Does anyone know what, if anything can be done if you can only get a maximum of 512kbps (Apart from move home...I know someone was gonna say it)

As everyone knows AOL have just/are in the process of upgrading but I have been told that 512kbps is the best I can get, I still can't get cable so Blueyonder's out of the question....

Surely there is summit that can be done..?

AOL will still use BT's lines. Is it a technical constraint? Or that BT won't offer you 1MB? If it's just that they won't do it, rather than can't, change ISP.

Erm, I assume you mean by BT wont offer it to me you mean what I said..I dunno, to early...lol

Thing is though, if I change service provider i'm still gonna have the same problemo cos I can't get cable and am stuck on DSL and for that I need BT who as mentioned before don't go upto 1mb yet in my area....

Is it because we still have an over-ground phoneline....(Believe it or not, it's true....very rare nowadays I know but that's Walkley 4 ya, still in a time warp, the land that time forgot!!)

I live in the Walkley / Malin Bridge exchange area and have been told that my line will take 2Mb, and that I can apply for upgrade in a couple of weeks time.

Some lines do have a physical constraint - I know that we had to have our physical wires from the pole to the house replaced to get reliable Broadband. Sometiems BT will re-route lines through their systems to get better performance, but I'm assuming they've already done this or tested out the option of doing it before telling you that 512 is the max.

I asusme that your lines to your house are in good condition?

Joe

I have absolutely no idea...? all I know is there are about 7-8 houses inc' mine that still have the overheads, literally about 300ft from my front door there is NTL, Blueyonder etc etc....

There's two bits to BT - the section who are in charge of the lines, and the ISP.
Whoever is your ISP will have to use the BT line to your house, which *may* be capable of higher speeds.
It could be the ISP bit of BT who don't want to sell you 1MB. Perhaps your line falls very slightly short of the tests they do to see if you can get 1MB. Another ISP however may be prepared to offer you 1MB on the same line. However if the line's not quite up to it you may not get the full speed (same with any ADSL - the quoted speed is the maximum, not the guaranteed speed).
Best bet is to ask a couple of different ISPs. Remember they all say "subject to survey" when accepting your order - just because they take the order doesn't mean they'll be able to fulfill it.
And yes, the issues are all to do with our 100-year old communications infrastructure. In places like Japan where most of the cables are above ground (and hence easily upgraded) they wouldn't dare call 1Mb "broadband" - customers there get upset at less than 25Mb

Originally posted by JoePritchard

I asusme that your lines to your house are in good condition?

Yeah, the lines look pretty good to me....I never have any probs on the phone....

Another thought is that if you know people nearby with cable, you could consider "sharing" their connection over a wireless network.

Oh right, cheers Phil...Eh, never knew that about Japan, that'd be nice eh....lol :clap: :clap:

So infact it would actually be much better to take my own advice and move....lol

Part of the problem might be that you belong to a different exchange to your neighbours.

To shift you to a different exchange would probably be possible but would change your number - what aout asking BT if they could install a second line for Broadband that uses the other exchange, if that IS the cause? I don't know whether they can do it or not but it might be worth a try.

However, getting through to someone who understands the situation is probably impossible in today's BT!

Joe

That's the same situation in all service providers these days innit...lol.

Nobody talks sense anymore do they as long as they are getting your hard earned cash for minimal service and poor customer satisfaction..

Hence why ppl come on here to ask questions instead of going through the correct channels..