Broadband

[Andrew Warren]

I'd be interested to know of others' experiences of broadband in the village lately. Here at The Granary, we've had up and down coverage. Lately, however, I notice that the UPLOAD speed has trebled. Downloads have stabilised at around the same they were when we moved in - so no increase, but equally, no significant degradation as was the case late last year.

I cannot account for the upload increase, but for me it's welcome. It also suggests some sort of change in the infrastructure. Which may also suggest other improvements might be in the offing.

What's your experience of any recent changes?

Andy

[Adrian Carter]

Andy,

I was notified by BT recently that they had completed an upgrade at Bourton, which may be the reason. In my case my download speed has increased from 6 to 12 MB/sec but no noticeable improvement in upload. Make of that what you will.

Adrian Carter

[Admin]

Andy,

Just back from France (where my Broadband speed is better)

Download is slightly better than normal 3.64Mb/s and upload double .74Mb/s

Geoff

[Andrew Warren]

Interesting. So, what was the improvement made in Bourton, I wonder, and if BT Openreach go further and use fiber to Pen, what difference could that make?

[Admin]

Your postcode and cabinet are still to be evaluated by Connecting Devon and Somerset. Your exchange is within the programme. However, decisions on which cabinets get upgraded off the exchange will depend on the outcomes of pending detailed surveying.

Estimate date range for surveys of BA9 8LR Jan 2016 – Jun 2016

See http://www.connectingdevonandsomerset.co.uk/where-when/.

[Andrew Warren]

So, if they decide to make the change, we could see a significant benefit.

[Admin]

The exchange in Dorset is already capable of providing high speed. We just need access to it. https://www.dorsetforyou.com/broadband/map

[Gilly]

Good morning - from 'Hill Top' and we are just above you at The Granary.

As I posted another question I thought just for information I have checked mine this morning (I must confess using 'wireless') and my Download is 3.64 and my Upload is 0.72.

Gilly

[Admin]

Ive been investigating other options including Wessex Internet. Here are some notes I took after a discussion with them.

Wessex Internet  wessexinternet.com

I’ve been alerted to the fact there are other options besides BT. In the event that BT decides not to upgrade our broadband service in the near future what can we do? Wessex internet have a microwave service up and running into several properties in Gasper.

They offer download speeds of 30Mb/s and upload speeds of 3Mb/s for a price £22.50 per month plus £8/ month for internet phone.

Interestingly, the nearest infrastructure they have is at the end of the Gallops, though its not quite obvious to me where or what it is. A likely installation would involve a land line link to the nearest property (Pen Ridge Farm?) and then microwave line of sight to other properties. The model they work with is a community project where landowners allow access cables to be buried without rent in return for free internet access and help with ditching. Properties could be chained from one another by a combination of line of sight or buried cable.  Trees could prove to be an obstruction to line of sight. We would need to pay for extending the infrastructure - fibre generally costs around £2 per metre though the main cost is on the joints.

They would want 30 subscribers interested for them to conduct a feasibility study.

Pen comprises 4 hamlets (excluding Leigh Common which may well already have access to high speed broadband.) - Pear Ash, Church, Coombe Street/ Bleak Street and Pen Mill. The Church and Pear Ash would be most readily linked from Pen Ridge.

Contact Luke Skipsey - 01489 555680  Office - 0333 240 5680

Geoff

[ian steadman]

BT blanket emailed the news about the upgrade at Bourton on 22 January 2016 following which the 1.9 download speed I had had for the preceding six months dropped to 1.6 and has stayed there.  The Wessex Internet possible option is, in my view, a potentially cost effective welcome alternative to BT and I have registered my interest with them.  Those like me getting below 2Mb may well qualify for a grant of around £300 towards initial costs.  It is not clear to me whether any such grants can be pooled towards the common good but I suspect it can.

[Rick Godley]

I'll register today.

R

Admin said:

Ive been investigating other options including Wessex Internet. Here are some notes I took after a discussion with them.

Wessex Internet  wessexinternet.com

I’ve been alerted to the fact there are other options besides BT. In the event that BT decides not to upgrade our broadband service in the near future what can we do? Wessex internet have a microwave service up and running into several properties in Gasper.

They offer download speeds of 30Mb/s and upload speeds of 3Mb/s for a price £22.50 per month plus £8/ month for internet phone.

Interestingly, the nearest infrastructure they have is at the end of the Gallops, though its not quite obvious to me where or what it is. A likely installation would involve a land line link to the nearest property (Pen Ridge Farm?) and then microwave line of sight to other properties. The model they work with is a community project where landowners allow access cables to be buried without rent in return for free internet access and help with ditching. Properties could be chained from one another by a combination of line of sight or buried cable.  Trees could prove to be an obstruction to line of sight. We would need to pay for extending the infrastructure - fibre generally costs around £2 per metre though the main cost is on the joints.

They would want 30 subscribers interested for them to conduct a feasibility study.

Pen comprises 4 hamlets (excluding Leigh Common which may well already have access to high speed broadband.) - Pear Ash, Church, Coombe Street/ Bleak Street and Pen Mill. The Church and Pear Ash would be most readily linked from Pen Ridge.

Contact Luke Skipsey - 01489 555680  Office - 0333 240 5680

Geoff

[Gilly]

I am sorry it is not cost effective for me to subscribe as I am not reliant on fast downloads for my Internet use and as long as I get 3.0 something I can manage.  Good luck and I hope you get the subscribers.  Gill

[Robin and Becky Evans]

As I wrote on a previous post, my broadband supplier sky has offered me fibre optic broadband at a cheaper price than I am currently paying.my fibre starts on 18th may. However the down side is they said it's the slowest fibre speeds they have..between 3-8 meg.however the up side is that there's no traffic or sharing on the connection so it should be faster.at present I seem to be getting 5 meg in the day and 1 meg in the evening as on my current broadband package I am slowed down at peak times. Anyway we are in Coombe street area but have been told that other places in village may be able to get speeds faster than us on fibre