Broadband test reveals different speeds in same streets
November 26, 2009 at 10:11 am
A new broadband test has been released by Top 10 Broadband that can reveal the broadband speeds of neighbours living in the same street. It has already proved that there are huge variations in speed in houses right next to one another.
Users can visit the website and search for their postcode area. Then they can see what speeds their neighbours are receiving. The tool, which has been called StreetStats, is building an interactive map of the country by collecting the speed test data of every broadband connection. So far it has collected 170,000 test results, but by the end of the year it is hoping to have compiled two million.
The aim is to put pressure on ISPs to provide better speeds for customers. If people see that their neighbours are getting much better speeds than they are, then they may begin to ask why they should not be receiving the same speeds.
However, the flaw of the system is that customers cannot see which services their neighbours are signed up to. This means that they cannot really tell whether they are getting a bad deal or not.
Top 10 Broadband has also accepted that there are many other factors affecting broadband speeds. Things such as wiring, congestion and equipment can all affect the speeds being received. However, the company is hoping that it will reveal discrepancies in the speeds being received which will put pressure on ISPs to fix them.
Alex Buttle, the marketing director at Top 10 Broadband, said that they do not believe that other factors explain “all of the variations” that have been found between households in the same street. He said that “outdated technology” used by some providers, as well as “traffic shaping” and “throttling at peak times” are also factors.
Many more to benefit from super-fast broadband
November 20, 2009 at 4:32 pm
BT has announced that it will be able to provide super-fast broadband to a total of 2.5 million homes by 2012. This is a huge boost to its previous claim that it would only be able to provide its FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) service to one million homes. This will help the UK to develop its broadband infrastructure enormously.
Meanwhile, BT’s FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) service will reach another nine million homes. This has a top speed of 40Mbps, compared to 100Mbps for FTTP. This is because FTTC does not go directly to the home, and involves a combination of fibre optic cables and traditional copper wires.
Steve Robertson, the chief executive of Openreach, BT’s wholesale unit, said that service providers asked for more FTTP, and “we have listened to them”. He also said that the UK already “leads the world” in terms of broadband availability, and that this new announcement would “help the UK climb the speed league tables”.
Overall, things are looking a lot better for the state of broadband in the UK. Virgin is currently trialling its 200Mbps service, and BT’s announcement will see it introduce even more competition to the market. It will also rent out its service to other broadband companies, which can only be a good thing for consumers.
BT plans to invest heavily in next-generation broadband in the UK. And it has also said it should be able to provide speeds of up to 1Gbps in the future, depending on demand. However, it has said that super-fast broadband will currently be limited to urban areas.
Over 50% of ISP complaints not dealt with
November 5, 2009 at 1:34 pm
As broadband becomes increasingly important in our lives, there were some shocking statistics coming out of a new survey carried out by BroadbandChoices.co.uk recently. If the survey is to believed, it seems that a massive 54% of complaints to ISPs are never resolved.
In addition to this disappointing figure, of the 4,000 broadband customers questioned in the survey, 37% of these don’t even bother to complain to their ISPs in the first place, so certain are they that nothing will be done to solve the problem.
47% of those questioned were completely unaware of the Code of Practice, which is the procedure in place for dealing with complaints. On top of that, a massive 77% of those questioned did not know about the Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme that can be used to take a complaint further after eight weeks have passed since making the initial complaint to the ISP.
The product director of BroadbandChoices.co.uk, Michael Philips, said that the survey showed “a distinct lack of awareness” about how to ensure complaints are dealt with properly. He added that “it is clear that more needs to be done to empower consumers” so that they have greater confidence and the knowledge to obtain a successful result from their complaint.
The company’s advice was to get as much information as possible on the complaint procedures for the ISP, then make a complaint in writing. It also recommended that all phone calls should be noted down, and copies of bank statements and bills should be kept.
