Article 11 - Broadband

Broadband

During the last few months, I have been sorting out installation problems with broadband in several places, and am developing a "nose" for identifying the cause of problems in this area. Officially, the computer to be used to access broadband should be connected to the main telephone point in the house, and not to an extension. A phone extension of up to 10 meters is allowable, but no more than this. In practice, all depends on the strength of the signal as it gets to your house, and this is dependent on the distance from the exchange, and the quality of the copper wire being used. A policy of "try it and see if it works" is a reasonable starting point – BT charge a bit over £100 to move the main telephone point in a house, so I am told.

An alternative to moving the main phone point is to use a wireless network, with a so called "router", which also provides broadband access, being connected to the main phone point. Computer(s) can then access the router using an easy to install wireless network. As you might expect, there are potential problems here too, and all to do with the strength of the wireless signal which weakens as it passes through walls.

When installing broadband, it is important to follow the instructions supplied to the letter, and in the order stated in the instructions. In particular:

Do not connect the broadband modem to the computer until told to do so by the on screen instructions.
Install the micro filters to ALL the telephone extensions in your house. Having a telephone connected to an extension line without a micro filter will cause your broadband connection not to work (it is possible to get hold of extra filters for less than £ 5 each).

Following the installation, the broadband modem should show 2 green lights, both on permanently. One light indicates that the modem is connected to the computer by way of a USB cable. The other light (labelled ADSL) shows the status of the broadband connection. Green is OK, flashing green means that the modem is trying to connect, and anything else indicates that broadband is not working.

Common causes of broadband not working are:

There are telephone extensions with no micro filter attached.
'Double filtering' - having a filter between to broadband modem and an extension phone socket and another filter connecting the extension to the main phone point.
The broadband modem is not connected to the main telephone point in the house. While this is not always critical, it is possible that moving the broadband modem connection to the main point may solve the problem. (I use a lap top to test this). If this is the problem, it is a case of trying to sort out the problem with your internal wiring, or installing a small (possibly radio) network.
There is a fault on the line. In this case, it is necessary to contact your service provider and they will arrange for BT to test the line.
Being too far from the telephone exchange – I have no solution for this problem!

During the last few weeks, several people have said to me that they intended to change their internet service provider when they installed broadband. If you are in this situation, you should be aware that changing service provider after moving to broadband takes about 4 weeks at present, and the user is without their internet connection during this period. The powers that be are looking at ways to reduce this time lag, but who knows how long that would take.

If you are happy with your existing service provider, then there is no reason to change when moving to broadband. If you are not so happy with your current arrangements, then you should try alternatives prior to going broadband. The easiest way to do this is to take on a "pay as you go" arrangement with a new provider. As you only pay when you use this provider, you can try out several providers, with no problems when terminating contracts. It is also possible to keep your existing email address, making a change only when you have decided which service provider suits you best.

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