How do you rate Broadband internet speeds in and around Thornbury

By Trucks79 | Friday, July 08, 2011, 18:21

Official figures show that 72% of residents in the South Gloucestershire area have a broadband connection with anaverage speed of 8Mbit/s.

Is your internet broadband driving you up the wall? are you getting what you pay for?

Doesn't sound bad does it? however if only that was the case, internet users in and around Thornbury struggle to receive more than 5mb on a traditional BT line and although Virgin Media is available in the area some parts of Thornbury are not covered in the cable operators catchment.

The recent figures released by Ofcom prompts the question IF the average connection speed is 8Mb then why are so many households in and around the Thornbury area receiving much less? Well the answer is simple. Most parts of the inner Thornbury area are covered by the cable operator Virgin Media, previously known as Telewest Broadband. Virgin Media uses a fibre optic connection which means they are able to offer lightning fast speeds of up to 100Mb compared to BT's standard broadband of upto 20Mb or their advanced broadband connection BT Infinity which delivers speeds of upto 40Mb. The figures are further bumped up by more populated areas such as Yate and Bradley Stoke where the BT exchanges are more reliable of supporting more than an 8Mb connection.

BT Infinity is not yet available in the Thornbury area and after a number of conversations with staff at BT it would appear that Thornbury residents will have a few more years to wait until it becomes available, residents on the outskirts of Thornbury in areas like Tytherington, Aust, Oldbury will have to wait even longer. By that time Virgin Media could be delivering speeds of upto 1Tb.

One internet user I spoke to said "my BT internet was so unreliable that in the end I decided to ditch it and took up mobile broadband with o2, currently my internet connection is around 6.3Mb some 5Mb quicker than what I was getting from BT"

Another internet broadband user from Thornbury added "I am with Virgin Media, the customer service has at times been poor but the actual products are faultless" my internet speed is fast and consistant"

What do you think about your internet connection? who is your provider and what speeds do you receive? let us know your views on broadband connections in the area.

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Comments

I use Sky. In Alveston. I get a fairly consistent 3.8 - 4Mz down and 0.6Mz up, which is pretty average for the claimed 8Mz. Measured usingThinkbroadband speed test - http://tinyurl.com/3kskr8b This site shows speeds from user tests in an area which vary a lot, though hard to tell whether that's due to different providers.
Basically take any statement about average speeds with a large pinch of salt, particularly over an area served by more than one exchange.

By StanMor at 01:31 on 08/08/11
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Its Saturday morning 7am i hear a lorry and noises and look out of the window? Its workman.

At 8am the cutter started and digger fired up! a hole was cut and then dug. After 30 mins they left barriers and a sign BT OPEN WORLD are we at last in pilning going to get a better internet service ???? We wait with baited breath.

By leaperslair at 10:52 on 07/08/11
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