Opinions on Broadband providers

[Mr Larrington]

The only things that were wrong about BT's installation of my FTTP were:

1. The multi-week between the dropwire being nailed to Larrington Towers and Nice Man Errol installing the ONT, and
b) The aforementioned Errol putting a nail through one of the doorbell wires.

[rafletcher]

It would have been easier to get it in our village if Gigaclear had followed the principle of using the existing poles from when our copper comes, but for reasons best know to themselves they've laid new ducts in the road with a chamber at the boudary of each property. That means, presumably, digging across gardens for the actual install, which is sub-optimal for many.

[Tim Hall]

The only things that were wrong about BT's installation of my FTTP were:

1. The multi-week between the dropwire being nailed to Larrington Towers and Nice Man Errol installing the ONT, and
b) The aforementioned Errol putting a nail through one of the doorbell wires.

Errol the ponce from Brixton?
Can't trust nobody.

[Mr Larrington]

He was certainly an Errol of Afro-Caribbean ancestry, and he roffled at my hand drill used to expand the hole in the window frame to allow the light pipe through, until I pointed out that extracting the power drill from the Sheds would have taken four times as long because Stuffs in the way.  He'd left his own anbaric drill in his van, the daft get.

[MikeFromLFE]

I've had the EE broadband now for a week.
Speeds are slightly above the promise. The changeover happened seamlessly (at 5am, Wot?). Communication has been excellent.

The only hiccup is getting my Voip / Sip phone to work. Apparently it's a known feature with EE.
I haven't got enough spoons at the moment to jump through techie assistance. It's not that important.

[Polar Bear]

Hate to share this but EE are imo utterly terrible.

The FiL has EE which is AIUI actually BT.  When this current contract ends I hope that we are able to help him to move.

[Wowbagger]

It has taken a couple of days for the landline to be transferred satisfactorily but that seems to be working now.

At some point I have to get my head around the allocation of 192.168.x.x slots around the network. I want the weather station's raspberry pi, if possible, to be 192.168.0.2. At the moment it's 192.168.1.7, but at least it's working and data is being transferred to the website.

It seems that Vodafone issue static IP addresses to business customers, so presumably that costs more.

[lissotriton]

At some point I have to get my head around the allocation of 192.168.x.x slots around the network. I want the weather station's raspberry pi, if possible, to be 192.168.0.2. At the moment it's 192.168.1.7, but at least it's working and data is being transferred to the website.

It seems that Vodafone issue static IP addresses to business customers, so presumably that costs more.

They may charge for a static external IP address. But you could still use whatever IP addresses you like within your own network.

Depends on what sort of router you are using. Login to the admin page, and look for something like 'DHCP Settings'. Then should have an option for 'Address Reservation'. So you could assign an IP address for the Pi, based on its MAC address.

[aidan.f]

I have been asked to advise some friends about BB  - They are in a rented  house with reasonable 4G and miles of copper to the Xchange, apparently it has been tested and rejected by A.N.other telco although neighbours get summat from BT..

Got 6 Mb/s from my phone propped in the winder wifi tether to my latop* I have suggested that one of these https://www.solwise.co.uk/TL-TCR100  would do..

For choice of SIM are there any GOTCHAS? - fair use with multiple devices may be one?

*10-12 Mb/s back home.
 

[Feanor]

I have been asked to advise some friends about BB  - They are in a rented  house with reasonable 4G and miles of copper to the Xchange, apparently it has been tested and rejected by A.N.other telco although neighbours get summat from BT..

Got 6 Mb/s from my phone propped in the winder wifi tether to my latop I have suggested that one of these https://www.solwise.co.uk/TL-TCR100  would do..

For choice of SIM are there any GOTCHAS? - fair use with multiple devices may be one?

I'd not consider the marginal copper.

Mobile 4g/5g hotspots might be their best choice. Regarding SIMs, yes, you'd need to make sure that the provider does not get shirty about the data being from multiple devices. I'm sure all the providers have plans for this kind of setup.

Otherwise, consider Starlink if they have deep enough pocketses.

[aidan.f]

Posting this for my friend who has the thread link and is looking for a suitable SIM

Just done an OFCOM coverage check, good  signal on Vodafone EE and O2
Three

mobile communication providers will use one of these networks via a wholesale arrangement. Examples include:

Lebara Mobile, Asda Mobile, Talk Mobile and VOXI use the Vodafone network.
Your Co-op, 1p Mobile, Utility Warehouse, Ecotalk, Plusnet, BT Mobile and Lycamobile use the EE network.
iD Mobile and Smarty, Freedompop and Superdrug Mobile use the Three network.
Tesco Mobile, Giffgaff and Sky Mobile use the O2 network.

Do the resellers throttle bw?

[fruitcake]

I have 1p mobile and EE (both using EE's network). 1p mobile seems throttled.

EE SIM with 4G modem/router is fine for web browsing and watching Youtube. 37Mbps download with the modem in an upstairs room by the window, wi-fi connection to laptop. £10 top up currently buys 20GB of data which is available for one month. Their £15 pack buys much more. As I bought the modem (for approx £30) and the SIM (for £1), the top-up is the only monthly cost. There is no contract, and if another network becomes cheaper for data I could switch just by buying a different SIM.

[aidan.f]

Thanks, UR is Netflix pix on teh big(ish) screen. Your post suggests it should work with 4G.

[fruitcake]

Not aware of Netflix's data requirement, but I've seen a Roku stick (streaming TV via wi-fi) work in another place with slower download rates. That place was on copper wire and suffered from contention ratio issues IIRC. Busy times meant glitchy downloads. 

[aidan.f]

Fruitcake, I will recommend EE to my friend*, you do well as 4g tops out at 37Mbps. I suspect my phone maybe a throttle.  The Teltonica 4g WiFi router upthread is £140.00, does have wired ethernet which maybe useful and solidly made. What did you get for £30 please?

*Though I hate their user control panel: Data hidden behind layers of shitvertising. I'm paying you to use this!

[fruitcake]

I bought used via ebay from a company reselling ex office equipment. There are various brands available if you search on 4G modem. It's really just a standard modem-router with a 4G card inside: white oblong box with a pair of antenna on the back, network cable sockets on the back, mains powered, plus a slot on the side for a SIM card.

Interestingly EE is the only network that gives truly usable 4G speeds in my house. I've tried them all.

I also have a battery powered version, i.e. a mi-fi device, which doesn't work quite as well as the unit with proper antenna described above, but is OK in a pinch. Again I paid about £30 for a used example.

[aidan.f]

I have suggested that one of these https://www.solwise.co.uk/TL-TCR100  would do..

My friends are really pleased with this, firstly 'it just worked out of the box'

It's quality, heatsink, power connector latches and packed with features, VPN's, SMS controls, email alerts, remote management, logging and graphical displays, GUI is well designed clear and intuitive.

Won't need much of this 'stuff' but as their only means of interwebby connection some may be nice to have and I certainly don't expect it to become e-waste after months/years of continuous use.

So, comes recommended.

[Morat]

4G/5G is pretty good, unless you need low latency in which case it's not the best option.
However, for video streaming (as opposed to video conferencing) it's fine as the various players all buffer a few seconds of data to cover any gaps in transmission.
The biggest problem with 4G/5G is bandwidth contention. If the mast/node you are using becomes popular, or everyone starts using it at the same time then it suffers quickly. This is hard to predict but be prepared to hop around providers if necessary and you may not wish to share the secret with too many neighbours!

[sam]

I'll stay with A&A till doomsday.

[Kim]

I'll stay with A&A till doomsday.

AIUI the unofficial explanation for 'gormless' and 'witless' is that those servers were the ones that connected to BT.  Make of that what you will...

[Feanor]

For a relatively niche ISP, they seem surprisingly over-represented in the small self-selecting sample that is this forum.

[Kim]

For a relatively niche ISP, they seem surprisingly over-represented in the small self-selecting sample that is this forum.

Yeah, but using forums is nearly enough to qualify you as an Old Internet Person these days.

[sam]

AIUI the unofficial explanation...

The cherry on top.

For a relatively niche ISP, they seem surprisingly over-represented in the small self-selecting sample that is this forum.

They kept coming up when we were frantically looking for a replacement for Zen (not infrequently as that exact pathway). I will admit to being initially put off by the fact that I'd never heard of them - thus proving, if such was necessary, that advertising works.

When it comes to IT in particular, I am perhaps absurdly grateful to get high quality customer service. In that regard my host is the best in the world, but that's another thread...