I'm Stuck, Dunno Which New ISP To Get? :(

Moving house soon to a rural village so appreciate not going to get much better than 2 really currently.

I'm just not sure which to go with now, after being with Virgin cable for years and thats not available.

I read recently that Orange had improved and i am an existing Orange mobile customer, that also their unlimited actually meant that?

Then however, i think BT are upgrading our exchange soon for infinity, but again doesn't mean i'll be able to get it, but then again it might.

I read pros and cons for all ISP, i'm just not sure what to get?

I think i've narrowed it down to either BT or Orange.

I work from home and use the internet for that so needs to be reliable, don't really have much use for a phone so Orange comes out on that end.

But then if i get BT i could get infinity once its upgraded.

SamKnows also says for my exchange that..

FTTC status:
RFS date set : 01/03/2012

Which i'm not sure what it means, the exchange upgrade?

Any help would be greatly appreciated whilst i read around other threads

Well BT is unlimited but is throttled at peaktimes with protocols like p2p and vpn

for orange though i'm not sure now since they basically resell BTs package but probably have some kind of fair usage policy

RFS date is when fibre will hit you're exchange approximately through the date can be off by a few months.

Is your exchange unbundled? If you are not sure perhaps let us know the exchange name.

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

My exchange will be Sudbrooke Park

Not sure much else about it.

It provides a village i'm moving too, so i'm not holding much hope that when they upgrade it anything will happen worth while.

According to samknows you can't get Orange at Sudbrooke Park - the only LLU supplier is TalkTalk. However, the exchange is due for fibre 1/03/12.

I'm in a village 2+ miles from a small town exchange - we've got fibre and it's good.

Hi, your exchange Sudbrooke Park is planned for WBC FTTC Earliest Enablement Date March 2012

https://www.btwholesale.com/pages/downloads/Communit...

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/SLSPK

https://www.btwholesale.com/pages/static/Community/B...

Thanks E7er.

But it depends if they update the roadside cabinet in the village I'm moving too does it not?

Upgrading the exchange might end up meaning no improvement at all

In reply to a post by jezthomp:

Thanks E7er.

But it depends if they update the roadside cabinet in the village I'm moving too does it not?

Upgrading the exchange might end up meaning no improvement at all

Hi Jez, for WBC 24 Meg I think they just update the exchange; my exchange was updated one month ahead of schedule and Orange immediately migrated my broadband from Orange LLU to WBC. I imagine for fibre to the cabinet to all districts could take a bit longer.

WBC is copper, Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) up to 24Mbit/s service with upstream speeds up to 1Mbit/s.

Fibre-to-the-cabinet is an up to 40Mbit/s service with upstream speeds up to 10Mbit/s.

Edited by deleted (Fri 29-Jul-11 12:14:38)

So if they are updating the exchange i should be able to get better speeds than i could now, just perhaps not the full 40Mbit/s unless they update the cabinet also?

So makes no real difference to go with BT or Orange currently...?

In reply to a post by jezthomp:

I think i've narrowed it down to either BT or Orange.

There is no technical difference between the two. BT now provide all of Orange's BB under subcontract. So the only choice is on price and T&Cs.

In either case, on your exchange you will only get "Up to 8 Meg" BT IPStream as your exchange is not 21CN enabled.

Yeah i know its not going to be great.

When they upgrade it though, will it be 21CN enabled, will that improve it even for Orange?

I assume they would switch you to 21CN but would probably take a next few weeks after its been upgraded.

i would stick with BT through so you can jump straight from BT broadband to BT fibre if you want.

Edited by epyon (Fri 29-Jul-11 14:55:02)

It doesn't work like that though does it?

I understood it as that they may will upgrade the exchange that provides my address.

BUT

Unless they make any changes to the nearest roadside cabinet then i won't notice any difference or be able to switch to BT fibre.

I'll hazard a guess that they won't even bother doing that, so not worth the gamble to go with BT.

Unless i have it wrong and if they update the exchange naturally all properties connected to that exchange will improve?

Any upgrade will be to 21CN, but there is no schedule for that on your exchange. When & if they do Orange should follow suit.

Have you considered TT? They are LLU'ed there and should supply "Up to 24 Meg" ADSL2+. I personally don't recommend them as it will be hard to get your phone line back to BT when you leave, but they might give you faster speeds providing your line could support them.

Do the current occupants have BB? If so, their router stats would show if the line would benefit from ADSL2+.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Any upgrade will be to 21CN, but there is no schedule for that on your exchange. When & if they do Orange should follow suit.

Both AskSam and the BT Openreach say that it will be upgraded next year, the former saying March.

I know its not accurate, but seems to be on the schedule to be looked at...

Ah, that's for FTTC. Then it will depend on when your local cabinet is upgraded.

I was talking about 21CN upgrade. Orange don't do FTTC.

Yup and as far as i'm aware its pot luck if they will indeed update the roadside cabinet in my village Fiskerton anyway.

So do i go with BT in the vain hope that might upgrade it next year.

Or go with the cheaper Orange.

Both the same policy on unlimited downloads, even with my 2mb download it might have a baring...?

Have a look at Plusnet packages, there is no long contract period so easier to move on if needs be whenever the exchange gets upgraded or their is FTTC available for your home.

Plusnet use traffic management to control their network and it is explained within their website, for example traf man
They can provide Broadband or Broadband & phone and also Fibre optic broadband where their is FTTC available for the end user.

In reply to a post by jezthomp:

So do i go with BT in the vain hope that might upgrade it next year.

Even if you go with BT BB now it doesn't necessarily mean that they will transfer you to BT Infinity when it becomes available. You might have to see out your 18-month contract. Then it won't be any diff. from Orange. You'll have to ask them.

In reply to a post by jezthomp:

even with my 2mb download

Is that "2mb" your expected speed or usage?

Thats about the speed currently lines in that area get.

Not my usage, will need unlimited.

To sum up,
you really would like to be on BT's Infinity, but that wont arrive until next march - and even then it might not be available on your cabinet.

Therefore, in the meantime, you need a decent ISP that will either not lock you into a long contract to enable you to migrate over if fibre becomes available or will migrate you over.

I have two suggestions.
Firstly, find out if your cabinet is to be upgraded along with the exchange.
Secondly, find an ISP that will migrate / release you if this is so.

Credit to mkel78 for this thread in which he's posted up this document (page 6) showing postcodes for cabinets to be upgraded
- have a look & see if yours is there.
--------------------------------------------

Wow thats brilliant greemble, thank you.

Yes thats exactly my position.

I've had a look and put my postcode in and it was on there, got this back god know what it means i hope its good news..?

SLSPK,SUDBROOKE PARK,LN3 ***,{SLSPK}{p7},0,100,111.13,6b,Yes,FTTC

Edited by deleted (Fri 29-Jul-11 19:52:32)

It does appear to be good news for you.

It's four of the last five sections you really need to see.
100 (% of lines on the cabinet)
6b (phase of the rollout - next March)
Yes (�YES� = Part of scheduled deployment)
FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet)

So it does seem that your cabinet will be one of those to get fibre.

However, please note the dates may be pushed back - BT have done so with a number of exchanges around the country and the disclaimers at the top of the spreadsheet:

Whilst BT has endeavoured to ensure accuracy of the information contained in this document it cannot be guaranteed. BT cannot accept liability for any inaccuracies contained within this document.

and:

Caveat; This list is only a current indication of cabinet to post code service correlation and may be subject to change in the longer term if re-routing of network connections is required at any time

------------------------------------------

Yeah i appreciate it won't be that much of an accurate date and probably be a few months out worse off.

Just wanted to find out if they will be upgrading the exchange and it would benefit where we're moving too in the long run.

I'll probably go with BT in the anticipation then.

I don't know their policy of upgrading the service during the contract, but i doubt they will not let you give them more money and upgrade to infinity surely not?

I think there is only one cabinet in our village anyway, so surely would make sense them to just upgrade one to service a fair few properties...

Thanks for your help guys

In reply to a post by epyon:

Well BT is unlimited but is throttled at peaktimes with protocols like p2p and vpn

for orange though i'm not sure now since they basically resell BTs package but probably have some kind of fair usage policy

Not really accurate.

Orange is now a BT Wholesale white label product with its own package specification. It bears no relation to BT (Retail) Broadband packages and does not run through the BT Broadband system as the normal punter would understand it.

It is not a resold BT package, any more than Vodaphone or the Post Office is. (Two more BT Wholesale white label ISPs).

It's still worth considering TalkTalk unless there is something in their package you don't like. When FTTC comes to your village it is a simple £10pm "Boost" to have it.

Similarly with Plusnet, FTTC is just £10pm on top of their standard packages, but includes double the download allowance.

In reply to a post by greemble:

It does appear to be good news for you.

It's four of the last five sections you really need to see.
100 (% of lines on the cabinet)
6b (phase of the rollout - next March)
Yes (�YES� = Part of scheduled deployment)
FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet)

So it does seem that your cabinet will be one of those to get fibre.

However, please note the dates may be pushed back - BT have done so with a number of exchanges around the country and the disclaimers at the top of the spreadsheet:

Whilst BT has endeavoured to ensure accuracy of the information contained in this document it cannot be guaranteed. BT cannot accept liability for any inaccuracies contained within this document.

and:

Caveat; This list is only a current indication of cabinet to post code service correlation and may be subject to change in the longer term if re-routing of network connections is required at any time

------------------------------------------

Well i'm confused i'm not sure if my exchange has been taken off the list to be done, after BT released there latest round press release..

I know the above document could change but i'm getting conflicting reports.

Sudbrook Park says 2012 on BT's Main Site

On Openreach's site it is on the list of Exchanges coming soon when i'm sure it was on Future exchanges, so been moved over. Those PDF's seem to have been updated recently too.

Especially as BT have released there next 114 exchanges however, its not on there.

So not sure what going on, fingers crossed they still plan on doing it around March next year!

In reply to a post by jezthomp:

Well i'm confused i'm not sure if my exchange has been taken off the list to be done, after BT released there latest round press release..

I know the above document could change but i'm getting conflicting reports.

Sudbrook Park says 2012 on BT's Main Site

On Openreach's site it is on the list of Exchanges coming soon when i'm sure it was on Future exchanges, so been moved over. Those PDF's seem to have been updated recently too.

Especially as BT have released there next 114 exchanges however, its not on there.

So not sure what going on, fingers crossed they still plan on doing it around March next year!

Hi, it looks you are set on BT FTTC 40 Meg broadband, have you looked on the BT wholesale website link for (Latest FTTC Exchange and Cab Availability)?

https://www.btwholesale.com/pages/static/Community/B...

Is there any cabs for aberdeen on that list as its on the march rollout list also.

In reply to a post by E7er:

In reply to a post by jezthomp:

Well i'm confused i'm not sure if my exchange has been taken off the list to be done, after BT released there latest round press release..

I know the above document could change but i'm getting conflicting reports.

Sudbrook Park says 2012 on BT's Main Site

On Openreach's site it is on the list of Exchanges coming soon when i'm sure it was on Future exchanges, so been moved over. Those PDF's seem to have been updated recently too.

Especially as BT have released there next 114 exchanges however, its not on there.

So not sure what going on, fingers crossed they still plan on doing it around March next year!

Hi, it looks you are set on BT FTTC 40 Meg broadband, have you looked on the BT wholesale website link for (Latest FTTC Exchange and Cab Availability)?

https://www.btwholesale.com/pages/static/Community/B...

Well is this good news?

Exchange due to be enabled end of March and a new green box has appeared in our village.