Explaining the contention ratio

September 2nd, 2010 | Broadband, Broadband Equipment, Broadband Providers

Broadband providers tend to be somewhat shy in disclosing this particular factor but contention ratios can have a huge impact on how close your real world speed of your broadband connection is to the advertised rate.

First of all, broadband providers always – unless otherwise agreed –have multiple users share their infrastructure at the same time. This is on the basis that not every single customer will use their broadband connection at the same time.

So if a broadband provider has 1,000 clients it does not build infrastructure to accommodate 1,000 users. Instead it plans for infrastructure requirements based on a ratio, called the contention ratio.

In this way a broadband provider may build infrastructure for one constant user for every twenty users, a ratio of 20:1. This means that the full performance of their network will be maintained as long as no more than 50 people out of 1,000 use the full capacity of their broadband connection at exactly the same time.

However in peak times more than 50 out of 1,000 users may be using their broadband which means that a contention ration of 20:1 could cause slowdowns in the service. If the contention ratio is 50:1 this can become a problem and could be a major contributor to a user not reaching the advertised broadband speeds.

Of course the lower the contention ratio the higher the cost of the connection as the broadband provider needs to set up and purchase more and more equipment. Businesses are often willing to pay multiples of what a consumer would to get a contention ration of 10:1. For businesses where internet access is absolutely crucial a 1:1 contention ratio may be worth the astronomical price.

Home users however would not benefit from a 1:1 or even a 10:1 ratio but might see the difference between 20:1 and 50:1 in peak times. Unfortunately it is hard to know what the contention ratio of a home broadband provider is; broadband comparison websites don’t include this information.

It is probably worthwhile for a home user who is serious about their broadband to phone various providers to find out who offers the best contention ratio, though this will probably be reflected in the price.

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Why choose Orange Home Broadband?

August 31st, 2010 | Broadband, Broadband Providers, Broadband Reviews

Orange Home Broadband refers to the added level of service offered to Orange telephone service subscribers.  While Orange does have a presence in the mobile broadband market, Orange Home Broadband is run as a separate entity, and maintains a strong focus on providing excellent service for home users.  With such a widespread presence in home phone services, Orange Home Broadband is now able to expand into new territory, offering excellent download and upload rates and no limits on usage.  These services are among some of the highest rated, all while keeping at a very reasonable price.

Orange’s most well known and favourably reviewed plan is their “Orange Broadband Home Starter” package, priced at a competitive £7.00 for Orange Mobile clients and £10.00 each month for non-Orange mobile users.  This service offers a download rate of 20 Megabits per second with no download cap, and is arguably one of the best values in phone service, even for those without a mobile phone contract through Orange.  Like many other home broadband providers, the Home Starter plan includes free evening and weekend calling to landline telephones in the UK.
   
Unfortunately, this price is only available within certain areas of coverage.  It is also simply unavailable in some places, although Orange is expanding coverage each and every day.  Out of area coverage can cost as much as £19.50 for an eight megabit per second broadband service, and should be considered as a last resort.  While Orange is arguably the market leader in unlimited broadband plans for the moment, this is all relative to their current coverage area. 

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Broadband providers reduce fees for customers who want to leave early

August 27th, 2010 | Broadband, Broadband Providers

Ofcom has agreed cuts in fees for so-called early termination with three of the largest broadband providers and more will follow in the near future.

Currently broadband providers charge substantial fees if a customer wishes to break their 12, 18 or 24 month contract early, whether it is to change provider or because they have moved home. The penalty fee is calculated at a monthly rate multiplied by the number of months remaining on the contract.

Up until now Talk Talk broadband has charged customers £33.48 for every month, so if there is 6 months left on the contract a customer would pay over £200 to terminate early. Now, Talk Talk broadband says it will reduce that to £8, or £42 for eight months.

Virgin Media Broadband is reducing their charge from £29.99 per month to £6.53 for the first month and £4.63 for the months thereafter.

The new rates are fairer to consumers. Firstly, a consumer should not be charged more than the actual payment due for the broadband service, so a £15 broadband service cancelled six months before the end of the contract should cost no more than £90 to terminate, certainly not £200.

Secondly the termination fee should reflect the fact that the broadband provider will be saving on costs if a user is removed from its base of users.

It is understandable that a broadband provider wants to be compensated for a customer leaving early. The amount it spends on set up fees and free modems are often only paid for half-way through the contract. If a customer leaves early, the broadband provider loses money. However the early termination fee should be fair to customers as well.

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Broadband for Businesses

August 26th, 2010 | Broadband, Business Broadband

The demands placed on broadband connections for business are obviously very different to those which are placed on regular, domestic broadband lines. The amount of data going in and out of a company’s office is much larger than that going in and out of a regular home, while the sheer amount of activity caused by the multiple users will require a much more complex router and more bandwidth.

Most business broadband deals involve all of a company’s communications needs, from mobile phone calls and a high bandwidth telephone line to mobile broadband dongles and online security licensing. For larger companies, broadband plays such a vital part of conducting business that it is considered when constructing or refurbishing an office. Usually, large offices will either have their own dedicated line or junction box, depending on size, and priority traffic. Larger businesses will also generally receive cheaper rates on their business broadband, as the sheer size of the contract to provide broadband communications to a large company would warrant a discount.

Along with offering dedicated services to small businesses and discounts to larger ones, there are also many specialised business broadband deals available for home workers. These include many of the same features as offered to small businesses, and usually include everything needed to run a business from home. These home worker business broadband deals generally include a dedicated line, unlimited downloads, high bandwidth, a free wireless router, free online security software and cheap telephone call packages.

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Sky Broadband – TV, Broadband and Phone in one package

August 23rd, 2010 | Broadband, Broadband Deals, Broadband Providers

Sky Broadband is a broadband services provider in the UK, offering a wide variety of telecommunications services.  Known for its high performance and low pricing scheme for bundled services, sky has become a leader in broadband telephone, internet, and television subscription services.  Sky Broadband offers a wide variety of services and a few different prices levels, however as a whole they remain very inexpensive.  All in all, Sky Broadband achieves success through offering something for everyone, maintaining the right sort of plans for the varying sorts of user.  From free plans for SkyTV users to unlimited plans for the dedicated few that need them, Sky remains a powerful competitor all across the board.

Sky Broadband plans start at £5 pounds per month, granting unlimited calling to landlines in the UK as well as 2 Gigabytes of broadband service at 20 megabits per second.  This is a very low price reserved for the most casual users, and is thrown in free of charge for all SkyTV subscribers.  For most buyers however, this download cap is simply too low, and the Sky Unlimited plan should be purchased instead. This unlimited plan operates at the same 20 Megabits per second and is available for £12.50 for SkyTV subscribers and £15.00 for those who are not.
   
While Sky’s services are well moulded to meet the needs of a wide variety of customers, Sky does not stand out in any one specific way however they appeal to most of the population in the ways that they do differentiate themselves from their rivals.

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Meet the New ADSL – ADSL2+ is here!

August 20th, 2010 | Broadband, Broadband Equipment

The more technophobic amongst us might be forgiven for thinking that the letters ‘ADSL’ stood for some either kind of fiendish veterinary disease or a firm of couriers. Broadband aficionados will instantly recognise it as the shorthand for ‘Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line’, the technological means by which we receive broadband internet through our existing telephone lines. Essentially a very fast telephone line connected to the internet, it converts data over a wider frequency more efficiently than a computer’s modem. And it’s just had an overhaul: ‘ADSL2+’ is a second generation broadband service that uses new technology to provide even faster connections. Whilst most providers advertise the maximum ADSL2+ download speed as 20Mb per second, it’s actually capable of 24.

During the summer of 2009 BT Total Broadband upgraded a large proportion of exchanges to ADSL2+, a move which has helped smaller ISPs to offer faster speeds simply by using BT’s wholesale network. Other providers offering the ADSL2+ enhanced speeds include Sky Broadband, O2 Broadband, TalkTalk Broadband and BE Broadband. And more ISPs are upgrading all the time.

ADSL2+ is undoubtedly noticeably faster than its predecessor, but the ultra fast speeds are really only possible with fibre optic networks, such as Virgin Media’s XXL Broadband package. These are still several years off before they become commonplace, although BT is currently running trials of a new fibre optic system and plans to invest in a massive network in the future. For now, 24Mbps is good, but fibre optic’s 50 Mbps still makes it look like that Dad who’s eaten too many pies running next to Usain Bolt on school sport’s day. 

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Are bundled broadband and phone deals good value?

August 19th, 2010 | Broadband, Broadband Comparison, Broadband Deals, Broadband Providers

Most broadband providers offer combo deals where you can buy both a phone and a broadband service from the same provider. Usually such all-inclusive packages are cheaper than purchasing the broadband service and phone service separately. But a combo package might not necessarily be the best deal; it depends on your usage needs.

Good examples of broadband and phone combo’s include BT Total Broadband which includes the standard BT phone services as well as your choice of broadband package. Talk Talk broadband, Sky broadband and Virgin Media broadband all include the option to add a phone line service at a reduced fee.

Apart from the cost benefit (which can easily be over £200 per year) you also have the benefit of merging two bills into one, for example BT Total Broadband will put both your phone charges and your broadband fee on one bill.

However, although a combination deal might appear cheaper, it might not be the best solution for you. The broadband component of the package is fairly standard but the exact charges and inclusive calls on the phone line component can vary widely. It is worth looking at an old phone bill and comparing the total charges you will pay with different providers.

In most cases, you will probably find yourself saving money when you purchase a phone service and broadband from the same provider. For the best broadband deals have a look at a site that compare broadband providers. Tiscali broadband, Think broadband and Sky broadband all have different features and charges, some of which might be more suitable to you than others.

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Think Broadband Review

August 16th, 2010 | Broadband, Broadband Reviews

Think Broadband is the world’s largest independent information website and news source for broadband related topics relevant to the United Kingdom.  Think Broadband has developed a history of excellence through consistently delivering unbiased, news information as it breaks.  Think has become the best source for new information about existing broadband service, plans, and service providers, all while posting new information regarding emerging broadband technologies and future services.  In depth guides help the readers to compare existing broadband service providers while tools and software is provided to test the speed and service level of their current provider.  Think Broadband’s clear, focused attempt to spread news about broadband has made it a one-stop site for anyone interested in broadband.

Think Broadband offers a wide range of news articles.  These range in topic and technical difficulty pretty widely, and are not geared toward every reader.  While some articles are targeted toward casual consumers looking to check up on their service provider’s promises, others keep the strong technical background that is expected of cutting edge enthusiasts. 

There’s something for everyone at Think Broadband, both in their news articles as well as their open forum for discussion.  While the forum users are typically technically minded, the user base is very friendly and more than willing to help solve simpler issues.  Think Broadband has developed into an excellent source of information tailored specifically for the UK audience, and should be visited before anyone makes a decision regarding their broadband service.

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Tiscali Broadband is now Talk Talk Broadband

August 13th, 2010 | Broadband, Broadband Providers

Tiscali Broadband is a former broadband services provider that has since been purchased by TalkTalk Broadband.  For all intents and purposes they have become the same company with the same offers in all areas of telecommunication services.  Tiscali broadband is well known for offering heavily customizable plans with specific “upgrades” offered to improve your existing service.  This allows baseline, run of the mill plans to become any combination of offers and services that best meet the buyer’s needs.  In this way they have managed to create the most specific, best fitting home broadband plans available in the UK, all while keeping them competitively priced.

There are just two broadband plans offered under Tiscali/Talktalk, both at a very impressive download rate of 25 Megabits per second.  The only true distinction between these two plans is the download cap and calling services.  TalkTalk Essentials is priced at £6.99 per month, offering 40 Gigabytes per month of bandwidth and free calling during evenings and weekends, while TalkTalk Pro offers unlimited broadband internet usage as well as unlimited calling.  These plans can all be augmented and changed through purchasing service upgrades, offering a wide variety of middle ground for users looking for something a little less than more than the bare essentials.

Tiscali Broadband offers high-speed broadband services at an excellent price, while allowing the customer to customise their plan to fit their needs.  With some of the highest download rates in the business and competitive unlimited plan pricing, Tiscali will meet the needs of most broadband users in the UK, and should be considered first over the competition.

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Britain to miss 2015 broadband target

August 10th, 2010 | Broadband

Labour’s plan to have broadband available to all homes by 2012 has been scrapped with a new target of 2015 being put forward. According to the new culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, the original plan was impractical and that instead, 2015 would see all homes having access to 2Mbit connections and would be a more achievable target.

Predictably, this wasn’t welcome news: telecoms site Think Broadband was shocked and warned that this would hit rural consumers. Today, about 160,000 homes have no access to high speed internet services even though it’s been 10 years since the introduction of broadband in the UK.

To reduce these numbers, Jeremy Hunt suggested thinking outside of the box by using alternative delivery methods such as water mains or sewers could be used as legislation could be relaxed.  It was also made clear that commercial markets would need to take the lead and get the job done.

BT, supplying its BT Total Broadband to many consumers, has committed over £1bn to extend new fibre optic networks to two thirds of UK households but still needs more government money to achieve 100% coverage.

This could come from license fee but the details remain unclear. There has also been some progress with wireless ISP’s offering 4 to 10 Mbit access without wires but these schemes still remain experimental, however more investment may be forthcoming in the wake of the announcement and the new target.

With broadband an increasingly essential part of people’s lives a lack of access to a broadband provider can put rural people at an enormous disadvantage.

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