Broadband advice please

[upnortheast]

Should expect between 30 upload and 50 download easily on 4G by the look of it, as I am about 1 mile from the mast, but not quite line of sight.

Before we got FTTP we were on 4G from a mast 2 miles away. Speed was usualy between 50 & 70 mbs.
If you are only 1 mile from the mast you should not need an external antenna as long as the router is near a window looking towards the mast. The EE (or whoever ) will provide a free router with the contract. They tend to be basic, often only 1 socket to plug in a network cable. It will also be locked to the provider
Cost for a decent one will be circa £100. Worth buying an "unlocked " one. Then you can put any providers sim in, assuming decent signal available from more than 1 provider
We had a router like this -

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[upnortheast]

If you are only 250m from a fibre network then I would go asking about getting the 250m to bring it to your house. The cable itself is cheap- you can buy outdoor spec fibre cable for £1/metre. I

Probably not as simple as that. Will be openreach network all the way to the ONT within your premisis, So apart from digging in a duct there will be not much else you can do. Round here most of the fibre has been installed overhead, & I don`t think openreach will be keen on using someone elses poles

 

[Cowabunga]

Before we got FTTP we were on 4G from a mast 2 miles away. Speed was usualy between 50 & 70 mbs.
If you are only 1 mile from the mast you should not need an external antenna as long as the router is near a window looking towards the mast. The EE (or whoever ) will provide a free router with the contract. They tend to be basic, often only 1 socket to plug in a network cable. It will also be locked to the provider
Cost for a decent one will be circa £100. Worth buying an "unlocked " one. Then you can put any providers sim in, assuming decent signal available from more than 1 provider
We had a router like this -

HUAWEI Routers - HUAWEI Global

Explore the latest technologies in routers with Huawei, including HUAWEI mobile router, 5G router, 4G/5G mobile wifi, 5G CPE Pro and so on. Buy and get support from Huawei.

consumer.huawei.com

My house is in a bit of a hollow, which is why I suspect I'd need an outside aerial mounted high up for best results.
I've got a MiFi dongle that should work with my BT landline router but there is often no signal for it. Mobile only works on the ground floor because it routes through the landline broadband. Upstairs the same but there is a mobile signal up there, depending on which room we are in and pot-luck.

 

[ISCO]

Well our fibre went live this morning. Since arrival of new super fast router on Saturday we have had between 1 and 1.4 download with 0.2 upload.
First tests on fibre are around 4mb download and 1.2 upload. A substantial improvement but still poor relative to what others get.

 

[upnortheast]

Upstairs the same but there is a mobile signal up there, depending on which room we are in and pot-luck.

You could put your 4G router upstairs where you have signal then run a cat5e cable to where you want the service with a wifi access point

 

[Cowabunga]

You could put your 4G router upstairs where you have signal then run a cat5e cable to where you want the service with a wifi access point

I'm not sure whether the signal would be sufficient using a standard 4G router. If I'm doing the job at all, which I am, the Government grant will cover the cost of equipment, so I might as well get it done professionally and right, so that I get the best signal possible throughout the house and, hopefully, down to the bottom of the farmyard as well.
I would hope to use VOIP for voice calls as well. As it is, I use Watsapp calls on my mobile where practical.

It would be a amazing to be able to stream UHD video, let alone to transfer large work files consistently back and forth with little delay or buffering.

 

[Timbo]

Well our fibre went live this morning. Since arrival of new super fast router on Saturday we have had between 1 and 1.4 download with 0.2 upload.
First tests on fibre are around 4mb download and 1.2 upload. A substantial improvement but still poor relative to what others get.

That's very poor given you say you have 3/4 mile copper between you and the box? (assuming FTTC) Obviously very old or lots of joints in the copper line? I'd be arranging for it to "fall down" so BT can re-cable it. ;-)

 

[Ukjay]

Well our fibre went live this morning. Since arrival of new super fast router on Saturday we have had between 1 and 1.4 download with 0.2 upload.
First tests on fibre are around 4mb download and 1.2 upload. A substantial improvement but still poor relative to what others get.

Are you still paying for that Super Fast Fibre or have they cancelled the contract (BT are a PITA) .
That speed reflects the old dial up speed ?

 

[ISCO]

That's very poor given you say you have 3/4 mile copper between you and the box? (assuming FTTC) Obviously very old or lots of joints in the copper line? I'd be arranging for it to "fall down" so BT can re-cable it. ;-)

Yes poor but relative to what we had before it's brilliant. Sometimes it tests as high as 6!!
Trouble with the line is it's underground and been dug up at least 3 times by.neighbours in last 6 years. Not sure what we can do about that. Would it be our responsibility to replace.

 

[Timbo]

Yes poor but relative to what we had before it's brilliant. Sometimes it tests as high as 6!!
Trouble with the line is it's underground and been dug up at least 3 times by.neighbours in last 6 years. Not sure what we can do about that. Would it be our responsibility to replace.

Definitely not! But you should get better speeds than you have. Suspect the joint boxes are damp / been damp / waterlogged

 

[Cowabunga]

The 4G company is due to be here in fifteen minutes. My current download speed is 2.5Mbps and upload 0.8

I know from testing the mobile phone at the top of the yard that 4G wireless can get me at least 39Mbps up and 18 down, which is enough for around 7 Gigabytes per hour file downloads [I think, maybe].

 

[upnortheast]

That's very poor given you say you have 3/4 mile copper between you and the box? (assuming FTTC) Obviously very old or lots of joints in the copper line? I'd be arranging for it to "fall down" so BT can re-cable it. ;-)

Here is a chart of the expected speed drop for distance from the FTTC green cabinet. Does look like you should get double figure download

Distance to cabinet (metres)	Estimated downstream connection speed	Estimated upstream connection speed	Cumulative %'age of premises at this distance
100m	100 Mbps	25 Mbps	5%
150m	80 Mbps	20 Mbps	10%
200m	65 Mbps	18 Mbps	20%
300m	45 Mbps	17 Mbps	30%
400m	42 Mbps	16 Mbps	45%
500m	38 Mbps	15 Mbps	60%
600m	35 Mbps	14 Mbps	70%
700m	32 Mbps	11 Mbps	75%
800m	28 Mbps	10 Mbps	80%
900m	25 Mbps	9 Mbps	85%
1000m	24 Mbps	8 Mbps	90%
1250m	17 Mbps	5 Mbps	95%
1500m	15 Mbps	4 Mbps	98%

 

[upnortheast]

Yes poor but relative to what we had before it's brilliant. Sometimes it tests as high as 6!!
Trouble with the line is it's underground and been dug up at least 3 times by.neighbours in last 6 years. Not sure what we can do about that. Would it be our responsibility to replace.

Openreach responsibility for the line. Will be a major problem convincing them it needs replacing. Will be some small print somewhere which says they are providing you with what the contract says You can use the table above to argue it is not good enough
All you can do is keep complaining about the service. Is anyone else on the same line. Better chance if more than 1 customer is bending their ear

 

[ISCO]

Maybe. I know the last time it was supposed to be a temporary repair but no-one ever did turn up to complete the job. As it worked did not bother.
Might start complaining see were we get.

Definitely not! But you should get better speeds than you have. Suspect the joint boxes are damp / been damp / waterlogged
[/QUOT

 

[ISCO]

Openreach responsibility for the line. Will be a major problem convincing them it needs replacing. Will be some small print somewhere which says they are providing you with what the contract says You can use the table above to argue it is not good enough
All you can do is keep complaining about the service. Is anyone else on the same line. Better chance if more than 1 customer is bending their ear

Thanks for the table had not seen that before, it is very interesting. It does seem like we should be getting twice the speed. There are 3 properties on the line. I think a plan of coordinated complaining may be required.

 

[Cowabunga]

The 4G internet company has been and gone and using their aerial we got well over 50Mbps download and 24Mbps upload if I remember correctly. The grant covers installation and equipment so all I have to cough up is the monthly charge for unlimited business use. Once the BT broadband contract is up, I can cancel that and possibly the landline to offset the monthly cost.

This will be a massive upgrade over BT landline☎ broadband speed. Will I need to wear a tinfoil hat though?

 

[upnortheast]

. Will I need to wear a tinfoil hat though?
View attachment 886597

Depends what you intend to post on TFF

 

[Cowabunga]

Depends what you intend to post on TFF

If it ever gets updated to 5G and it gets mentioned, all hell will break loose here. Forget tinfoil hats, suits of armour will be needed

 

[scottish-lleyn]

@Woolless we have borderlink here its brilliant and can bounce it around the yard as you please with some gadgetry im not sure what but give them a call.

 

[Woolless]

@Woolless we have borderlink here its brilliant and can bounce it around the yard as you please with some gadgetry im not sure what but give them a call.

What's borderlink? Satellite?