Boxx Communications Ltd

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Connectivity

Telecoms and Broadband: Essential briefing for 2016 and beyond

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Telecoms and Broadband: Essential briefing for 2016 and beyond

This year is set to be a big one for developments in the tech community that will impact the quality of our communications wherever we are in the UK…..

Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report combined with Government plans to put broadband access on the same footing as basic services (such as water and electricity) reveal significant trends and priority within the industry.

So you can keep ahead of them, we’ve prepared a summary of the key aspects……

Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report takes an in-depth look at the state of the nation’s telecoms and wireless networks, and had mostly positive news to report while accepting that there is still more to do; particularly in improving broadband and mobile availability/quality for consumers and businesses around the country.

Broadband: Coverage and quality of fixed broadband services in the UK has increased markedly over the past year. More than a quarter of homes (27%, or 7.5 million) have ‘superfast’ broadband (i.e. with a connection of 30 Mbit/s or more), up from one in five (21%, or around 6 million homes) a year earlier.

Superfast broadband is now available to 83% of UK households – almost 24 million – up from 75% last year, as BT rolls out its fibre network, Virgin Media converts more homes to faster packages and the Government’s on-going Broadband Delivery UK programme extends superfast broadband into areas not covered by the commercial market.

Broadband in rural areas also continues to improve, with superfast broadband now available to almost four in ten premises across the UK (37%, or 1.1 million).

One interesting trend noted in the report was a change in the way that people are using superfast broadband. Ofcom has found that, for the first time, users with speeds above 40 Mbit/s are downloading significantly more data – and those with the fastest connections are driving this increase. This increase suggests that people are getting much more out of faster connections, through greater use of bandwidth-hungry services such as catch-up TV, online film rental and video calls.

However, Ofcom has, as to be expected, also identified challenges in improving coverage across the UK. Around 8% of the UK’s homes – 2.4 million – are currently unable to receive broadband speeds of 10 Mbit/s or above – the connection which remains the tipping point after which most people rate their broadband experience as ‘good’. This figure jumps to around half (48%, or 1.5 million) in rural areas, where speeds are often affected by premises lying further from the network’s local street cabinet or local telephone exchange.

Superfast services are now available to the premises of almost seven-in-ten SMEs (68%, almost 900,000) – up from 56% in 2014. However, almost a half of SMEs (around 130,000) in areas like business parks are unable to receive speeds above 10Mbit/s. Ofcom estimates that by 2017 when 95% of all UK premises will have superfast broadband, around 18% of SMEs will still not have access to a superfast service – so there is clearly still an element of a two-tier service at play.

Looking to the future, ultrafast broadband, one of the next generation of superfast services, which Ofcom defines as a speed greater than 300 Mbit/s, is already available to 2% of properties – some 500,000 homes.

Ofcom also published its latest European Broadband Scorecard, which compares the availability, usage and price of broadband services across EU member states. It showed that, among major European nations, the UK has the best coverage and take-up of superfast broadband, the highest coverage of fast mobile services, and some of the lowest prices – so excellent news!

Mobile broadband was also examined in the report, which found that 4G mobile now reaches seven in ten of us, with 73% of premises able to receive a 4G signal from three of the four networks as operators continue to roll out faster mobile broadband. Four in ten (46%) have 4G coverage from all four major operators, and Ofcom expects that 98% of premises will be able to receive a 4G signal indoors by 2017.

However, the report shows there is more work to do on mobile coverage and quality of service.

While 99% of premises can receive a 2G signal, the proportion of the entire UK landmass able to receive a signal from all four operators has remained at 55% since last year. However, this is expected to increase quickly following an agreement between the Government and four major operators for them to achieve 90% geographic coverage of voice services by 2017.

Meanwhile, the Government has moved to put fast broadband on a similar footing as other basic services like water and electricity, giving every home and business a legal right to request a 10 Mbps connection by the end of this Parliament.

Designed to help cement Britain’s position as the most digitised major economy in Europe, work is now starting on introducing a broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO). The obligation will provide a ‘safety net’ to make sure that households and businesses can get the broadband speeds needed to do business online, access key services or stream live TV. It is due to go out for consultation imminently.

If you would like more information about broadband or more advanced internet solutions, please get in touch.

New wi-fi checker app launched by Ofcom

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New wi-fi checker app launched by Ofcom

A powerful but simple new app launched by Ofcom allows both consumers and businesses to check if their wifi is working as well as it should.

The Ofcom wifi checker allows users to easily check the quality of the wireless internet signal where they live or work. It also offers practical steps to help everyone get the best out of their connection if they’re not happy with the results.

The app comes in the wake of recent Ofcom research, which shows that wireless broadband may not be working as well as it could be in nearly six million homes across the UK.

This is often caused by the wifi set-up inadvertently slowing down the broadband, and can often by rectified by taking simple steps to improve things.

For example, problems could be caused by something as simple as interference from other electronic devices, such as a microwave oven, baby monitor, or lamp.

The app works by testing the wifi set-up and if it finds a problem, will provide some troubleshooting tips to help improve broadband. For example, it may suggest you:

• Move your router away from electrical devices – Halogen lamps, electrical dimmer switches, stereo or computer speakers, TVs, monitors and AC power cords have all been known to cause interference to broadband routers.

• Keep your router as far away as possible from other electrical devices which emit wireless signals – Such as baby monitors etc.

• Move your router to a different part of your home or office – Walls and furniture act as an obstacle to the wifi radio frequencies, so ideally routers should be kept centrally and placed on a table or shelf rather than on the floor.

• Try restarting your wireless router – This may automatically select a less busy wifi radio frequency.

• Use an ethernet cable to connect directly to your router – An Ethernet cable is a computer networking cable which should give you a faster, more reliable connection.

Essentially, wifi performance can be affected by lots of things which can both change over time and have a different effect in different rooms of your house or office. Therefore Ofcom recommends you try running the wifi checker at the times of day when you’re most likely to use the internet and in different rooms to get a full picture of the strength of your connection.

iOS Android

The app is available for both iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, what are you waiting for – go download it now!

If this bring ups any questions about your broadband, or if you think you need a faster or more advanced connection, please get in touch – a brain boxx will be happy to help you.

Broadband Issues: Causes & how to overcome them

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Broadband Issues: Causes & how to overcome them

Talk of the internet ‘running slow’ or ‘going down’ is often heard, but what does this actually mean and why does it happen…?

We wanted to get to the bottom of these issues and provide a summary of phrases often used and their meanings, in simple terms…..

Problems you might encounter…..

1) Downtime – This is complete loss of an internet connection. You will not be able to load webpages, nor send /receive emails.

2) Jitter – When data packets received arrive at different times, or in the wrong order. It takes time to get it back in order so could cause delays/buffering. You may notice frozen images or out of time sound when streaming videos or with VoIP there may be a short break in sound.

3) High Latency – Latency is a measure of the speed of your connection. Low latency means information can be processed quickly, whilst high latency means there are delays. Emails may take time to send, webpages will be slow to load or you may see ‘connection timed out’ error messages.

What causes these problems…..

Inadequate Bandwidth – This is when the amount of data you are trying to process is more than the internet connection can handle. For example if you are trying to download multiple large files at the same time as streaming video, you would be using far more bandwidth than simply browsing an individual webpage. Similarly, if you have too many people/devices trying to use the internet at the same time this will decrease the amount of bandwidth available to process each device’s information.

Think about running in a race…. If you try to run carrying a heavy rucksack on your back, it is going to slow you down. Equally if you are one of hundreds of people attempting to run along a narrow track, you will get in one another’s way and this will slow you ALL down!

Contention Ratio – Unless you have a Direct Internet Connection (DIA) your broadband connection will share the internet infrastructure with others. This means that when lot’s of other people/businesses (externally) are using the internet at the same time as you, you may encounter problems. A contention ratio of 50:1 means that up to 50 broadband users are sharing the same bandwidth.

Think about winning the lottery….. If you happen to match say 5 numbers in the same week as 100 other people, the prize fund has to be shared between you all and you won’t receive as much as you would have if you were the only winner that week!

Peak Times – The internet is a global resource that increasingly we cannot live without. Every day more and more devices are trying to access the internet across the world, both at work and at home. Busy times in the UK tend to be 4pm through to 11pm. This is because for most of us, this is our downtime (pardon the pun) or our leisure time – which is becoming more and more reliant on the internet. We are all attempting to surf the net and stream videos at the same time. Not only this, those across the pond in the US are starting their working day.

Think about going to buy a sandwich on your lunch break….. If you were to go to your local sarnie shop at 10am you probably wouldn’t find a queue, but fast forward to lunchtime (the shortest 60 minutes of your day) and everyone is trying to do the same and often you’ll have to wait!

Location, location, location – Whilst those in big towns & cities often benefit from the latest infrastructure, it can be a different matter for those in more remote areas as it is more expensive to upgrade to areas further away. Even with the same infrastructure in place, data that has to travel further takes longer to reach it’s destination.

Think of a train journey….. The main train lines around the major cities are often high speed and/or trains travel frequently. But when you are trying to reach a tiny village in a remote area, you will be served with a small local train that runs much slower and less often, thus increasing your journey time.

What you can do….. When suffering downtime:

1) Check Wires

  • Is everything is connected?
  • Are there any loose wires?
  • Is everything is in the right socket?
  • If you have a spare ethernet cable, try replacing this

2) Check Devices

Are other devices connected to internet? If so it could be a device issue, so try restarting the device.

3) Check Telephone Line / Microfilter

If you can’t make calls on the line it may be a line fault or a problem with your microfilter – the small box that both the Ethernet/DSL cable and telephone wire plug into, so that you can plug both into the tel socket on the wall. Try taking out the microflter and plugging the telephone wire directly into the wall.

If you can now make calls, replace your microfilter and test again.

If you still cannot make calls, contact service provider to run a line test.

4) Check Router

  • Turn the router OFF
  • Disconnect all cables and leave for 20 mins before plugging back in and switching on the power.

If none of these actions help you to resolve your downtime issue, contact your service provider.

What you can do….. When suffering high jitter or latency issues:

1) Consider timing – Think about when you complete bandwidth hungry activities. Are you able to download those large files overnight (or at a time when you are not already maxing out your bandwidth)?

2) Monitor your usage – Log into your router’s network management tool (usually web-based but many now offer an App to do this) to establish which devices are being greedy!

3) Consider a router upgrade – There are many routers available to meet specific needs. Check out whether one with additional features to yours could help resolve any issues you have been experiencing. For example, we offer both a ‘High Speed’ or ‘Superior’ router that come with many more benefits than the standard, but these aren’t necessary for everyone.

4) Consider your broadband connection – Is your current service sufficient to cope with your requirements? Do you want to consider upgrading to fibre (to achieve greater speed) or direct internet access (DIA) to avoid contended bandwidth (sharing).

As time goes on our reliance on our internet connection is ever increasing, especially in business. Why wait until you / your business starts encountering these problems.

If you want to discuss how to improve your internet connection, please get in touch and a boxx brain will be happy to help!

Direct Internet Access: Could your business benefit?

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Direct Internet Access: Could your business benefit?

Sometimes referred to as ‘Data Connectivity’, ‘Ethernet Connectivity’ or ‘Leased Lines’, Direct Internet Access (DIA) is a dedicated internet connection that is even more robust, reliable and faster than a standard broadband or even fibre broadband connection.

The connection possibilities are endless and with so many options to suit individual business needs, bandwidth requirements and speeds, we have made the decision not to offer off-the-shelf products. Instead we offer bespoke packages tailored to specific business requirements.

But in an attempt to give you an idea of what you can expect from a DIA connection, we have put together some examples…..

Business A operates from a single site and has 15 members of staff who use the internet to send emails and surf, but are not using many internet based applications. They are just entering into the world of DIA and have a budget of just £100 per month to spend.

Our solution – ‘Ethernet over Fibre To The Cabinet (EoFTTC) / Generic Ethernet Access (GEA)’ uses existing fibre or copper wires to connect to the street cabinet and then a dedicated network connects to local telephone exchange. The upload / download speeds are 20MB p/sec and costs from £129 per month.

Business B is a 3 site organisation that has 15-20 members of staff at each site at present but they are looking to grow their teams over the next 18 months. They use many cloud-based applications and if their internet connection were to suffer any downtime, there would be serious financial & operational implications.

Our solution – ‘Ethernet Fibre’ uses fibre to connect directly to the local telephone exchange (i.e. not via a street cabinet) and is not only the most robust connection but is also scalable at reasonably short notice, so can easily accommodate their growing size. The cost is from £400 per month.

Business C is a single office company that has 20 members of staff who use cloud-based applications and often stream videos. Fibre is not available in their area but they are desperate to increase their speeds and reduce buffering without stretching their budget too much!

Our solution – ‘Ethernet First Mile (EFM)’ uses multiple copper wires to increase bandwidth and provide a faster solution for those who do not have access to fibre.. The upload / download speeds are 35MB p/sec and costs from £150 per month.

All of the above examples feature a totally uncontended and symmetrical bandwidth, which in simple terms means that they do not share with anyone else and that the download speed is the same as the upload speed. They also come with additional IP address options, plus 24/7 monitoring & support 365 days a year.

Direct Internet Access opens up all kinds of opportunities to improve productivity and efficiencies within your business, including moving to internet based voice solution – VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) dubbed the future of telecoms, which can make even further savings and improve your call handing.

To find out more about DIA or VoIP, call us on 01908 350750 or click here

Mobile phone coverage checker launched by Ofcom

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Mobile phone coverage checker launched by Ofcom

Consumers and businesses can now check how good their mobile phone coverage will be in any given area, thanks to a simple and powerful online tool launched by Ofcom.

The mobile phone coverage checker provides a one-stop answer for consumers and businesses across the UK who want to know how networks perform where they live or work, or even where they intend to move.

Users can either zoom in on the UK map, which is powered by data supplied by Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three, or enter a specific postcode to check. As well as showing the state of 3G and 4G data in the area chosen, it also classifies mobile signal, needed for voice calls and texts, and data coverage into three colour-coded categories: green; amber or red.

Green means that good coverage for calls and texts is likely, amber means that you may experience some problems and red suggests you are unlikely to receive a reliable signal. Each location shows data for coverage of 100 square meters and there is also an option to choose whether you want to know mobile coverage for inside buildings or outside.

The new map will be a great resource for people trying to source the most reliable mobile service for where they need to use it and takes advantage of new Ofcom research into the signal strength needed to provide a good consumer experience. The map also takes account of the increasing shift from handsets with external aerials to smartphones with internal aerials, which can sometimes be less effective at picking a signal.

Additionally, it also shows topographical information allowing users to identify areas where there are natural obstructions to coverage, such as valleys and hills.
Helping to improve mobile coverage and quality of service are key priority services for Ofcom. As well as supporting consumers and businesses in choosing the operator and service that most meets their needs, it will also boost competition between the four main providers, which in turn will be good for consumers.

Ofcom is inviting users to check their coverage experience and leave feedback to help refine the accuracy of the new map even more for a new version due out in the autumn.

In related work, Ofcom is seeking to improve the process for switching between different mobile providers and is actively working on ways to do this.

If you would like to know about our Mobile SIM Only offers, get in touch and we’ll be happy to talk you through it.

Broadband Connection Vouchers: Government grants to boost your broadband

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Broadband Connection Vouchers: Government grants to boost your broadband

In excellent news for those who are looking to save money and improve their broadband performance at the same time, here at Boxx we have become an approved supplier of the Government’s Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme.

Vouchers worth up to £3000 are available to SME’s who meet the criteria, to assist with the £100+ upfront costs of an improved broadband service. The vouchers can be used for a range of things from a simple installation of superfast broadband (if this was missing before), to the installation of a dedicated or uncontended connection, such as one of our Direct Internet Access (DIA) products.

The vouchers are available in 50 cities across the UK and have been made possible through £40m of Government funding. They are available on a first come, first served basis until 31 March 2016 and your business needs to be registered in one of the local authority areas covered by the voucher scheme.

To be eligible for a voucher, the broadband service you select must deliver a ‘step change’ speed or performance improvement on your current connection and must meet certain conditions.

For a Fibre Broadband connection

These must offer a minimum of 30MB p/sec. If the existing service is already 30MB p/sec or greater, then the upgraded service must deliver at least twice that speed.

For a Direct Internet Access (DIA) connection (ie those provided on a dedicated/uncontended basis)

These must offer a minimum of 20 MB p/sec and be capable of being configured/upgraded to support at least 30 MB p/sec. They are also required to provide a service of at least twice the speed of the current one to qualify, unless you are upgrading from a standard Broadband or Fibre Broadband service, where this requirement does not apply.

DIA is the connection of choice for businesses who have discounted standard broadband, and even a fibre broadband connection, as not being sufficient to fully support their business-critical online demands. It’s akin to the Rolls Royce of connections, offering ultimate reliability and a rock-solid connection for those who need continual and reliable online access. Ideal for large teams and those who use a lot of cloud-based applications, it offers totally uncontended and symmetrical bandwidth, and the ability for multiple users to be doing multiple tasks at the same time. We recently blogged about What is Direct Internet Access and more recently Could Direct Internet Access benefit your business.

The Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme is managed by the Broadband Delivery UK unit within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Each company can only apply for one voucher, and while this can be used for upgrades in more than one premises, it cannot be for more than £3,000 in total.

If you are interested to see how these vouchers could be used to upgrade your broadband connection or to answer any questions you may have call us on 01908 350750 or click here.

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