Hi all
Further to my message about mapping the other day, I wondered if anyone
could help with (what I perceive) as a huge gap in the market for cable TV?
I can find no map of UK cable coverage. If any of you can then fine and
I'd love to see a link.
There is a postcode checker on the Virginmedia website [1] but this just
let's me know what's available at my property. It may sound mad, but one
factor as to where I'll be moving to is the availability of cable. I'll
explain why later - but is it possible (presumably all one needs is a
complete list of postcodes) to write some sort of script that queries their
database to effectively build up a map? If this is venturing into hacking
territory then I'll stop there - I've no wish to upset anyone. However the
lack of a map showing (if you locate here no cable but half a mile away you
can have 100Mbps) is what I really want.
Any other clever ways to do this anybody can think of?
And for any of you still reading this far... my explanation: As far as I
know my broadband choices are:
1) ADSL - speed is limited by demand in my local area and proximity to
exchange. Both of these could well be a problem in the areas I have in
mind - i.e. rural villages.
2) Cable - of which AFAIK Virgin is the only provider
3) 3g - I guess I could get a router with a SIM card but not sure about
speeds here.
4) I've heard on things like BBC click about rural communities setting up
their own ISPs, digging their own trenches, but I've no wish to start this
up myself.
5) Satellite modems - I know an Australian bloke who uses one but not sure
what the coverage is here in the UK.
Lastly - why is this such a big call for me? Answer - future proofing.
My family are, for various reasons, not just reliant on a net connection but
dependent is probably a better description. We currently have cable and
ADSL such than when one is slow / faulty - we have a reserve. It's not
exactly a dealbreaker in the way traffic noise, crime, price, bedrooms etc
would be - but a solid net connection is more of an issue (for us) than
most.
Cheers
Rob
[1]
http://shop.virginmedia.com/home.html
