Dear Geek,
Just read your blog post from March re Whitstable broadband speed. I moved here 18 months ago from Ramsgate where my speed was around 3Mbp and here on Mariners View it’s around 0.7Mbp on average, so very slow!
I too see that according to BT website, Whitstable gets Internet upgrade from 30 June and BT infinity becomes available. Any idea about the reality of what actually happens? I’ve noticed the new exchange boxes going up around the town and also round the corner from my house. Will everyone see a wholesale increase in broadband speed, or will it be necessary to physically upgrade (presumably at a cost) to BT Infinity or equivalent just to benefit from a higher speed?
Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Paul, Mariners View, CT5
Dear Paul,
The limiting factor with broadband is the length of the line between you and the exchange that is copper. The further you live from the exchange, the slower your connection speed. There can also be cases of cables taking strange routes (your cable could go in a completely different direction to your neighbour’s) and just plain, old poor quality cable.
What Fibre To The Cabinet, or BT Infinity, does is replace the majority of that length with a fibre optic connection. Now you don’t have to worry about your distance to the exchange, just the distance to your nearest green cabinet.
So, in theory, yes, we will all see a nice big boost in connection speed, as my client in Blean did the other week. But we will need to upgrade and an engineer has to visit your home.
Looking at BT’s website, there appears to be an extra £25 activation charge but actual package costs are the same. Which gets one big “hurrah” from me!
Counting the days…
A Microsoft Certified Professional with many years of large corporate experience and training, he now focuses on helping small businesses make the most of their IT.
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