Upped to ADSL2+ and still on the dark age

[Rik]

Fibre does seem to be the only real way forward, unless the Govt funds an infrastructure upgrade, and I really don't think that's going to happen. You're not in Muswell Hill are you?

[troesma]

Nope, in the Blackheath area (SE London).

[troesma]

Fibre does seem to be the only real way forward, unless the Govt funds an infrastructure upgrade, and I really don't think that's going to happen. You're not in Muswell Hill are you?

DirectTV in the Americas I think offers a satellite-based system, so no dependency on any cabling of sorts. In LatAm, on certain cities you have about 5 cable operators competing on the same area, plus most of the basic infrastructure is already on optic fibre (and I'm talking of 20 million people size cities...) Why the UK is lagging SO behind is just staggering.

[Rik]

Because we're British and don't complain well.

[Simon_idnet]

Which makes you wonder, even on LLU, whether the deal is worth having. Cable (which is on a fiber optic network) is the choice, but alas, I'm in a conservation area so that's not an option for me 

Cable is actually copper - co-ax (rather than twisted-pair). They do run some fibre to the cabinet which is enough for the ASA to allow their ad campaign (though it is a bit mis-leading).
S

[Sebby]

A bit like FTTC, then.

[Technical Ben]

My mate use to live around 100m from my house. I really considered if we could get a network cable to reach that far. Now I'm less than 100m from the exchange, I should probably install my own cable.

I guess there are estimates and figures for the cost to install cable to the home?

[Rik]

There are, but I have no idea of them, unfortunately. If you ask over on ThinkBroadband, there's a few BT engineers around who might be able to help.

[Lance]

Certainly would be interesting to see if they let you!

[dujas]

Search for "Excess Construction charges", for a breakdown of Openreach's price structure. Probably in the £5k+ region for 100m.

AAISP give rough quotes for site to site Ethernet.

[Simon]

That's, umm... enlightening.  I've just been quoted over £11,000 to have fibre laid on! 

[Gary]

That's, umm... enlightening.  I've just been quoted over £11,000 to have fibre laid on! 

£11,000  I would never pay to have fibre laid, the internet is not worth that much to me, you could do a lot with £11,000 that would be more fun

[Simon]

Absolutely! 

[troesma]

Just made a check...

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
    Your DSL connection rate: 3068 kbps(DOWN-STREAM),  888 kbps(UP-STREAM)
    IP profile for your line is - 2825 kbps 
    Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 2370 kbps
    The throughput of Best Efforts (BE) classes achieved during the test is - 10.97:25.65:63.38 (SBE:NBE:PBE)
These figures represent the ratio while sententiously passing Sub BE, Normal BE and Priority BE marked traffic.

The results of this test will vary depending on the way your ISP has decided to use these traffic classes.

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

If you are experiencing problems with specific applications, servers or websites please contact your ISP for assistance.

Your test has completed please close this window to exit the performance tester.

So, no improvement and new information... anyone can clarify..?

[Sebby]

Not really sure what you mean. Is it the profile you're questioning?

[Rik]

If it is, we've been seeing a few odd ones which are not on BT's list since WBC.

[troesma]

The odd profile has been for a while... still  (maybe it's a WBC-induced thing) but the "pass the buck" comment about "...results of this test will vary on the way your ISP has decided to use these traffic classes". Dunno (xcuse my ignorance) if there is anything which might hint to performance-related ISP configurantion bits in this comment (on reading "...the way your ISP..")

[Rik]

I've not seen that before, so I'm only guessing that they might relate to business (premium) lines against standard domestic ones, but we need to find out from support.

[troesma]

Good possibility, Rik, but that comment coming from BT looks, ejem... such a "sorry mate, it's not about us, check with your ISP..." thing that I wonder. Would be good to know what the heck it means.

[Rik]

I'll try and find out tomorrow.

[dujas]

There was a PC Pro article published over a year ago now, that outlined the different levels of traffic management available on 21CN WBC connections:

One of the less-publicised (and perhaps most disturbing) consequences of the new network is that BT will be offering different tiers of bandwidth, or "quality of service" options, as BT Wholesale puts it. These are:

Real Time - This is the maximum possible bandwidth available on a line, where the customer doesn't necessarily need to guarantee every packet of data arrives but wants them to arrive as fast as possible. This option will be of most interest to gamers seeking minimum latency, those looking to run business VoIP services, video conferencing and other "real-time" events.

Assured Rate - This is a guaranteed bandwidth of 2Mb/sec that can be activated "on request" for specific, short periods of time. Aimed at businesses that want to guarantee bandwidth for specific applications during busy periods or consumers wanting to use video on-demand services. BT offers Assured Rate to its BT Vision customers to ensure they can achieve decent video streaming.

Best Effort - Or, perhaps more accurately, "the leftovers". This is the best possible speed remaining after the two premium services. However, even this will be divided into two packages: Elevated Best Effort and Standard Best Effort. "For every three [data] packets of Elevated that get through, you get two packets of Standard," explained Entanet's Blessing. "You'll pay 50% more and get a 50% better service."

[Rik]

Thanks, Dujas.

[troesma]

Back in town after a biz trip decided to check the status...

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.
Your DSL connection rate: 4440 kbps(DOWN-STREAM),  888 kbps(UP-STREAM)
   IP profile for your line is - 2825 kbps
   Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 2422 kbps
   The throughput of Best Efforts (BE) classes achieved during the test is - 14.29:22.87:62.84 (SBE:NBE:PBE)
These figures represent the ratio while sententiously passing Sub BE, Normal BE and Priority BE marked traffic.

The results of this test will vary depending on the way your ISP has decided to use these traffic classes.

If you wish to discuss these results please contact your ISP.

If you are experiencing problems with specific applications, servers or websites please contact your ISP for assistance.

Any ideas as to why the big wedge..?

[Rik]

No. I've never seen that tester output and, when I asked support, neither had they. That said, speeds are still being hit by BT's ongoing work which is always due to be completed 'by the end of the week'. My throughput has dropped to 2/3rds of my profile this week, and it's showing no signs of recovering yet.

[troesma]

Just reading the article on BT in last week's Economist suggests why what happens, happens when BT is involved.