Superfast broadband, delivered by fibre-optic cables will be available in Horsington and South Cheriton early next year. The superfast signal will be delivered to a “cabinet”, and goes from there to each home by copper wire. This means that instead of the broadband signal coming all the way from Templecombe by copper wire, it will now come from the top of the village, by the junction with Stowell Lane.
Speed is good if you live near the top of the village, but deteriorates by a half less than a kilometre away. But even at 3km (1.86 miles) away, it is still better than the speed we receive now –just.
The graph shows the relationship between distance from the “cabinet” and superfast broadband speed you can expect. The red line shows the current average speed in the area. Distances in Km.
If you live further away and really must have a superfast connection, then the only realistic option at present is satellite broadband, according to Connecting Devon and Somerset.
This is not without its limitations though. For example, monthly data allowances tend to be lower, and the cost higher. You also need a mini satellite dish and a set top box.
On the positive side, most satellite providers do not use “up to” speeds, so if they state 20Mbps, that’s what you should get all the time, unless you exceed your monthly data allowance. And if you choose carefully, you should be able to give a short notice period when moving over to fibre optics.
We suspect the majority of outlying purely “domestic” users will not need satellite broadband. Whether it is worth those who live some distance from the “cabinet” paying extra for a slightly better signal remains to be seen.
I would advice anyone considering Sat broadband to think it through carefully. I used it for around 18 months and encountered problems many times with download limits, latency and breakdowns. Finally switched back on the BT broadband one day while satelite was down to find the BT much faster!