Do I Still Have to Pay BT Line Rental if I Get Broadband/ADSL?
What Do I Need to Receive Broadband?
Can I use a Normal Phone Extension?
Where is the Wylam Telephone Exchange?
ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. ADSL is a broadband connection
technology which utilises existing copper wired telephone networks. ADSL uses
a wide range of frequencies over an existing telephone line to deliver much
higher speeds than your standard 56k modem (between 10 and 40 times faster).
It is also possible to use your phone while online
Use phone line and connect to internet - Currently, unless you have another phone line, nobody can use your phone line while you are connected to the Internet. More worrying, nobody can call you, which in an emergency could prove fatal. Using ADSL your phone line is free for use all the time, even when you are connected to the Internet for hours. This is, of course, not just a benefit to you, but also a source of increased revenue to BT.
Internet game playing - Do you play games using the internet multi-player mode ? If you do, then you will know what it is like to play against Broadband players and lose big time, pings are a massive factor in online games, and using an old dial up will certainly make you lose any game online. Its all about speed there.
For businesses - "do you own a website?" - Connecting via BB will not only improve the speed at which to make changes to website, take orders and so on, but it will also save them time to do more important things for their business, again instead of that waiting game.
No waiting for connection - Unlike a modem dialup, where a 30 second (or more) wait must be endured before connecting to the internet, broadband connects after a short delay. Once connected, you can then be stay online as long as you want to.
No disconnections after a time limit - Some dialup providers will disconnect the line after a time limit, for example BT Openworld has a 2-hour limit. This can be extremely annoying if you are downloading a large file.
Download large mails and/or files extremely quickly
It is cheaper than dedicated 2nd line or ISDN - With Broadband there is no need for a second phone-line for Internet use. So for anyone who already has a second phone-line, it is cheaper to subscribe to Broadband (obviously if it is available!)
Watch high quality video/audio streams - Stream movies at VHS video quality (300Kbps)
Use IP telephony and make free calls to people with like set-ups
Yes. BT's telephone billing (line rental and call charges) are unrelated to your ADSL. You will however not have to make any calls to the Internet as the ADSL is an always-on connection. Instead you will be paying your ISP (see below).
The service makes use of your existing telephone line. It splits the signal into two channels, one for voice communications and the other for the high speed data connection. It makes use of a frequency range not used in normal voice communications.
You will need to select an ISP (Internet Service Provider) in the same way that you selected your ISP (Freeserve, BT, AOL etc.) when you were dialing-up. There are plenty to choose from and it is a very competitive market. Some considerations are:
Speed - The majority of residential users order 512Kbps (0.5Mbps) ADSL connections. Unless you have a specific technical reason and understanding, it's unlikely you'll need anything faster at present. If you're not worried about cost, or wish to download large files a little quicker, 1 or 2Mbps services could be considered.
Modem - You'll need an ADSL modem or router. This is often available from your ISP with the cost either reflected as part of the set-up costs, or reflected in higher monthly charges. After activation, you should be able to connect with the details supplied by your ISP. Alternatively, these are available for around £40 from shops such as PC World or even Argos. The modem connects to your computer via a USB port and then into your telephone socket. If you wish to connect more than one computer you will need to buy a router.
You should also check whether the ISP has any limitations on the amount of data you can access in any given period. Most of the well known providers such as BT Openworld do. There is a great list of ISPs and a comparison of the services they offer on the ASDL Guide website.
You may lose your email address if it is provided by your current ISP (e.g. Freeserve) and you change to a different ISP. You will not lose your email address if you use a generic email provider such as Hotmail or Yahoo or you have purchased your own domain (e.g. john@myhouse.co.uk).
If you are going to put in a new extension, then a normal phone extension kit will be sufficient. There is no need to buy expensive extra high speed type cabling. There is generally no limit to the length.
In order for Heddon, Horsley and Wylam to be able to receive a broadband service an ISP (Internet Service Provider) will need to bring the technology to the area. As with all commercial organisations, this will only happen if there is enough demand.
One way for us to receive broadband would be to have the telephone exchange upgraded by BT. Again, BT will only upgrade the Wylam telephone exchange and install broadband if sufficient demand is demonstrated. BT would not consider upgrading any exchange until they had recieved over 500 registrations from residents and businesses agreeing that they would be interested in broadband if it became available.
The Wylam exchange is situated in Woodcroft Road in the centre of the village. As well as Wylam, the exchange also provides phone lines to Horsley and Heddon-on-the-Wall.
With thanks to www.adslguide.org.uk and www.stocksfieldbroadband.co.uk.
Please email questions to broadband@wylam.info and we will try to help.