Possible fibre!

Good evening, it's been while so hi and can I pick your brains please...

A friend of mine is looking for a faster quality download via her DSL line; she is currently with Sky Unlimited which is stable, but she is 3.86km from the exchange (straight line). Her current rate is 0.33mbps download, 0.67mbps upload and 53ms ping.

They are using the master socket, wired (not wireless) so I assume it's the line length and quality, as the previous provider (NewNet) gave a similar reading.

From the providers below which are all on her exchange, I'm wondering if a fibre option or something else is available? Could you advise please.

BT Wholesale ADSL
BT Wholesale ADSL Max
BT Wholesale WBC (21CN)
BT Wholesale SDSL
BT FTTC
AOL LLU
O2 / Be LLU
Bulldog LLU
TalkTalk (CPW) LLU
Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU
Pipex LLU
Tiscali LLU
Tiscali TV (via Tiscali LLU)

Thanks as always - Blue

Ps. I don't have the router stats available at the moment

The list does have BT FTTC in it. What matters is not whether the exchange is enabled but whether the cabinet is enabled.

If the check was done by phone number, then it should be correct, you could also check the Availability checker on here (left menu) and put the phone number in there too to double check.

If it comes up with something about a WBC Fibre product then it looks good, so then you can pick your ISP - Sky don't offer it, so you would need to look elsewhere.

FTTC is in the list there. That is the BT Openreach product available through many providers, (not Sky), the ones well-known on here are listed on this page, which contains a linkto orly/yarwell's sumamry detail spreadsheet as well.

Using the master socket doesn't often prove anything. It needs to be the test socket inside it.

The check that list is from is samknows, which only works at exchange level, even if the phone number is input. Though all he has to do is put the phone number into any ISP's checker and job done, even more accurately than the BTW checker .

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 11-Jan-12 20:53:59)

Thanks for the quick responses guys and particularly the link - I feel fibre is the way forward so I'll have a look and see what's available.

Blue

That downstream speed seems rather low (IIRC you should be able to get 2Mbit or more from a good ~4Km line) so either the line is much longer than the crow's flight distance (which isn't unlikely) or there is some condition/quality problem with it. Whoever you use for ADSL, even if they are an LLU provider, you are stuck with that line so if the line is the problem you'll get similar speeds. Therefore if FTTC is available at the cabinet that serves their house I would suggest that is the direction to go in - the difference should be astronomical. http://dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome should tell you with a reasonable amount of accuracy if it is available, and if so go through the list of ISPs RobertoS linked to find the most suitable plan.

I've come to the same conclusion D that whichever provider is used, the line seems to be the determining factor, so currently examining BT and PlusNet.

Thanks - Blue

On fibre it is only the distance from the cabinet that matters. The distance from the exchange becomes irrelevant. That's the whole point of FTTC .

Putting the phone number into the Wholesale checker should give a speed estimate.

If the line between the premises and the cabinet is faulty, then that problem will remain.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 12-Jan-12 11:22:31)

Is there not a fibre link from the exchange to the cabinet also? If so, surely that would assist in the matter. Or are you saying that because from the cabinet to property uses copper wire, that will determine the speed drop?

Blue

In reply to a post by BlueHuman:

Or

There is no dichotomy; both your statements are equally relevant!