Tag Archives: internet

Telefonica ADSL Upgrade (2)

Posted on by
Reply

In my last post I talked about how I was trying to increase the speed of my ADSL here in Mallorca.
Unfortunately I got an email from Telefonica saying the 10 Mbps speed upgrade wasn’t available in my area (unsurprising really, though it was either that or no upgrade at all, according to their website, www.movistar.es)

Instead of calling their customer service (which is pretty much all in Spanish), I decided to email them. I used an online text translator (Actually Google Translate), then copied and pasted the translated text asking to upgrade into their Online “Contact Us” form.
It turns out, after only a brief email exchange with some Spanish customer services person, that I could get 3 Mbps in my area for LESS money than my current 1 Mbps service,
So just this morning, it appeared on my Movistar.es control panel that an upgrade was in progress.
Also, according to their website, it says I am being moved to their ADSL2+ service as well…. Not sure if this will benefit me or not as my line attenuation is around 60dB.

It hasn’t happened yet, but hopefully should happen fairly soon.

Telefonica ADSL Upgrade

Posted on by
Reply

We have a house in Mallorca (Spain), and for the past 3 years have had Telefonica’s ‘Basic ADSL’ with speeds of up to 1 mbps.

However, it is very slow to do anything with downloading or using it with other people at the same time. So for the past week I have been trying to upgrade the line on their website, Movistar.es.

After creating an account and registering it to my line, I tried to upgrade online. Their website is impossible to use, and it wasn’t because it was in spanish. The only option was to upgrade to their 10mbps line, which I’m not even sure is available where we are (would need ADSL2+)

I have waited nearly 4 days for anything to happen. I got my email confirmation the instant I hit ‘Upgrade’, but since then nothing has happened, and on their website it appears as though nothing has happened on my Account page.

We’ll have to wait and see…

[UPDATE: As in my more recent post, it turned out this upgrade wasn’t possible]

Guernsey internet upgrade goes live [Updated]

Posted on by
Reply

I just checked on Speedtest.net, and my connection is now 4 Mbps! The upgrade wasn’t meant to happen until 1st May, so either it’s early, or Sure are just testing the network. Lets hope it’s the first one.

Update @ 7pm: I have run a few more Speedtests, and have discovered that speeds have dropped to about 3.2 Mbps. It appears that although the speeds have been bumped up, the 40:1 contention ratio is causing slowdowns during those peak evening periods. As speeds get higher, users will probably notice larger variations in Internet speed at different times of day, dependent on network load.

Leave comments if you are experiencing the same in your area of Guernsey

Sure reveals new broadband plans

Posted on by
Reply

With less than a month to go until the 4 Mbps upgrade for Guernsey broadband customers, Sure has posted new pricing plans on their website.

The current Anytime plan stays at £24.99 pm and has been rebranded “Sure Broadband”, with the speed being bumped up to 4 Mbps. However, to my disappointment, the upload speed remains fixed at 256 kbps. I was hoping for a bump to at least 512 kbps so that my home Slingbox will work better abroad.

Sure have scrapped the two tier Pro Broadband plans in favour of one plan, now called “Broadband Pro”. It offers the same 8 Mbps download and 768 kbps upload, but with a price of £49.99. This, in my opinion, is still massively overpriced,  but it is a reduction nonetheless.

So, overall, slightly disappointing. I was rather hoping that the Pro broadband would be set at or under a £40 price point, but it is still too pricey for home users having to pay out nearly £600 a year for what many in the UK would consider expensive for the speed you are getting.

I hope the pricing gets cheaper if/when sure introduce ADSL2+ services.

Line Attenuation & ADSL Speed

Posted on by
Reply

Line attenuation is simply the measure of how much signal is lost on your ADSL line from when it leaves the telephone exchange. The more attenuation, the lower the signal ‘strength’, and so eventually the slower your internet connection.

This is one of the main reasons that many people don’t get the advertised ‘up to’ speeds that they expect. If you live a long way away from an exchange, then it is likely that your line attenuation is very high.

There’s a really great website that allows you to input your line attenuation, and it tells you approximately how long your telephone line is. Butit also tells you the maximum speed that your line can connect at. This is a good way to see if your line could support higher speeds, if you were planning to upgrade to a higher speed service, for example.

Here are my results for a Guernsey ADSL connection. What makes it so painful, is that the line could support full ADSL2+ speeds, but it isn’t yet available on the island.

Here’s the website: http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/max_speed_calc.php

BT BB Accelerator = 6x speed increase

Posted on by
Reply

Having experienced living in the country, I can tell you that one major disadvantage is internet speed. For months I was stuck on a 512Kbits “broadband” connection (you read it correctly: KILOBITS!).

Luckily I realised that I lived close enough to a telephone exchange to be getting speeds that should be theoretically higher (around 3Mbits), so I decided to get BT’s broadband accelerator (basically a new BT master socket faceplate which filters out noise on the bellwire). And voila! My speed indeed went to a pretty stable 2.5 – 3 Mbps. Installing the new faceplate took seconds, and only a few hours later the connection speed had increased effectively by 6x.

So, the moral of the story is: before shunning your internet speeds and complaining to BT and the like, get a BT broadband accelerator. They are free for all BT Broadband customers (excluding Postage and Packaging), and it’s worth a try even if you don’t think it would make any difference

Link: BT BB Accelerator

C&W Guernsey plans to upgrade internet

Posted on by
Reply

It may be long overdue, but finally Cable & Wireless (I mean, Sure) have decided to upgrade all standard users on the 2Mbit connection to 4 Mbits this May. Although many in the UK have access to 50Mbit cable, in Guernsey, we are stuck in a time warp in terms of internet.

Yes, many people say it is more expensive on an island, etc etc, but Jersey has much faster speeds compared to Guernsey, so I still don’t see why it has taken so long. But at least it’s now on its way…

Another exciting prospect is that of ADSL2+. While it is unlikely that C&W will launch a service offering 24 Mbits like Sky broadband in the UK, it opens up the door for faster services in the future (the current ADSL only supports a theoretical maximum of 8 Mbits)

Of course, we will have to wait until C&W announce new pricing (if any) until anyone can draw firm conclusions.