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Poor Broadband - Mike Abbott (12th Jan 2009 - 15:02:57) Can anybody shed any light on why the broadband network in Liphook is so poor and intermittent? Is our local BT exchange in need of modernisation or upgrade? The reliability of my broadband access seems to be getting worse. The connection drops out enough to be really irritating at times. As we are in a non NTL/Telewest area we seem to be at the mercy of BT and whatever poor infrastructure this area has. There doesn't appear to be any alternatives. Does anybody know?

Re: Poor Broadband - Alan Baker (12th Jan 2009 - 15:28:28) Hi Mike There is no general problem in Liphook, we should know as we provide ADSL to many people and businesses in the area. We are not cheap but we are the best - have a look at www.fast.co.uk Alan Baker - Editor

Re: Poor Broadband - Paul Robinson (12th Jan 2009 - 19:56:34) I too am suffering with Broadband dropping out, sometimes several times a day. After complaining to my ISP, BtInternet, I got a visit from a BT engineer who said he had increased my signal strength from 2 meg to 7 meg as I worked near enough to the exchange (Longmoor Road, opposite Bohunt) I wish I understood what that was all about! However despite this adjustment the signal is still dropping out and tomorrow the engineer comes again to check the filter and the router. I will let you know how I get on. Paul Robinson

Re: Poor Broadband - Allan (13th Jan 2009 - 01:18:28) Well, folks, I changed to fast.co.uk about a year ago. Fact is that it lives up to it's name. I was with AOL previously and the difference is mega. False modesty is an 'orrible charactaristic in any human being, and I am pleased to see that Alan has not embraced it at all!

Re: Poor Broadband - Alan Baker (13th Jan 2009 - 08:38:33) A brief guide to improving your broadband... Lots of problems are actually caused within your own property, you should be aware that BT charge £150+vat for a call out for a fault which is not their problem. The first thing to do is to see if you have a master telephone socket (called an NTE5) which has a removable bottom half. If you do remove the lower section and plug your modem/router into the hidden socket behind it. Do NOT use any extension leads and do try more than one microfilter. If this improves the connection then the fault is in your internal wiring. If you do not have an NTE5, unplug everything from all the sockets in your property, bring all the microfilters back to the first socket (where the BT line enters your property) and again try the modem/router directly with each microfilter to see if there is any improvement. The actual download speed will not improve immediately, as the 'profile', which controls this, takes 3 days to change (controlled by software in the exchange). You should be able to see the download connection (or sync) speed increase, however, if you have made an improvement. One interesting little 'fix' for those that are willing to 'fiddle' is to remove any wires connected to pins 3 or 4 of all the BT sockets. These are not needed as the microfilters restore the 'ring' signal themselves. This can make a very large improvement to the connection speed by reducing the amount of 'noise' on the line. Other common problems.. Christmas tree lights (in December) Burglar alarms wired into phone lines Hard wired bells for hard of hearing Sky TV installed without microfilters long extension leads This information is provided as a guide only, your ISP should be able to assist you to sort any problems that you are having. If, like most, they don't, then you are welcome to migrate your broadband to us. Alan Baker www.fast.co.uk Passfield Business Centre, Liphook

Re: Poor Broadband - Mike Abbott (13th Jan 2009 - 11:26:10) Thanks for the response folks. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one suffering the irritation of a dropped connection. Thanks Alan, I'll check my internal set-up following your advice. Much appreciated. Cheers Mike

Re: Poor Broadband - Phil McNamara (14th Jan 2009 - 21:39:53) Try a broadband speed test - plenty of them on the internet, have a search in Google. [editor - www.speedtest.net is a good one, the official BT one which gives back the all important 'profile' can be found at speedtester.bt.com - this can only be run once every 3 hours, only works on I.E. on a PC (works on most MAC browsers) and can take quite a long time to load]

Re: Poor Broadband - David Nippard (27th Mar 2011 - 10:06:12) You do not need to call BT to sort out broadband problems caused by your own wiring. Many Ex-BT engineers will carry out this work at less than half the cost of getting BT in. Also you get to speak to the actual engineer not a call centre. Just google Telephone engineer Liphook for a list of local Ex-BT engineers. www.phonehandy.co.uk

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