UK Problem: Advice about BT's Home Highway

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I've put it off for months but have now to face the fact that in two weeks when I move to a new house I'll be losing Broadband. Telewest have been great - but don't serve my new area and i'm too far from the BT exchange to get their b/band (although its only 5.5kms from the exchange which is enabled ).



So I need to look to the future and it doesn't look good. I had thought that dial up was my only option but the BT adviser I spoke to about my new phone number recommended I think about Home Highway which seems to be a slightly faster alternative ( I believe it is ISDN ).



Apart from the fact that BT are my least favourite company ( with the possible exception of the obvious ) I'd like to ask fellow Mac users in the UK for their experiences with HH, if any, or at least with BT as far as Macs are concerned.



I'm told that with HH 64 is guaranteed and 128 is possible by using two lines combined ( although the Mac drivers for that are not yet ready). But does it work out that way in real life ?



Also, at least to start with with HH I'll still need a good ISP.



Advice please. I need to make a decision in the next day or so.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    I'm on BT Broadband but a friend of mine has an iMac hooked up through BT Home Highway using a product from the following company:



    http://www.hermstedt.co.uk



    He has a USB Webshuttle ISDN modem. It is at the bottom of this page:



    http://www.hermstedt.co.uk/pages/pro...nproducts.html



    Also, I could be wrong but I thought that BT acted as your ISP if you connected through Home Highway.



    My friend hasn't reported any problems to me, and I handle most of his tech support needs, but then he hasn't got into the nitty-gritty of download speeds etc. I would imagine it's better simply because it is always on and doesn't tie up a phone line.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    Hi stupider. Thanks for replying. I've emailed that company to see what's what. I'm not sure how their product fits into this system. I understood that my iMac just connected to the HH box by USB cable.



    As far as HH is concerned, my understanding after talking to their adviser is that, at present, Macs can only use the single line with HH because the Mac drivers for using the combination lines are not yet completed. Also, if you use the "mid band" as she was calling the 128 possibility you are "always on" and don't need an ISP but if you are on the single line you will. Sounds strange to me but I'm sure that's what she said.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    It appears (from reading the BT HH website) that more recent HH installs have USB built in. My friend's had it for a while and been using it with a PC but only recently bought an iMac.



    The website is highly confusing. There seems to be exceptions to every statement they make (and occasional exceptions to the exceptions).



    Examples of weirdness:



    * They give you a USB cable when they install but the cable is 'unsupported'(!) so you are advised to buy your own.



    * If you use BT Internet as your ISP, you can get anytime rates with free calls at 64K but if you use 128K you have to pay for 2(!) local calls.



    I don't envy you trying to puzzle it out. When I was getting BT Broadband I was pinging between people from 3 or 4 different companies who were all working 'together' under the umbrella of BT Broadband and each had a different story.



    Add the fact that the Intel broadband hub they supplied was USB only so I couldn't plug it into my Airport and that all but one of the people I spoke to thought it was against the Terms of Service to connect more than one computer to the broadband router (the other was trying to sell me the BT approved USB widgets and wireless router needed to achieve this) and you have typical BT craziness.



    Good Luck!
  • Reply 4 of 4
    IMO you would be better off trying to get by with a std dialup account until you can get some always on BB. I believe that BT are working on something to extend the range of some of the exchanges.



    Have BT refused to come and test your line? I would be happier to take a 256K ADSL then to go back to dialup or ISDN.
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