Moving to non-cabled area - ADSL questions, adsl modem, adsl max? adsl2 ?

Hello

I am currently on 2mb cable broadband with virgin media, the 12 month term
expires 1st June.

9th May I am moving to a new property (new build apartment).

It looks asthough i cannot get virgin media cable broadband at this
particular apartment, although the rest of the street can - our apartment
has diff postcode.

Looks like I will be going to ADSL.

However, the apartment is very far from the exchange, BT Broadband checker
at http://www.adslchecker.bt.com/pls/adsl/ADSLChecker.postcodeoutput

Says: .

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial check on your postcode
indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service
that provides a line rate up to 1Mbps. However due to the length of your
line the 1Mbps service may require an engineer visit who will, where
possible, supply the broadband service.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports a potential ADSL
Max broadband line rate of 3Mbps or greater.

Now, this doesn't sound very good at all.

4 years ago when I first had ADSL, there was only 1 adsl to choose from, a
fixed line speed, and that was a reliable 1mb. Now it sounds like its a bit
of a challenge to get the best deal.

Basically, my requirements are non-12 month term, fast as possible and
reliable speed, i.e. i want it fast all day, not at offpeak.

Whats the best thingt to do?



cheers

Darren

 

i am 3.5k (as the crow fly's) from the exchange :-S

 

Ask Virgin. It may be that you apartment block has a unique postcode
rather than that of the street, so their checker will error.

 

Check out exactly what equipment is in your exchange from
www.samknows.com . BT may not be telling you about existing LLU operators.

 

I'm on the Portsmouth exchange

Can I get ADSL2+?

This seems the fastest option

 

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/SDPCNTC

First I'd definately chase up Virgin media to see if they will provide
service - it may well be faster than getting DSL broadband over to you,
even in ADSL2+ varieties. 3.5Km is a fair distance, you'd probably max
out at 6Mbps at a guess with ADSL2+ (me ballpark guessing by another
recent post here - could be wrong...).

 

Thats mot bad. Its all I get here..about 3Mbps actual (synchs a shade
over 3.5 mostly).

Why? its not that bad.

ADSL max and get used to it.

 

I don't know if it's still the case, but when I took out an NTL contract
they said they would not hold me to the 12 months if I moved to a non-cabled
area. This was before they had an ADSL operation. You could argue that
moving from cable to ADSL is a change to your material disadvantage and that
you should be let off the rest of the cable contract. This would then leave
you free to find a new ADSL ISP. Or you could just pay double for a month
and get shot of Virgin when your contract expires. I can't think of any
reason to choose Virgin ADSL over another ISP if you have the choice.

Theo

 

I can't disagree.

Most of the bulk volume cheapest price ISP's are unformly bad as they
are cheap.

If Tiscali would spend a tenth of what they spend on national TV ads on
actual bandwith and customer support..

 

You will need to pay BT for a new phone line to be installed, and that
will have a minimum 12 month term, unless you want to have a temporary
service line or pay some early termination charges.

If this is a serious issue (eg because you only have a 6 month tenancy)
then consider mobile broadband.

Owain