Question : How much does it cost BT to ADSL enable a exchange ?

Answer : Anything from £100,000 to half a million and up (depending on what is required to enable it)

Question : I am told that I can use my phone when surfing the net if I have ADSL how is this done ?

Answer : The service makes use of your existing telephone line. It splits the signal into two channels, one for voice communications and the other for the high speed data connection. It makes use of a frequency range not used in normal voice communications.  If your interested to know then voice communication uses 0 - 20 kHz and data uses 25.875 kHz to 1.104 MHz.

Question : I have heard a lot about LLU what is it ?

Answer : LLU stands for Local Loop Unbundling, for more information on LLU please click here.

Question : I am not a BT customer can I still have ADSL ?

Answer : Not yet (Unless you live in areas where competitors to BT are operating). LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) will hopefully mean that ISP's can offer you the service and will allow BT to be bypassed, this is in very early stages so expect to wait a while to see any benefits from this.  You may however to be able to get cable internet via a cable operator such as NTL or Blueyonder.

Question : What is a micro-filter and why do I need them ? 

Answer : A micro-filter is a special adaptor that you need to use on your phone line, so that your telephones do not interfere with your ADSL connection. Some people call them a 'splitter', the naming is interchangeable.  You need one of these connected to every telephone you have, if you do not fit them you will still be able to use your phone but if you are on the internet then you will have noise on your line.  A good idea is to buy a single micro-filter and plug this into your master socket, and then run all the phone extensions off the phone side of the splitter. Then run an extension from the ADSL side of the splitter to where you want to use your ADSL modem.

Question : But what does the micro-filter do ?

Answer : The telephone plug on your micro-filter is designed to limit the frequencies your phone is able to use. Although you would never normally use the frequencies outside this range, actions such as picking up the receiver can generate frequencies outside normal voice range. Without the filter, this interference would corrupt data within the ADSL frequency band.  The second socket is the ADSL socket, this is essentially the raw signal, i.e. unfiltered, so an ADSL modem will see the high frequencies, but can just discard the normal voice frequencies.

Question : What is the difference between ADSL and Cable internet ?

Answer : Various phone companies in the UK are rolling out 'cable modem' services. If you have Cable TV or phone services, a cable modem will give you high speed data access to the Internet. Cable modems run at downstream rates of between 500Kbp/sec and 15Mbit/sec, though that varies on your supplier and chosen service level. One major physical difference between ADSL and Cable is that with ADSL, your data is carried down your own copper pair (wire) all the way to the BT exchange. In the case of cable modems, you share a common 'bus' with your neighbours back to the head-end router in the cabinet at the end of your street.

Another difference between Cable and ADSL service is that the termination may be different - i.e. the interface to your own equipment. Cable service from Telewest and NTL presents itself as an Ethernet (10BaseT) interface - suitable for connection to a network card in your PC, or an Ethernet router (e.g. Vigor2200E). ADSL on the other hand is available as either an ADSL modem with USB connection, or via an Ethernet router, depending on the service selected.

Question : I applied for ADSL but I cant get it BT say I have fibre in my line or TPON, what does this mean.

Answer : More information on TPON can be found on our site here.