Talking Broadband for Business

The Internet is key to so many aspects of business nowadays, but with some providers it is not always clear what you are getting. Below are some of the key areas we get asked about, to help you understand broadband for your business.

‘Up to’ speed vs actual speed- while many providers state an ‘up to’ speed, you are very unlikely to achieve this, even if you are close to the exchange. Factors affecting the speed you ultimately get include; the capacity of your local exchange, the line length from your premises to the exchange and the quality of the copper in the line (unless of course you are receiving fibre). Speed tests can be run to give you a more accurate expected speed for your site.

Loss of speed- do you notice your broadband speed varying throughout the day? It may be that your current provider isn’t supplying you with business grade broadband. Business grade broadband is more robust and more resilient and is especially worthwhile if you work outside of standard office hours, such as evenings and weekends, when general traffic is likely to be higher.

Fibre broadband vs traditional broadband Fibre broadband is the latest revolution to the internet market. With faster download speeds and upload speeds, it allows you to get even more from your broadband service. Unlike traditional broadband, which uses copper wiring, fibre broadband uses fibre optic cabling which means faster broadband with less signal degradation.

Can I get fibre? – To receive fibre broadband your site will need to be connected to an upgraded cabinet within an upgraded exchange area. Sites positioned too far from an upgraded cabinet as well as sites directly connected to the exchange will not be able to receive fibre broadband.

To find out if you are in a fibre enabled area, or to get more information on any of our products and services, please contact the office on 0844 848 2300 or by filling in our email contact form here.

Openreach – Lead Time Latest!

If you are planning extra telephone lines or services, our advice is plan ahead. Following on from the bad weather throughout Britain in December, the workload of Openreach (BT’s engineering arm) has vastly increased and the result is a backlog that will continue for some time to come.

The latest update confirmed that provision lead times remain high with Northern England having the worst case average of 30.84 working days. So if you are planning to extend your services or move offices, call us as soon as possible to book ahead.

If you have a fault that needs repairing, the news is much better as the company is using contractual overtime and postponing engineer training to bring the workload down and reduce waiting times. The impact of this is a wait of around one and half days, although a worst case of 5 days has been recorded in Wales.

As usual, contact our office as soon as you notice a fault and we will report it straight away and keep you fully informed of progress.

Harrogate Internet Problems

We’re getting reports from some users in the Harrogate area of intermittent internet loss, there is work scheduled for the exchange which may be the cause. So far all users who have experienced loss of service have only experienced it temporarily, if you lose service for an extended period of time, or believe that something else is affecting your service, then please call one of advisers on 0844 848 2300.

Openreach latest

With improvements in the weather, there are now no areas of the country where MBORC applies to all jobs, however the following areas:

West Scotland

Newcastle and Northumberland

Tyneside, Durham and Wearside

Tees Valley

North East Scotland

Tayside & Fife

South East Scotland

Northern Ireland

are still under MBORC for FAULT REPAIRS.