Rural Village Broadband around Thirsk

Thirsk and Northallerton town centres got broadband in 2003 and 2001 respectively but many of the surrounding villages had to wait until 2005. All 01609 and 01845 exchanges are now able to offer broadband, however some remote subscribers may find it unavailable and speeds above 512kb may not be possible. As of April 2006 most local exchanges offer up to 8mb (ADSL Max) Check your maximum possible line speed before ordering service.  Then check out the deals available at your speed.

Useful broadband sites

DSL ZoneUK was created by a small group of broadband enthusiasts that got together and came up with a basic plan: To provide clear, constant, up to date information for current ADSL users and people looking to get ADSL.

The Broadband Resource for details on ADSL/broadband availability, campaigns. statistics, maps & dates

ADSLGuide for service provider information, views and comments. See their beginners guide

Signing up for Broadband

You may want to check out a beginners guide to broadband to get an idea of what it entails.

Basically it enables you to have a fast (compared with dial up and ISDN) internet connection and use your phone line for calls at the same time. You still need to have an ordinary phone line and pay rental (probably to BT in this area) and additionally arrange a broadband service with an ISP paying them a monthly flat fee. If you are already on an anytime dial up connection broadband can be of similar price. If you also have a second line for internet use you will be drop that line and save a £10 a month line rental.

A new piece of kit which acts as a Broadband modem will be required, prices start at around £16 for a basic USB modem. Look out for special offers which include connection charge and kit. Remember though that rarely is anything "free" and monthly charges may reflect this. Also the free modem may not be usable if you change isps. There are several different ways of connecting your computer or even computers check out the guides.

 

Which ISP? There is no need to sign up with one of BT's offerings, there a lot of service providers out there offering special deals and several different packages. Watch out for: minimum contracts, free connection and modems but higher monthly charges and also "bandwidth capping. Some of the cheaper barebones packages offer just an internet connection, no email, newsgroups etc. fine if you don't need or get these services from someone else like your hosting company. If you have an email address through your current isp (something@something.freesi eve.co) you will eventually lose this when you change ISPs so think ahead a bit, you may consider buying your own domain name and use it for email with forwarding. That way you will not have to change addresses again, even if you change ISPs or retire to a spot in the sun.