The questions about broadband that you were afraid to ask.
Click on the question to go straight to the answer or scroll down
What do I need to do to get it?
What if I have ISDN or Home Highway?
What is a Firewall and Virus Checker?
What about faxes and a second internet line?
What is a Microfilter / splitter?
What about an Broadband Modem?
Do I still have to pay BT line rental if I get Broadband?
How do I know when my telephone line has been Broadband enabled?
Can I keep my existing email address?
What is it? Top↑
Broadband is high speed access to the internet and other computers. The current method used by most people is dial-up using a modem at transfer speeds up to 56Kbps which uses analog technology. Dial-up uses up the whole of the phone line -so you cannot use the phone line for voice calls.
Broadband uses newer technology called DSL which stands for Digital Subscriber Line. This as the name implies uses digital technology and can operate at speeds between 512Kbps and 2Mbps. In practise for a home user Broadband is typically 10 times faster than a dial-up connection. It is also an “always on” connection so you never have to dial up.
How does it work? Top↑
Broadband technology effectively splits an existing phone line in 2 using one piece for voice and one piece for data (this is achieved by using a different set of frequencies for each piece). You can access the internet on the digital data piece of the line while still using the same line to make and receive voice calls, it also uses the existing phone line so there is no new or additional wiring. If you have two lines for voice and internet/fax you can do away with one line saving £15 per month.
Who supplies it? Top↑
The most common form of Broadband is known as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and is supplied from exchanges that have been enabled with ADSL by BT Wholesale. BT Wholesale does not sell to end users. This is done by Internet service providers (ISPs) such as AOL, Freeserve/Wanadoo, BT Openworld, and Tiscali. There are now over 200 ISPs who offer broadband services.
What do I need to do to get it?
Sign up with a service provider (see Where can I sign up?) and they will do all the work, including dealing with BT, to get your nominated BT telephone Line Broadband enabled.
What if I have ISDN or Home Highway? Top↑
ISDN or Home Highway is a previous generation Digital technology and is not compatible with Broadband. If you order Broadband from any supplier BT will uninstall ISDN/Highway and then install Broadband. Unfortunately they have to do this to see if the line is compatible with broadband. It may not be and they will offer you the chance to revert to ISDN/Highway. Problems with lines being not suitable for Broadband are typically to do with distance from the exchange and quality of the line. BT does not believe this will be much of a problem with Silchester exchange.
What packages are available? Top↑
Most ISPs offer home and business user packages. Business user packages are required for data intensive applications and were multiple PCs are networked onto the same connection.
For Home/hobby/leisure use the “home” or “lite” packages are suitable for most users.
If you are using a home package for business during the day, you will notice a dramatic loss of performance in the late afternoon. When the kids get home from school and start using Internet Chat Rooms, whilst downloading music and movie files, the entire UK internet system slows down.
A simple answer to this would be: Anything you already do with your 56k connection just much faster. However, you can do things that wouldn't be viable on a dialup connection:
What do I need? Top↑
The BT line has to be within 3.5 to 5.5 kilometres of an ADSL enabled exchange. If you are outside the BT range please contact us at wireless@eVIB.net as we are looking at installing wireless broadband solutions in these areas.
What is a Firewall and Virus Checker? Top↑
A Firewall keeps hackers out and personal data in. It hides your PC from hackers, blocks suspicious incoming connections, stops malicious programs from spying on your system, and prevents confidential information from being sent out without your knowledge. Firewalls are available free from www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/ . You should have one today if you frequently connect to the internet and is vital with the always on nature of broadband.
A Virus Checker monitors all incoming mail and checks for viruses and bugs. A very good, free virus, checker AVG version 6 is available free fro www.grisoft.com
What about faxes and a second internet line? Top↑
You can still use the telephone line to receive and send faxes (although you cannot use voice at the same time). If you have a separate line for internet you can cancel this which save about £15 per at BTs current prices.
What is a Microfilter / splitter? Top↑
Each telephone point on the broadband enabled line needs a splitter to filter the phone and data components of the line. Even if you only have a phone connected to a point you still need a splitter for the phone to work. Most modems come with a free splitter. Additional ones can be purchased for a few pounds. If you do not use Microfilters, and still want to use a phone then a replacement Master socket cover that filters the ADSL (Broadband) signal from the extensions is needed. See diagrams below.
Wiring using Microfilters-
Wiring by changing the master socket-
What does it cost? Top↑
A great number of home user packages are available ranging from £24 - £30 per month. However this is just the headline price. The cost of the modem can be from £30 to £90 and the cost of connection from £60-£100.
Some deals on offer at the moment provide “free modems” and/or “free connection” These however commit you to that supplier at that monthly price for one or even two years. (There isn’t no such thing as a fee lunch)
Some suppliers offer cheaper packages that are not broadband and only offer speeds up to 250Kbps with much lower performance.
The other gotya to look out for is the cost of technical support which can be as much as £1-00 per minute and is typically 50p per minute.
What about an Broadband Modem? Top↑
The modem is connected to your computer via a USB cable. You can also get PCI modems which go inside you PC box and are only recommended for advanced users.
Yes. BT's telephone billing (line rental and call charges) are unrelated to your Broadband. You will however not have to make any calls to the Internet as the Broadband is an always-on connection.
How do I know when my telephone line has been Broadband enabled? Top↑
The telephone will not work or get horrible squealing noises down the line. This will go as soon as you put your microfilter in place. You can then install your modem on your PC at your leisure
Can I keep my existing email address? Top↑
Yes and Yes. If you choose the same supplier for broadband there will be no need to make any changes to your email address.
If you choose to change your supplier you can still receive emails from your existing address by two methods.
First – Auto forward
You can set up with your existing ISP an auto forward to your new email address. This you can do by going to your ISP home page in internet explorer (www.ispname.co.uk or .net or .com) and look for your account, email options, Webmail or similar. Click that option and log in using your username and password. You will find in there the auto forward option where you enter the email address to which you would like your email forwarded. It is also important that you check the box not to keep or have your mail also delivered to your existing ISP, if you forget this the mail box will fill up and mails will be bounced. If you have an unlimited access package with your ISP you can convert this to a pay as you go package which is normally free and continue to use the auto forward facility.
Second – Outlook and Outlook Express
You can set up Outlook, Outlook Express and most other mail clients to collect email from more than one mailbox. You can also specify the email address recipients see and reply to. This is done thought the accounts option on the tools tab.
What about reliability? Top↑
Broadband is a recent technology and BT do have faults from time to time. This reliability is improving but they still have problems which can be from a few hours to a few days. I would say reliability 1 year ago was at 90% and they have now moved to 95% and have a goal of 99.5% in the next 12months. If the broadband element falls the phone piece still works. It is recommended you retain your existing modem and a dial-up account in case of emergency.
Where can I sign up? Top↑
Village Internet and Broadband Limited offer a home broadband package though www.eVIB.net. The cost will be £24.99 per month (including VAT) with a connection charge of £60.00. If you pay £300 for a year’s service the connection is free.
Some of the main features included in the price of the eVIB.net service which are not all included free by other providers are
If you do not know what some of the above are do not worry as you probably do not need them. If you want more details contact support@eVIB.net
Village Internet and Broadband Limited will also be working with other groups in the village of Silchester to develop www.silchester.org to include Silchester specific content such as the Parish Magazine and Silchester Association activities. At a later date additional villages will be added.
Caution Top↑
The information in this document is believed to be correct at the time of writing. eVIB.net cannot accept any liability for errors or omissions. Please check with appropriate Hardware, Software and Service providers for full instructions on their products.
Acknowledgements Top↑
Produced by evib.net August 2003 The following are the sources of the information included above-
www.bbc.co.uk/broadband/index.shtml
www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/