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Top tips to improve your broadband speed

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Top tips to improve your broadband speed

A common misconception is that the only things that affect your broadband speed are the provider and the deal you have signed up to.

In reality, many things can affect the speed you are getting but the good thing is that many of them are in your control and can be easily fixed.

Ofcom has produced some hints and tips on how to get the best out of your broadband, so here are our top picks below.

  • If your broadband comes into your premises via a phone line, then how far you are from the local exchange will affect the maximum speeds you can get, as speeds over traditional copper wires slow the further from the exchange they are. While you can make use of our other tips to improve matters, if you’re a long way from your local exchange you may be better off getting broadband via cable, if that is available in your area.

  • Installing microfilters in all of your home phone sockets, even those just used for phones, will enable your broadband to work over the same line as your telephone service, and help you get the most out of your broadband.

  • Remember that speeds quoted by providers are generally a maximum, not a guarantee. The internet is also like a motorway, in that it slows the greater the volume of traffic on it, so don’t expect to always reach your quoted speed if logging on at peak times. If you get your broadband over a wifi connection, the closer your computer is to the router the better it will perform.

  • Password-protect your wifi, not only for security, but to stop anyone else piggybacking on your connection and slowing it down.

  • Your computer can also slow your broadband experience, so ensure you have the latest version of whatever browser you used downloaded, and clear your cache regularly to keep processing times as low as they can be.

  • Having large number of windows or tabs open can also slow everything down, so try to just have open what you absolutely need.

  • If you’ve tried all of the above and are still having issues, consider connecting directly to the internet via cable, ideally using a faster ethernet cable instead of a USB one.

Trying combinations of the tips above should ensure you’re getting the best speeds possible for your line,
but you can always speak to your provider if you need any additional advice.

New world record set for broadband speed over copper wires

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New world record set for broadband speed over copper wires

A new broadband speed world record has been set using traditional copper telephone wires.

Bell Labs, the research and development arm of global telecoms giants Alcatel-Lucent, set a new speed of 10 gigabits-per-second (gbps) using a prototype technology it calls XG-FAST. The prototype also demonstrated how existing copper access networks can be used to deliver 1Gbps symmetrical ultra-broadband access services.

Achieving 1 Gbps ‘symmetrical’ services where bandwidth can be split to provide simultaneous upload and download speeds of 1 Gbps is a major breakthrough for copper broadband, as it will potentially enable operators to provide internet connection speeds that are comparable with fibre optic services.

This will have a major business benefit in locations where it is not physically, economically or aesthetically viable to lay new fibre cables all the way into residences, as it could massively extend the life of existing copper line networks. Instead, fibre can be brought to the curbside, wall or
basement of a building and the existing copper network used for the final few metres, significantly reducing costs.

XG-FAST is the successor to the G.fast technology which is currently being ratified by the International Telecommunication Union.

When this new broadband standard becomes available in 2015, G.fast will use a frequency range for data transmission of 106 MHz, giving broadband speeds up to 500 Mbps over a distance of 100 metres.

In contrast, XG-FAST uses an increased frequency range up to 500 MHz to achieve higher speeds but over shorter distances.

Bell Labs achieved 1 Gbps symmetrical over 70 metres, or 230 feet, on a single copper pair.  Ten Gbps was achieved over a distance of 30 metres, or 100 feet, by using two pairs of lines in a technique known as bonding. Both tests used standard copper cable provided by a European operator.

Marcus Weldon, President of Bell Labs, said: “Our constant aim is to push the limits of what is possible to invent the future, with breakthroughs that are 10 times better than are possible today. Our demonstration of 10 Gbps over copper is a prime example: by pushing broadband technology to its limits, operators can determine how they could deliver gigabit services over their existing networks, ensuring the availability of ultra-broadband access as widely and as economically as possible.”

Commenting on the achievement, President of Alcatel-Lucenta’s Fixed Networks business said: “The Bell Labs speed record is an amazing achievement, but crucially in addition they have identified a new benchmark for real-world applications for ultra-broadband fixed access. XG-FAST can help operators accelerate FTTH deployments, taking fibre very close to customers without the major expense and delays associated with entering every home.”

By making 1 gigabit symmetrical services over copper a real possibility, Bell Labs is offering the telecommunications industry a new way to ensure no customer is left behind when it comes to ultra-broadband access.

1 in 4 UK households now has superfast broadband

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1 in 4 UK households now has superfast broadband

One in four UK residential fixed broadband connections is now superfast, according to the latest Ofcom research.

The proportion of superfast connections defined as those offering headline speeds of at least 30Mbits/s has risen from 5 per cent in November 2011 to 25 per cent in November 2013.

The study found that the average superfast connection speed is also continuing to rise, reaching 47.0Mbit/sec by the end of last year an increase of 47 per cent, or 15.1Mbit/sec, since May 2010.

These figures come from Ofcom’s tenth report, which measures consumers’ actual broadband speeds as opposed to the advertised headline speeds. As well as superfast broadband, the report also covers ADSL broadband, which accounts for 69 per cent of UK residential broadband connections.

Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive, said: “The growth in superfast broadband and the rise in average speeds is testament to the investment in the sector.”

But the benefits are not shared evenly across the UK. There is more work needed to deliver wider availability of broadband and superfast broadband, particularly in rural communities but also in some locations within cities to enable wider access to fast internet. The report found marked disparities between the average speeds available in urban, suburban and rural areas, despite a general improvement across the country put down to increased investment in broadband technology.

Indicative analysis suggests that the average urban download speed in November 2013 was 31.9Mbit/sec, the average suburban download speed was 21.8Mbit/sec, and that the average speeds in rural areas increased from 9.9Mbit/sec to 11.3Mbit/sec between May and November 2013.

They noted, however, that the rural sample sizes from which these averages were taken were not large enough to be statistically significant and could only be indicative. A key reason for the slower speeds in rural areas is the limited availability of superfast broadband services, although broadband speeds over ADSL, a technology that uses the copper wire telephone network, are generally also slower in rural areas because of the longer distances to the telephone exchange.

Improving speeds in rural areas is a priority for the Government which has committed funding to ensure superfast broadband is more widely available across the UK. It has reported it is on course to reach 90 per cent superfast coverage by early 2016 and recently announced an extra £250 million investment to extend superfast coverage to 95 per cent of premises by 2017.

The report also reveals that at 17.8Mbit/s, the average actual fixed-line residential broadband speed in the UK is almost five times faster than the 3.6Mbit/s it was five years ago when Ofcom first began publishing the data, in November 2008.

Ofcom: UK overtakes major EU nations for superfast broadband

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Ofcom: UK overtakes major EU nations for superfast broadband

New figures show that the UK has the highest take-up and coverage of superfast broadband of the EU’s five biggest economies.

Ofcom’s European Broadband Scorecard shows that the UK leads France, Germany, Italy and Spain on most measures of coverage, take-up, usage and choice for both mobile and fixed broadband, and performs well on price.

The report found that the availability of superfast broadband in the UK has increased from around 60 per cent at the end of 2011 to 73 percent now. This has taken us from third to first for coverage among the so-called EU5 group of countries.

Take-up of superfast broadband, which is capable of providing speeds of at least 30Mbit/s, had reached nine in every 100 people in the UK at the start of last year, well ahead of the next best performing country, Spain, where it had reached just six in 100.

The most recent comparable data for the EU5 countries also showed that the UK has the highest broadband take-up of all types, with 83 per cent of households being able to access it.

Britons were also the people who did most shopping online, with 77 per cent having made an internet purchase in the past year. The UK also enjoys the highest weekly usage of the internet of the five, at 87 per cent, and the lowest proportion of people who have never used the internet, with only eight per cent saying this is true for them.

Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, said: This is excellent progress for the UK, but there is more to be done. We want to see even wider availability of superfast broadband across the UK, so as many people as possible can enjoy faster speeds to access the internet.

There is also more progress to be made to ensure consumers receive consistently high quality of service, including faster line repairs and installations for broadband and telephony.

Ofcom has also analysed a range of broadband product baskets, by examining average and lowest prices available for different packages. The UK comes either first or second within the EU5 on all measures of average price, and either second or third on measures of the lowest available price.

This is excellent news for telecoms companies such as Boxx Communications, who exist to provide top quality and competitively-priced broadband packages to businesses.

Today’s European Broadband Scorecard is Ofcom’s second report for Government on the coverage, take-up, usage, price and choice of fixed and mobile broadband services in the UK, relative to other European countries.

The Government has previously stated its ambition that the UK should have both the best superfast broadband network in Europe and the fastest broadband of any major European country by 2015.

Superfast Broadband to UK’s most remote areas

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Superfast Broadband to UK's most remote areas

A new £10m fund for pilot projects to bring superfast broadband to the most rural parts of the UK, has been announced by the government.

The scheme is aimed at alternative technology providers who can come up with solutions that can be trialled in the most difficult areas to reach nationally.

The government claims to be on target to have 95 per cent of the UK able to access superfast broadband by 2017, at an estimated cost of £790m, but has had problems with the remotest five per cent. The new fund is inviting applications from March 2014 for a range of pilots which will take place up and down the country to help find the most effective way of bringing broadband to all, not just those in well-populated areas.

Potential technologies that could be piloted under the new fund for remote areas are expected to include:

· Using 4G mobile signal to deliver fixed wireless superfast broadband

· Using fibre direct to premises

· Taking fibre from broadband cabinets to a distribution point further down the network, increasing speeds by reducing the reliance on copper

· Satellite technology

The government believes superfast broadband is vital to all homes and businesses and has committed to ensuring that no one is left in the ‘digital slow lane’ simply because of their post code. It also claims that every £1 spent on the superfast rollout will bring back £20 to the British economy.

Maria Miller, Secretary for State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: Our nationwide rollout of superfast broadband will benefit everyone from school children to business owners, parents to patients. An estimated 10,000 homes and businesses are gaining access to superfast speeds every week but now we need to focus on the hardest to reach communities. If we want to ensure that that all communities can benefit then we need to think imaginatively about alternative technology, and the pilots enabled by the £10m fund will be instrumental in helping us overcome the challenges of reaching the final five per cent of premises.

The £10m will be made available to fund projects that will provide answers to several key questions, including identifying which technologies will be most cost effective and commercially acceptable, as well as how they will ultimately be funded.

Suppliers will be able to bid for funding and will need to provide a description of their proposed project, including the costs and the outputs.

Broadband Delivery UK, which is responsible for delivering the rural programme, will evaluate proposals on the basis of criteria such as the quality and prospect of solutions being able to scale to address the final five per cent, for the timeliness and usefulness of the learning that the projects provide, and also the level of funding requested.

Broadband Vouchers: Government scheme to help small businesses

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Broadband Vouchers: Government scheme to help small businesses

The Government has announced several new schemes aimed at helping small businesses in all sectors and areas across the country grow successfully and take on additional staff.

Coming under the headline of ‘Small Business: GREAT Ambition’, the package of new measures includes:

1. Broadband vouchers worth up to £3,000 for fledgling businesses in 22 cities across the UK

2. Deals designed to make energy costs and switches easier to understand and carry out

3. Access to £230 billion of public sector contracts which have previously been off-limits to all but the bigger employers

The measures are aimed at removing some of the barriers small businesses face, as well as improving the working environment for all businesses, and making it easier for them to succeed.

The key measures are:

· Broadband vouchers – small businesses in 22 cities across the UK will be able to apply for up to £3,000 each from a £100 million pot, to cover the costs of installing faster and better broadband, which in turn means they can offer customers faster services and increased reliability.

· A fairer deal on energy – an agreement has been reached with the major energy firms to end auto-rollovers for business customers and limit back billing, as well as increasing transparency of contract terms and making switching providers easier

· In the wake of Lord Young’s recommendations in 2013 that it should be made easier and simpler for small businesses to bid on public sector work, access to £230 billion of contracts will be opened up

· Tackling the problem of late payment to small firms by the public sector. The government has committed to paying small businesses in the supply chain, in the public sector, at the same time as the bigger contractors, whilst also consulting on new measures to tackle the problem in the private sector.

The broadband connection voucher scheme is already available in
Belfast, Salford, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Derby, Bristol, Edinburgh, Newport, London and Manchester.

From early 2014, businesses in Aberdeen,Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton and Hove, Cambridge, Coventry, Derry/Londonderry, Leeds,
Newcastle, Oxford, Perth and York will also be able to take advantage of the scheme.

Alongside these measures, small businesses may also be able to
benefit from an additional £250m which has been made available to the British Business Bank to improve access to finance through measures such as challenger banks, angel investors or crowd funding. This is in addition to £160m made available to extend the Start Up Loans scheme after its initial success.

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