Rural Non Broadband

[theeggman]

After many attempts to get a land based internet service (too far from the exchange) we had to go Satellite. Dear Gordon forced it on us when VAT and the RPA went internet.
Having tried oneway sat. i.e. down by sat, up by dialup for a couple of years we then found a two way system that appeared to work.
The reason for this post is that we recently changed satellite (same provider) and gained more speed and less cost and now they have upped the speeds on our package from 6mbps to 8mbps down and 1 mbps to 2 mbps up for no additional cost.
Monthly limit is now 8Gb.
I've checked with 2 speed testers independent of the supplier to confirm the speeds.
Rather than advertise the details on the forum if anybody is interested please PM me.
I hasten to point out I have NO connection with the company other than as a happy customer. Just thought it may be of use to other rural dwellers.

Tim

 

[enrico]

We were told we could have broadband before we bought the house and afterwards told we couldn't, tried for three months to get it sorted, made an official complaint to ofcom, within one week ha broadband installed at speeds greater than I had in Surrey. It seemed too difficult for India to understand what rural Shropshire needed!!!

 

[theeggman]

We tried 3 times to get BT Broadband but after days of fixing every fault on the line each time (great phone service for a while) they conceded that we're too far out.
The worst part was speaking to the ladies in India (NO offence intended but the distance and semi language barrier didn't help) trying to get the bills cancelled for the non-supplied service.

Tim

 

[alanf]

I know it's a greater pain in rural areas but I also know of slow spots in London suburbs. Caught on the boundary of exchanges with ropey and circuitous wiring some streets struggle to get 0.5 Mbps down BT lines for much of the day. Fortunately the Virgin lines were OK. Always try to check what the neighbours get, don't believe the ISP or estate agent. Samknows is one of the better sites to find what you might expect.

 

[Shabro]

If your any further than 3 or 4 miles from the exchange, you're going to have slow speeds. i used to get called out to many faults where when you got the specs of the line, you knew instantly what the problem was, even though you still had to investigate. The ISPs will try to sell snow to eskimos to get their sales figures up.
And with alan - samknows is a good resource.

 

[Nose Ma]

My suggested solution to OFCOM (ignored) was that for a sales pitch of "up to" 20Mb I would pay "up to" the monthly subscription proportionatly to what was actually delivered.

 

[Shabro]

What I would do if I were you is contact your local broadband champion, which will be a scheme run by your local council, where you will more than likely be asked to complete a survey, They will then hopefully identify your area as one in need. I know it's not much but owt's better than nowt.