Fastest provider in St. Albans?

My wife and I are new to the UK (from the U.S.) and getting ready to move into a new apartment in St. Albans. I'm trying to figure out which broadband provider will be the fastest so I can stream U.S. TV over the Internet.

Our postcode will be: AL1 1SF

I'm also curious which provider typically has the fastest install times, we'll be pretty helpless without Internet since we don't know the area.

Lastly, I'm leaning towards Sky for TV because they seem to be the only ones that you can get more than 2 HD channels from. I was surprised to see that Virgin was so far behind. But it's really annoying to see that Sky requires you to have a land line to sign up. Seems some other providers require this also. Does this mean I'll have to call BT to get a landline installed at the apartment (or just switched over from the previous tenants?) before ordering broadband? How long does that take?

Thanks and sorry for all the questions!

[Admin]

Hi There

For all broadband providers (except Virgin) you will need a BT line installed and working before you can order broadband. If the line is already physically installed to the flat then connection is usually pretty quick.

You live very close to your telephone exchange, so you should get speeds approaching the maximum deals offer.

The fastest supplier in your area is currently be broadband who offer speeds up to 24Mbps.

O2 broadband are available and would offer up to 20Mbps

Virgin Broadband offer up to 20Mbps in your area and you can tie this in with a TV service (and they have the advantage of not needing you to have a BT phone line).

Sky Broadband offer speeds up to 16Mbps and when tied in with a TV contract they offer extremely good value for money.

Install times for broadband are usually around 10 to14 days, but sometimes you can be lucky and it's quicker, other times longer..

I hope this helps
Admin

Yes, very helpful! Thanks.

Couple follow up questions:

I see most require a 12 month contract. If I were to move after 6 months, would I be breaking the contract? Here in the US, DirecTV has contracts but if you are moving it isn't considered breaking the contract.

It's strange to see different providers with different speeds available. In the US the local phone company owns the line. You have different DSL providers, but they don't have a phone line infrastructure, they buy it from the phone company, so the speed you get would be the same. I guess in the UK each provider has their own network and lines run?

In the US, DSL is dedicated bandwidth, but cable is shared with your neighbors. This means cable can slow way down during peak usage times if all your neighbors have cable broadband as well. Same in the UK?

When I put our postcode into the various postcode checkers I see notification about some adsl2 max and that they date for this in St. Albans has been pushed out until later (march/may? I forget) in 2009. What is this and does it mean faster speeds will be available soon?

Thanks again, your site is extremely helpful in figuring out all the various options!

[Admin]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes, very helpful! Thanks.

Couple follow up questions:

I see most require a 12 month contract. If I were to move after 6 months, would I be breaking the contract? Here in the US, DirecTV has contracts but if you are moving it isn't considered breaking the contract.

You can usually move and take the service with you without any problems, the thing to watch for is if you move into an area where the supplier you have signed up does not offer their service. You may have to pay a penalty to cut the contract in such a case.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It's strange to see different providers with different speeds available. In the US the local phone company owns the line. You have different DSL providers, but they don't have a phone line infrastructure, they buy it from the phone company, so the speed you get would be the same. I guess in the UK each provider has their own network and lines run?

In the UK phone lines are owned and operated by British Telecom. However at the exchange it gets a bit more complicated, some providers have their own broadband equipment (these tend to be the ones who offer the higher speeds) whereas others rent broadband equipment from BT.

The exception is Virgin Media who run their own telephone lines and broadband equipment in a completely separate way and they do not allow any other supplier to resell their network.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

In the US, DSL is dedicated bandwidth, but cable is shared with your neighbors. This means cable can slow way down during peak usage times if all your neighbors have cable broadband as well. Same in the UK?

Its a bit different in the UK. Virgin's Cable service is like the US cable broadband you are used to, but benefits from the speed not dropping with distance, they're also upgrading their network, so although contended, you are less likely to see issues like in the states,.

All other suppliers use ADSL (or one of its variants) and you line is not contended, but at the exchange their is contention when you get onto the backhaul networks, so you can see speeds drop at peak times.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

When I put our postcode into the various postcode checkers I see notification about some adsl2 max and that they date for this in St. Albans has been pushed out until later (march/may? I forget) in 2009. What is this and does it mean faster speeds will be available soon?

BT are upgrading their equipment at the St Albans exchange to enable their Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) product, this is something only available top broadband suppliers. A supplier who uses WBC can offer speeds up to 24Mbps if they wish to, however takeup of this product by ISP's hasn't been huge to date, and most of the larger providers prefer to but their own equipment in place for such high speed services, like O2 and Be have already at your exchange.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thanks again, your site is extremely helpful in figuring out all the various options!

Glad to be of help any other questions just fire away!

Again, huge help, Thanks. I'm leaning towards Sky for sure now because of HD and pricing turns out cheaper than Virgin which surprised me (but I guess shouldn't).

The thing I can't figure out is their need for a landline. If I get SkyTV, SkyTalk, and SkyBroadband I have to have a landline. (I can get SkyTV without it, but have to pay 25 pound initialization fee or agree to get the landline within 6 months, but no Talk or Broadband without line first). As part of the online process I can check the box that says I will pay my landline rental to Sky. Can they not set me up with the landline then? I have to have a landline first for them to transition over to Sky?

This part is a tad off topic as this is a broadband forum, but if you know, it would be a big help. Who do I call to get the landline in our name? Should I find out who the previous tenants had their landline through or does that not matter? Do all new lines have to be turned on by BT? If I plan on switching the rental charge over to Sky do I have to make sure I'm not stuck in a contract with someone else? Thanks!

[Admin]

Hi

As far as we are aware you need to order a telephone line from BT and then switch it to Sky for the talk product.

When you sign up with BT for a phone line you are right, don't enter a long term contract for voice services. Setting up a BT line costs around £120.

Hope this helps
Admin