just be a coincidence, but can next doors servers or internet be affecting mine?
2) What are my options on a temporary Internet provider?
3) Should I wait for Virgin or BT fibre or just get a new copper contract for the next 18-24 months?

1] Unlikely, and on the basis of zero evidence presented here, it is only a random possibility.
2] Get a SIM and a mobile router or tether to your phone for 4G?
3] Too much to unpack. A lot depends on your attitude towards the future choices and the present options.

I think the burning question in my mind is, how long does it normally take from installing the fibre on the poles to it being avalable to customers?

I will look into the mobile router and SIM option, thanks for the suggestion

There is no set timeframe. I had Openreach install their hardware and I could place an order two weeks later. My sister had G.Network dig the road up outside her house two years ago and you still can't take service from them. Where I work has had CityFibre plant in the ground for eight months and it can't be ordered.

Edited by jpm (Fri 21-Jun-24 15:25:44)

It seems crazy that a company would spend money installing inferstructure but not want to quickly recoup costs by putting it into service.

I assume they aren't doing it out of choice and there's something else preventing it going live

If you want to stay with an Openreach-provided ADSL service until FTTP is available, I suggest switching to A&A (https://aa.net.uk). They are a little more expensive than most ISPs but, particularly relevant to your case, they have a reputation of being able to fix broadband faults by dogged and technically-informed pursuit of Openreach until the issue is fixed. They are quite happy to take on a poorly-functioning service and do everything necessary to fix it. They guarantee (see https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/we-will-fix-your-line/ to fix an existing fault within a month or refund all that you've paid them and let you cancel.