Broadband endowment
By Mark Tennent in Reader
Posted in Internet on January 9, 2009 at 1:29 pm
When we got our mortgage some years ago, Mike, the chap arranging it, told us about endowment mortgages. He drew charts to show how good they could be, by paying for the house and leaving a pot in the bank. Mike gave us the documentation, for us to sign alongside the warning it was not guaranteed there would be enough money to pay the mortgage at the end of the term. We elected to get a repayment mortgage instead.
Come forward a few years to see people complaining because they were also told about wonderful returns from endowment mortgages and chose to buy one. They had signed to say they understood that the final amount depended on the financial markets, with just as much chance of a shortfall as a windfall at the end of the term. As the last recession hit and with endowment mortgages running extremely short, the government decided we would all bail them out by saying that the policies were “mis-sold”.
The same thing is happening with broadband. Millions of customers, according to Ofcom the telephones regulator, are being ripped-off because they get less than half the broadband speed they pay for. Speeds are at their lowest during peak times, which is between 5pm and 6pm on Sundays for some strange reason. In rural areas, throughput is likely to be 15% lower than in urban areas. Like endowment mortgages, why did some Ofcom jobsworth think this research showed anything we didn’t know already?
The small print
Broadband supplier’s contracts state clearly that they will not guarantee line speed and most will have a fall-back position for those unhappy with throughput. For many situations where an 8MB line produces an unreliable speed, a 2MB link will give a consistent, almost maximum figure, at a lower cost to the subscriber.
When one signs-up for broadband there is an initial check on the line to show its theoretical maximum. With telephone line based broadband, it depends on distance from exchange and the quality of lines inside and outside the home. Add another extension or fax, or even plug into the wrong port in the wall socket and connection speed can drop significantly.
Different software used by broadband suppliers can also affect line speed. We are lucky to have almost the full set of unbundled services available at our local exchange. Yet we also find that BT’s 8MB Max services, albeit bought via ISPs such as Aquiss, give consistently higher speeds than the other suppliers’ 8MB links through the same local loop. From what we can make out, BT’s Max software checks line speeds regularly and adjusts it up and down whilst other suppliers use fixed ‘profiles’ which can provide a slower throughput in return for reliability.
Our BT service improved even more this week when BT switched our ISP to IPStream Connect instead of IPStream Central Pipes. It could be even better if BT were able to charge more for letting other broadband suppliers to use BT’s lines, then invest in ethernet service to the street cabinet. With the government and opposition parties complaining about Britain’s outdated Internet services, BT also needs to get back any investment it makes in a fibre optic network or it won’t start to build one. It is Ofcom who are holding this development back by not allowing BT scope in charges for access to the proposed £1.5 billion upgrade.
For most users, broadband speeds are acceptably fast already. Even a 2MB link can go faster than much data is transmitted. It is only the rise in bandwidth-hogging for TV and movie downloads that put a great strain on BT’s copper network. The TV companies already have their own monopoly methods of digital transmission via RF and cable, with satellite coming on stream as well. If they are swamping broadband services surely they too should be paying towards improving the delivery methods?
Rated: 20% (1 votes)
Loading ...Make a comment
Tag cloud
Archives
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
Most commented posts
Highest Rated Blog Posts
- The difference between a Parapedal and a Pedalflanger (100%)
- CrushFTP 4 (100%)
- CD Ripping Rip Off (100%)
- Another Ripping Rip off (100%)
- That'll fool 'em (100%)
- A bad Tool always blames the browser (100%)
- Reasonably priced car hit by star (100%)
- 10.5.3 and Time Machine (100%)
- Carbon Dating (100%)
- Rough Wiis do shake the darlings (100%)