Improving your Broadband in Sutherland...
Getting connected to the internet, with decent speeds, is very mixed in Sutherland. This is in part due to the large geographical areas covered but also because of the geological, topographical elements of the landscape. There are some solutions and ideas though, and we have put together some tips, from the easy to do-it-yourself at home to bigger, community initiatives to help. We've also created a plain-English jargon buster because the world of broadband can very quickly get technical and that shouldn't stop anyone getting access to the internet.
First Steps:
- Even if you aren't a BT customer, give them a phone and ask what faster services are available. Broadband services are getting upgraded all the time at the moment, and BT have an over-view of everything so after a call to them you should have worked out if it's physically possible for you to get faster speeds or not. BT: 0800 800 150 you can also check whether Fibre is coming to your address soon here: Superfast website
- If you can't get Fibre, try 4G. This just works via radio signals rather than cables, but you can still have a traditional hub and plug in to that. The main providers in Sutherland are EE, Vodafone, Three and 02. Check if they cover your address by clicking these links: EE - Vodafone - Three - 02
- If neither of these steps are going to work for you, then read on...
Do you struggle with slow broadband?
Copper wire customers
If you are getting very slow speeds, remember, you have a legal right to request an upgraded connection if you can’t get a download speed of 10 Mbit/s and an upload speed of 1 Mbit/s. It is up to the provider to deliver whatever package and speeds you have signed up for.
BT for example can upgrade customers to Halo, and provide a mini hub that uses the 4g network to connect. Give them a call on 0800 0857344.
If you are a Halo customer already, you could ask them for a mini hub that works off 4g. This looks like a regular router and you connect to it in the same way. It can get you around 15mbps and up to 30mbps.
BT for example can upgrade customers to Halo, and provide a mini hub that uses the 4g network to connect. Give them a call on 0800 0857344.
If you are a Halo customer already, you could ask them for a mini hub that works off 4g. This looks like a regular router and you connect to it in the same way. It can get you around 15mbps and up to 30mbps.
Your connection – thought about ditching the copper and getting 4G at home?
If you have 4G coverage, then you should be able to get a router/hub that uses the 4G network from any of these providers and connect to 4G internet in the same way as you connect to Broadband from your laptop etc now. There are two main options; either connection through the copper and fibre cables, with or without a landline or using the signal from the masts. An external antenna is available from several operators that will boost the 4G signal if coverage is patchy or not available indoors.
Coverage maps are available from all the operators;
- EE https://ee.co.uk/why-ee/4g-coverage
- Vodaphone https://www.vodafone.co.uk/network/status-checker
- O2 https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker
- Three https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker
Other solutions
- If neither fibre or 4G will work for your premises, then Fixed Wireless Access may be an option.
Contact providers like Monsternet, Highland Wireless and Highland Community Broadband who all operate in Sutherland.
See the jargon buster below for an explanation of how Fixed Wireless Access works. - Satellite broadband may also be an option, see the jargon buster below for an explanation of how it works.
- The UK Government and Scottish Government voucher schemes can be used to help with costs of these solutions.
GENERAL TIPS FOR SPEEDING UP YOUR BROADBAND
- Make sure your router is in the best place
- Use an Ethernet cable
- Cut interference by keeping your router away from any other electrical equipment including lamps and dimmer switches!
- Invest in a wireless booster
- Disconnect devices that you’re not using
- Turn your camera off during conference calls such as Zoom, and ask others to as well, It's better for the environment (uses less energy) and may allow everyone to hear each other better.
- Tune up and clean up your computer – delete old software and make sure everything is up to date
WHAT ABOUT HARDWARE?
It’s true that what device you have will have an impact on how fast your internet connection is. Older computers, laptops and mobile devices can actually slow the speed down for everyone in your home so if it’s possible to update, do consider it. Similarly, if your router is more than 4 years old it may be worth considering getting a new one.
If you are on a low income and are digitally excluded, contact laura@kyleofsutherland.co.uk – you may be eligible for a refurbished device. Unemployed people may be eligible for a mobile WiFi hotspot with 24 months unlimited data and digital training and devices (iPads and/or Chromebooks). Again, please get in touch if you’d like to access this funding.
If you are on a low income and are digitally excluded, contact laura@kyleofsutherland.co.uk – you may be eligible for a refurbished device. Unemployed people may be eligible for a mobile WiFi hotspot with 24 months unlimited data and digital training and devices (iPads and/or Chromebooks). Again, please get in touch if you’d like to access this funding.
HELP WITH COSTS
WHP telecoms is the infrastructure provider working with the Scottish Government to deliver 4G to rural ‘not spots’ across Scotland. They now have a community benefit fund: Community Benefit Fund | WHP (whptelecoms.com) This fund could provide small grants to community organisations to install 4G antennas that will boost the signal and make it accessible to households who cannot currently get a signal in two ways:
- Antenna fixed to the end of the property and powered by the property’s grid connection
- Create a localised network of wireless receivers/repeaters that can bounce 4G signals into topographically unreachable communities
Gigabit Voucher Scheme.
The UK Government has a Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme Vouchers worth up to £1,500 for homes and £3,500 for businesses help to cover the costs of installing gigabit-capable broadband to people’s premises, a Scottish Top Up of £5000 is also available through this scheme. To be able to access this scheme the premises must be part of a group (a group comprises of at least two premises) and vouchers are aggregated toward the cost of delivery of a gigabit-capable solution
https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/scotland/
The Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme can help in two ways:
A ‘one off’ voucher worth up to £5,000 to help deliver a permanent broadband connection to those properties for which there is no roll-out of superfast broadband planned. You have to access this through a registered supplier and in a partnership with your neighbors.
A ‘one off’ voucher worth up to £400 to help deliver an interim connection to those properties for which there is roll-out of superfast broadband planned, but not until after the end of 2021. Properties in more difficult-to-reach locations may be eligible for an additional subsidy of £250.
In some cases, rural addresses may be eligible to combine Scottish Government funding of up to £5,000 with funding from the UK Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) which provides £1,500 for rural homes and £3,500 for rural businesses. If this is the case, chosen suppliers take this into account automatically and manage this on your behalf.
Start by checking what the plans are for your address here: www.scotlandsuperfast.com
https://www.scotlandsuperfast.com/how-can-i-get-it/scottish-broadband-voucher-scheme
Hardware costs
WHP telecoms is the infrastructure provider working with the Scottish Government to deliver 4G to rural ‘not spots’ across Scotland. They now have a community benefit fund: Community Benefit Fund | WHP (whptelecoms.com) This fund could provide small grants to community organisations to install 4G antennas that will boost the signal and make it accessible to households who cannot currently get a signal in two ways:
- Antenna fixed to the end of the property and powered by the property’s grid connection
- Create a localised network of wireless receivers/repeaters that can bounce 4G signals into topographically unreachable communities
JARGON BUSTER
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SPEED - mBPS
Broadband speed is essentially how quickly you can transfer information from the internet to your computer (download speed) or from your computer to the internet (upload speed). Speed is measured in bits per second. Bits are short for binary digits, the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. You will typically see speed described as megabits per second (Mbps) or kilobits per second (Kbps). A kilobit is 1000 bits, and a megabit is 1,000,000 bits. The higher the number of bits per second, the faster your speed is. As a guide, zoom meetings require 3Mbps, about the same speed as you will need to watch films online and emails will need about 1Mbps. The more devices you want to connect at once, the fast speed you will need. If you have a family of four all with smart phones and laptops accessing films, music or zoom etc then you may need >70Mbps. If you want to upload photos to the internet then the faster your upload speed is, the faster this will happen. Test your speed here: UK Broadband Speed Test | thinkbroadband BT COPPER WIRE
Also called ADSL, the broadband signal is carried between your nearest telephone exchange and your home using copper cables. When it enters your home, you plug your router (or hub) into the telephone outlet to receiver it. This infrastructure is managed by BT and is the same wire as your landline uses. Other providers can rent the cable which means you can get service provision from other companies. Fibre / fibreoptic
Sometimes called Superfast broadband, this is an upgrade on the copper wire cable network. With fibreoptic cable the data travels down the cables literally at the speed of light. The upgraded cables stretch from the telephone exchange to the roadside cabinets in your neighbourhood. Usually the cable between homes and the cabinet is copper wire (called Fibre to Cabinet or FFTC), but in some cases the copper cables have also been upgraded into homes (called Fibre to Premises or FFTP). 4g
According to Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator in the UK, 4G is the fourth generation of mobile phone technology and follows on from 2G and 3G. 2G technology was suitable for making calls and sending text messages, while 3G makes it possible to access the internet more effectively through your mobile phone. 4G makes it much quicker to surf the web on your mobile and addresses network congestion, but you can also connect to it with tablets and laptops. 4g mast
All these G’s (G for generation) are cellular, wireless networks that run on masts. 4G masts use radio signals to send and receive data to and from your device. Each mast forms a cell, connecting up to 400 devices like a hub and spoke. Data is then transferred between the mast and the regular telephone network. satellite
Instead of using a telephone exchange to access the internet, satellite broadband is transmitted wirelessly from your home to a satellite using a satellite dish. It works in a similar way to satellite TV, except data is transmitted as well as received by the dish. The dish needs clear line of sight to the southern sky. The satellite is geostationary which means it keeps pace with the Earth’s rotation and maintains line of site with dishes on the ground. The radio signal is received by the satellite and relayed to a ground station which acts as a gateway into the regular telephone network. fixed wireless access
Fixed wireless access (FWA) is the process of providing wireless broadband using radio links between two fixed points. In other words, fixed wireless is an alternate method of providing wireless internet access to homes or businesses. In Sutherland Highland Wireless, Monsternet and Highland Community Broadband use this method. They install antennae to create a local network of stations that have line of sight with each other across a landscape that then connects into a fibre wire somewhere. |
COMMUNITY FIBRE PARTNERSHIP - A SUCCESS STORY
Garve and District Broadband are an example of a Community Fibre Partnership in the Highland Region.
The community came together in 2016 and after a period of research and fundraising have now worked with BT Openreach to get superfast broadband to more than 100 households scattered across Achnasheen, Strath Garve and up to Loch Glascarnoch.
Read more about their project here:
About the Garve & District Broadband Group
The community came together in 2016 and after a period of research and fundraising have now worked with BT Openreach to get superfast broadband to more than 100 households scattered across Achnasheen, Strath Garve and up to Loch Glascarnoch.
Read more about their project here:
About the Garve & District Broadband Group
If your community is interested in exploring a community fibre partnership, please feel free to get in touch. We can't do it for you, but we can help you work out what is involved and help you make some contacts with other communities who have already been through the process.
sutherlandcommunitypartnership@gmail.com
sutherlandcommunitypartnership@gmail.com
