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Is all Superfast Broadband supplied via wi-fi?

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  • Is all Superfast Broadband supplied via wi-fi?

    Wavelength Internet has come to our village, where we have slow internet connection.

    It is provided via dish on bungalow and second router.

    My current internet and phone provider is the Co-op and I like them, with their British based call centre and helpfulness when dealing with idiots like me.

    I have been advised in past that I could suffer from electro sensitivity and am bothered about phone and internet all being provided through a wi-fi dish on my house. It is routed to an elevated farm on nearest hill.

    The Co-op advised me in the past that they couldn't provide superfast internet until 2016.

    Would that still be via wi-fi and a dish or hub or something?

    I don't make that many phone calls. Main need for superfast is to download films and TV watch again programmes. The latter are okay at certain times of day/eve.

    As you can see, I am still in the reception class on these things!

    Many thanks for any advice and your continued patience .

    ADDED: Just googled BT infinity fibre optic broadband and not rolled out to our area yet. So I take it that is different from wi-fi and must be what the Co-op referred to when they said not available until 2016 here.
    Last edited by Liz from Lancs; 29-09-14, 11:01.
    Liz

  • #2
    Liz

    I see that as yet no one is jumping in here. Without explicit knowledge of what you are being offered let me stick to generalities.

    Fibre optic broadband requires a (fibre optic) cable connection to your property. If you have a landline phone then that connection is copper cable and is not fast enough for superfast broadband also if you are situated a significant distance from the nearest BT exchange then that speed will be slow.

    I have not heard of Wavelength Internet but what you have said about the mast and googling the name suggests that they are wholesale suppliers, much the same as BT leases connection in the exchange to Internet Service Providers.

    You should seek expert advice regarding your electro sensitivity if you think that you are being affected.

    David

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    • #3
      Many thanks, David, for your patience (once again).

      Yes, a neurologist suggested that I might have it due to other conditions. To be on the safe side, I think I might wait for the fibre optic option and remain with the Co-op.
      Liz

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      • #4
        There are two types of fibre-optic broadband. One does use a fibre optic cable to your property but that is very rare (and expensive) and is normally only used by businesses.

        The more common version is what is called 'fibre to the cabinet' (FTTC). Have you seen all those green boxes appearing on the roadside all around the country, and if you listen to them they hum? Well that is the cabinet and has a fibre optic router inside (the hum is the cooling fan on the router). It is connected by fibre-optic cable to the exchange, but has copper to your house. It is still much faster than copper from exchange to house because of the very short distance that the copper cable runs and that there are no junction boxes so has less signal degradation.

        Unless you are in one of the areas served by the big cable companies (e.g.Virgin), and they are mostly in big cities, the actual fibre/cable to your house is owned, installed and operated by BT. Any provider you use will still have to use the BT network, a bit like National Grid Gas (formerly Transco) owning the gas distribution network but you can buy your gas from anyone. This is what the Co-Op are doing to supply your current connection, and will do when BT upgrade your area.

        My guess is that you are more than 3 km from your telephone exchange which is why your connection is slow. Wavelength are providing what is often called 'community wifi' which runs from a local wifi repeater that is connected to the exchange via an upgraded copper link, a private fibre cable or even another wifi link to another repeater nearer to a major phone trunk line. Sometimes they utilise spare bandwidth on a businesses internet connection, which often makes sense as the highest domestic demand is in the evening when business demand is low. You would be sharing this wifi connection with many other local properties and speeds will be very dependant on how many are using it at any one time.

        When BT finally gets round to putting Infinity into your village you will have a copper cable into your house from the street cabinet that then connects to your router. The router can then be either wired or wireless to your PC and Smart TV. As you have electro-sensitivity you should tell your provider when you change over so that they set your internal connections up as wired.
        Co-ordinator for PoW project Southern Region 08
        Researching:- Wieland, Habbes, Saettele, Bowinkelmann, Freckenhauser, Dilger in Germany
        Kincaid, Warner, Hitchman, Collie, Curtis, Pocock, Stanley, Nixey, McDonald in London, Berks, Bucks, Oxon and West Midlands
        Drake, Beals, Pritchard in Kent
        Devine in Ireland

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        • #5
          Many thanks, Pete. I understand now...I get there in the end!

          I will definitely go for wired...
          Liz

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