Well, it’s a pivotal moment here at ‘Pemberley HQ’. We’re finally, finally, FINALLY getting top-end full-fibre broadband installed.

Regular readers will know that for as long as I can remember, internet speeds here have always been very much ‘behind the curve’ (actually, no sign of the curve AT ALL). During the many years that I ran the business from home, ‘decent’ broadband speeds were never possible and back then, even the big corporations (yes, BT and Virgin, I’m looking at you!) officially confirmed they had no plans to bring faster speeds to the area.

Anyway, fast-forward to a few years back when the rumours began circling locally about a startup called CityFibre who was revolutionising broadband connections, digging up pavements and roads and installing ‘next generation’ full fibre. Even then, I honestly never thought they’d reach Kettering!

Currently, we’re on around 40 Mbps which for the average home would be more than enough. Those who know me, know that we’re not average with our techy stuff and ‘just’ 40 Mbps speed was struggling to keep everything working smoothly. When I first began looking for a faster package, 500 Mbps was about the best you could get – and that, in truth, would have suited us perfectly. Then, just when I thought that was as good as it gets, along came ‘gigafast’ – almost 1000 Mbps (910 actually). A ridiculously fast connection – and no need for it at all here… but I chose it anyway! . Bizarrely, it was CHEAPER than the 500 Mbps option.

Then, just recently, they brought out 2.3 Mbps. Even with my enthusiasm for tech, at £70 per month, it wasn’t for me! Just yet, anyway!!

On the day of the install, we’d prepared ourselves for a bit of upheaval. I was always interested in HOW they we were going to connect us to the main fibre hub as CityFibre had never actually been as far as our place in terms of digging up the pavement/road. I shouldn’t have worried, as apparently, they were going to take advantage of the utility ducts as well as the BT trunking to get the connection right up to the house.

I should make it clear that CityFibre aren’t actually our broadband provider – they just laid the infrastructure (as most Kettering residents will confirm, as huge parts of the town were dug up to bring us into the 21st century!). For the actual supplier, we either went with ‘small and specialist’ or one of the big corporations. In the end, we went for the latter, and selected Vodafone (there was a choice of around a dozen suppliers, all using CityFibre technology).

From what I read online, their customer service gets a bit of a bashing, but they are one of the few that offer the latest router technology (WiFi 6e – thanks for asking!)…

…and a mesh setup (when you can have lots of devices in all corners of the house – that’s us!). Add to that, automatic 4G backup if the fibre connection goes down, and we’re pretty much covered. Oh, and they also ported our home telephone over to run off the router at very little extra cost – and we retained our number too – for the three or four people who ring us on the landline!

8.04am: Well, top marks CityFibre – for punctuality! These days, anyone before 9am means they’re either an ambulance, a doctor or the police!

Jordan and his colleague were straight down to work. First job was to install the ONT (Optical Network Terminal)

That seemed to go smoothly! The next stage took a little longer – getting the fibre optic cable from ‘somewhere up the road’ to the house.

9.45am: Well it all went really smoothly, where a quick test showed some impressive download speeds, although uploading was a bit flaky. I was promised it would all settle down – and it did. By lunchtime, I was getting much more than the ‘minimum speed guarantee’ (455 Mbps). Plenty of homework too for me, as Routers have certainly evolved since I last looked at one in detail. A 2.5G WAN socket and two RJ45 telephone sockets..? OMG!!!!

Time will tell as to whether Vodafone was a wise choice, but for now, I have speeds that I could only have dreamed of (just) a year ago. Now all I need to do is point all our smart plugs and lights to the new connection (see you around Christmas!)

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post At last! Fibre! appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Well, maybe not QUITE yet, but the latest ULTRA Fast internet technology is officially on its way! Huzzah!

At last! After spending the past 35 years or so, being firmly BEHIND the curve with internet-speed technology, we’re going to get the fastest available! The above leaflet arrived through our letterbox yesterday. I thought something was on the cards when I spotted these guys around a month ago, just opposite our house!

Currently, we’re on around 40 Mbps and up to 900 Mbps is promised when we go FULL Fibre!

Boys and their Toys – I can’t wait!!!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post It’s Official – We’re UltraFast! appeared first on Steve's Blog.

No, not the 1982 movie, but simply some news about my never-ending quest to acquire some top-end internet speeds here! Boys and their toys ehh???? .

Since I last whinged about all of this back in February, when I first saw CityFibre in the area, things have moved on. Again, courtesy of CityFibre, it looks like we’re a step closer to getting FULL Fibre in our actual road! Witness the above scene this morning, not more than five yards from the house – it’s purple sheathing being inserted via the drains (that’ll save digging up part of the road!).

All of this purpleness, together with the three recently installed green junction boxes with their cabinet doors now unlocked and open, ready to be connected, means that all we’re waiting for now is the ‘City Gang’ to install the connection points in front of each property.

Historically, we’ve always been ‘BEHIND the curve’ with broadband connectivity, but looks like it’s about the end and we’ve finally caught up! It’s only taken 35 years!!! Happy days!

Update: 22 September

It’s officially official!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post The Colour Purple appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Well, after writing to Virgin Media in 1992, asking about the chances of improving my then pathetic Internet speed of about 1Mbps – it’s finally happened! Back then, their reply was ‘there was no demand in your immediate area for our services’. Today, finally, in August 2022, Cable has arrived! — Aw Bless! It only took them 30 years to make the right decision!!!

Today, a number of the Virgin team were popping postcards through everyone’s letterbox in the ‘immediate area’. And not only that, they’re offering (currently) the fastest speeds on the planet – that’s up to 1130Mbps! . The techy name is ‘Gigabit Broadband’ and even I didn’t think it would ever be that fast around here!! Amazing! . But I really could have done with these speeds when I had the business based here ‘back in the day’!!!

That’s quite an improvement compared with the next best speed currently offered by BT and Sky of around 55Mbps max!

So, am I going to switch? Well, I want to, but as Fate would have it, we’ve just signed a new contract with BT for the next two years!

Bugger!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Virgin in our Post Code! appeared first on Steve's Blog.

‘BT Infinity 2’ has been ‘down’ since the early hours of yesterday morning – it returned this afternoon. That’s the longest outage we’ve had since it was installed.

Still, things seem to be back to normal…

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Down with Infinity appeared first on Steve's Blog.