Broadband Line Tester

[Colin Manson]

Hi,

Someone sent me this link and I thought it would be pretty useful for all the people that are wondering if they can get broadband, those that live on the outskirts of Wick and Thurso etc.

All you have to do is to include your telephone number at the end of this link and paste it into your browser address bar.

http://www.vispa.net/bbcheck-beta.php?cli=01955605050 In this example I entered the number for Caithness General, just change the number to your own one. You can just click on this link and then edit the number and hit return to check your number.

The results look something like this :-

Adaptive Rate: GREEN (Vispa Home 512k and Vispa Office 512k)
Fixed Rate: GREEN (Vispa Home 1Mb, Vispa Office 1Mb and Vispa Office 2Mb)
Exchange Name: WICK
Exchange State: This BT Exchange has been reviewed but has been classed as Not Viable
Reason Code: No Broadband on line, can proceed with Vispa Broadband order

Colour codes are based upon the traffic light system.

Also I have checked a few numbers to see what distance it will reach and Ackergill and Milton are both within the distance. Let us know if you are farther away and what result you get.

Also the registrations for Wick are at 298 so ask everyone that you know to register and maybe we will get upgraded next year.

Cheers
Colin Manson
Admin

[Doolally]

Forget it if your in Reiss or Keiss.

[disgust]

[jjc]

That's just them being eissest - Surely there's some Brussels ruling about that kind of discrimination?

[Colin Manson]

Nice new graph thing as well :D

http://prereg.adslguide.org.uk/graphs/exchange/line/all/small/NSWIC

Source: ADSLguide.org.uk

ADSLguide Demand Tracker Data for Wick (http://www.adslguide.org.uk/availability/btprereg_history.asp?code=NSWIC)

This Graph should Update automatically since It's provided by the nice people at ADSLguide.org.uk (http://www.adslguide.org.uk/).

It's a great site, here's some details about it

"ADSLguide.org.uk (http://www.adslguide.org.uk/). aims to inform people about the issues surrounding ADSL services, and creates a fair atmosphere for comparison between the different providers."

Cheers
Colin Manson

[moshmosh]

Forget it if your in Reiss or Keiss.

[disgust]

Sad times :(

[Colin Manson]

306 Now :)

[Anonymous]

What about Dunbeath, will it work there as nout ever does

[Broadband4Caithness]

I'm afraid that Dunbeath was not given a trigger yesterday which means that the only way Dunbeath will get broadband is to either get a partnership program, this means that the likes of HIE can provide some of the funding for the exchange to be upgraded. or Wireless which could be the case with Hi-Wide Ltd who could provide this.

Current pre-reg for Dunbeath is 13

Current pre-reg for Wick is 308

[Bill Fernie]

Wick is pushing up and reached 321 when I checked today. Keep telling your feinds to get signed up. If anyone is using Home Highway there will be great savings when Broadnband finally arrives. For eveyone it will be faster. Don't assume folk have signed up. i am still finding folk who meant to do it but just never got round to it. In the smaller areas with triggger figures see if you can beat Wick to it. More links here (http://www.caithness.org\fpb\broadband\index.htm)

[Colin Manson]

Lo all,

I think a lot of people the are current using dialup (modems) don't feel that they can justify the cost of Broadband because they don't use the Internet much, a little surfing and just checking emails doesn't really justify spending ~£27 per month.

Well that is true :D but...

Metronet (http://www.metronet.co.uk/adsl/paygo) offer a pay as you go Broadband service, you still have to pay an activation fee but they only charge £10+VAT per month if you don't use the service a lot (200MB of downloading) that's enough for surfing, checking emails and keeping your Windows and Antivirus updated.

So there is an Initial outlay (£59 Activation fee + you'll need an ADSL modem Dabs Value USB Modem=£22 ) but you get the use of your phone back when you are on the internet. You also get vastly increased download speeds, 56k modem ~ 4-5k per second, 512k ADSL ~60k per second. That means the large pictures on caithness.org will load in less than 2 seconds and all the webpages within 1 second.

What happens if you exceed the 200MB limit on Metronet? Well it is a pay as you go so they just charge you for what you use, here are a few calculated figures :- 600MB - £11+VAT, 800MB - £11.50+VAT, 1GB - £12.06+VAT and 2GB - £14.56+VAT. If you are using more that 1GB then you're not really a light user :) because that is at least 80 hours of surfing per month. (note the surfing figure is not directly related to download speed, it is based on a looking at lots of photographs every hour to maximise the potential data usage)

Calculate your approximate data usage here (http://www.metronet.co.uk/adsl/adsl-calc?serviceType=PAYGo500), and get your estimated monthly total.

So a Dialup Surftime user currently pays £7 to BT and ISP costs ~£7, Anytime Dialup costs ~£15, Metronet ADSL costs - £11.75 (vat included and within the 200MB limit) and it's faster and gives you back the use of your phone. It does require initial expenses but then you aren't sitting around waiting for things to download.

Hope that explains the low cost option, any questions about it or other ADSL questions just post them here and we'll try and answer them.

Cheers
Colin

[JEBriskham]

Will Thrumster be able to get BB services from the Wick exchange, once it's been configured? We are approx 4 miles out of Wick.

[Colin Manson]

Hi JEB,

In short the answer is no, your telephone line is connected to the Thrumpster exchange not the Wick exchange. Once Wick gets upgraded then it is possible that they could connect your exchange via the Wick but you'll have to wait and see.

The onlt other option is as Broadband4Caithness stated above, a partener ship program or wireless.

Cheers
Colin

[webmannie]

JEB,

Move to Thurso, I'll have a 2mb connection on the 7th January, na, na, na,na
It'll make up for our Christmas tree.

Seriously though, at Ackergill the BT Chairman stated that if we come up with the demand then they will seriously look into how to get the exchanges enabled. I quote 'BT wants to be part of the solution and not the problem' and I believe him.

Sometimes not having a high number of registrations or catchment area can work to your advantage, ring 0800 027 23 27 and ask them what the plans are for Thrumster. You might just get a nice surprise!

rgrds
WM

[Colin Manson]

Hi,

Thought I'd offer to help out, if you don't know where to look or how to signup, I have created a simple form here on Caithness.org.

http://www.caithness.org/messageboard/broadband.htm

All you need to enter is :-

Title
First Name
Last Name
Email
Post Code
Phone Number

Then I'll register them for you. By pre-registering, you are not committed to purchase but just to make your vote count.

Cheers
Colin Manson

[Colin Manson]

12 Registrations completed so far, keep them coming :D

[Broadband4Caithness]

Hi Colin,

Dont you think its abit too much getting.

There is already too many pre-registration options around.

Where does your pre-registrations get submitted to and I know you collect them but where do you put them.

[Benthamman]

Hi Paul,

Forgive my age and cynisism please but who or what is ?

http://www.broadband4caithness.co.uk/

Benthamman

[Colin Manson]

Hi Colin,

Dont you think its abit too much getting.

There is already too many pre-registration options around.

Where does your pre-registrations get submitted to and I know you collect them but where do you put them.

Hi,

I've already had lots of people asking me to submit their details because they are confused by the systems in place. If you think there are too many places that you can register why did you create one of your own?

How can there be too many places, the idea is to get people to register, the more places the better. Lots of people trust Caithness.org and they feel comfortable giving their details to us because they know that we are going to deal with them in a professional manner.

The pre-registrations get submitted to me and I put them in a folder

Colin Manson
Administrator

[Broadband4Caithness]

First of all,

Broadband4Caithness is a BT Campaign for Broadband in Caithness.

Colin I am the BT Campaigner for Caithness and have been represented to gather pre-registrations on behalf of BT Wholesale and this is why I made a website for this.

And the reason I asked where you send the pre-registrations to because as I have said I am working with BT Wholesale and now with HIE to gather all pre-registrations so we can keep count of all pre-registrations and to stop duplicates from happening.

Hope this answers your questions.

[Bill Fernie]

I would point out that we here at Caithness.org have been promoting people to sign up to Broadband before many of the sites were set up. We encouraged folk to go to the BT Broadband site as early on that was all that was available. I initially thought that too many sign up sites woudld confuse everyone but in the long run all we want is Broadband.
But wherever anyone signs up so show interest everyone might want to consider which conpany they eventually choose to provide their Broadband services. As ever comparing prices and information about what will be offered is crucial if you are going to sign up for a period of say 12 months. Once the exchanges are upgraded it might well be worth while looking around and speaking to people and finding sites that give comparisons about price, quality of service and so on.
Our main goal here at Caithness.org has been to highlight the potential of Broadband, and how the lack of it in our area might hinder the development of businesses and that as individuals we might all save time and money using Broadband as opposed to the current services.
BT might not be a favoured choice for us as we hear that they intend to charge people with Home Highway £50 to have the system switched back to a normal line suitable to recieve Broadband. As we all have Home Highway which is an expensive but faster way to use the Internet we are not at all happy about this seeming ransom to be charged when we come to make the change. With the size of web sites we are running we will certainly save a huge amount of time and we will be able to run the sites more eficiently than at present.
But as to who gets who to sign up - the more the merrier as far as we are concerned. Once Broadband arrives no one will care who they signed up through although they might still want to consider carefully when they get the sales phone calls that they want to take time to consider all the options.
Colin's form certainly makes the process dead easy for anyone new tot he Internet or a bit concerned that they might make a mistake or get it wrong. It is certainly the fastest way I have seen. But to make it even easier if anyone sees me on the way round the county just give me your details and I wil add them to Colin's form. Colin is using the information only for Broadband sign ups so it will not be used for any other purpose.
So get going everyone Wick and the other places still have some way to go and we know everyone with an Internet connection has not yet signed up.
Colin's sign Up page is at http://www.caithness.org/messageboard/broadband.htm
You can also check where the levels of sign up are at by heading to the Broadband page at http://www.caithness.org/fpb/broadband/index.htm where you will find a variety of links to Broadband information and web sites.

[Mr Sensitive]

First of all,

Broadband4Caithness is a BT Campaign for Broadband in Caithness.

So, why doesn't your site tell us that?


Colin I am the BT Campaigner for Caithness and have been represented to gather pre-registrations on behalf of BT Wholesale and this is why I made a website for this.

Aha, I wondered how you managed to make BT/Yahoo your best buy. Pipex are clearly a better buy over the initial 12 month period and their service is well known to be one of the best. Similarly, my Tiscali-using friends complain that their linespeed and service are slower than Pipex, Virgin and also slower than BT.

Potential subscribers to BT Broadband (as oposed to BT/Yahoo) should note that this service does NOT provide you with ISP "services" such as email addresses, webspace, etc. It is a vanilla connection to the Internet. I know someone who has been "fooled" into buying a 12 month subscription to BT Broadband only to find that she can't send email via the service. (Yes, I know there are ways around this but open mail relays are few and far between nowadays.) But, most importantly, BT are refusing to let her "upgrade" to BT/Yahoo, or to let her out of her contract. So she is stuck with something she doesn't want for 12 months.

Finally, I think Colin, Bill & Co have been doing the community a good service with their longstanding attempts to get broadband to Caithness, so stop squabbling and get on with it. IMHO you are ALL doing a good job!

Let's hope I can use a DSL connection next I'm in Wick.

[Colin Manson]

55 Registrations completed so far in less than 72 hours, keep up the good work :D

Registrations are coming from all over the county; hopefully we will see an impact from these during the next week.

Cheers
Colin Manson

[webmannie]

looks like the ISDN conversion fee will be charged by BT no matter who you sign up with!

Dear Pipex Customer

Further to your recent application to join the PIPEX Xtreme ADSL service, I am afraid that we have received a formal response from BT informing us that your
order has been rejected because ISDN exists on the telephone line.

In order for us to progress your order the ISDN service must be removed from the
telephone line. PIPEX can arrange this on your behalf, however BT do charge an additional fee £42.55 + VAT (£50.00 Inc VAT) which covers the cost of an engineer
visiting your premises and removing ISDN from your telephone line. In the event that your telephone line cannot support ADSL the engineer will re-install your
ISDN service at no additional charge.

[Anonymous]

Registrations are coming from all over the county

Not surprising - is it just me? Or in the dim and distant past, were we not originally registering by dial code? When I first expressed interest, I was asked to register by dial code, not by exchange name. I did so in good faith, 01847, in the mistaken (misled) belief that the trigger was for a dial code. My registration was aknowledged as "Thurso".

Again, unless I am very wrong, only earlier this year did satellite exchanges by name come into the equation. So now I'm not Thurso, I'm Castletown. BT have moved the goalposts.

Your registration facility, Colin, is a great idea - but you do warn against multiple registrations. So I haven't registered again. But there's a BT con going on here somewhere, I suspect.

Guess I'll have to register again and be damned.

[Broadband4Caithness]

There is no BT con,

First of all the ISDN conversions are free with some ISP's but by the looks of things Pipex do not cover the costs.

I provided BT Yahoo as the best deal due to alot of people do not know what to expect to have regarding for an ADSL connection. BT Yahoo provide a Free firewall, incoming virus checker for email ,a pop-up remover and parental controls.

I am not being paid by BT nor do I get commission for any products or services I provide to Caithness.

I am just trying make broadband more aware and being able to provide it to all people in Caithness.

I did have Pipex as the best deal before and also had a deal made with the ISP to provide it even cheaper but this fell through on the ISP management side.

The best deals will be changing again at the end of this month and there will probably be another ISP which is providing the better deal then.

The only things BT Wholesale provided to me was the marketing material and the X-Box for the competition.

I know we are all trying to help get broadband in the area and I am not complaining on about the help everybody is doing but I was only asking a question to Colin about where he sends the pre-registrations to so myself and HIE can keep an eye on the situation and work together on this.

[Mr Sensitive]

There is no BT con,

First of all the ISDN conversions are free with some ISP's but by the looks of things Pipex do not cover the costs.

I provided BT Yahoo as the best deal due to alot of people do not know what to expect to have regarding for an ADSL connection. BT Yahoo provide a Free firewall, incoming virus checker for email ,a pop-up remover and parental controls.

OK, here is the comparison. Costs for the first year are as follows:

BT/Yahoo: 12 times £29.99 minus £20 cashback = £339.88

Pipex: 12 times £23.44 plus £17.57 one-off set-up fee = £298.85

Now tell me which is the better deal.

Note that Pipex waive the setup fee if you have your own modem and microfilters, in which case Pipex costs only £281.28 per annum.

Assuming no pricing changes for the second year, then we have
BT/Yahoo: £359.88
Pipex: £281.88

It appears that you didn't do much detailed research, but based your "Best Deal" on an unstated assumption of the customer's knowledge. I think you should have stated this, just as you should have stated that you are working with BT Wholesale. Having said that, I wouldn't say "no" to free anti-virus software, etc, and I have no time for unsubstantiated claims of a "BT con", but I still wouldn't choose BT/Yahoo.

Furthermore, a little research reveals that there are even cheaper services available. As Bill said, comparing prices and information about what will be offered is crucial if you are going to sign up for a period of say 12 months.

You have to do your own homework people!

But first everyone has to sign up at Paul's stall or on Colin's form.

Good luck All!

[Colin Manson]

123 Registrations completed now, keep them coming :D

Cheers
Colin

[Broadband4Caithness]

Thanks Mr Sensitive and yes i should have stated this and I do apologise.

Colin you say 123 registrations so far but the pre-reg numbers are not going up so alot of them must already have been submitted before.

It would be good that if you place this on your form.

[Colin Manson]

Paul,

The form already states that you shouldn't submit if you already have and the registrations take a while to register if you add them via an ISP that is not BT.

Cheers
Colin Manson

[Broadband4Caithness]

Colin,

To tell you the truth BT ISP's take longer than other ISP's to update the pre-registrations.

The best ISP I have came across for updating is Eclipse.

They also provide you with a spreadsheet so you can send bulk pre-reg's but they do ask for 20 or more through this option but the website you can submit them and they appear almost immediately.