22MBs Broadband - worth it?

Spuff

Spuff

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I've currently got regular steam powered broadband which is running at about 2.9Mbs with Talk Talk. Whilst running their speed test the other day a banner popped up to inform me that I can now get up to 22Mbs via fibre optic broadband.

I've had very good service from Talk Talk over a couple of years now and so the upgrade is tempting - an extra £10 per month plus £25 install.

My question is whether I actually need it? My current speed seems adequate for virtually everything I do. It's possible I might start streaming movies from LoveFilm so I could see a benefit in the faster speed there but are there any other benefits that I've missed? Is the service (BT infrastructure) just as reliable?
 
Spuff said:
I've currently got regular steam powered broadband which is running at about 2.9Mbs with Talk Talk. Whilst running their speed test the other day a banner popped up to inform me that I can now get up to 22Mbs via fibre optic broadband.

I've had very good service from Talk Talk over a couple of years now and so the upgrade is tempting - an extra £10 per month plus £25 install.

My question is whether I actually need it? My current speed seems adequate for virtually everything I do. It's possible I might start streaming movies from LoveFilm so I could see a benefit in the faster speed there but are there any other benefits that I've missed? Is the service (BT infrastructure) just as reliable?
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Yes. It's awesome. Get it. :D

Had the following since I got it give or take a few Mbs.
 
if you can afford it then why not, its a much nicer experience having instantly responsive internet and having the ability to stream without waiting for the clip to buffer etc.
 
Have they tested your phone line to make sure it will handle the speed ? I had TT round a few weeks ago trying to get me on adsl and telling me BT where upgrading the local exchange to cope. I rang BT. And they confirmed he was talking borax.
I'd get things checked before shelling out any extra.
 
Have you checked other providers to see what they can offer and at what prices, recently my brother's speed broadband has gone up from 5mb to over 10mb with bt at no extra charge. A
 
ChrisH said:
Have they tested your phone line to make sure it will handle the speed ? I had TT round a few weeks ago trying to get me on adsl and telling me BT where upgrading the local exchange to cope. I rang BT. And they confirmed he was talking borax.
I'd get things checked before shelling out any extra.
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I had exactly the same thing - TT (or someone) came to my door and asked if I wanted a faster internet service as they could provide me with a "fibre" connection. I said no and got on to BT, they said they could not provide the service to me so TT (or whoever) couldn't.

2 weeks later I get a letter stating that BT could give me up to 40Mbs.

So BT will probably say they can't do it so you don't move providers.
 
I'll check it out then. Since I last looked at Samknows it seems there are some other providers that also have their gubbins in the local exchange so I'll compare what they're offering but despite their general bad press I've had no issues with Talk Talk over about 3 years now, so may just stick with them.

Spencer - you're not on the Braintree exchange by any chance are you?
 
OutLore said:
I had exactly the same thing - TT (or someone) came to my door and asked if I wanted a faster internet service as they could provide me with a "fibre" connection. I said no and got on to BT, they said they could not provide the service to me so TT (or whoever) couldn't.
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That's because the service is being rolled out now. Things change on a weekly basis. I suspect the person at your door was sent because FTTC was in the process of being installed and they wanted to sign you up before anyone else did.
 
arad85 said:
That's because the service is being rolled out now. Things change on a weekly basis. I suspect the person at your door was sent because FTTC was in the process of being installed and they wanted to sign you up before anyone else did.
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I don't doubt it, but surely BT (who essentially "own" the infrastructure) should have been the 1st on my doorstep?
 
Remember BT broadband is a different company to BT openworld.

One does broadband, one does the cabling, exchanges etc.
 
I recently upgraded from a 2mb connection to a 40mb line and the difference is outstanding. Live video streaming is just that with no buffering, photos upload in no time at all, it really is chalk and cheese :)
 
arad85 said:
That's because the service is being rolled out now. Things change on a weekly basis. I suspect the person at your door was sent because FTTC was in the process of being installed and they wanted to sign you up before anyone else did.
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I can't think of anything more annoying than someone calling at my door to offer me broadband. If anyone tried to "doorstep sell" me a product or service the this would mean that it would be a product or service that I would make a note to avoid.
 
BT ?

pfft

This is part of an email that came today..


Good news - we're giving you even faster broadband, for less.

You're already getting the UK's fastest widely available broadband, and starting this summer we'll be starting the roll-out to boost your speeds from up to 100Mb to up to 120Mb. We'll also be lowering the price of your broadband package in April to match the price of our 50Mb Broadband XXL packages.

These are nice extras we do to make you smile. We call them Virgin Media tickles, and we only give them to people we know and like - our customers.


Virgin Media tickles...:shake:

I dunno why they send me this crap, the don't even supply the 20mb line I pay for, not that it matters, the line is about 16mb and runs just about everything.
2.9mb seems a bit slow though, I would pay the extra for the 22mb connection if they can fully supply it.
 
joxby said:
BT ?

pfft

This is part of an email that came today..


Good news - we're giving you even faster broadband, for less.

You're already getting the UK's fastest widely available broadband, and starting this summer we'll be starting the roll-out to boost your speeds from up to 100Mb to up to 120Mb. We'll also be lowering the price of your broadband package in April to match the price of our 50Mb Broadband XXL packages.

These are nice extras we do to make you smile. We call them Virgin Media tickles, and we only give them to people we know and like - our customers.


Virgin Media tickles...:shake:

I dunno why they send me this crap, the don't even supply the 20mb line I pay for, not that it matters, the line is about 16mb and runs just about everything.
2.9mb seems a bit slow though, I would pay the extra for the 22mb connection if they can fully supply it.
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I dont think this email would have been sent from BT.
 
I switched from TalkTalk to Virgin Media; from 6Mbps down/512kbps up to



And, I saw in the news recently that Virgin are doubling most speeds for free in the near future. So, I'll be running at 60Mbps/6Mbps :thumbs:
 
Jezz send some speed my way please chaps :(
 
ziggy©;4330258 said:
I dont think this email would have been sent from BT.
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errm.....no, I don't believe it is trying to be anything other than an email from virgin.

I was just trying to compare the have and the have nots, on one hand the op is wondering whether to upgrade from a 3mb line to 22 for an extra tenner, and on the other Virgin are throwing upgraded 120mb lines at people for free....:shrug:
 
Youre very lucky!!
I would kill for broadband speeds like that.
I get around 2.3Mb at off-peak times, and at peak around 1.7Mb, which can drop as low as 0.9Mb

If I could get 22Mb I would be all over it!

Although I am a fairly heavy user - but IMO for £10 a month more its a no brainer...even if you dont use it!
 
So you accept the invitation to have the faster connection, then find there's a cap on it followed by threatening letters when you exceed your usage allowance because you've done exactly what they invited you to do. Am I wrong?
 
37mb here from BT it's really the only option on our exchange at the moment and virgin arent in the area. BT have even changed all the cabinets outside of our village for a fair radius for farms etc believe it or not. You only notice the speed when downloading general web browsing is the same because your limited by latancy and the speed of the server at the other end. Only problem is its expensive but I've never had a problem with it and you get free wifi out and about. I've used my mums virgin but didn't find it very quick for even general web browsing but I guess she probably has the base package.
 
Karl12347 said:
The only problem with virgin is the constant downtime they experience. When they have an outage, it effects everyone, not just a limited area. Proper amateur company...
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I count 2 major nationwide issues in the last 6 months. About the same as bt if memory serves
 
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futureal33 said:
but IMO for £10 a month more its a no brainer...even if you dont use it!
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Er no, if he doesn't use it it's a waste of £10 a month.
 
2.9mb, I'd like that, mine is only in the 1.5 range.

BT Infinity was originally supposed to be in my exchange by Dec 2011. That then moved to March 2012, then to Sept 2012 and is now listed as Dec 2012.

The really annoying thing is that the houses on the other side of the road are on a different exchange and can get infinity.

Openreach and another cabling company were digging up the road a few months back so I walked down to see what they were doing. They confirmed they were putting in the FTC but that the exchange wouldn't be getting the equipment for another 12 months.

Virgin don't run cables up our road, though they do at the junction about 100 yards away, so that isn't an option for me either.

I'd grab it as soon as I could.
 
We've been moving back a quarter every quarter since the beginning of last year (i.e. this time last year, we were supposed to get FTTC end March 2011, now it's March 2012). I'm currently with Be and very happy (apart from the 4Mbit sync speed). Once FTTC is here, I'm jumping ship to - probably - Clara.net.
 
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