I'm soon having to move home and, sad to say, broadband availability is a
big issue when looking for a new home.

I've used Infobel to check broadband availability in specific areas but I'm
a bit confused: neighbouring houses seem to return different results on BT's
ADSL checker. Some "may" be able to receive broadband, others "may" but only
512K and other neighbouring houses "should" be able to receive 2MB. Why
would this be?

I know that ADSL availability is connected with line quality and not simply
distance from the exchange. Is it safe to assume that any home within, say,
4 Km of the exchange should have a fighting chance of ADSL? What is the
safest rough guide to measuring line distance - obviously not as the crow
flies but is road distance a more reliable guide?

Gareth.

Gareth wrote:
I'm soon having to move home and, sad to say, broadband availability
is a big issue when looking for a new home.

I've used Infobel to check broadband availability in specific areas
but I'm a bit confused: neighbouring houses seem to return different
results on BT's ADSL checker. Some "may" be able to receive
broadband, others "may" but only 512K and other neighbouring houses
"should" be able to receive 2MB. Why would this be?

I know that ADSL availability is connected with line quality and not
simply distance from the exchange. Is it safe to assume that any home
within, say, 4 Km of the exchange should have a fighting chance of
ADSL? What is the safest rough guide to measuring line distance -
obviously not as the crow flies but is road distance a more reliable
guide?

As the crow flies, I am 2km from the exchange. Road distance is around 4km.
My line though is more than 6km so I cannot get broadband. You cannot
assume that any house within 4km is going to be able to get broadband. In
fact there have been cases when a person lives within 100yards of the
exchange and is too far. You have to take each house on its own merits and
get a line test done. Obviously if you are moving house its difficult to
know whether that house once you get there will be able to get broadband.

"Beck" wrote in message
...

As the crow flies, I am 2km from the exchange. Road distance is around
4km.
My line though is more than 6km so I cannot get broadband. You cannot
assume that any house within 4km is going to be able to get broadband. In
fact there have been cases when a person lives within 100yards of the
exchange and is too far. You have to take each house on its own merits
and
get a line test done. Obviously if you are moving house its difficult to
know whether that house once you get there will be able to get broadband.

Didn't there used to be a way of testing line length with BT's test system
on 17070?

"Beck" wrote in message
...


Gareth wrote:
I'm soon having to move home and, sad to say, broadband availability
is a big issue when looking for a new home.

I've used Infobel to check broadband availability in specific areas
but I'm a bit confused: neighbouring houses seem to return different
results on BT's ADSL checker. Some "may" be able to receive
broadband, others "may" but only 512K and other neighbouring houses
"should" be able to receive 2MB. Why would this be?

I know that ADSL availability is connected with line quality and not
simply distance from the exchange. Is it safe to assume that any home
within, say, 4 Km of the exchange should have a fighting chance of
ADSL? What is the safest rough guide to measuring line distance -
obviously not as the crow flies but is road distance a more reliable
guide?

As the crow flies, I am 2km from the exchange. Road distance is around
4km.
My line though is more than 6km so I cannot get broadband. You cannot
assume that any house within 4km is going to be able to get broadband. In
fact there have been cases when a person lives within 100yards of the
exchange and is too far. You have to take each house on its own merits
and
get a line test done. Obviously if you are moving house its difficult to
know whether that house once you get there will be able to get broadband.

Hmm, if only BT had implemented DSL as it was meant to be - via street
cabinets. This is, I understand, the eventual aim although no date has yet
been set.

It seems absolute nuts that distance from the exchange should be a main
determining factor for ADSL. HHighway doesn't cut the mustard anymore and
businesses that require always on fast access or/and SMTP mail are
effectively screwed.

As for ISDN over ADSL - well, it is only the 21st century I suppose.

Gareth.

Rupert wrote:
"Beck" wrote in message
...

As the crow flies, I am 2km from the exchange. Road distance is
around 4km. My line though is more than 6km so I cannot get
broadband. You cannot assume that any house within 4km is going to
be able to get broadband. In fact there have been cases when a
person lives within 100yards of the exchange and is too far. You
have to take each house on its own merits and get a line test done.
Obviously if you are moving house its difficult to know whether that
house once you get there will be able to get broadband.

Didn't there used to be a way of testing line length with BT's test
system on 17070?

Yes but it is not conclusive. I used that test and was told 1.7km from the
exchange.

Gareth wrote:
"Beck" wrote in message
...


Gareth wrote:
I'm soon having to move home and, sad to say, broadband availability
is a big issue when looking for a new home.

I've used Infobel to check broadband availability in specific areas
but I'm a bit confused: neighbouring houses seem to return different
results on BT's ADSL checker. Some "may" be able to receive
broadband, others "may" but only 512K and other neighbouring houses
"should" be able to receive 2MB. Why would this be?

I know that ADSL availability is connected with line quality and not
simply distance from the exchange. Is it safe to assume that any
home within, say, 4 Km of the exchange should have a fighting
chance of ADSL? What is the safest rough guide to measuring line
distance - obviously not as the crow flies but is road distance a
more reliable guide?

As the crow flies, I am 2km from the exchange. Road distance is
around 4km. My line though is more than 6km so I cannot get
broadband. You cannot assume that any house within 4km is going to
be able to get broadband. In fact there have been cases when a
person lives within 100yards of the exchange and is too far. You
have to take each house on its own merits and get a line test done.
Obviously if you are moving house its difficult to know whether that
house once you get there will be able to get broadband.

Hmm, if only BT had implemented DSL as it was meant to be - via street
cabinets. This is, I understand, the eventual aim although no date
has yet been set.

It seems absolute nuts that distance from the exchange should be a
main determining factor for ADSL. HHighway doesn't cut the mustard
anymore and businesses that require always on fast access or/and SMTP
mail are effectively screwed.

As for ISDN over ADSL - well, it is only the 21st century I suppose.

Home highway would be okay if it was faster. I could here use 128k isdn,
but its more expensive. I want a 128k unmetered for 24/7, not just a set
amount of hours.