Standard Broadband

[vintageteacups]

Hi - have just entered our new home address and it says there is only standard broadband there as it's so far from the exchange.

I'm planning on buying an iPad once we've moved - will that be just the same speed? It will won't it? I'm crap at technology!!!

Apparently, the post office (who our current number is with) said that the new house/area is getting asdl (?) soon in November.

Will my ipad be mega slow until then?

Thanks

I'd suggest logging onto some ISPs websites - BT, Virgin, etc and you can usually enter your postcode to see what speed you can get. Here is the BT version. Just click on "check your speed" and you can enter your new telephone number if it's with BT or the address if it isn't.

You can also go here: BroadbandSpeedChecker and use the postcode to see roughly what speeds others are getting in your area.

I did check what the speed is (just said standard 512kb? I think)- just wondering whether it will hugely effect the ipad or will that still be faster than the laptop?

I think they'll both be quite slow, to be honest. Not sure the end device makes that much difference but could well be wrong.

Ok, first of all. If you can only get 512Kbps then that will be the fastest both your laptop and ipad can surf. So there's no difference. Neither will be "faster" than the other.

Think of broadband speed like a motorway with a speed limit. Doesn't matter if you buy a Ferrari or a Fiesta. You are limited to 70Mph.

What it will mean is that you will struggle to download big files. So if you download a lot of music, videos etc then yes you will struggle. Youtube HD clips won't probably run. You'll probably only be able to download one file at a time without wanting to kill yourself in protest!

If all you do is check your emails, news and Facebook then you may not even notice the difference.

In short 512Kbps is ok for light use. No good for more than that.

"In short 512Kbps is ok for light use. No good for more than that."

Sorry, but I'd have to disagree ! It won't be ideal (or perhaps even usable) for watching video streaming using, say, BBC iPlayer, but it will still be easy to download whole shows (overnight if necessary, for example with a budget ISP that doesn't count off-peak traffic).

There's a BBC iPlayer diagnostic page which gives 'traffic lights' for the various services - I just ran it and put a link *> online here

sorry - meant to add I put a screen shot of my results on that page, and that is followed by the link to the BBC speed test page.

Thanks guys - and thanks for your pm network guy.

So are you basically saying, I won't be able to watch Holby on BBC iPlayer? unless I stream it rather than 'watching now'?

Oh well - I guess not too long to wait until November when they're sorting ASDL.

Thank you.

Can you get 3G ipads? That might be faster.

Also depends on the coverage but you might be better off getting a 3 dongle and waiting for the exchange to be upgraded, although you sound pretty rural so coverage may be pants.

We had 512kbps speed when we first moved to our flat, we didn't know any better so thought it was great streaming video was a problem though. It went up to 2 mbps when adsl+ was installed, then 4 mbps when adsl 2+ came about, we are at the heady heights of 6 mbps in our current house, luxury.

Note the error - I called it ASDL - that's how little I know .

Didn't want a 3G ipad as it's a monthly contract and I'll only be using it at home really.

You'd be able to download very easily but not watch it streaming over the connection.
Downloading it during the night is what I'd recommend.

VforV - I'm so envious... Where I was before I could get 7 Mbps and now that exchange would probably be giving me 10 or more Mbps, but I had to move and the village I'm in is about 5/6 km from the exchange (and it's a satellite off the main town exchange so has older equipment and fewer alternative ISPs), so I'm getting 2 to 2.5 Mbps now (last year with a fault on the line, it was 160 kbps, a third of the basic 500 kbps).

Some people in rural areas (with interference from electric fences) are only getting 250 kbps, but the TV ads by BT mentioning 40 Mbps or Virgin (which offers 10, 50 and 100 Mbps) are getting me down now.