Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Broadband Technology => Topic started by: Alb on January 11, 2017, 02:47:57 PM
-
Out of the blue, I've just had a leaflet through the door from Rural Broadband (UK) Ltd http://ruralbb.com/the-broadband/ stating that they are setting up an ultrafast service in my village.
I'm currently on FTTC but at the end of a fair length of cable so only achieve 20mbps at present.
On paper, it seems fairly impressive and more than competitive (capability is 500mbps up/down although they are only only quoting a price for 10, 40 and 100mbps up/down).
I have no experience of this technology so although I'm not sure if I should be rushing to ditch Openreach, I have to say I am very tempted!
Can you all help me to pick out the pros and cons?
-
It says *Prices for the 500Mb service on request.
-
I have a friend who uses Vfast here in Kent and works perfectly for what he users it for, just emailing and browsing, I'm not sure what is like for gaming.
It does depend on if you have line of site of the transmitter though, I've known people just up the road from my mate and they couldn't get it due to some trees.
-
That's certainly true. I'm supposedly in an area covered by VFast, but when I applied a few years ago (when FTTC seemed years away) I was rejected for "topograhical reasons".
-
The transmitter is being set up on the local church and I have direct line of sight from my house :)
-
I wonder what the latency is going to be like. Also, will you get an internet IP address or will it be private/CGNAT?
-
Hi
We have clients on LOS, and their latency is around 10ms, where FTTC BT is slightly above 20ms, and they have an external IP address
This business use though, and I know the pipe used is talktalk
Many thanks
John
-
We have clients on LOS, and their latency is around 10ms, where FTTC BT is slightly above 20ms, and they have an external IP address
This business use though, and I know the pipe used is talktalk
That's pretty impressive. Will environmental factors have an impact thought? What if you don't have clear line of sight? Heavy rain? Any other wireless interference?
-
Hi highpriest
Many thanks
No line of sight means you will not be able to use the connection
We have not seen any issues from heavy snow, rain, thunder storms etc on LOS
I can also confirm LOS maintains a full uptime, where as BT FTTC does not, which periodically reconnects on ppp
So overall I'm impressed with LOS, from the connections we monitor/control for clients, and these are multi wan setups, using both LOS and FTTC, with wan failover, vpn failover
I stress though, this is business and not residential
Many thanks
John
-
The company are planning to run a demonstration in the village hall next Saturday.
Interestingly, the hall doesn't have LOS to the church so it will be interesting to see what can be achieved.
On their website, they state their feed comes from Virgin Media Business but I'm not entirely sure how this would pop up in a rural location in the first place.
Any thoughts on how stability and reliability would stack up against FTTC?
-
Hi
It would be hard to demo LOS if no line of sight - what would be the point
LOS unit are usually fixed to the highest point, so from the roof of the building, it may be LOS to church, and the units are PoE
My experience from clients are they are very good, but do not have a client using LOS with VM, only TT
Many thanks
John
-
I would say be extremely skeptical, as you will be competing with all your neighbours for some unknown share of some amount of backhaul. If it were me, I'd run a mile, and in fact have. There's also the question of interference and responsibility for maintenance. The 20 Mbps you currently have is all yours. If you are not going to be locked into a long contract then you could always try it out short term as an experiment while keeping your FTTC at the same time so you are not screwed if it turns out to be rubbish.
-
you will be competing with all your neighbours for some unknown share of some amount of backhaul.
Isn't all broadband sold like that though?
-
Yes, but wireless could be considerably less than that of what he has, so could be prone to congestion - so its worth checking.
-
One of their selling points is that they do not offer an "Up to" x Mbps service. If you buy 100Mbps, that is exactly what you get (or so they claim).
Interesting idea to try it in parallel with the existing service for a couple of months. If you pay for the hardware upfront there is no long term contract and I imagine the hardware has a second hand value if it were not retained.
I wish there were lots of people already doing this so I could get more feedback but it seems to be a pretty rare setup.
-
There are a few suppliers using wireless here in Pembrokeshire. TFL http://www.walesbroadband.com/ (http://www.walesbroadband.com/) and Blue Wave http://www.bluewaveinternet.co.uk/ (http://www.bluewaveinternet.co.uk/)
It is all about the backhaul.
One friend tells me his WISP is unusable at peak times, but okay off peak.
It is all about the backhaul
Ian
-
Thanks for the links Ian :)
-
Just thought I'd do an update on this.
I had this system installed on Monday and it works a treat.
I've also signed up to Vonage so once my BT number has been ported I will be saying bye-bye to BT and copper wires :P
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbeta.speedtest.net%2Fresult%2F6315287384.png&hash=798552696314a50e0831400649843d58da75d626) (http://beta.speedtest.net/result/6315287384)
-
nice
-
I like the symmetry of the DS - US of the product.
-
Had a small glitch yesterday when I found the antenna pointing 90 Degrees off it's intended direction.
Although this is not something you would want to happen, it underlined the robustness of the system because I was still getting a 20 Mbps download speed!
Support service was good with only 2 hours from phone call to the installer returning to refit it.
Hopefully all OK now :fingers: although I did go up on the roof with him so I know everything I need to do to align it myself.
-
although I did go up on the roof with him so I know everything I need to do to align it myself.
Very smart move ;D
-
So how did you get the above of 95/94 when the aerial was face the wrong way.?
Be even better signal with an outside aerial .!
How much are you paying ?.
-
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbeta.speedtest.net%2Fresult%2F6315287384.png&hash=798552696314a50e0831400649843d58da75d626) (http://beta.speedtest.net/result/6315287384)
That is sweet. What is the maximum possible speed with this connection, assuming perfect conditions?
-
So how did you get the above of 95/94 when the aerial was face the wrong way.?
Be even better signal with an outside aerial .!
How much are you paying ?.
Everything was lined up correctly when I did the speed test.
I'll see if I can post a picture of the aerial setup.
The company are doing an introductory offer at the moment. The first 6 months for £25/Month with no contract followed by £42/Month also with no contract.
I can factor into the pricing arrangements the fact that I no longer pay line rental to BT.
-
That is sweet. What is the maximum possible speed with this connection, assuming perfect conditions?
The hardware is good up to 500Mbps Up and Down but that's a "price on application" option at the moment.
-
I can factor into the pricing arrangements the fact that I no longer pay line rental to BT.
It's actually cheaper than Infinity 2 with BT. Plus you get vastly superior speeds!