Broadband in the Parish
April 2011: Broadband Surveys Oxfordshire County Council: Please see link Oxfordshire County Council Broadband Surveys and, where appropriate, complete the Business and Residential Surveys.
15th November 2010:A Broadband tweak? Turn off your router … briefly:
The broadband system most of us now use is known as ADSL. When an ADSL router is first turned on it tests the line to work out how fast it should be able to run. This is known as "synchronization" and the tested speed value is saved by both the router and the exchange. (It's the same process that we used to hear with "dial up" modems, but with ADSL it's faster and inaudible.) If the line gets noisier over a period of time (hours or days), the router and exchange automatically slow down their communication speed in order to shout through the noise. Sometimes they give up and the communication stops altogether. When you switch the router off, the exchange remembers the most recent speed for a few minutes (minimum 2) so that after an intermittent break the connection can be restarted as quickly as possible.
But after a longer time switched off, if you're lucky, when you switch on again, the re-synchronization may decide that communications can be run at a faster speed than before. The wires used between your house and the exchange always remain the same. When you are a long way from the exchange the signal becomes so small that even tiny random changes in noise levels can cause large fluctuations in the maximum speed at which ADSL is able to operate. This is why we see such large variations in speed through the parish.
Updated 5 November 2010
28 October 2010
Meeting at The Plough. Those present - Julian, Graham, Lee, Ian, Phil, Bernard, David, Keith. Key points discussed.
1. David reported that no feedback had been received from the BT rep Peter Cowan since their last meeting.
2. We shall apply for a grant through Oxfordshire Stronger Communities Fund to be presented to BT which may enable us to be considered for a pilot broadband scheme within the county.
3. A long discussion was had regarding the two options for upgrading our connectivity to the main fibre optic backbone a) to the Cumnor exchange or b) on the assumption that the cable runs along the A420, to a connection point near the sandpit from Oaksmere. Approximate costs to be sought.
4. Phil is to enquire of the BB committee can be adopted as a subset of the Parish Council with a view to formalising our status for the grant application).
5. Residents are requested to lobby our MPs about poor connectivity - Nicola Blackwood & Ed Vaizey.
6. Lee to setup discussion group on LINKEDIN. All invited to join.
7. Bernard and Graham to compile list of local businesses to mount on website.
30 September 2010
BT representative meets with David Hine. We need to gather as much information as possible about the businesses in Appleton with a view to getting BT to taking our problems more seriously, demonstrate that there is a demand, and therefore (hopefully) upgrade the Cumnor exchange. Would all residents (especially businesses) in Appleton, Eaton & Cumnor please register their interest on the webpage below:
http://www.racetoinfinity.bt.com/
This is important - please encourage everyone to participate.
25 September 2010
David Hine attends Oxfordshire rural broadband summit, following which BT proposes to send a representative to the village to look at a possible solution.
26 August 2010
VWHDC has invited committee members to attend the Oxford Economic Partnership Digital Summit at Culham on 25 September. Details below:
23 August 2010
Following an email from Trudy Godfrey and subsequently her colleague Toby Warren, we were urgently requested to put together a paper to present to the VWHDC outlining our broadband dificulties, with a view to being considered for a pilot project. After much activity from the committee David Hine submitted an excellent 9page document (including statistical data, local business information, and some email correspondence) outlining our problems. (Note that this document is not available online has it contains some personal data).
Meeting minutes of 9 June 2010 published.
11 May 2010
Informal meeting held with Dudley Hoddinott (VWHD Councillor for this village), Trudy Godfrey (VWHDC Economic Development Officer), Stuart Smith (Infocence), Keith Stammers, Bernard/Joyce Martin.
General discussion about our broadband problems and alternative solutions.
(Action): Trudy Godfrey to contact BT on our behalf in respect of infrastructure investigation.
(Action): Stuart Smith (Director, Infocene Ltd) is chairing the Digital Inclusion Task Group of the Oxfordshire Economic Partnership and will be reporting back to their next meeting about the broadband situation in Appleton. He intends proposing to the Task Group that, with the help of Oxfordshire District Councils, they find out if there are any other villages in the county that have similar broadband issues. This is a long term piece of work but could result in pressure being brought to bear to improve broadband speeds across the county and funding for any work required
Meeting minutes of 28 Apr 2010 published.
Meeting minutes of 2 Mar 2010 published.
Because of the increased amount of data being received, the table of results has now been removed from the website and being maintained offline.
Below is a graph of the results which have been collected by committee members so far.
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