This made me smile today.
https://twitter.com/5tevieM/status/1333115413291552769
Okay, let’s test the speed…
I’ve had my FTTP connection for over a month now, and I am chuffed with the reliability as well as the speed.
However though some of my devices directly connected to the router by cable can benefit from the 1Gb speed, most of the devices in my house are constrained by the speed of the wifi.
I did buy a TP-Link Archer T3U AC1300 mini wireless adapter for my iMac which is too far away to be cabled to the router.
This though was no faster than the built in Airport card, however I could use it on my MacBook which had a slower card and I have managed to achieve speeds in excess of 400Mbps, but not quite the 800Mbps I was hoping for.
My MacBook does not have an ethernet port so I have been unable to test a wired speed for the fibre connection. I bought an USB Network Adapter Syncwire USB 3.0 to RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet.
I did look for a Thunderbolt 2 to Ethernet adapter which I had used before with my MacBook but they were a lot more expensive.
It was plug and play (which I like and wasn’t the case with the TP-Link adapter) and connected my MacBook to the router via cable and tested the speed.
I was very impressed to get in excess of 800Mb/s via the wired connection.
I never thought I would see the day when my home internet access was constrained by the speed of my wireless network, how things change.
Why the web is such a mess
Nice video on why some web experiences are exasperating….
Britbox and BT
I have had BT Broadband for just under a month now. Got an e-mail from BT saying I could have six months free of Britbox.
Actually I got a similar e-mail a few days ago, but when I clicked the link it said that I couldn’t get the offer as it wasn’t available to me.
I had considered subscribing to the service before, but didn’t want to pay for another service for things I might not watch. However all the classic episodes of Doctor Who was quite tempting. So it was a bit of a no-brainer to say yes to BT.
It was disappointing that the link hadn’t worked the first time, so when I got the second e-mail I didn’t think it was going to work, but it did. It was a seamless sign up process and then easy to download the app on the iPad and the Apple TV.
There is a good selection of content on the service, and I think we will get some benefit from the service. Will I renew in six months time? I think that depends on what content we’ve watched and whether they refresh the content over the next few months.
It’s reliable
I think, though I love the speed, one of the key advantages of my new FTTP connection is reliability. I don’t think I’ve noticed if it has gone down or not.
On my old FTTC connection, it was fall over at least once a day or even more. I would usually notice as my Alexa Spot device would show my hub login screen when the connection failed.
Not seen that since we upgraded.
The other key is how much better the BT Hub is over my older (2017) Plusnet Hub was. The strength and spread of the WiFi is much better and combined with the faster speed means that a stable and reliable connection even at extreme distances from the hub in the house. Pleased with that, I was thinking about buying WiFi Extenders, but don’t think I need to do that now.