Get the most out of your Broadband
I’m sure that just like myself, many residents in Cantley and the close surrounding areas struggle to get a half decent broadband connection.
This is mainly due to the distance from our homes to our local telephone exchange located in Freethorpe. It's OK if you live in or near Freethorpe - not so good if you live in or near Cantley.
Decent broadband speeds are heavily reliant on the total distance of the connection from your home, to the local green cabinet (Station Rd), to the local exchange.
As the crow flies, the distance to the Freethorpe exchange from Cantley is around 3.5Km. Unfortunately, most of our telephone lines are routed along the road which means in reality the line lengths can be anything from around 5Km - 7km to the exchange. This distance is on the knife edge of just getting broadband, or not getting it at all.
There isn’t anything we can really do about our line lengths, but there are a few things we can do to maximize the speed we can squeeze out of our lines and improve the stability of those speeds.
Here are some hints and tips that will hopefully improve your broadband speed and reliability:
Test the quality of your phone line:
One of the first things you can do is test the sound quality of your phone line. A noisy / crackly line will affect your broadband connection.
- On your phone, dial 17070. Select the option 2 for a quiet line test.
- If you can hear noise on the line, contact BT (or your provider) to fix the line. Before you do this, make sure it is not your equipment making the noise as you will be charged by BT for their visit if this is the case. Try and use a phone that connects straight to the BT socket rather than a cordless phone)
- DO NOT report the fault as a broadband fault – it is a phone line fault and therefore will be easier to report and get an engineer sent out to resolve.
Connection to your BT socket
- Make sure your modem/router is plugged directly into the main BT socket (nearest where the phone line enters your house, usually street side on the ground floor) and NOT a telephone extension socket (for example, a socket located in the bedroom)
- To get the best possible connection to the BT network, fit an NTE5 Faceplate (aka iPlate or Accelerator). This is a socket that has a built- in filter, meaning there’s no need for separate filters on every telephone extension. It also removes any interference caused by extensions in other parts of the house (for more details please click here). It is recommended that the fitting of an NTE5 Faceplate is performed by a qualified BT Engineer (for more details please click here)
- When a new NTE5 is fitted, the BT Engineer should also remove two orange wires (if still connected) that were originally used for the old style phone ringers. These are now redundant with the use of new electronic phones and if left connected can cause noise and effect broadband speeds.
Your Modem/Router
- Once you have a broadband connection, DO NOT switch off/disconnect/re-set your modem-router. With every disconnect, the telephone exchange thinks there is a problem with your line and will reduce your broadband speed automatically. It will then take up to ten days of constant connection for your original speed to return. In some cases (especially on our long lines) the original speed will not return and you will have to contact BT or your internet provider for help.
- Try to make sure your modem is not located near anything that could cause interference – such as Hi Fi speakers and other electronic/electrical equipment.
- Choosing the right modem / router will pay dividends. One of the most successful modems for getting the absolute best out of long lines is the BT 2Wire 2700. This is a modem that was provided by BT for small businesses rather than home users. Because of this, they are only available from eBay, but a brand new boxed 2700 will only cost around £20 delivered – highly recommended !
- Because of the problems caused by a modem disconnecting, as described above, one of the things that has improved my connection stability is the fitting of a Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). I’ve noticed that we seem to regularly get very short power cuts very late at night/early morning. These will obviously cause your modem to re-set and contribute to the problems described above. A UPS will ensure the modem stays powered up and connected for around 10 minutes during a power cut. A UPS can be bought for around £60 (for a recommended UPS, please click here)
Good luck. Whatever your current download speed, I hope following one or more of the above suggestions will increase your speed and/or make your connection more stable!
Ping
Streaming media, voice, video communications, and online gaming require more than just raw speed. A ping time measurement tells how long it takes a "packet" of data to travel from your computer to a server on the Internet and back. Whenever you experience delayed responses in Internet applications - this would be due to a higher than desired ping. Lower is better when it comes to ping. A result below 100 ms should be expected from any decent broadband connection.