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I find it hard to believe that 40% of the UK still only have access to ADSL only connections. Thinkboardband have "superfast" (>24 Mbps) at 96.83% UK household

I find it hard to believe that 40% of the UK still only have access to ADSL only connections. Thinkboardband have "superfast" (>24 Mbps) at 96.83% UK household/business coverage. 91% Openreach >30 Mbps coverage. Basically "Fibre" (FTTC/VDSL/G.fast/Cable/FTTP) has a 98.73% coverage atm. - https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/ https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/ VDSL (Pretty much the cheapest of the list above - though Virgin (Cable) have slower speed packages priced to compete with VDSL) comes in 3 flavours. Upto 38Mbps, Upto 50Mbbps and upto 80Mpbs (The upto depends on the copper cable quality and distance from modem to the Streetside VDSL cabinet). The data they list is for ADSL2+ connections which max out in ideal worlds at 24Mpbs (When ADSL2+ was the fastest I could get I was getting 16Mpbs). Its dependant on the quality and the distance of the copper cable between the modem and the exchange the line is connected to, a much further distance) With the push from ISP's to get more people onto VDSL or better lines the price between VDSL and ADSL is next to nothing (A cost differnce of £2 per month for my ISP). I know many households that have been auto upgraded to VDSL by their ISP's (If you have a modem from recent years then the upgrade can happen without anyone even visiting the home). For an example of an alt to ADSL. They live in London, they have decent 4g/5g coverage, a no contract pay per month unlimited data sim from Three cost £35 p/m and less if you commit to a contract period. I was happily pulling 100Mpbs down on that plan and using 2TB+ per month with 0 complaints from Three. Granted you have to have the luck of the draw of being in decent range of an non over utilised mast which would be harder in a more dense area like London. Yes we still have blackspots (Mainly people who live a distance away from their closest cabinet) in the UK where connectivity is still shit and there are pushes and grants from the goverment to reduce those blackspots. I just don't buy the 40% of the UK number quoted. I think they mean that YT broke for 40% of the people still on ADSL connections. To OP (if they are reading) buy a 4G router off eBay (They are cheap and slap a Three simcard in it and give it a spin to test speeds in your area), OK you are now going to be CGNAT'ed (on ipv4) but if that is a problem (it was rarely a problem for me) there are ways around that too using a £5 per month VPN - I lived with using a 4G connection for 12 Months just fine. I Feel bad for the people who live in the real sticks and don't have even that option to consider. The bad parts of using a 4G conenction from Three? At the time I couldn't get IPv6 but towards the end of my time with them that was more down to my hardware than Three's problem. A slighlty higher ping then using a fixed line connection but I was happily playing online FPS's on the connection. And when I wanted to host a IPv4 server I had to use something like ngrok or spin up a VPN and tunnel to that and then use the VPN's ipv4 address. ngrok is easiler to set up but VPN will give you a static IP. Oh and (if like what happened to me) if your local mast get knocked offline for what ever reason (A car driving into it for example... Yup that happened to me) you will have to use a mast thats further away which now has more users using it so speeds will get slower. On the plus side for that if soemone crashes into your local cabinet (Also happened to me but years prior) you are going to get knocked offline with no fallback until the cabinet operater comes out and repairs it.

user5994461 6y ago
>>> To OP (if they are reading) I am reading. I see these reports come up regularly about 9X% being covered by fiber and yet every building I lived in and visited in London, except for one, did not have fiber available. Same experience for coworkers and friends so it's not just me. I honestly wonder who makes these reports and how they come to these figures? They're pulling numbers out of their ass. About 4g, I tried it once 3 years ago and it was really bad. The speed was no better than copper (the tower wasn't close enough sadly) and it had issues during peak times (evening 6 to 10 pm is the worst), I assume because of serious contention and oversubscribing. I think mobile is a perfect example of something that's great when it works (right time right place) and that's terrible when it doesn't. Considering that I depend on internet for my job, I'd rather have ADSL that works 100% of the time even if it's slower in average.
- Crosseye_Jack 6y ago
  The 90%+ number is "fibre internet" not "Fibre to the Home". Most of it is "Fibre to the cabinet" (Cable, VDSL and G.Fast connections are the most common FTTC in the UK). Just saying thats where the number comes from and why said it included cable,fttc and "true fibre" in the numbers. I also depend on the internet for my work too (And for my home entertainment - Games, NF, Amazon Prime, YT, etc etc etc). The reason I used 4G over fixed line is because at the time I was living in a rental place caring for my parents and my shithole of a landlord refused to allow me to have my own fixed line installed. It was eaiser to just use 4G then deal with the battle as I was only going to be living there for 12 months max. Total complete downtime on 4G over the 12 months I depended on it for me was 2 days (1 of which was a nationwide outage - I forget the reason for the other day. I did have someone drive into the local mast - that was fixed within a week iirc but during that time I still had a connection, just a bit slower then normal). I've had similar downtime (days per year) on my fixed line providers over the past 20 years I've been paying for my own connection. (I had someone drive into my local phone cabinet back in 2016 which took it out completely https://i.imgur.com/CBiLSV7.jpg https://i.imgur.com/CBiLSV7.jpg that took Openreach a week to fix) The reason I stopped using 4G for my day to day internet is because I moved back and I could get a faster connection via fixed line. The reason I say to try 4G is because a decent 2nd hand 4G router is going to cost less then £25 on Ebay and Three's pay as you go mobile broadband costs at most £35 for a month (No comittment pay as you go - but if your inital tests work out well for you then you can commit to a longer contract and lower the monthly bill) so even if it sucks for you you are only out £60 but if you wanted to try for even less you can just buy their 4GB payg sim for £10 and do a speed test on your own phone (though I don't think Three allow tethering on that plan - but doing a speed test on your phone will give you a rough idea of the speed you should be getting). You can use your own phone as a modem however you are gonna be limited by the phones USB/WiFi speed and its a bit more of a pain in the ass to set up somehting like OpenWRT to share your phones connection with the rest of your house and when you leave the house with your phone your house loses internet connectivity - but using your phone would be a decent speed test for you before dropping the coin on a 4G Modem/router. But I will say try before you commit to a 12 month contract because even though I was getting 100Mbps at the rental place on 4G when I go to my friends place I only get 70~ but as its wireless you can try the modem is differnt places around your home to see where you get the best speed. In the Rental place I was on the first floor and I placed the router on the window sil closest to the mast (There are websites that will list the towers around you.) EDIT: The reason I say Three is because they were the best network for me at the time, you might have better luck with one of the other networks. But that is why you test with their no contract options first before commiting to a cheaper contract. EDIT2: For me, my local mast was not over subscribed so I had no issues even during peak times but that is location dependant - mobile providers have been upgrading their backhaul in recent years (mainly in prep for 5G) so honestly it is worth reconsidering. I know I would be if I was stuck with a ADSL line (That or be planning to move. Connectivity is the new "good transport links" when house shopping, The house might be beautiful and a nice location and at an awesome price, but if the net is shit I aint moving in.)

user5994461 6y ago

>>> To OP (if they are reading) I am reading. I see these reports come up regularly about 9X% being covered by fiber and yet every building I lived in and visited in London, except for one, did not have fiber available. Same experience for coworkers and friends so it's not just me. I honestly wonder who makes these reports and how they come to these figures? They're pulling numbers out of their ass. About 4g, I tried it once 3 years ago and it was really bad. The speed was no better than copper (the tower wasn't close enough sadly) and it had issues during peak times (evening 6 to 10 pm is the worst), I assume because of serious contention and oversubscribing. I think mobile is a perfect example of something that's great when it works (right time right place) and that's terrible when it doesn't. Considering that I depend on internet for my job, I'd rather have ADSL that works 100% of the time even if it's slower in average.

Crosseye_Jack 6y ago
The 90%+ number is "fibre internet" not "Fibre to the Home". Most of it is "Fibre to the cabinet" (Cable, VDSL and G.Fast connections are the most common FTTC in the UK). Just saying thats where the number comes from and why said it included cable,fttc and "true fibre" in the numbers. I also depend on the internet for my work too (And for my home entertainment - Games, NF, Amazon Prime, YT, etc etc etc). The reason I used 4G over fixed line is because at the time I was living in a rental place caring for my parents and my shithole of a landlord refused to allow me to have my own fixed line installed. It was eaiser to just use 4G then deal with the battle as I was only going to be living there for 12 months max. Total complete downtime on 4G over the 12 months I depended on it for me was 2 days (1 of which was a nationwide outage - I forget the reason for the other day. I did have someone drive into the local mast - that was fixed within a week iirc but during that time I still had a connection, just a bit slower then normal). I've had similar downtime (days per year) on my fixed line providers over the past 20 years I've been paying for my own connection. (I had someone drive into my local phone cabinet back in 2016 which took it out completely https://i.imgur.com/CBiLSV7.jpg https://i.imgur.com/CBiLSV7.jpg that took Openreach a week to fix) The reason I stopped using 4G for my day to day internet is because I moved back and I could get a faster connection via fixed line. The reason I say to try 4G is because a decent 2nd hand 4G router is going to cost less then £25 on Ebay and Three's pay as you go mobile broadband costs at most £35 for a month (No comittment pay as you go - but if your inital tests work out well for you then you can commit to a longer contract and lower the monthly bill) so even if it sucks for you you are only out £60 but if you wanted to try for even less you can just buy their 4GB payg sim for £10 and do a speed test on your own phone (though I don't think Three allow tethering on that plan - but doing a speed test on your phone will give you a rough idea of the speed you should be getting). You can use your own phone as a modem however you are gonna be limited by the phones USB/WiFi speed and its a bit more of a pain in the ass to set up somehting like OpenWRT to share your phones connection with the rest of your house and when you leave the house with your phone your house loses internet connectivity - but using your phone would be a decent speed test for you before dropping the coin on a 4G Modem/router. But I will say try before you commit to a 12 month contract because even though I was getting 100Mbps at the rental place on 4G when I go to my friends place I only get 70~ but as its wireless you can try the modem is differnt places around your home to see where you get the best speed. In the Rental place I was on the first floor and I placed the router on the window sil closest to the mast (There are websites that will list the towers around you.) EDIT: The reason I say Three is because they were the best network for me at the time, you might have better luck with one of the other networks. But that is why you test with their no contract options first before commiting to a cheaper contract. EDIT2: For me, my local mast was not over subscribed so I had no issues even during peak times but that is location dependant - mobile providers have been upgrading their backhaul in recent years (mainly in prep for 5G) so honestly it is worth reconsidering. I know I would be if I was stuck with a ADSL line (That or be planning to move. Connectivity is the new "good transport links" when house shopping, The house might be beautiful and a nice location and at an awesome price, but if the net is shit I aint moving in.)