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If you want to sign up for a broadband Internet service, you almost certainly have one or more of these options:
- Cable modem access which is available from the UK’s two cable companies, provided you are within their area of service coverage (57% of the UK is not);
- xDSL (primarily ADSL) which is available from more than 100 ISPs, provided you are within BT's area of service coverage (29% of the UK is not as many rural BT local exchanges and some urban exchanges are not ADSL enabled), are not too distant from the local exchange (the longer the distance the slower the maximum speed with a maximum feasible distance of approximately 3 miles) and have a copper wire connection to the local exchange (some exchanges use aluminum wire or fibre optic cable, neither of which supports xDSL) ;
- Satellite broadband which is available throughout the entire UK from a variety of ISPs, provided you can put up a satellite dish with direct line of sight to the service provider’s satellite.
Information on the above services, including how to sign up for them, can be found as follows:
Cable Modem Access:
NTL (To determine if service is available in your area, use NTL's broadband availability checker)
Telewest (To determine if Blueyonder service is available in your area, use Telewest's broadband availability checker (99% accurate) or call 0800 953 5353)
Net4Nowt (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
ISP Review (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
Broadband Help (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
Which ISP? (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
The Scream! (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
ADSL:
ADSL availability checker provided by ADSLGuide This provides a comprehensive listing of ADSL-enabled BT local exchanges. If your local exchange has not been ADSL-enabled, this tells you if a date has been scheduled for ADSL-enabling or advises the total number of local people who have so far registered interest with BT for broadband and the trigger level that will cause BT to ADSL-enable your local exchange.
BT Wholesale Broadband (ADSL availability checker and referral to ISPs)
ADSLGuide (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
World of ADSL (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
Net4Nowt (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
ISP Review (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
Broadband Help (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
Which ISP? (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
The Scream! (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
Satellite broadband:
Net4Nowt (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
ISP Review (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
Broadband Help (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
Which ISP? (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
The Scream! (ISP news, reviews and discussion forums)
In addition to the above which serve fixed subscriber locations, there are publicly available commercial "Hot Spot" broadband service operators for travelers with PC notebooks equipped with Wi-Fi cards. These are rapidly supplementing and in many cases supplanting traditional Internet cafes, many of which provide broadband connections to the Internet.
Wi-Fi Hot Spots:
ZDNet UK News Wi-Fi Hot Spots (UK & London maps, commercial Hot Spot service providers, Wi-Fi news)
For helpful suggestions on what you can do to get broadband access if ADSL or cable modem access is not available and satellite broadband does not suit your needs, see Britain's Broadband Heroes.
There are currently no comprehensive sources of information on other "Last Mile" technology ISPs, mostly Community Area Networks (CANs), currently available in the UK due to their rather limited nature. This is something that ABC is seeking to redress.
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