neowin1338 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Hi, a friend of mine is looking into a new internet provider after moving houses. First of all I was wondering which provider to choose. landline would not necessarily be needed just internet. Mostly browsing and playing on a playstation online. An ipad is also in use. So speeds are not really needed. The other question is the OpenReach BT Box in the living room. Its on streetside and I don't know what it was for. Is it a fibre optic connection in the house? I don't know the port on it and its not a RJ45 Port. a little longer port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 You wont get a fibre connection to the house unless you pay a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggis Veteran Posted December 30, 2014 Veteran Share Posted December 30, 2014 when you get fttc you will get new box in the house just means fibre is available looks like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshUK Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 If you have this box then you have FTTP, some new build houses are getting this pre-installed : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neowin1338 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Okay. It looks like the Box Haggis posted just without the MK2 and the top connector is not there. The longer "connector" on the bottom seems to be the only one available. So BT would be the wiser choice rather than virgin. Always thought FTTC is already "FTTH/FTTP" Guess I was wrong. I think 16MBit should be enough for gaming on Playsi and using the Tablet. They don't even have a PC at home. Are there any ISP that offer just Internet without the Phone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Okay. It looks like the Box Haggis posted just without the MK2 and the top connector is not there. The longer "connector" on the bottom seems to be the only one available. So BT would be the wiser choice rather than virgin. Always thought FTTC is already "FTTH/FTTP" Guess I was wrong. I think 16MBit should be enough for gaming on Playsi and using the Tablet. They don't even have a PC at home. Are there any ISP that offer just Internet without the Phone? Any BT infrastructure package requires a BT land line and they tend to charge more without taking a phone service as well. Virgin have the same practice. It's a lot cheaper to take a phone service out with them or your alternative is BT, who will also charge you line rental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggers Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I would check out what actual speeds you are likely to get (as it may well be up 16 MBit) using SamKnows and a postcode. https://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker Also it seems like you have the old type master socket with just an 431A socket so will need to put an ADSL filter inbetween any socket and appliance (phone, router/modem, sky box, etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+John Teacake MVC Posted January 1, 2015 MVC Share Posted January 1, 2015 BT Openreach is the "company" that just controls the physical infrastructure you see all around. They were made to split from BT, So they did it a bit sneaky they just "created" a separate company and then BT will change "Openreach" for their services. It doesn't mean anything really its just BT as far as your concerned. Your contract would be with whoever ISP they then have to contract out Openreach if there is as problem with the physical infrastructure to your place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian M. Veteran Posted January 2, 2015 Veteran Share Posted January 2, 2015 If you're in a cabled area, Virgin Media is pretty much the best around right now. The quality of the Infinity connection depends largely on the copper coming into your property, whilst the quality of VM services depends more on the local area - e.g. oversubscription. Virgin have sorted most oversubscription issues now. Virgin no longer throttle, the only thing they do is shape P2P during peak hours. Nothing drastic. If you don't go for BT infinity or Virgin, then all ADSL services will pretty much be the same as they'll just be BT wholesale. For ADSL, just go for whoever has the least draconian usage policies/cheapest price. General rule of thumb (providing all is working properly): Virgin Cable > BT Infinity (and resold services like Sky Fibre) > ADSL You can check the estimated speed you'll get with BT/ADSL services here: http://www.dslchecker.bt.com for ADSL you'll usually get the minimum of the "downstream range". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singh400 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 If you're in a cabled area, Virgin Media is pretty much the best around right now.Couldn't disagree more. I experienced VM internet for a few months and never saw my alleged speed, and their SuperHub was anything but. This was in stark contrast to my rock solid BT Infinity connection. Personally, I would find out where your green box is located and figure what kind of drop off you'll see with the copper running from the green box to the premises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philcruicks Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I've also had virgin before and it was horrific, always getting shaped, even at off peak times I'd struggle to get the 50mb I was expecting, games would have trouble connecting and it goes on. I'm now in BT Infinity and couldn't be happier, get a solid 65-70mb down at any time 15-19mb up. Secondly you can get YouView, which is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian M. Veteran Posted January 2, 2015 Veteran Share Posted January 2, 2015 I've also had virgin before and it was horrific, always getting shaped, even at off peak times I'd struggle to get the 50mb I was expecting, games would have trouble connecting and it goes on. I'm now in BT Infinity and couldn't be happier, get a solid 65-70mb down at any time 15-19mb up. Secondly you can get YouView, which is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamieakers Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Second Brian M. here... using Virgin on 50MB line and getting exactly 50MB. No game lag, no timeouts, no traffic shaping, nothing. Just moved myself and they had it up and running at the new house in under 24 hours. My only issue has been their SuperHub cutting the connection sometimes. Found the cause to be the WiFi chip inside causing the box to overheat. Disabled the built-in Wifi, plugged in a cheap Wifi router and the line has been up since the moment it was connected a month ago. Just as an aside - I only have their phone and broadband package, paying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philcruicks Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Well maybe VM have got their act together in recent times. As for speed if its just you for some gaming and browsing, either basic fibre package will be fine 50mb from virgin and 36mb from BT As for your original requirements the advantage for Virgin is you don't have to have a phone line if you don't want. But BT you already have the line installed so can probably get it all installed faster. 24 months Virgin (just Broadband is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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