Shall I switch to EE from Virgin (Fiber)

Hi,

I have been using Virgin Fiber 50 meg for more then a year now as they were the only option in my area.
I was wondering if EE would be better (definitely cheaper and faster) option for me. I do a lot of download and also have a server setup at home (I am a developer).

I am paying around £40 a month to virgin for 50 meg and EE offering 76 meg for £25.

I don't know if either of them do throttling though. Info about that would be good as well, if anyone knows

Thanks in advance.

The EE service is based on the openreach FTTC, so if available so will BT Infinity and Sky Fibre and TalkTalk Fibre most likely.

EE is believed to use traffic management, but not seen a live user to give feedback yet.

NOTE: With FTTC you need to check the estimate for the specific lines speed to get a good idea.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The EE service is based on the openreach FTTC, so if available so will BT Infinity and Sky Fibre and TalkTalk Fibre most likely.

EE is believed to use traffic management, but not seen a live user to give feedback yet.

NOTE: With FTTC you need to check the estimate for the specific lines speed to get a good idea.

Thanks MrSaffron. TBH I didn't know any of these companies doing Fiber at all. Hmm, it hard to choose when you have too many options.

By the way, what did you mean by "check estimate for the specific lines speed"?

In reply to a post by ampersand:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The EE service is based on the openreach FTTC, so if available so will BT Infinity and Sky Fibre and TalkTalk Fibre most likely.

EE is believed to use traffic management, but not seen a live user to give feedback yet.

NOTE: With FTTC you need to check the estimate for the specific lines speed to get a good idea.

Thanks MrSaffron. TBH I didn't know any of these companies doing Fiber at all. Hmm, it hard to choose when you have too many options.

By the way, what did you mean by "check estimate for the specific lines speed"?

He means put your details into this link, Or look on EEs site for a checker but it will most likely use they BT one anyway it will give you an estimated line speed or tell youf it you can even get it for that matter and it will help make the decision if it would be worth the move for you

Ash

Hi Ash,

These checkers are for ADSL as far as I can see

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial check on your postcode indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 5Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 3.5Mbps and 7.5Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL2+ broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 6Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 4Mbps and 8Mbps.

I am looking for fiber optic connection.

In reply to a post by ampersand:

Hi Ash,

These checkers are for ADSL as far as I can see

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial check on your postcode indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 5Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 3.5Mbps and 7.5Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL2+ broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 6Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 4Mbps and 8Mbps.

I am looking for fiber optic connection.

If it dont mention fibre then its might not be available to you

example this is mine

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial test on your line indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 5Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 3.5Mbps and 7.5Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL2+ broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 6Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 4Mbps and 8Mbps. Our test also indicates that your line could support an estimated ADSL 2+ Annex-M broadband upstream line speed of 1Mbps and downstream line speed of 6Mbps; typically the downstream speed would range between 4Mbps and 8Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed of 56.9Mbps and upstream line speed of 20Mbps.

As you see it also gives me estimate for FTTC

Ash

On BT's site, when I enter my post code, this is what I get

BT Infinity
Superfast fibre optic broadband
Great news! You are eligible for superfast BT Infinity.
62.3Mb download
20.0Mb upload Now

I am confused??

In reply to a post by ampersand:

On BT's site, when I enter my post code, this is what I get

BT Infinity
Superfast fibre optic broadband
Great news! You are eligible for superfast BT Infinity.
62.3Mb download
20.0Mb upload Now

I am confused??

Yes me too now

there this linkto the open reach site that tells you if the exchanges around you are enabled maybe try that but if BT retails checker says you can get infinity then the wholesale checker might just not of been updated , Might be worth ringing EE up directly and ask them to do a personal check for you to double make sure, or you could go direct with BT them selves they are only £25 a month for 80/20 too, plusnet are £19.99 for 80/20 but do have a 250gig usage 8AM-12AM then unlimited over night (im switching to plusnet my self end of this week ) so fe alternatives to consider too

Ash

are any of these companies do throttling? I do download/upload a lot and I need unlimited connection.

Telephone number is the most accurate
next step is check with the full postal address.
Last resort use postcode

Postcodes can be served by two cabinets, so one part of a postcode can get the new service and another not.

Sky no throttling.
TalkTalk and BT both allow throttling of peer to peer stuff
Same with EE I believe

All of them are contended services, so at busy times what other users are doing will impact on you.

None of them have the time periods and cut backs like Virgin Media use, also upstream will be faster too.

Wow, sky seems to be the best option then. I wasn't expecting this! Let me check with them.


Thanks all for your help.

With Sky you have to move/have your telephone line rental to/with them.

Not a problem at all. I hardly use it, it's only connected to ADT anyway

Of course they are not the only companies offering FTTC they are only the big ones, most of the smaller providers will also offer FTTC, so may be something else to consider.

Well, I'd love to support small businesses instead of the big boys but unfortunately I have to consider the cost as well.

Looking at your prices here,
http://www.vivaciti.net/internet/1/home-internet/33/...

you seem to be a little expensive for me

EE/Orange/T-Mobile broadband, manage their network for BitTorrent downloading file sharing or peer-to-peer p2p file sharing.

Orange network management
Important services are prioritised over others that are less time-sensitive (like file sharing)at busy times when a lot of people are connected and our network gets very busy. The busy times are typically between 6pm to 11:30pm on weekdays and 5pm to 11:30pm on weekends.

Our priority is to make sure that everyone has a stable access to the internet at all times; this prioritisation improves the quality and speed of broadband for more than 95% of our customers.

http://help.orange.co.uk/orangeuk/support/personal/b...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent

Just Fwiw I'm On A Sky 40/10 Connection. Consistent Speeds, Good Ping Times £20 A mnth.

Edited by deleted (Tue 06-Nov-12 19:49:52)

I just found out that I am 2 km away from my exchange, which I assume will effect my speed a lot on FTTC. Only sensible option seems to be Virgin as I think they run coaxial cable from the cabinet to my house which is better then copper cable in long distances.

Your distance from your exchange is irrelevant on FTTC. It is your distance from your phone cabinet that matters.

This checker may tell you your cabinet number if you put your postcode in.

Coax suffers with distance, just that when the cable co's installed their cabinets they did them just far enough apart that distance was not an issue.