Posts Tagged ‘adsl’

Almost at Journey’s End : UltraFast Broadband FTTP (FTTH) Ordered!

Monday, June 18th, 2018

The story so far, last September 2017, BT Openreach, connected fibre tails to the bottom of my telepgraph pole! It was hoped that we would have Ultrafast broadband installed by Christmas 2017, East Riding of Yorkshire Council (kind of responsible for the BDUK Project) told me it should be by the end of the Year (2017), but nothing happened, and all references to completion disappeared and changed to By the End of 2018!

btopenreachengineers1

In February 2018, Openreach Engineers, came out to the shire, I sent the drone up to spy on them....

and fitted these to the telegraph poles

This is how you know the Pole is Fibre Enabled!

This is how you know the Pole is Fibre Enabled!

and this is my “personal” pole!

8 Fibre Connectors at top of pole

8 Fibre Connectors at top of pole

and another pole

8 Fibre Connectors at top of pole

8 Fibre Connectors at top of pole

But this was February 2018!!!! At the time, I had a long conversation with the Engineers, that stated all was live back to the Exchange, and commissioning should not take too long, and I should be able to place an order in four weeks, which feedback from East Riding of Yorkshire Council also stated March 2018!

So I thought at least when I get back from Holiday in March/April, I should be able to place an order…..

BUT…

Can I get fibre - NO!

Can I get fibre - NO!

I checked daily during the months of April, May and got bored and started to pester East Riding of Yorkshire council again, at the beginning of June…

and to my surprise, after contacting East Riding of Yorkshire it changed to on 6th June 2018! I can order ULTRAFAST Broadband!!!

I’d already started the switch to Zen, for my ADSL, so I can eventually Migrate from ADSL to FTTP with Zen, and the switch was successful to Zen on the 8th June 2018.

EXCITED!!!

EXCITED!!!

So I had a few logistical details to sort out, like empty the server/network cup board of servers, network switches, Dell workstations, so the Openreach engineer when he visits can install the Openreach ONT (fibre terminator!) in the server cupboard, so my house can be connected with glass fibre to the exchange, no COPPER like you FTTC people with max speeds of approx 76Mbps.

So it’s taken a long time in coming, and I would really never have thought that we would be 1 of the 3% in the UK to have ULTRAFAST BROADBAND (FTTP/FTTH), fibre circuit from the shire out in the sticks.

At present Ultrafast maximum speed is 300Mbps download, and 30Mbps upload, but there are not a lot of statistics, because only 3% of the UK population have access to FTTP! It looks like BT (Openreach) are starting with the rural areas, which have had access to poor internet speeds for years, and once completed will revisit the more densely populated areas!

MY ULTRAFAST BROADBAND ORDER WAS SUBMITTED TODAY!

at the same time, I’ve also switched  my BT telephone line to Zen also, so I will be leaving BT after, well I’ve never been with another telephone provider other than BT.

2 July 2018, is the switch to Zen for phone.

and Openreach have scheduled an installation date of Saturday 30 June 2018 – AM, to complete the first part of the installation, which requires internal access to the house, and my server/network cupboard!

and all of the above, is currently cheaper and onto a better and faster package, than BT and Eclipse Internet!!!

Smoke me a kipper….

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GoodBye Eclipse Internet, Hello Zen Internet!

Friday, June 8th, 2018

eclipse_internet

I’ve been loyal to Eclipse Internet for 14 years, I took out my first contract for ADSL Broadband in 2004. Now known as Eclipse, originally based in Exeter, Devon – were acquired by Kingston Communications (KCOM), Hull – just down the road from where I live as it turned out in 2005.

With my Ultrafast broadband (FTTP) coming online soon, I had hoped Eclipse would be able to migrate my existing ADSL Broadband to FTTP, they did originally tell me, they could do it, but on recent communications it would appear Eclipse (KCOM) cannot supply me FTTP.

But, oddly they wanted to charge me some £35+VAT for termination of my broadband package, despite not being in a contract for over 7 years, so the easiest option was to switch to a new ISP, which could offer a path to FTTP,

1024px-zen-final-logo2-_teal

so I’ve now switched to Zen Internet. (which was one of the ISPs I considered 14 years ago).

ADSL (Superfast)  comes over your copper telephone line, Ultrafast (FTTP) comes over fibre directly linked to the BT exchange. Different technologies, so there is no requirement for ADSL (Superfast) and FTTP.  So eventually the ADSL (Superfast) will be terminated over copper, when I’m like with fibre.

I noticed a few broadband restarts at 3am, and the switch was completed at 4.45am.

So I’m now with Zen…. time to order Ultrafast (FTTP!)

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Too many WiFi devices and used up all my WiFi beans in my Broadband routers!

Monday, January 16th, 2017

Well the title says it all, with the addition of more WiFi Home Automation devices, it would appear I’ve used up all the WiFi beans in my Broadband Routers, or they easily get overloaded with too many devices. I’ve just added another 12 WiFi devices, and it would appear that’s overkill for a 2Wire 2700HGV and backup BT Home Hub 3 broadband routers.

2Wire 2700HGV & BT Home Hub 3

2Wire 2700HGV & BT Home Hub 3

I’ve been meaning to overall my WiFi for a while, so turned off a dedicated 2.4GHz  and 5GHz access points, and replaced with a single inexpensive broadband dual band 2.4GHz and 5GHz router from TP-LINK Archer D20 AC750 Wireless Dual Band ADSL2+ Modem Router for Phone Line Connections, those devices that have 5GHz have been migrated to the 5GHz WiFi, e.g. Amazon Echo, Nexus, laptops & iPads.

Boxed TP-LINK Archer D20 AC750 Wireless Dual Band ADSL2+ Modem Router for Phone Line Connections

Boxed TP-LINK Archer D20 AC750 Wireless Dual Band ADSL2+ Modem Router for Phone Line Connections

TP-LINK Archer D20 AC750 Wireless Dual Band ADSL2+ Modem Router for Phone Line Connections

TP-LINK Archer D20 AC750 Wireless Dual Band ADSL2+ Modem Router for Phone Line Connections

It does not look very pretty, and has the standard, LEDs for Power On, 2.4GHz/5.0GHz Enabled, ADSL Connection, Internet Connected and LAN states, this router, is on the top of a shelf, so I need to standard on a stool to check the LED status, it would have been handy, if they were visible… (ignore the whitebox in the above picture, that’s the SamKnows UK Broadband Availability monitoring box)

I’ve now got a few devices from TP-Link, a Chinese company, and the products are of good quality and inexpensive. I’ve got TP-Link  battery  power banks, and recent WiFi smart switches, all with a 3 Year Guarantee, and 24/7 Technical Support! and if you are a real Techie Nerd, you can visit the TP-Link website, and checkout the GUI Management Interface of their products, using their TP-Link emulator

TP-Link router interface

TP-Link router interface

and for shits and giggles, it has SNMP (for a budget router a bargain), you can graph traffic….

SNMP monitoring of TP-Link router

SNMP monitoring of TP-Link router

So all in all, Good value router, with 3 year guarantee, we will see if it struggles with the WiFi!

Update :- It made no difference, the end result, the WiFi radios in routers cannot cope and struggle with too many WiFi devices, in my case 30, which in the future more and more households, we will start to see the same issue….as more households embrace WiFi, how many WiFi devices are you currently using ?

So I purchased one of these – The WiFi Cure! – Ubiquiti Networks UAP-AC-PRO

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Wired or Wireless, ADSL or 3G? that’s the question?

Friday, February 10th, 2012

I’ve recently been running trails using 3G Wireless Internet with Celltime Provider Three and O2, you are probably thinking I’m as mad as a badger! (well once upon a time, I did study Electronic Communication Engineering, so I know a little about Radio Frequencies! – (thanks to Mum & Dad! for the funding!).

But check the results below, and this is with a -85 dBm signal (boffin speak for GOOD! or three bars good buddy! have you got your ears on!), using the internal antenna on a Option GlobalSurfer III (3G Router). I’ve recently noticed that Three have upgraded their transmitter to now support HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), well what does that load of gibberish mean, well other than the UMTS or 3G symbol changes to “H” on my phone or router. It means that rather than max speed of 3.6Mbps, the max speed could be 7.2MBps or 14.4MBps. Yes via Wireless!

At present I’m getting faster wireless speeds than wired!

Eclipse Internet Three 3G Internet
Eclipse Internet ADSL speedtest by Speedtest.net Three 3G speedtest by Speedtest.net
Eclipse Internet ADSL pingtest by Pingtest.net Three 3G pingtest by Pingtest.net
Eclipse Internet ADSL speedtest by Broadband SpeedChecker.co.uk Three 3G speedtest by Broadband SpeedChecker.co.uk
Eclipse Internet ADSL speedtest by My Broadband Speed hree 3G speedtest by My Broadband Speed
Eclipse Internet ADSL speedtest by Thinkbroadband Three 3G speedtest by Thinkbroadband

I generally use this 3G router, because when normal wired ADSL fails, it automatically fails back or fails over to 3G Wireless Internet, and after the recents drop outs and faults, I noticed my 3G wireless broadband was faster!

Option GlobalSurfer III 3G Network Router

Option GlobalSurfer III 3G Network Router

I need to complete some more calculations, and purchase a directional Yagi antenna, so I can get a stronger signal = more signal = more power = faster throughput and downloads! (does that sound like Captain Kirk to Scotty the Engineer – Give me more power! Scotty! )

Microwave Wireless Aerial or Twig!

Microwave Wireless Aerial or Twig on biscuit tin!

This aerial is not correct, the VSWR (sorry boffin alert) is too high, and not correctly matched at 3G frequencies! It reminds me of long ago with a DV27 on a biscuit tin!

I now understand, when I visited China, why they did not role out copper wires to peoples houses for telephones, they just jumped to wireless 2.5G communications (whilst the UK, was still using GSM! (2G)).

Well Good Buddy Signing Off!, 10-10.

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Broadband Woes Revisited!

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

Earlier in the month, I reported (here’s the blog) that my Broadband has an intermittent fault AGAIN. Back in 2010, I had similar if not the same issues, and it had to be escalted to BT, it looks like, it will have to be escalted to BT again! The problem is an unstable line, disconnects, occasional slow throughout, down to 0.4Mbps.

It’s been reported to Eclipse Internet, my ISP, who are not to blame, as they do not own the telegraph wire from my house to the exchange. British Telecommunications plc, “BT” own that!

Eclipse Internet, changed the Interleave on the line from ON to OFF, to try and stablise the line, but it did not make any difference, and the issues continues…….

stay tuned for the next installment of Broadband Woes Revisited Update Soon!

Draytek Vigor Connection Statistics Interleaved ON

Draytek Vigor Connection Statistics Interleaved ON

ADSL STATUS Interleaved

ADSL STATUS Interleaved ON

Draytek Vigor Connection Statistics Interleaved OFF

Draytek Vigor Connection Statistics Interleaved OFF

ADSL STATUS Interleaved

ADSL STATUS Interleaved OFF

Notice the increase in sync speed (Down Speed), but unfortunately, it did not make any difference to throughput, or fix the issue.

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Broadband Connection Moved!

Friday, March 12th, 2010

I’ve been suffering broadband issues for almost a year now, extreme hot or cold have been causing the Sync speed to drop-off to nothing. My ISP have agreed to get BT to move my broadband connection to different equipment. I must stress this has been a very difficult fault to trace, as the fault has been intermittent, but My ISP have been great! Well done Eclipse!

My broadband connection has been just moved to different equipment in the local exchange and the results look promising.

745937086

An increase of almost 1Mb/s!

12376422

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Speedtest.Net & Pingtest.Net

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Still suffering from intermittent issues with my broadband, for the last 12 months, when the weather gets extremely cold or hot, the speed disappears to zero! My last email to my ISP, they are going to ask BT to move my line at the exchange to see if it gets any better. In the meantime I found these nice utilities, pretty pictures, when testing, nice graphics!

741906178

Try a Broadband Speed Test at http://www.speedtest.net/

12121338

and a ping test at http://www.pingtest.net

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Slow Broadband ADSL issue

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Since I moved my website, I’ve been experiencing slow broadband ADSL issues, at first I thought it was performance with the new website, out of the frying pan and into the fire. But then I noticed that all websites were slow and on checking my Rx Sync speed on Monday, it was syncing at 428,000 (just under half a meg!). I’m not too sure, if the hot weather is affecting the connection, I know that my connection to the exchange is underground for the majority of the way, until it reaches the telegraph pole outside my house, and the “green box” is at the bottom of the hill, and occasionally becomes a drain for the water that runs down the hill. After reporting the problem to my ISP, they reset the line, so I’ve been monitoring the line statistics since. The Rx noise was over 50db, when the Rx sync was 428,000 bps Tuesday afternoon, all has been well over the last 24 hours, with an average Rx noise of 15db, and Rx sync of 2140000, but I’m just checking the stats now, and it’s dropped to Rx noise 9db and Rx sync 1344000 bps. Maybe it’s the cold weather tonight!

 

ADSL Broadband Router Stats for last 24 hours

ADSL Broadband Router Stats for last 24 hours

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