Spooner Row Message Board

Date: Oct 1, 2012

Slow Broadband? (this topic has a second page)

Date: Oct 2, 2012

RE: Slow Broadband?

Date: Oct 3, 2012

I get 1.0 mbps ..... which is the best I've ever had since going on broadband. Like everything else in this village its still in the dark ages!

Date: Oct 5, 2012

Hi Matt, Welcome to life in the slow lane. I'll try your suggestion reference Bunwell Church but we may be on the boundary.

Date: Oct 5, 2012

Hi Roger,

When I spoke to the chap at WiSpire he said that because the church in Bunwell is higher than Spooner Row we should be ok. The church in Spooner Row is not suitable as there is no Spire. My next option is to have a satelite system installed (not as bad as it sounds, dish the same as your sky dish fitted to the wall), but it is a more expensive system ( about £45 per month but a 24 month contract). I wanted to explore the wispire option first.

There is another system which operates in north Norfolk which uses the TV Transmitters, unfortunately they currently do not use the one at Tacolneston, but are keen to hear from people who would be potentially interested in a service. The main problem is they need loads of people to sign up before they would invest in the mast, and as Spooner Row sits right in the middle of several locations with good broadband they are unlikely to invest in our area.

I think the WiSpire option is our most realistic option at the moment.

They have basically said, if 20 - 25 people sign up as potentially interested in the Bunwell / Spooner Row areas, subject to planning permission and the church agreeing, we could have 8 - 10 mbps for a sensible price within 2 - 3 months.

Date: Oct 12, 2012

You are very fortunate getting 1.5MBit/s! Up until recently we were lucky to get 500k but after moving to BT the speed magically doubled.

Norfolk County Council has funds to provide superfast broadband across Norfolk in the next couple of years with every property getting a minimum of 2Mbit/s.

BT have been contracted with delivering this.

http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/Council_and_democracy/Online_services/NCC093425.

As most of the village is serviced with less than 2Mbit/s hopefully this means that some time in the near future we'll get an optical fibre run in from Bunwell or Wymondham exchange.

However if we've already managed to arrange wi-fi access with more than 2Mbit/s then the requirements will already have been fulfilled and there may be an argument that an optical fibre is not necessary. We would therefore be left with reasonably speed broadband but with a top speed limited by wi-fi technology.

I believe an optical fibre to the village would be the way ahead, with the associated benefits of superfast broadband available to everyone, however we might have to wait a few years and even then the council may decide to provide the service in some other way.

Date: Oct 13, 2012

Interesting view, I am afraid I have to disagree.

EAWYM ( which is the exchange we connect to ) and EABNW ( Bunwell exchange) are currently not FTTC enabled and in my opinion the likely hood of BT Wholesale running a fibre to Spooner Row is practically nill ( We are a small population sitting in the middle of several large areas who are serviced by good broadband performance). The obligation on BT is to provide 2mb not FTTC/FTTH, it is just too expensive, they will just put a repeater somewhere between Wym and Spooner row to nudge us up to the minimum, or they will install something in our homes to improve the signal.

The logic that by not encouraging an independent service company to provide a broadband link because you want to force BT to provide a fast link under their 2mb for all rollout is flawed because fast broadband is available today, just not via the BT network. 24mb down / 4mb up is available from the eutlsat highspeed satelite broadband system ( also known as Tooway ) today ( if you order it now it will be installed by Tuesday), it is just a slightly more expensive option than WiSpire, you also have the various 3G and soon 4G options from the various mobile operators (I can get 3G on 02 at home).

I do totally agree that a fibre to the village is the way forward, but i suspect you may have to wait a while.

Date: Jan 19, 2013

I have been trying to make a Skype video call to a relative but had to give up and just use the audio. the Skype message said it was a slow connection. when is this village going to get a useable broadband connection? its like living in the dark ages.

Date: Jan 24, 2013

Broadband in Spooner Row is a joke. We get less than 0.5Mb. What annoys me is that the Council consider Spooner Row to be a "Norwich Service Village". If this is the case, then give us the services (not just fast broadband) that all the folks in Norwich enjoy. Unless we get a faster broadband speed we will not be able to contribute or participate in the new technologies that are around. Companies (like Sky) are also starting to withdraw their download service so if you can't stream video you can't use the service. The BBC will probably soon follow, so forget the iplayer! I uploaded a YouTube video in HD at the weekend and it took 3h for a 9min video - pathetic. The local economy will fail if this doesn't improve as local businesses will not be able to compete with others who are in the 21st Century. It'll be a lot less fun for individuals wishing to play with the resources available on the Intrernet as well.

Date: Jan 25, 2013

Fast broadband is readily available, just not from BT. It is also not cheap

The BT issue is simply due to the distance you live from the exchange, there is little the council can do about it. Installing a fibre link to Wymondham / Bunwell is expensive, the low number of subscribers in the village mean the installation will be a low priority because it will take a long time to recoup the installation cost. People who live in Norwich ( or other Norwich Service villages for that matter ) which are the same distance from an exchange will get the same speed you do.

If you want fast broadband you have 4 options

1. Move closer to the exchange

2. Subscribe to one of the Satelite providers ( which I have, and I get over 20Mbps constant, great for Iplayer/Netflix/AppleTV etc, very large downloads)

3. Subscribe to one of the shared WiFi services which are not quite as fast but have lower latency.

4. Use 3g at home, just replace your home broadband router with a home 3G system.

Date: Jan 25, 2013

Hi. Would you mind telling me which satellite broadband provider you have and how much you pay per month? I found this http://www.toowaybroadband.co.uk/order_now.php but they want £44.95 per month for 18Mb download....I will get it if the cost is around £20-25 per month.

Date: Jan 25, 2013

Unfortunately it is expensive, they do multiple packages from £24 /month for 8mb but you are correct it starts from £44 for 18mb(plus equipment and installation). I pay £59 /month but then I work from home and use it all day every day. Also consider that those packages are limited download ( so I get 50gb /month).

You need to remember that Sat Broadband is not suitable for applications where time delay is an issue. This means things like Skype / Internet Telephone / Video Phone / XBOX games where you play against each other. This is because it can take up to a second ( i normally get about 600ms, but this is fine for me) for the signal to be sent from your computer to the target computer. Because of this I run a paralell BT Broadband system for Skype/etc.

Date: Jan 26, 2013

In the latest 'Your Norfolk' magazine (Issue 39) it said that the County Council has teamed up with BT to bring better broadband to the whole of Norfolk by June 2015. Superfast speeds (24Mbps) to 80% of homes and every property to receive a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps and above. They've got £15m of government funding for this.

Date: Aug 9, 2013

Looks like Spooner Row will have faster internet speeds from BT by the end of the year – see below announcement from 7 August!

http://www.betterbroadbandnorfolk.co.uk/news-detail.aspx?nearly-20000-norfolk-homes-and-businesses-set-to-be-able-to-access-superfast-broadband-by-end-of-20

Date: Aug 15, 2013

Wow! that really is good news. I really didn't expect them to install fibre to the village, but there you go.

Driving through Old Buckenham on Sunday it looks like they have already installed the fibre boxes at the roadside so it may be sooner rather than later for us.

Date: Nov 6, 2013

You will be pleased to know that Openreach now have Wymondham exchange down as "coming soon" with December being the date it should have FTC available - but no real news for Spooner Row....

Date: Nov 7, 2013

It can't come soon enough, the broadband speed here is ridiculous. You would have thought that Openreach news for the Wymondham exchange would have included Spooner Row as this area is part of Wymondham. I hope Spooner Row is not pushed to one side yet again!

Date: Nov 19, 2013

Wymondham has been connected according to Better Broadband For Norfolk Website. Not sure if that means Spooner Row as well yet?

http://www.betterbroadbandnorfolk.co.uk/news-detail.aspx?latest-bbfn-services-available-from-isps_1

Date: Nov 22, 2013

It does say some parts of Wymondham, I hope it does reach SR soon although I am not holding my breath.

Wispire I think is still an option but I noticed Morley is being connected by BT so demand may fall for Wispire. It may not be cost effective for them to install it.

Date: Dec 3, 2013

Does anyone know where the nearest OpenReach Cabinet to Spooner Row is? I am sure we used to have one in the village years ago..

Date: Dec 4, 2013

There is one on the corner of Guilers Lane and Bunwell Road, opposite the Boars, I don't know if there are more elsewhere but I suspect not

Date: Dec 10, 2013

Well it looks like BT are edging closer and closer to SR, will it come to the village or will we be missed out......find out in the next instalment of 'let them think we are doing them a favour by improving their rubbish broadband with something that would be seen as primitive in many other parts of the world'.

http://www.betterbroadbandnorfolk.co.uk/news-detail.aspx?latest-bbfn-services-available-from-isps_2

Date: Dec 12, 2013

Ah interesting, if the cabinet has been converted to fibre - we will get it, if not - we won't. You can't miss the new cabinets with all the vents on the front of them....

Date: Dec 14, 2013

Hi all, I'm moving to the village on the 19th of December and have been tracking the broadband issue very closely. The best info I have found can be found on the link below. Spooner row is definitely on the list, but time is rapidly running out for the deadline of the end of December 2013! Upon contacting bt, they advised me that they would send out letters and emails to existing customers when fibre is ready to order.

Hope this helps, and look forward to meeting you all soon

Gary

http://www.betterbroadbandnorfolk.co.uk/news-detail.aspx?nearly-20000-norfolk-homes-and-businesses-set-to-be-able-to-access-superfast-broadband-by-end-of-20

ga

Date: Dec 16, 2013

Hi Gary

Welcome to the village, hope you enjoy your time here. I am assuming from your handle that you are moving to Chapel Road, I am at number 8 if you need anything.

I can't see anything happening before the end of the year. I went and had a look at the BT box by the pub at the weekend, I am no expert on BT boxes, but it doesn't look like anything has been updated.

But we live in hope, I will be dissapointed if Infinity isn't offered by March next year.

Cheers

Date: Dec 19, 2013

Some of Wymondham is connected to FTC http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/EAWYM

Until "our" cabinet is upgraded ( we will notice it by the Openreach van being parked next to the Boars for a few days) we will still be waiting to be connected .....

Date: Dec 20, 2013

i see in the Mercury that parts of Wymondham, Silfield and Wattlefield have got their fibre broadband switched on. Croxton near Thetford had it first in July and there are five other villages who will be getting it betweem January-March including Watton. No mention of Spooner Row. Don't you just love having 0.5 mbps or less in the 21st century!

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&refresh=wK0531mJi2D0&PBID=d48df699-c328-43d0-b208-62484cc4b60d&skip=

Date: Dec 27, 2013

I had cause to speak with BT today on another matter and happened to mention that we were getting fibre within the next few weeks and he said that Spooner Row wasn't on any list he had access to, which would normally mean nothing is happening for several months at least.

Also, if you look at the BBFN website, Spooner Row isn't listed under the villages being upgraded as part of the Wymondham exchange which most of us connect to, but as part of the Bunwell upgrade which hasn't been done yet which is odd.

There must be another box ( aside from the one by the Pub ) which routes back to the Bunwell exchange. I wonder if People on that box will be the ones who are included in the 'Parts of Spooner Row' statement, and people who connect to the box by the pub may be out of luck

Date: Dec 27, 2013

So much for the progressive status of Spooner Row as a Norwich Service Village. With the continual lack of any form of adequate broadband service and the severe lack of a serviceable timetable from the halt, it is hardly a suitable place for building lots of new houses.

Date: Jan 4, 2014

Hi all,

hi Toby, I have indeed moved to chapel road. Number 14. Loving the village life, much quieter than Central Norwich I have been used to for the past 29 years! I have been a constant visitor to the village for the past 5-10 years, as Ive known my neighbour bob for some years. I too have a noisy motorbike I'm afraid, and apologise if I upset any when the weather finally improves. I do stick to village speed limits , so if you see a bike speeding through the village, its not me.

After being in the village now for just over two weeks, and having bt open reach out three times already for problems with my line and broadband, the broadband situation is getting no better! On the 30th January I was told by bt that the local exchange had been upgraded to ADSL2+ and the village should have an a realistic speed of 8-11mbs! Although this was not the fibre optic we were all promised, I was very excited about being able to finally use my internet enabled devices in my new home.

After open reach visited for the third time today, I was told today that the info from bt was absolute rubbish, and we would never get any quicker than 2mb, as we are 'at the end of the line'. The engineer told me that the village is on the update scheme, but he had no idea when it would be completed, just the usual end of 2015 at the latest. I have installed a bt iplate which has improved my speed by 300k Taking my sperd upto 1.65mb.

Anybody else here have any positive updates? Surely we can all get together with the council on this, as it's quite shocking how we are being overlooked. I have a lot of things to sort out with the house after moving in (basically gutting the whole house!) and would love to be able to access the internet at a reasonable pace to help with finding builders etc online.

Date: Jan 5, 2014

Hi Gary,

Welcome to the village, I drive a highly modified AMG Mercedes which is most likely as loud as your motorbike hahaha! Thanks for the update I agree it is pretty poor to say we are on the "end of the line" my house is actually "at the end of the line" 7kms from the exchange! Openreach said it was the furthest they had ever seen .... Other villages have got FTC and Spooner Row has become a forgotten place - as with a lot of other posters I can't see how they can justify building more houses in the village with such poor facilities..no shop, an irregular train service and now to cap it all a super slow broadband!!

Unless everyone in the village jumps up and down about this - nothing will happen...the louder you shout the more likely you are of being heard...

Date: Jan 5, 2014

Here we go, quite a long update....

I had some correspondence with a lady from Better Broadband for Norfolk before Christmas, here was her main reply.....

Dear Toby,

You may have noticed that our information releases always refer to ‘parts of areas’ being included. This is because the catchment area for most street cabinets is quite small and therefore an area will usually be covered by multiple cabinets. Some of Spooner Row is receiving an upgrade this year (2013), unfortunately your property is not connected to the cabinet which is currently being upgraded.

Your property is connected to another cabinet, although survey work is complete it has identified severe engineering issues associated with implementation of the cabinet. BT are working hard to resolve them, however, even when the cabinet is live due to the distance of your property from the cabinet we do not expect you to be receiving even the Basic 2 Mbps speed, therefore we will implement an alternative technology.

Alternative technologies are developing in terms of the speeds available which is why we will wait until 2015 to ensure we can use the most effective alternative technology that is available to achieve the best possible speed. However, at this stage I am unable to confirm the speed that premises in this postcode will have access to, but as Sara confirmed the BBfN programme will ensure access to at least a minimum of 2Mbps.

I’m very sorry that the information the programme has published has misled you.

Regards

Karen O’Kane

Programme Director – Better Broadband for Norfolk County Council

This was obviously disappointing, I assume the cabinet she is referring to is the one by the pub and I didn't realise that this technology is still affected by how far away you are from the source!

But in a follow up email she did mention a firm called Thinking Wisp which provides an 8meg wireless service. I have contacted them and they have recently installed a transmitter in Wymondham which should be able to provide a decent service for SR. I have sent off my registration form and will keep you updated on how it develops.

http://www.thinkingwisp.co.uk/

Cheers

Toby

Date: Jan 6, 2014

Hi,

This is really interesting I can't quite see how you can be connected to the cabinet opposite The Boars - as you are only just down the road from it ! There is a cabinet just outside Wymondham which I know goes to some properties in SP- this might make more sense as its about 3 miles away.

We seem to be heading for a two tier broadband in SP if you happen to be connected to the right cabinet you will get a decent speed - if you are not you won't.

Regardless, I have also enquired about wireless broadband - so many thanks for publishing this info.

Date: Jan 6, 2014

Hi all,

i took oil the time to email the better broadband for Norfolk yesterday evening and recieved a response today from Norfolk county council. After seeing Toby's latest post, I do not hold out much hope to our village being brought into the 21st century! We can only wait and see.

Dear Gary,

I'm due to meet Norfolk's BT Deployment Manager tomorrow. I shall
investigate the situation for your specific property and provide you
with information later this week.

Regards
Karen

Karen O'Kane

Date: Jan 8, 2014

I have also received a response from Karen along similar lines:-

"Having investigated, unfortunately the cabinet you are connected to, Wymondham 3 has experienced engineering difficulties during our implementation. We are going to have to conduct detailed survey work this spring in order to find a solution.

Even if cabinet 3 is implemented, unfortunately due to your property distance from the cabinet you would still have access to less than 2 Mbps, therefore your property will be included in Phase 9 during 2015. At which time we will implement an alternative technology to secure a minimum of 2 Mbps. The reason for waiting until 2015 is that alternative technologies are developing rapidly and consequently waiting will optimise the speeds that are achievable."

That at least seems to be the same message we are all getting! Interestingly enough I have noticed that the speed I receive at home has crept up slightly (I stress slightly) since Christmas, has anyone else noticed this?

Date: Jan 9, 2014

A little more info for everyone, the technical difficulties relate to "power provision for the cabinet"

Date: Jan 9, 2014

I seem to have a fairly consistent 1 Mbps.

Date: Jan 9, 2014

Thats the technical Jargon for no where to plug it in

And Jargon, as you know, is Norfolk speak for 'Running' ( just a bit more slowly)

Date: Jan 15, 2014

I was also told that I am connected to Wymondham 3, blah blah 2mbps etc. Now, I live approximately 30 seconds walk from the cabinet next to the Boars, I know that’s where I connect because I watched them connect it, so I asked if that is the all-important Wymondham 3 box we are all so excited about and it would turn out that it is not.

Apparently " BT's network has Primary Connection Points (main cabinets), there are then Secondary Connection Points that are linked to those cabinets by copper, serving local communities.

The cabinet near you is a Secondary Connection Point, it is connected back to the Primary Connection Point (cabinet 3) which is several kilometres away and connected by copper, this is why the speed slows. "

So, even if the whole village isn’t connected to the box next to the Pub, it is a fairly safe assumption that the other boxes in the village do connect back to WYM3 as it seems to be a consolidation point, which even IF it is connected to fibre, the secondary boxes that are too far away to give fibre connectivity anyway

Now, taking that information in, WHY were we given the impression that Fibre was coming, when in reality it most probably isnt? At best it seems misleading, at worst incompetent

Date: Jan 15, 2014

And to cheer us up even more, a reply from Karen at BBFN:

We have been trying to strike a balance between providing some information and not misleading people, hence the text on the website about some premises being included etc. The majority of properties connected to the main cabinet will be receiving Superfast speeds.

We do regularly review how communication can be improved, as a result I asked for the following changes:

- Spooner Row be removed from the website

- For future updates, checks are run to ensure that over 50% of premises in a location will have access to Superfast speeds following implementation, otherwise we will not include locations in announcements

Regards

Karen

Date: Jan 16, 2014

The whole issue is a complete mess, with the upshot that BT are going for the easy options when upgrading communities. How about some real investment BT, install more boxes and better connections to the Wymondham Exchange?

They can lay cables under the Atlantic so you can't tell me that Wymondham to Spooner Row can't be modernised, but it won't be 'cost effective'!

Anyway, I am due for a Thinking Wisp installation tomorrow so will report back on how that goes.

Date: Jan 16, 2014

If you see my post a little while ago I stated it is the cabinet outside of Wymondham that is the problem! They would have to put in a relay station to boost the signal and that is all extra cost...So nice to see SR has now been removed from the list... confuse

I looked into the Wisp and you need to have line of sight to receive a (decent) signal. I have a load of trees in the way - so that is a non starter ....

Date: Jan 17, 2014

What about the WiSpire people?

Also, is it worth several people approaching Thinking Wisp together to try and negotiate a deal as they are a fair bit more expensive than BT/WiSpire?

I am happy to put my name in a hat, I am sure if you could get 10 people to sign up at the same time you could get the price down a bit?

Date: Jan 18, 2014

48 people in Morley have registered with WiSpire and are waiting to go live. Spooner Row has 16 and WiSpire need 25. Spooner Row may be able to access the wifi at Morley.

Date: Jan 18, 2014

Hello

It’s 0.85 Mbps as a constant here in Chapel Road. I used to get 1.2 Mbps up to November last year and then BT "upgraded" the Wymondham Exchange and things went backwards. I spent time with TalkTalk and they called it a day after the third visit, saying "that's your lot".

I have just had my site visit for Itswisp from Intouch Systems and we were getting 8.65 Mbps of the test mast, so I will go live next week. This signal is coming off the Police Headquarters mast at Wymondham. Someone on Bunwell Hill has had it put in and finalised this week, and another customer at the council houses here on Chapel Road was booked for a site visit on Friday, so Itswisp are getting a lot of interest. I have had a client of mine go live with them a week ago, located in Barford, and they are happy.

I spent hours on this issue last year. It felt as if I was hitting my head against a brick wall with BT. We just don't have enough houses in Spooner for BT to be interested. South Norfolk District Council (SNDC) will give you different names every time you call and ask for the Broadband Officer and this Better Broadband for Norfolk (BBfN) is just an excuse for ex council people to take a salary and talk rubbish. I lost track of the amount of times that BBfN moved the likely service provision date for Spooner Row. When BBfn talk of us getting 2 Mbps in phase 9 2015 this is them really saying that you may get something in 2016 if you are lucky. BBfn may have £15 million to spend but is any of this is going to get spent in Spooner Row any time soon!

I even spoke to a BT friend of mine in December when SNDC confirmed planning for 1100 homes at the end of my road (the Suton Lane/London Road development) to see if this would help things here in Spooner Row and his response from "unlikely".

Give Megan a call or speak to Steve for the technical stuff at InTouch Systems and please mention my name when you speak to them

Megan High

InTouch Systems

36 Hurricane Way

Norwich

NR6 6HU

Tel: 01603 425209 – Fax: 01603 486987

E-mail: reception@intouchsystems.co.uk

Date: Jan 18, 2014

Thanks for that information Robert. Looks like ITSwisp are doing a far better job than BT to provide decent broadband to small communities in Norfolk! Will look into this in more detail and mention your name, as you requested.

Date: Jan 19, 2014

Hi all

As Robert mentioned, I had my install on Friday from Thinkging Wisp (InTouch Systems), it was all pretty straightforward and I now have 8mps. The only possible fly in the ointment could be the big tree further up the road, which may interfere with the signal when it leafs in the summer.

But at the moment all is good, no buffering on YouTube and pings times are significantly better on our online gaming (down from 75ms to 25ms). The only thing to keep an eye on is the relatively (to BT) small download allowance. With two gamer kids in the house we regularly hit our 40GB limit, we will have to be a lot more disciplined with a 30GB limit.

I would recommend it to everyone in the village, hopefully you won't have any 'line of sight' problems with the transmitter in Wymondham.

Best wishes

Toby

Date: Jan 22, 2014

Hello all

Just an update on my earlier post.

All up and running this afternoon and my speed is just as Itwisp had promised. We actually saw 9.02 as the maximum speed from the signal received on test. Ended up with an aluminium pole somewhat higher than initial thoughts but I am in a bungalow.

Interested to hear that that the equipment on Wymondham Police HQ mast could see speeds up to 20 Mbps, so room for improvement in the future hopefully. In Europe some of these systems provide 100 Mbps!

Regards

Robert

Date: Jan 31, 2014

Hi

I didn't realise Thinking Wisp had a refferal system, so if you feel that I have helped you in any way by choosing Thinking Wisp could you please mention me when you book? I think you have to use the code Friend 1 and my name is Toby Whittacker-Cook.

As a refferal I would get a few pounds off my next months subscription.

Thanks

Toby

Date: Mar 4, 2014

Can I please encourage as many people as possible to sign up to wireless broadband in the village!! This is reducing the noise on the lines and my broadband speed has been increasing steadily as a result!!! I might reach the magic 2mb at this rate :)

Date: Mar 30, 2015

Hi, Gary here at chapel road. Just a quick update, I will be speaking with Karen of better broadband for Norfolk, who has promised me she will have a date for the install of a fibre infrastructure. I will post an update as soon as I hear anything. How are you guys with itwisp wireless broadband getting on with it? If bbfn falls through again, think I will have to give itwisp some serious thought. Thanks in advance

Gary

Date: Mar 31, 2015

RE: Slow Broadband? (this topic has a second page)

Date: Mar 31, 2015

Ours points towards bunwell and is also fast and reliable. 8meg easily copes with streaming and skype etc.

Date: May 1, 2015

I am currently in dialogue with BT about the state of my broadband. Most days it goes off for 6 to 8 hours, and in between is very slow. (That's v_e_r_y s_l_o_w as in 0.1 meg download, 0.35M upload. Really: upload faster than download, could be a clue for the engineers there.)

Anyway, [long story short] they have found that the problem is caused by some piece of electronic equipment (not mine, not BT's, but belonging to person or persons yet unknown), that is generating an interference signal at 300 kilohertz (the frequency that broadband data uses) and it's that that is clobbering the copper-wire-based broadband of everyone in the area. I seem to be the one who has copped it worst.

Investigations are ongoing. I will report later.

Date: May 13, 2015

I've had issues with BT also john. The last engineer that visited fired a filter on the phone socket, which has made a slight difference. Connection is now constant around 2mbps. I had a response from BBFN and it's not looking hopeful unfortunately. Please see the response below:-

Dear Gary,

I am writing to you because you have previously contacted the Better Broadband for Norfolk Programme. Norfolk has completed a second procurement exercise to expand fibre broadband coverage across the county.

Based on your postcode I can confirm that your property is within the scope of the second Better Broadband for Norfolk Programme rollout.

I expect implementation for the new rollout to begin in early 2016, with the vast majority completed by the end of 2017.

Detailed planning, survey and design work will begin this autumn, until this work is completed I cannot provide further information on specific timings for specific locations. The survey and design work will take place in phases, and more detailed location level information will be released every three months, as it becomes available.

Following implementation, the speed a property has access to, is dependent on the property’s distance from the fibre cabinet. I would expect properties within 1 kilometre of a fibre enabled cabinet to have access to Superfast speeds (24 Mbps+).

One slight caveat, this is subject to survey and there always remains the small chance that this reveals something that would require more work than expected which could cause a delay or, in extreme cases, it is possible that severe technical issues will be discovered that prevent implementation altogether.

Regards

Karen

Karen O’Kane

Programme Director – Better Broadband for Norfolk

Date: Jul 11, 2015

Any developments yet, John?

I've run a check this morning and I'm only getting 0.5Mb/s download and 0.9Mb/s upload. Marginally less when I'm wi-fi on my tablet.

John Turner wrote:
I am currently in dialogue with BT about the state of my broadband. Most days it goes off for 6 to 8 hours, and in between is very slow. (That's v_e_r_y s_l_o_w as in 0.1 meg download, 0.35M upload. Really: upload faster than download, could be a clue for the engineers there.)
Anyway, [long story short] they have found that the problem is caused by some piece of electronic equipment (not mine, not BT's, but belonging to person or persons yet unknown), that is generating an interference signal at 300 kilohertz (the frequency that broadband data uses) and it's that that is clobbering the copper-wire-based broadband of everyone in the area. I seem to be the one who has copped it worst.
Investigations are ongoing. I will report later.

Date: Jul 13, 2015

Hello!

This had gone on so long, I had quite forgotten that I had posted on the Spooner Row board about it.

Eventually, a REIN engineer (that's Repetitive Electronic INterference btw) turned up, did some tests and announced that there was no 3rd part interference signal. [Time passes, more messages to/from BT]… Finally a 3rd engineer arrived. He spent a couple of hours doing more tests & measurements, driving to green box etc. Then he said: “Ok I'm going to clime up some poles”. Ladder & safety harness into action, he worked his way along the roadside poles in Top Common. Came down with look of triumph on his face & small piece of wire in hand: “Here it is, one wire where the insulation was split, weather damage & corrosion had damaged the circuit; I've re-wired it”. I haven't had any outages since & the speed is a lot better (appx 1.8 Meg which would be laughable in an urban area but for here is better than it has ever been).

I agreed a compensation payment from BT for the inconvenience; they have paid it to me and the incident is closed from that point of view.

Date: Aug 15, 2015

i live on chapel road & was paying £16 per month with Virgin & only getting 576kbps internet - now im with SSE & get 273kbps! The only good part is that its Free for 2 years & an 18 month contract - if i cant get quality i have to settle for price.

Date: Aug 15, 2015

I forgot to mention - there is another way of getting faster internet in chapel road via your mobile phone. My son-in-law manages to get 7MBs download by using a data sim card from EE in his samsung galaxy s4 then sets the phone as a Wifi Hotspot so my daughter & myself can connect. The cheapest deal so far is £10 per month for 1gig data, £15 - 3gig, £20 - 15gig & £30 25gig it works fine. Strange how a small little phone can be faster than my router in the house!

http://shop.ee.co.uk/mobile-tariffs/sim-only-data-plans

Date: Oct 8, 2015

is anybody using itwisp in the village? I've finally had enough of Bt, and looking at the two options of itwisp and thinking wisp, itwisp seems to come out on top for price. Now got Bt agreed to end my contract early, and looking to switch to a wisp service, but just looking for info from anybody that has used the service.

Looking at the open reach site, it states 'they are in the area' but no date still for fibre broadband. I now get 4g connection on my mobile with Vodafone at around 25mbps, which seems ludicrous compared to my 1mbps from my landline?!?!?! Unfortunately to use it for any serious use, it would cost a small fortune at £25 every 10gb!

look forward to your responses

Gary

Date: Oct 9, 2015

ITWisp and Thinking wisp is the same system. Thinking Wisp (brand name of Anglia Farmers) is re-selling the ITWisp system. If you want a telephone line you will need to pay them £9.99 per month I think, also if you want to disconnect your BT broadband service all together you may have a fee.

Several people in the village have the system, reports seem to have been positive, you can see where it is installed by the little button aerial on their roof.

Date: Oct 9, 2015

Gary, pop round (No.8) if you want to at the weekend if you want to have a chat about our experiences.

Date: Oct 24, 2015

Do I need any kind of special router ? Can't seem to find any info on it anywhere?

Date: Oct 24, 2015

You need a router which has a WAN uplink, and which supports PPoE connections, if that means nothing theN don't worry because they can/will supply one at the time of installation.

Date: Oct 26, 2015

Hi all, got my itwisp install set for 13th November. Earliest they could get, but can't wait to finally have a sensible internet connection. The tree you mentioned in a previous post Toby, is that the one in my neighbours garden? If so I'm currently in dispute with saffron housing, to get it taken down or at least maintained as its blocking out the light to my property. It seems though , as I own my property, I have nowhere to go with this.

Date: Oct 27, 2015

Good luck Gary on taking the plunge, I think you will find it is a good move.

The tree didn't have any effect in the end, it was something the installer pointed out that could be a potential problem, but nothing materialised when it went leafy in the summer.

The only downside is that in the last few weeks I have noticed a deterioration in the quality of broadband I have been getting. Speeds are half what they should be and we seem to be getting brief disconnects. I do need to phone them to investigate.

Date: Oct 27, 2015

That's great Toby, just as I place my order, they start having issues haha! Do you think the weather has any effect on the service?

Date: Dec 5, 2015

Just typed NR18 9JR in Rightmove to check what visitors to the site are told our broadband speed is in Spooner Row. It reckons we are Superfast enabled at 76Mb.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/broadband-speed-in-my-area.html#NR18_9JR

What a joke - the actual speed that I checked just now is 1.3 Mb!! Try your postcode....

http://www.broadband.co.uk/broadband-speed-test/

Date: Dec 11, 2015

Hi to all. I have just got rid of Itswisp wireless broadband. And for those, like me who only can wish of decent broadband, this was meant to be the fix. IT'S NOT. The service has been unreliable with dropouts galore. Trying to watch hd film is amusing as the speed fluctuates dramatically. The film then becomes a waste of time to watch. I had one of their engineers out who agreed that I was only getting 4mb instead of 8. What happened? NOTHING. As my connection was due to be cancelled today I did a speed test. 30mb down, 11mb up. I was I heaven. I called them to say I want to keep it. I was told I would receive a call back.. NOTHING. Then the broadband dropped out. So I called them and they said it was an error. Their fault. If I wanted more I would have to pay, but only for 8 down 1 up. Great. Not a company I want to deal with again. And if I can save a few people from the same mistake then great.

Date: Dec 14, 2015

so what did you change to?

(also, I believe that their system runs at 30/11 but the performance is restricted by the supplier to stop one person hogging all the capacity)

Date: Dec 14, 2015

I can't believe that the broadband around here is so archaic. Its good in Wymondham and its good in Attleborough, but Spooner Row, despite being close to the A11, is pathetically poor.

Date: Dec 14, 2015

it is as simple as the distance from the exchange to your house. Living in Wymondham means you are closer to the Wym exchange, and the same for Attleborough. As Spooner Row either connects to the Wymondham or Bunwell exchanges, we are always a fair distance away.

While proximity to the A11 is beneficial in moving cars at high speed, it is not actually an integral part of the information superhighway responsible for moving your data at high speed.

(I apologise in advance!)

Date: Dec 18, 2015

I have seen numerous coloured markings along the pavement on Station Road and there are some utility workmen digging there today (Friday). Does anyone know what this is about? I had heard a rumour that Openreach had sprayed the pavement markings.....

.....could this mean faster broadband is finally coming to Spooner Row?

Date: Jan 6, 2016

Anonymous wrote:
Just typed NR18 9JR in Rightmove to check what visitors to the site are told our broadband speed is in Spooner Row. It reckons we are Superfast enabled at 76Mb.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/broadband-speed-in-my-area.html#NR18_9JR

What a joke - the actual speed that I checked just now is 1.3 Mb!! Try your postcode....
http://www.broadband.co.uk/broadband-speed-test/

I have done a check on my download speed using the above speed-test and it is 1.4Mb. It is about time we got an improved broadband service to this village. We want and need 21st century online options.

Date: Jan 6, 2016

Bunwell Road

Speed 1.28m

Date: Jan 7, 2016

I just ran mine in Queen Street and the result is 0.26Mb .... it's no wonder I lose the will to live every time I get on the internet.

Date: Jan 7, 2016

0.26 is WAAAAAY too slow for even Spooner Row, I would guess you have a fault somewhere. Most of the village should be at least 1mb, most should be between 1.2 and 2.2 (My BT connection is about 1.9 - 2.0 but I am very close to the BT box). Does your phone line crackle or hum when you are on the telephone?

Date: Jan 7, 2016

I'm working in Norwich at the moment and getting 11Mb/s (660Mb/min) - that's a massive 330x faster than the best Spooner Row can offer. I hear that George Freeman was supposed to be helping rural communities get faster connections.

-- Edited by webstation on Friday 8th of January 2016 10:51:18 AM

Date: Jan 8, 2016

11 Mbps is actually 82.5Mb/min not 660Mb/min (compared to 11.25Mb/min which is what you would see in Spooner Row on a 1.5mb connection) so actually 7 and a bit times faster not 330, but I take your point, Norwich is indeed faster than Spooner Row

George Freeman's (bless him) help extends to stating of the obvious that us poor country folk should have faster broadband, cheers for that George, what would we have done without you?

Using the MP's powers of demanding stuff that they have neither the power nor the understanding to influence in the slightest, we should also see a swift end to famine, disease, a cure for cancer and same sex partners on strictly come dancing (too controversial?)

The very simple fact is to speed up broadband in Spooner Row, a new wire needs to be run from the telephone exchange in Wymondham/Bunwell/Attleborough to the cabinet next to the pub. This is quite expensive to do, but they will do it eventually and then we will join the 21st century. (not wishing to stir up the hornets nest, and for this i apologise) new demand for additional phone lines in the village may just be enough to tip the balance in favour of installing new equipment. I did hear a rumour that Spooner Row is included in the BBFN phase 3 which starts in April and ends in November.

There is always the ThinkingWisp system available today which people seem to be relatively positive about? thats about 10Mbps, if you have deep pockets there is Satellite Broadband which i think is about 50Mbps and if a few more people sign up there is always WiSpire. There are several options available to you right now....

Date: Jan 9, 2016

I stand corrected over the download speed.

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-transferrate.htm

It seems that this is technical jargon to make those with slow speeds think it's not as slow as they think. The fact is I downloaded Gb data in minutes in Norwich and the time it took to do this equated with a download speed of actually more than 330Mb/min! If the download speed was truly 82.5Mb/min it would have taken 3.6h and it took about 30-40 min.

I'm waiting for improvements in satellite broadband and would be prepared to pay the additional costs. I've heard of nothing but problems with wifi and more houses in the village connected to any wifi set up will just slow everybody down. Any cable from Wymondham to Spooner Row sounds like wishful thinking to me. You'd need hundreds of houses to make it cost-effective, but hey that's what Spooner Row will have in the future (but then it won't be a village anymore, will it!).

Date: Jan 9, 2016

There seems to be a fundamental error in calculation here.

1gb = 1024 mb which when you divide 1024 by 82.5 you get 12.4 minutes

40 mins x 330 is 12.8gb

the fact is you did not download 1gb of data in 30 - 40 mins using a 330 Mbps/min (44mbps) link which was functioning correctly.

the technical jargon you refer to is not used to convince people with slow connections they have more than they do, everything is not a conspiracy you know, it is simply that you do not understand the technology you try to talk about and when someone tries to correct you it collapses into an argument.

Date: Jan 9, 2016

There is no argument. You're just trying to provoke one. I admitted I didn't understand, but now I do! In Norwich I didn't download just 1Gb in 30-40min, I downloaded 16Gb (16,384Mb) in 30-40min. The facts speak for themselves. If I try and download the same file from the same server at the same time, I get 11.3MB/s (0.1Gbps, 11,571.2 KBps) in Norwich and 171KBps (1.4Mbps, 0.2MBps) in Spooner Row, so Norwich ~30min and Spooner Row ~13h.

http://www.dslreports.com/calculator?sz=&time=&speed=11.3MBps&c3=Calc

http://www.dslreports.com/calculator?sz=&time=&speed=171KBps&c3=Calc

There is deliberate confusion over megabits (Mb) and megabytes (MB). If you do a speed test on the internet it will give it to you in Mbps NOT MBps, because it looks faster! If this is not a conspiracy to confuse us then tell me what is! Anyhow, who cares? The authorities reckon we should be happy with 2MB/s which in reality will just be the peak rate and on average will be a lot less). This is absolute rubbish and won't allow us to do things that people in Norwich can do already. Haven't you heard that more and more people are moving to cities? This means that those of us who live in rural communities will suffer because we'll just get dumped with loads of houses for people who commute to the cities, but who have almost no interest in village life and without any infrastructure matching that which is available in cities.

Date: Jan 9, 2016

I wonder what the broadband speed in Wymondham is? I hear it is quite good. If it is so expensive to provide the cable to bring Spooner Row up to the same level as the rest of the parish in Wymondham, why doesn't the council set up a special fund or put aside a portion of our precept to pay for this. We get very little else when paying premium rate 'Town' council tax prices.

Date: Jan 10, 2016

I live in Wymondham and usually get about 8.5 mbps. With my 3G network I get about 5mbps with EE. I should be moving to Spooner Row in the next month and the internet speeds are a genuine concern.

Date: Jan 10, 2016

Was that determined from an Internet speed test? Was it 8.5mbps (megabits) or 8.5Mbps (megabytes)? Can you really download an 8.5Mb file in 1 second? 8.5MBps is the same as 71Mbps...

http://www.dslreports.com/calculator?sz=&time=&speed=8.5MBps&c3=Calc

Is the plan to give us a minimum of 2Mbps or 2MBps. Big difference!

Date: Jan 10, 2016

I wrote mbps not MBps. It was a speed test. I have the slowest internet of all of my friends and family who live in Wymondham; at 8mbps. I know that is different to MBps but it is still considerably faster than it will be in Spooner Row! It will simply take time to get decent speeds there but I am still prepared to move to the village because of other benefits it brings. Internet is only one consideration albeit an important one.

Date: Jan 10, 2016

It will definitely be 2mbps. That is the accepted unit used to express internet speeds.

Date: Jan 23, 2016

After having thinking wisp (itsWISP) installed for around two months now, I can safely say they are not much better than Bt for customer Service! Had an issue since day one, and still ongoing. I'm supposed to be getting 8mb but usually receive around 2-4mb. I only see 8mb first thing in the morning or very late at night. Gone through two routers at my own cost and all itsWISP are doing is 'monitoring my connection' seems the only way to get fast reliable broadband is to move out of the village.

Date: Jan 24, 2016

I agree with you Gary, it's so frustrating living in this village with these broadband problems - we're missing out on a lot. I am also fed up with the lack of mobile phone reception. Was expecting an important message this evening and no mobile signal, then got half a bar, but daren't move the phone in case the signal was lost again.

Date: Jan 24, 2016

I'm going to speak with Intiuch tomorrow and let them know that I'm aware that everybody else is having the same issue as myself. Mobile wise, I get 4G signal with Vodafone. Around 21mb. Checked the Openreach site again last night only to find, yet again, they've given up with spooner row again. Only real option I can see is to move. Where are you located in the village? And have you now cancelled your itsWISP service?

Date: Jan 26, 2016

What was the outcome?

Date: Jan 27, 2016

Got me to perform a direct Poe test (by passing my router which they said must be faulty) and it came in at 3.5mb. Now running around 2.5mb. Spoke to 'steve' the manager and he said he'd monitor my connection and get back to me. After a few days, I called them to see what was happening. They apologised and said they were sorry I wasn't getting the 75% of the connection speed as promised but there must be wireless interference affecting my roof unit. As a goodwill gesture they could downgrade me to the 6mb package do I am getting the 75% connection speed, but I'd only get 25gb data each month instead of unlimited. I asked if they could just reduce my current package, again being told they'd get back to me. As expected, I've heard nothing again. Told them others in the village were having issues, but said they'd had no reports of issues from anybody else do this must be an isolated incident. Seems like going back to Bt for £5 less and a phone line and bt sports could be my only option. Everyone keeps going on about wire spire, but surely this will bring the same issues as Intouch systems? Checked on the open zone site again last night, which now suggests community funding. If we all chip in around £250k they can put in fibre infrastructure to the village??? What happened to the government better broadband scheme?!?!?!?! If anybody wishes to contact me directly, feel free to email me at garyburman1104@gmail.com.

Date: Jan 29, 2016

Give BT business a ring and ask them to quote you a 100mb Ethernet connection. I bet they can supply you one for about 10k per year. Get this fitted in the church then stick a wifi aerial on the roof to a decent router and all the local residents will get a shared 100mb connection. If 30 people take it up at £30pm your get a min of 3.3mb up and down if all 30 are concurrently using the serivce, but if you think contention ratios of BT are 50:1 you get a good idea in most scenarios your get 70mb or more.

Date: Jan 31, 2016

If you are prepared to manage it on behalf of the village which is not as simple as turning it on and collecting the money then the principle is valid (although it most probably wouldn't be a 100Mbps Ethernet link, probably what they call a 'leased line'

A cheaper alternative (assuming you want the grief of managing the local residents, which looking at the history on this forum alone would suggest that would a exciting challenge on it's own) would be to install 20 normal BT landlines with standard unlimited broadband packages ( 20 x £16 ish per month = £320 per month, = £3840 pa), you would need some load balancing and aggregation kit, but that is not that complicated, say another £500 - £1000 pa, then a commercial carrier grade WiFi transmitter, about £500 bolted to the church, some electric. Bosh, Spooner Row has 100Mbps to share for about £5500pa. As you need more bandwidth, just scale the landlines

The problem you will have is there will be some people in the village ( particularly those with teenagers and online gamer's in the house) who will consume considerably more than those who wish to just watch iPlayer every so often, so the contention ratio's you mention will be way off. BT use 50:1 because they have tens of thousands of lines they can balance across, if you literally only have 100Mbps you will not be able to run at such high contention levels, I would suggest it would need to be down at the 15:1 to 20:1, perhaps even lower. So now we are starting to get expensive.

There are alternatives where you can combine Satellite and land lines to separate out the high and low demand traffic, but now we are starting to get complicated, but still considerably cheaper than 10kPA, but now we need a dedicated network support team for the village.

Date: Jan 31, 2016

If Spooner Row had its own parish council to look after the interests of Spooner then this is the sort of thing that could be managed by it. There clearly are some very knowledgeable people in the village who could benefit this local community. Our precept would go towards paying and managing an adequate broadband system.

Date: Jan 31, 2016

A lease line can be presented as an Ethernet connection, which is what most people want.

20 lines will be 16£pm on rental alone, top that with unlimted broadband and looking at a lot more. Plus 20 lines with an average of 3.5mb down and .3 up will be way slower, not to mention latency on a LL in the <10s. The overhead on link aggregation is high with lots of small connections, especially with multiple users. Contention of 30:1 on 100mb with caps will would be no worse than most are getting with the advantage of 1:1 up and down.

i'll make a few calls, always worth a try.

Date: Feb 1, 2016

Yes, you are right. If you can get a LL for the right price it would be certainly better than multiple phone lines, it's all a matter of pays your money take your choice

However, i wonder if it would also be worth investigating building a wisp system like thibkingwisp or wispIre?

or if more people sign up to wispire they may install in spooner row?

what is other people's experience of it's wisp. You still have the problem of supporting the users....

Date: Feb 1, 2016

Still issues with itsWISP. Not heard back after I contacted them last Thursday. The service was great for the first few months, but now having issues of speeds around 2.5mb and they seem to have no idea why, and to be honest I don't think they care.....customer service is not there strong point haha!

Date: Feb 25, 2016

Update from BBFN:-

There is currently a wide geographical area covered by Wymondham cabinet 3 which includes Spooner Row. This is why the speeds are so bad currently.

There are five new pairs of cabinets planned under the Better Broadband for Norfolk rollout to cover the area currently covered by cabinet 3. This will provide cabinets much closer to people, they will be fibre enabled and therefore offer good speeds. This is a significant piece of work though, involves re-designing the copper network in the area to be picked up by the new cabinets.

I don't have a date currently, but based on the scale of the work required would estimate completion during 2017.

Date: Mar 4, 2016

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35718107

I think Spooner Row could give this village a run for it's money. I have been accepted to receive the subsidy for satellite broadband. Essentially it is £350 towards the cost of installation.