Would you buy a house with slow internet?

lee1101 · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:51

I'm currently in the process of trying to buy my first house with my girlfriend. After many months of searching we have finally found a house that ticks most of our boxes.

After the first viewing we were dead set on making an offer, but before we did I thought I would check to see what the internet speed is like. I was shocked to find out that the estimated speed for the line and location is 0.5 - 1Mbps!

I thought that this must be the providers giving an over cautious estimate so i popped round for a second viewing and asked if I could run a speed test. The result was 0.78Mbps.

I've also been in touch with Openreach and there is no plans to upgrade the local cabinets to HTTC Fibre as it is not commercially viable to do so. Seems strange as it isn't even a rural location. :confused:

We are both used to 50+ fibre so it would be a huge drop. We've decided not to put an offer in but I'm a bit worried we are being a bit OTT. I just don't think id be able to cope with a speed that low! We are both fairly heavy users, gaming, torrents, netflix etc and also logging into work remotely from home.

Am I mad or would you do the same?

TLDR - won't buy house because internet speed is pants

K1LLSW1TCH · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:55

Not in a Virgin area either?

woodsy · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:56

We have just purchased and moved in to our first home, this only has standard ADSL. The previous house we were renting had 120mbps cable so it's going to take a bit of getting used to. You need to look at the rest of the house and the long term and way up the options. Maybe in a few years the speeds may have increased and you might of missed out on your dream home ?

Rroff · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:57

It would be a big consideration for me unless future prospects looked likely for an upgrade - dropping back from FTTC to reasonable ADSL2+ wouldn't be great but liveable with but below that it would be off the table.

lee1101 · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:58

K1LLSW1TCH said:
Not in a Virgin area either?

Nope no Virgin either

I think we would have definitely considered it if the speed was above 5Mbps however 0.78 is just pathetic

dacads · 20 Feb 2014 at 18:59

Nope it would be a nightmare

Duke · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:00

As above decent ADSL2 would be ok unless cab/exchange was likely soon. Luckily around here it's all VM and far amount of FTTC.

lee1101 · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:07

Glad I'm not the only one then! Looks like the search continues!

djkav · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:11

Deffo no buy from me.

I'm struggling after moving from virgin 120mb into my girl friends 3mb ADSL.

Evilpaul · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:12

I bought my house just over a year ago which meant I went from VirginMedia cable (up to 120Mbps) to 2.5Mbps on ADSL. I've installed a BT VDSL iPlate and that has bumped the speed up to a solid 5Mbps.
I find the speed manageable but I do need to make some allowances and queue large downloads for overnight, otherwise web browsing becomes really painful.

OpenReach were supposed to be upgrading my area for FTTC this year but they've pushed it back to 2016 now, bunch of *****!.

Glaucus · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:17

So much is online now, no I wouldn't. Give it a few years and 4g will be rolled out most places. I think many villages will get 4g sooner than fibre.

4T5 · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:18

You can't go backwards.

airwave99 · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:19

For the right house I could cope with 4Mbps as long as ping times were ok.

bsoltan · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:22

I did. Two years ago. Still waiting to FTTC kick in, it's getting moved back every month despite every site saying I can get it.

1Mbps woohoo!

e: (I only came from 8Mbps).

gillywibble · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:28

One of my prerequisites of moving was a better internet connection. I would not go back.

233 · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:28

Christ no

Felt like I had lost an arm when we moved and that was going from 100 meg to 14me
Thankfully back up to 80 meg now with FTTC but 0.5 meg I'd rather eat my own arm

lee1101 · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:31

Forgot to add the ping was just over 300! I find it amazing how people actually cope with that.

Pug · 20 Feb 2014 at 19:56

mobile internet options?

Adam · 20 Feb 2014 at 20:09

Depends how suitable the house is and how long you see yourself living there. Technology moves on fast so I'm sure 12-36 months down the line there will be another option for you. It's unlikely to always be the fastest but as long as it's reliable and allows you to do the basics then is it the end of the world?

Imy · 20 Feb 2014 at 20:17

NO. DON'T DO IT.