New office, do i I have fttp?

andymet87

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Just taken control of a new office. I was planning on getting internet over 4G as there is a mast about 50m away but have noticed fibre coming into the building. Pic below...

20200117_111134.jpg


If I go online everywhere says I cant get fttp so I'm slightly puzzled...
So...
  1. Does it look like fttp?
  2. If so who do I contact to find out about prices etc?
Cheers!
 
That's the pre-2003 BT Logo so it's definitely not a standard Openreach FTTP ONT.

From the early use of fibre optics I'd guess it's a leased line, and an image search brings up a similar unit here that the poster says is for a 100MB Leased Line:

I've no idea about the technologies around leased lines, whether it could be reactivated or whether the technology has moved on and it'd be ripped out and replaced.

Leased lines are generally sold to businesses that directly depend on constant, reliable internet access and start at hundreds of pounds a month:
 
If you contact BT they will have a reference to the service that was provided to the premises.
 
Great many thanks both. I will contact bt direct as suggested but I recon I will get over 100mb broadband over 4g for less than £20 a month so will likely go down that route as planned....
 
Sounds like a cunning plan but watch the mast being so close does not blast out the signals so much you don't get the service you think you might. This can happen with mast's in close proximity.
 
Just ran a test on my mobile inside & outside the office. Outside one result- where I'd probably put an aerial is below...
Screenshot_20200118-152628_Speedtest.jpg


That should do me!

Just wondering whether to get a directional or non-directional aerial with it being so close...
 
A directional antenna will prevent feedback loops between antennas as it is pointed in the direction of the cell tower, thereby isolating its signal and preventing feedback loops.

An omnidirectional antenna generally works well in areas where the cellular signal available is reflected from nearby objects. It has a 360 degree beam width and does not have to be pointed in a certain direction to pick up signals.

Wide-band unidirectional antennas are the best solution when signals are weak - not needed with the mast being so close as yours.
 
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Looking at the numbers in your post #6 screenshot I'm not convinced you need any kind of antenna. I would check out what you are getting in way of service first. You can sign up and have a 14 day cooling off period if it turns out to be not good. I certainly see no need to spend that kind of money for the antenna you have in your link, it would probably be an overkill and as you say your only 160 mtrs away from the mast so you really shouldn't be having any kind of signal loss unless there are buildings etc to take the signal down.
 
Noted. The test above was outside, inside the download was about 50 but upload only 3. So will need an external aerial and poke the wires inside to the modem (netgear lb2120)... maybe a cheaper option would suffice for my needs....
 
Having had a look at antenna's the price in the one you had linked seems reasonable now compared to some of them I'm now looking at, wow I'm horrified at the price range. I would still want to check out the service before committing to by an antenna though.
 
Yeah, I'd try the internet test with your phone's simcard in the modem first. It'll have a different internal aerial to your phone.
 
Ok will do but the building is a converted barn and I believe the walls essentially comprise some sort of foil insulation so I'm 99% sure an external aerial will deliver much improved results.

A query... a directional aerial would point at the mast. This would look straight at a road with passing traffic and lorries. Given level changes lorries would pass directly through the direct line between the aerial and mast. The road is about 15m from where the aerial would be. Would this disrupt or break the connection or us the aerial not that directional...

Thanks for your help so far.
 
Even with a directional aerial, there will still be a fair degree of scatter, so passing vehicles won't make much difference.

What you will find is that the speed will bomb at rush hour as more cars = more people trying to connect. My daughter uses a 4G dongle in her student flat next to a busy road and this is precisely what she finds every evening. (It might affect the morning rush, but she's never out of bed that early...)

The other thing to remember with 4G connections is that they are not "always on" so you may find that your initial page request can be quite slow, but then once connected, it all works as expected.

We use 4G routers in some of our offices - on £20 per month unlimited contracts and they work very well on the whole. I've not had to fit an external antenna to any of them and found that when I tried it, the signal strength got worse, as the losses in the cable were greater than the antenna gains. All you need to think about is where you mount the router. Height is your friend, so ours normally end up in the false ceiling.
 

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