| So at the moment you are cruising the information | | | | You will need to be within about 3.5 miles of your local |
| superhighway in your mum's 1980 Ford Fiesta. Dial up | | | | telephone exchange to get ADSL broadband [ |
| internet, like your mum's car, can drive ok but even a | | | | Oh no- My phone line is not enabled, how else can I |
| pensioner finds it offensively slow. It's time to move on, | | | | get broadband? |
| chuck the keys and upgrade to the Jaguar of the | | | | You can also get cable broadband and WIFI |
| internet- Broadband. | | | | broadband. If you get cable TV in your area then you |
| If you are new to broadband there are a few things to | | | | will be able to get broadband through the same cables. |
| do first, to check if you have the keys and the budget | | | | This is also often faster than an ADSL connection. |
| for that dream car, so to speak. | | | | Some rural areas are also experimenting with Wireless |
| Is your phone line enabled for ADSL? | | | | Local Area Networks where a number of aerials are |
| First things first you need to check if your phone line is | | | | set up in an area and allow anyone within that area to |
| ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) enabled. In | | | | receive broadband through radio signals. This is really |
| regular English this just means that the telephone | | | | only useful if approached as a whole community, as |
| exchange in your area has been upgraded to transmit | | | | for instance in the village of Ledbury in South |
| broadband. BT has had to upgrade the entire | | | | Herefordshire. |
| telephone exchange network and they estimate that | | | | Once you know you can get broadband, you can start |
| 99.8% of houses can receive ADSL broadband but | | | | the hunt for a decent Internet Service Provider. The |
| you should still check if yours is one of them. This is | | | | speed and downloads available will depend on how |
| pretty easy to do online or you can call BT and they | | | | much you want to pay but you will find that there are |
| will be able to tell you. | | | | easily affordable packages, no matter your budget. |
| Am I close enough to the telephone exchange? | | | | |