Moving to a non VM cabled area - Leybourne Lakes, Larkfield

gmc · 15-12-2009, 23:30

I am currently on VM broadband in Bromley and will be moving soon to the ME20 6TD area in Leybourne Lakes, Larkfield Kent.

According to VM I am not in a fibre optic area so cable is not available.

As far as I can tell though Virgin cable is available in parts of Larkfield which is the "town" location I will be moving to.

Unless you want to check a specific postcode there seems no easy way to see exactly where cable is actually available. Finding specific street post codes is also not easy to do.

It would be nice to be able to see, for instance, that cable is available just down the road and to have some sort of idea that cable may come to my area.

Currently there is just no way to tell whether I am in an area that might be cabled next week, next year or never.

This is all very frustrating and I am not looking forward to having to severely downgrade my Internet speed.

nodrogd · 16-12-2009, 00:06

Samknows Broadband checker might be a help, although its not guaranteed 100% accurate. Put in your postcode, and then click on the exact location on the map. Put in the house number and click 'check' for availablility.

Sephiroth · 16-12-2009, 00:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by nodrogd

Samknows Broadband checker might be a help, although its not guaranteed 100% accurate. Put in your postcode, and then click on the exact location on the map. Put in the house number and click 'check' for availablility.

He's hacked off because he'll get 512 Kbps from a landline!

EDIT ON READING POST #4:

I went onto BT.COM, gave the postcode and house #2 and got 512K.

gmc · 16-12-2009, 00:21

Thanks; I have used that and it does tell me:

The following services are available in your location:

BT Wholesale ADSL
BT Wholesale ADSL Max
O2 / Be LLU
Orbital / VFast Wireless

Trying to find out what sort of speeds I would be able to get is a bit of a joke. There seem to be so many caveats that it is impossible to get a satisfactory idea of what speed I will actually get. The people I am buying the house from don't have broadband at the moment.

It would be nice to know if there was some glimmer of hope of getting cable in the future. The exchange is Aylesford and it does say that Virgin cable is available in some areas. Problem is I don't know where the "some" part is.

Putting in the exchange name, I get:

Broadband availability overview
ADSL: Yes
SDSL: No
LLU services: Yes
Cable: Yes
Wireless: Yes

v0id · 16-12-2009, 00:50

Have you asked your future neighbours what services they have?

pip08456 · 16-12-2009, 03:58

It looks like you are going to have to resign yourself to slower speeds. The only caveat will be the distance from the exchange.

BTW the Be website returns BB not available for the postcode you gave as does the O2 one.

gmc · 16-12-2009, 10:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by v0id

Have you asked your future neighbours what services they have?

Not as yet because contracts haven't even signed although everyone is in agreement throughout the chain.

---------- Post added at 10:28 ---------- Previous post was at 10:23 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by pip08456

It looks like you are going to have to resign yourself to slower speeds. The only caveat will be the distance from the exchange.

BTW the Be website returns BB not available for the postcode you gave as does the O2 one.

According to Samknows the exchange is 2645m away - not sure if that is awful or not.

It also says I can get adsl and adsl2+.

What confuses me is that the entry for Aylesford says:

20/09/2009 O2 / Be Unlimited has enabled the Aylesford exchange for their service

Perhaps like all things it is never that simple.

Sephiroth · 16-12-2009, 11:59

As I said, BT suggests 512Kbps for your street based on house #2.