Tag: broadband
Average UK broadband speed is 3.6Mbps – and you're probably only getting half the speed you're paying for
Ofcom, the communications watchdog that’s in charge of making sure everyone’s phones work and no one’s getting ripped off too badly by the ring tone companies, has revealed the results of a massive survey it conducted into the UK broadband scene.
As you might expect, we’re not getting what we pay for – as anyone who spends most of their evenings conducting broadband speed tests and sighing at the results will already know…
Vodafone launches pre-pay USB broadband modem
The rise in popularity of pay-as-you-go mobile services has now extended to mobile broadband, with news that Vodafone has launched its first pre-pay USB modem.
The “TopUP and Go” 3.6Mbps modem costs £39 and comes with a £15 credit which offers 1GB of data. Good news: purchased data doesn’t expire after 30 days.
Customers simply use a voucher or call a phone number (08080 101238) to buy additional data…
Be Broadband steps up to the challenge, trial doubles 24Mbps service to near-match Virgin Media
Not to be outdone by Virgin Media’s 50Mbps broadband announcement yesterday, Be Broadband has completed its trials of speed-doubling technology which would take the current 24Mbps broadband up to 48Mbps – almost the same as Virgin Media’s theoretical top speed.
The trial ran at the London Paddington exchange, with Be customers reporting real download speeds of between 30-45Mbps.
Be is keen to point out that its service will run through standard BT phone lines…
Zattoo offers 30 days of free broadcast quality terrestrial TV via Internet
Zattoo, the live TV streaming service that launched back in April, is running a special Christmas promotion where all registered users can get free access to broadcast quality versions of four main UK terrestrial channels plus one digital channel.
For thirty days from today, live BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and BBC News 24 will be streamed at 576×528 pixel, 1.5Mbps bitrate via the Zattoo service…
Virgin Media 50Mbps broadband: it's official
Virgin Media has finally announced the official rollout of its super-fast 50Mbps broadband service to over 12 million homes in the UK.
By the end of the year, around 40% of its network will have been upgraded to the new DOCSIS 3.0 network, with all 12.6 million subscribers expected to be able to access the new service by Summer 2009. The new service could eventually see maximum speeds of up to 200Mbps.
Existing Virgin Media customers can subscribe to the 50Mbps broadband service for £35 per month (assuming they already have an £11pm Virgin Media phone line). Alternatively, broadband on its own will cost £51 per month…
British broadband is slow. Very slow.
If you waited ten seconds or so for this page to load, then you’ll know this already, but your broadband is pretty slow. The Office of National Statistics has revealed that despite Ofcom claiming last year that the average broadband speed in the country is 4.6Mb/sec, more than 42% of connections are less than half that speed – slower than 2Mb/sec.
It turns out that a handful of people using 24Mb/sec services are skewing the stats upward. Worst of all, these figures refer to the advertised ‘headline’ data transfer rates not actual speeds. Statistics for actual speeds would probably be closer to 1Mb/sec, or even lower.
But perhaps it doesn’t even matter. 55% of you have no idea how fast your broadband is, anyway. That said, nearly a fifth of you aren’t happy with it, says a separate report issued by OfCom.
(via PC Pro)
Related posts: Handful of Warrington residents to get 50Mbps Virgin Media broadband | O2 changes mobile broadband based on consumer survey
FetchTV launches: subscription-free VOD with Freeview and DVR
IP Vision has announced a new hybrid set-top box which can be used to access the complete range of Freeview channels, acts as a digital video recorder (DVR), as well as being able to access a range of video on demand content over the Internet.
The company is keen to point out that this is a subscription-free, operator independent service, unlike those from the likes of BT, Virgin Media and Tiscali. It can be used with any broadband provider.
At launch, over 1,200 hours of content will be available in the VoD library including films and programmes from Paramount, ITV, Turner Broadcasting, Eagle Vision, Fremantle, Entertainment Rights and Aardman…
Handful of Warrington residents to get 50Mbps Virgin Media broadband
Virgin Media has been testing out 50Mbps broadband for some time now, and now a few residents of Warrington will get access to the same super-fast system.
Though the Register reports these lucky 200 residents as the “first”, a number of other Virgin Media customers in Ashford, Folkestone and Dover have already been using the souped-up system…
Use your iPhone as a 3G modem… but maybe Stateside-only
It’s functionality that’s already available for a range of popular phones, including the N95, the Skypephone S2, and the forthcoming INQ Facebook phone, but it’s something that a lot of iPhone users would kill for – the ability to use the iPhone as a 3G modem.
The iPhone’s carrier in the USA, AT&T, announced last night that it would release some software to enable this functionality on the device. There has previously been two options for using your iPhone as a 3G modem, but one was removed from the App store and the other only works on jailbroken iPhones.
It’ll almost certainly cost users more money, and the connection won’t be fast enough to do much more than load a few websites, but it’s a nice feature addition to the device, for US users. I wonder if O2 has anything similar in the works over here.
AT&T (via Technologizer)
Related posts: Skypephone S2 offers this functionality out of the box | So will the INQ Facebook phone
Vodafone announces Stick Pro USB mobile broadband plus new deals
Vodafone has announced its new USB Stick Pro offering customers access to its HSDPA 7.2Mbps network, claiming that it has the most reliable and fastest mobile broadband network in the UK.
Having said that, the announcement is honest enough to warn users that average download speeds are anywhere between 1-5Mbps, with maximum upload speeds of 2Mbps but an average of 1Mbps…
