No cable for me!

[majestic12]

Hi.

i live in a big building right in the center of Bristol and i was very surprised when i moved in to find that virgin media could not supply me with a cable connection. Despite a positive result from their postcode search function a phone call to customer services ruled out my address.

Unfortunately this meant i would have to get a bt adsl line. At the time i did not know just how much worse a bt adsl line would be compared to a cable line.

Now i am faced with the possibility of having to move out of a flat i really love as the internet is to slow for me to work properly and there is no cable line installed. My questions are-

Is it ever possible to get cable installed in a building where it is currently unavailable somehow for some sum of money?

Is there any way to find out when, if ever, cable will be available in my building?

Who decides whether buildings are fitted with cable? - is it the cable company, the owner of the building in question or someone else such as the city council?

Would really appreciate any time taken to answer my questions as i would like to know if there is any chance at all that i can find a way to stay in my flat.

Thanks,
Sean

[MovedGoalPosts]

Installation of cable into larger buildings with multiple occupants is a nightmare. If it hasn't been done it's probably unlikely to be done.

First there the physical cost and logistics of getting the common cable feeds installed through the building (are there any suitable common routes, what about fire protection if you have to make holes through floors, walls etc.

Consent is required of the freeholder of the building (are they contactable?). Consent is also required of each leaseholder since they alos have rights in the building. This is frequently just too much for Virgin to be bothered with.

Fundamentally if Virgin were to even consider this matter in principle (and realisitically they wouldn't due to all the above factors making it just too much hassle), the building occupiers would need to show there is an overwhelming demand from the vast majority of occupiers for cable services so that Virgin might just get a return on their endeavours.

[webcrawler2050]

Hi.

i live in a big building right in the center of Bristol and i was very surprised when i moved in to find that virgin media could not supply me with a cable connection. Despite a positive result from their postcode search function a phone call to customer services ruled out my address.

Unfortunately this meant i would have to get a bt adsl line. At the time i did not know just how much worse a bt adsl line would be compared to a cable line.

Now i am faced with the possibility of having to move out of a flat i really love as the internet is to slow for me to work properly and there is no cable line installed. My questions are-

Is it ever possible to get cable installed in a building where it is currently unavailable somehow for some sum of money?

Is there any way to find out when, if ever, cable will be available in my building?

Who decides whether buildings are fitted with cable? - is it the cable company, the owner of the building in question or someone else such as the city council?

Would really appreciate any time taken to answer my questions as i would like to know if there is any chance at all that i can find a way to stay in my flat.

Thanks,
Sean

if you want a good solid ADSL connection go with BE* I get just short of 16MB on a BE ADSL connection. If your in the city centre, then likely hood is the exchange we will be close.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2009/10/53.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[m419]

City centres are the worst especially london. I found the surrounding areas of the city are best.

You can't get any faster than 6MB on a BT line in Westminster
You can't get any faster than 2MB on Mercury Cable and Wireless line
You can't get Virgin Media cable services anymore in Canary wharf
You can't get past 512K in Canary Wharf

Indoor mobile broadband reception is bad because its built up.

I found that City centres are the worst for getting a vast range of services.

Its annoying but strange.

[Gypsie]

I found that be* worked well in the stepney green! Used to get around 16mb there.

[jungleguy]

when you say big building is this a brand new development, or a property converted into flats?

[majestic12]

Thanks for the replies. looks like i'm screwed. It a very old 1930's listed building. it always been flats though. we are right at the top.

[weesteev]

The problem with older buildings is that they dont tend to have access ducts for telecoms connections into a "riser" area of the building. BT would have put cable (twisted copper pair telco lines only) in initially but there were no cable (coax) connections then.

If we cant get access to a riser area then we cant pull cable into the building unfortunately, your not alone this is a very common issue with older tower blocks.

Do you want me to double check this issue for you? Send me your details and I will check out your address.

Thanks

[jungleguy]

weesteev your at it again, you should get a sponsored link

[majestic12]

Hi weesteev - sent you a PM.

[weesteev]

weesteev your at it again, you should get a sponsored link

Haha that would be nice! You cant put a price on a happy customer though so hopefully I can be of some assistance here ;)

Thanks for the message Majestic, have responded and look forward to hearing from you again.

Stephen