Broadband Speed Is Extremely Poor

[dee2912]

Hi all, I'm looking advice on what I could do to get faster internet speed, I live on a back road in the country and I'm about 100m from a main road where there is fibre cable but not on my road speeds I'm getting is about 0.5mb/s which is desperate, won't load emails any apps etc no streaming downloading movies etc I have got a mobile Mifi device which works great but it is expensive and can't be got with unlimited data as it runs out very quick, iv been on to BT and they say they have no plans to take fibre cables onto our road!! Any help would be great thanks

[ll_billym]

The issue for telecoms companies is Return on Investment (ROI) which essentially means if they spend out putting in masts or fibre, how long will it take for them to make the money back from subscriptions.

The answer is highly dependent on how many people will use it, and at the moment it's only you - so not worth their while.

So the only answer is getting more people than just you to sign up for the service.

There are schemes that have been set up for this, the link below is a good start. They link to the Rural Broadband Partnership site also, so follow that after reading.

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/rural_broadband_schemes_and_solutions/

[Togo]

What is your reception like there for BT Fon. If you are a BT client you can use Fon and it may be better than your landline and cheaper than your mob provider. If you are not currently with BT you could search for wifi signal on your pc or phone and check if it is available. You can also opt for a weekly or daily pay as you go sort of deal to check if it suits your requirements and if it does then change to a BT contract.

[Buenchico]

Hassle BT for some more information.

You're almost certainly currently getting an 'ADSL Max' service or an 'ADSL 2+' one. Such services typically provide around 5Mbps or 10Mbps, respectively, where the user is close to an exchange. (You're obviously not!). It makes no difference at all, to someone who is subscribed to such a service, as to whether there are fibre cables nearby or not. (For example, I got 10Mbps on my ADSL2+ service many years before fibre cables were installed in our area and, because I've stuck with ADSL2+, I still get the same speed now, even though there are fibre cables nearby).

If there are fibre cables only 100m from your house then it's likely that there will be a cabinet for that service not too far away from you as well. So you need to make enquiries (either with BT or with a company who buys their services) about switching from your current ADSl service to an FTTC ('fibre to the cabinet') one. i.e. the fact that fibre cables don't actually run along your road is irrelevant; it's the distance to the nearest fibre-equipped cabinet which is relevant. If there's a cabinet nearby then, using conventional copper cables from there to your home, you should be able to get decent download speeds. (Remember though that you'll need to pay more for the service than for your current, abysmal, ADSL one).

[Buenchico]

Have you tried entering your phone number and address here?
https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/when-can-i-get-fibre.aspx

[mikey4444]

Buenchico is right here. The existence of the fibre down the road is a bit of red herring. If fibre has been added to YOUR green cabinet, then "Fibre to the Cabinet" should be available.

Keep badgering BT and get any near neighbours involved, the more the merrier !