UK 'broad band'

[David Ayers]

So how far do you suffer from this in your country. Most areas of UK have no genuine broadband (i.e. via cable). Instead we are sold a 'broad band' which relies on a technology of slightly accelerating downloads (but not uploads) down an exisiting copper phone connection. The advertised speeds are 'up to 8 Mbps' (wow) but for most people it is really about 3 Mbps and for me (my supplier is Talk Talk) most times I am getting a little over 1 Mbps. Government allows this specious advertising of 'broad band' which is not true broad band, and 'up to x Mbps' with no guarantee and often quite simply no prospect that the advertised rate will be met (in my own case, which is common outside major cities, I can never go over about 3.4 Mbps just as a limitation of the physical system - and uploads can never go over 0.6 Mbps). Little more than organised crime. But maybe too some government embarassment that British technology and infrastructure is so inadequate. When he first came to power Tony Blair made a 'white heat of technology' type speech (modelled on a Labour predecessor) that announced how an 'information super-highway' would be laid to the door of every home in the UK. He came and went, but 15 years on for most in the UK no sign of the super-highway, just lies and extortion from the broadband companies.

[Big Wheel]

So how far do you suffer from this in your country. Most areas of UK have no genuine broadband (i.e. via cable). Instead we are sold a 'broad band' which relies on a technology of slightly accelerating downloads (but not uploads) down an exisiting copper phone connection. The advertised speeds are 'up to 8 Mbps' (wow) but for most people it is really about 3 Mbps and for me (my supplier is Talk Talk) most times I am getting a little over 1 Mbps. Government allows this specious advertising of 'broad band' which is not true broad band, and 'up to x Mbps' with no guarantee and often quite simply no prospect that the advertised rate will be met (in my own case, which is common outside major cities, I can never go over about 3.4 Mbps just as a limitation of the physical system - and uploads can never go over 0.6 Mbps). Little more than organised crime. But maybe too some government embarassment that British technology and infrastructure is so inadequate. When he first came to power Tony Blair made a 'white heat of technology' type speech (modelled on a Labour predecessor) that announced how an 'information super-highway' would be laid to the door of every home in the UK. He came and went, but 15 years on for most in the UK no sign of the super-highway, just lies and extortion from the broadband companies.

Yes, in the US DSL is also sold as broadband internet. Cable is available in virtually all cities, though I'm not sure what things look like in more rural areas. But it's expensive. Even DSL is a ripoff unless you agree to the telecom companies' bullshit bundling deals (often with stuff you don't want or need). I am currently looking into calling AT&T and threatening to switch to a cable Internet company if they don't reverse their rate hike on my shitty 6 Mbps DSL.

Not surprised to hear that people hate broadband companies in the UK. At its heart the UK is a much more capitalist country than even the US.

[JSngry]

Had cable, was not impressed. Now have FIOS/fiber-optic thru Verizon. Great performance, reasonable cost.

[ejp626]

Well, it's always something. I was looking into mobile phone service here in Vancouver, and there are a number of studies showing that for a complete package, including a basic data plan, the US and Canada cost more than nearly all other countries, including most African nations -- by a factor of 10 in many cases. As it happens, I went with a start-up (Mobilicity) that is ultra cheap, but their coverage is super limited.

Edited December 2, 2011 by ejp626

[kinuta]

It seems we are lucky in Tokyo with some things at least.

I have a fibre optic broadband connection with download speeds of 700kb/s and over.

NTT did all the installation of the outside junction box which covers all our block for free. The two routers also came with the monthly fee of 4500 yen (34 sterling/$62) and also cover telephone service.

Edited December 2, 2011 by kinuta

[sidewinder]

Tony Blair made a 'white heat of technology' type speech (modelled on a Labour predecessor) that announced how an 'information super-highway' would be laid to the door of every home in the UK. He came and went, but 15 years on for most in the UK no sign of the super-highway, just lies and extortion from the broadband companies.

I'd forgotten about that ! No doubt it was to be a critical enabler component of that "NHS IT" catastrophic ****-up.

That guy certainly did his homework with regards to how to spin his way through being in office and bamboozled half of the country, in the process.

Not that any of them are much different..

Edited December 3, 2011 by sidewinder

[David Ayers]

Maybe I should move to Japan. I don't know how this country can get on in the world, really, with such primitive technology. And the telecoms companies like Talk Talk truly are thieves. I rang their number to ask if they could do anything about the service. Having been through a number of menu choices I was told by an automated voice that the fault on my line was being dealt with, asked for my cell number, told I would be sent a text reporting on the status of the work. So I got an SMS apologising for the problem on the line, telling me I would be updated soon. Next morning an SMS arrived to tell me the engineers had completed their work and the problem had been resolved. But there was no problem. I had rung about the speed which is unchanged (in fact, generally worse). So the whole charade of the SMS was a bluff to get rid of customers who thought they had a problem.

Edited December 5, 2011 by David Ayers

[sidewinder]

I did have broadband speed problems with BT but to their credit they sent a technician out, modified the terminations at my place and tweeked the settings at the exchange. Very happy with that service and since then there have been no problems.

[David Ayers]

Today's speed, according to the Talk Talk free checker: 1.14 Mbps.

I know the issue is not technical as I *can* get speeds over 5Mbps (oooo!!). It's just rare.

Did I mention that Talk Talk are garbage? I should put that in my signature.

[Leeway]

The Washington DC area, where I am, has a plethora of cutting edge technologies available. Drive about 45 miles west to the border of West Virginia (near Berkeley Springs, for instance), and almost all of that goes away. Smart phones? don't bother. Internet connectivity? sure, via little companies that sound a lot like Talk Talk. I think only Sprint offers Internet connectivity in some areas, I can imagine it's frustrating, although it doesn't seem to bother the folks in West Virginia. Kind of like falling back to the early 90s, with dial-in access and pay by the minute AOL.

[A Lark Ascending]

My Orange connection has been acting up over the last 10 days.

For no reason it loses connectivity; unplugging the box and replugging seems to reconnect but often with very slow loading time. Then, after about an hour it's right as rain again.

Worked perfectly today until about 9.00 p.m. Then had an hour of tantrums. Now back to smooth sailing.

The tantrum hour reminded me of the early days - the difference being that in those days I was paying by the minute!!!!

[David Ayers]

The tantrum hour reminded me of the early days

It seems to have been the 'early days' for way too long!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I have talk talk too. A couple of years ago, I had a crash and had to reload everything, and get reconnected again, with talk talk's help. It was so difficult that the angineer had to put me onto someone who actually knew what they were doing. And after trying to get a decent service through to me, he asked what brand of wireless dongle I was using (10+ year old technology). I told him and he said that it wasn't one they supported. So I asked which ones they did support and they told me, only one. Well, I can't get one of those.

It's such a fag upgrading, but I suppose I'll have to do it one day...

MG

[Jazzjet]

My Orange connection has been acting up over the last 10 days.

For no reason it loses connectivity; unplugging the box and replugging seems to reconnect but often with very slow loading time. Then, after about an hour it's right as rain again.

Worked perfectly today until about 9.00 p.m. Then had an hour of tantrums. Now back to smooth sailing.

The tantrum hour reminded me of the early days - the difference being that in those days I was paying by the minute!!!!

Surprisingly, here in Cornwall we are getting 'superfast broadband' rolled out thanks, in part, to a European Union grant.

Just had the BT engineers here and had BT Infinity installed. And we are very rural.

First impressions are good. Websites load very quickly and downloads whizz by. I have a feeling that 'superfast' means

what we should have had in the first place but heigh ho.

[David Ayers]

My Orange connection has been acting up over the last 10 days.

For no reason it loses connectivity; unplugging the box and replugging seems to reconnect but often with very slow loading time. Then, after about an hour it's right as rain again.

Worked perfectly today until about 9.00 p.m. Then had an hour of tantrums. Now back to smooth sailing.

The tantrum hour reminded me of the early days - the difference being that in those days I was paying by the minute!!!!

Surprisingly, here in Cornwall we are getting 'superfast broadband' rolled out thanks, in part, to a European Union grant.

Just had the BT engineers here and had BT Infinity installed. And we are very rural.

First impressions are good. Websites load very quickly and downloads whizz by. I have a feeling that 'superfast' means

what we should have had in the first place but heigh ho.

Good for you. Let us know what speeds you are getting!

[Jazzjet]

My Orange connection has been acting up over the last 10 days.

For no reason it loses connectivity; unplugging the box and replugging seems to reconnect but often with very slow loading time. Then, after about an hour it's right as rain again.

Worked perfectly today until about 9.00 p.m. Then had an hour of tantrums. Now back to smooth sailing.

The tantrum hour reminded me of the early days - the difference being that in those days I was paying by the minute!!!!

Surprisingly, here in Cornwall we are getting 'superfast broadband' rolled out thanks, in part, to a European Union grant.

Just had the BT engineers here and had BT Infinity installed. And we are very rural.

First impressions are good. Websites load very quickly and downloads whizz by. I have a feeling that 'superfast' means

what we should have had in the first place but heigh ho.

Good for you. Let us know what speeds you are getting!

The engineer did a check and said 40 mbps download speed and about 3.5 mbps upload speed.

Of course, it depends where you're downloading from as different sources throttle speeds at different times of day.

The most obvious difference is that websites load a lot faster and with BBC iPlayer the video loads fully almost instantaneously instead of continuously buffering.

[A Lark Ascending]

My Orange connection has been acting up over the last 10 days.

For no reason it loses connectivity; unplugging the box and replugging seems to reconnect but often with very slow loading time. Then, after about an hour it's right as rain again.

Worked perfectly today until about 9.00 p.m. Then had an hour of tantrums. Now back to smooth sailing.

The tantrum hour reminded me of the early days - the difference being that in those days I was paying by the minute!!!!

Surprisingly, here in Cornwall we are getting 'superfast broadband' rolled out thanks, in part, to a European Union grant.

Just had the BT engineers here and had BT Infinity installed. And we are very rural.

First impressions are good. Websites load very quickly and downloads whizz by. I have a feeling that 'superfast' means

what we should have had in the first place but heigh ho.

I saw something about that on one of those computer programmes they have on the BBC News channel, leading up to the hour.

Does this mean you will be able to e-mail me fresh pasties?

[JSngry]

Does this mean you will be able to e-mail me fresh pasties?

Don't run afoul of the authorities, you naughty boy!

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

[A Lark Ascending]

I think we get this cross-Atlantic confusion every time I mention the world's finest food (which I do at every possible opportunity).

[JSngry]

Either way you look at it, a nicely-filled pastie is a treat!

[A Lark Ascending]

Just remember...no carrots or peas.

[David Ayers]

My Orange connection has been acting up over the last 10 days.

For no reason it loses connectivity; unplugging the box and replugging seems to reconnect but often with very slow loading time. Then, after about an hour it's right as rain again.

Worked perfectly today until about 9.00 p.m. Then had an hour of tantrums. Now back to smooth sailing.

The tantrum hour reminded me of the early days - the difference being that in those days I was paying by the minute!!!!

Surprisingly, here in Cornwall we are getting 'superfast broadband' rolled out thanks, in part, to a European Union grant.

Just had the BT engineers here and had BT Infinity installed. And we are very rural.

First impressions are good. Websites load very quickly and downloads whizz by. I have a feeling that 'superfast' means

what we should have had in the first place but heigh ho.

Good for you. Let us know what speeds you are getting!

The engineer did a check and said 40 mbps download speed and about 3.5 mbps upload speed.

Of course, it depends where you're downloading from as different sources throttle speeds at different times of day.

The most obvious difference is that websites load a lot faster and with BBC iPlayer the video loads fully almost instantaneously instead of continuously buffering.

*sigh*

mind you, upload speed is still pretty rubbish

[Jazzjet]

My Orange connection has been acting up over the last 10 days.

For no reason it loses connectivity; unplugging the box and replugging seems to reconnect but often with very slow loading time. Then, after about an hour it's right as rain again.

Worked perfectly today until about 9.00 p.m. Then had an hour of tantrums. Now back to smooth sailing.

The tantrum hour reminded me of the early days - the difference being that in those days I was paying by the minute!!!!

Surprisingly, here in Cornwall we are getting 'superfast broadband' rolled out thanks, in part, to a European Union grant.

Just had the BT engineers here and had BT Infinity installed. And we are very rural.

First impressions are good. Websites load very quickly and downloads whizz by. I have a feeling that 'superfast' means

what we should have had in the first place but heigh ho.

I saw something about that on one of those computer programmes they have on the BBC News channel, leading up to the hour.

Does this mean you will be able to e-mail me fresh pasties?

If only I could, Bev, but it would make a hell of a mess of the modem.