Village Broadband Speed

On 16th July it seems that across the village, Broadband connections slowed down.

Since I swapped suppliers from BT Broadband to Plus.net, a few years ago, my broadband speed (on Forest Road) was usually 2-4 MB/s, but from 16th July my speed had dropped to 1-2 MB/s.

I logged a support ticket with my supplier, who reported that my connection was below my fault threshold rate - as Paul Mead from Silicon Bullet explained on Facebook,

"When you get broadband - there is a training period and thereafter the "fault threshold" is set, at below which it will be considered a fault; i.e. you are still connected, but at a lower speed that has been stable previously and therefore it is likely there there is an issue that needs to be checked."

Judging by the comments on Facebook, it was not just me having problems, with at least six people across the village commenting that they had noticed much slower speeds.

There was an unconfirmed rumor that BT were working on the exchange to improve speeds - and this might actually be true. Since 30th July, not only is my speed back to normal, it is actually slightly faster, clocking in at between 4 and 5 MB/s consistently throughout the day. Other people have also noticed faster speeds, with a house near Blacksmith Way going from an average speed of 0.5MB/s to 1MB/s.

What was obvious from the chatter over the last few weeks was the huge discrepancy between the speeds people are getting throughout the village with some houses not getting above 1MB/s, whilst other lucky people (like myself) getting speeds of up to 4-5 MB/s.

It is hard to tell whether this is a geographical problem, a supplier problem or both. I get a feeling that certain suppliers seem to be slower (this was certainly the case for me when I was with BT - my speed increased from 2MB/s to 3-4MB/s when I moved to Plus.net), but also that certain parts of the village, noticeable the roads coming off Blacksmith Way, have much slower speeds.

The village has a golden opportunity over the next year, in the form of the Parish Plan, to come together to compile evidence and put together a plan to improve things in the village like Broadband provision. You can find out more about the Parish Plan and how you can contribute at a gathering on 31st August - look out on the website for more information soon!

If you have any comments about the village broadband connection, let me know on Facebook or on the forum.

Phil Sorrell