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HomeChoice Technical Questions
Brush Master
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In case anybody is interested, below is a list of 6 questions I asked HomeChoice's support folk yesterday. Any input is appreciated. I shall keep the forum abreast as to whether I ever hear back from HomeChoice, and what their answers are.
Q1 When you quote 1MBps or 2MBps for the broadband Internet services, is this figure inclusive of, or in addition to, data streaming needed for TV and radio through HomeChoice?
Q2 I couldn't find an upstream data rate figure on your site. I assume you are not offering a symmetrical service with 1 or 2 MBps upstream - please provide the upstream figure.
Q3 What is the contention ratio: 1:20? 1:50? ...?
Q4 I assume you provide a dynamic IP lease, and NAT capabilities via your set-top box. Please confirm. Please also confirm this is a routable IP address, instead of subnetting a private address range such as 10.* or 192.168.* (VPN technologies may require routable addresses).
Q5 Is your system, including the set-top box and the NAT engine, capable of handling IPSEC (required for VPN access to corporate networks)?
Q6 Does your set-top box include a firewall? Are any details available (is it configurable? does it support port mapping? custom protocols? ...?)
Q1 When you quote 1MBps or 2MBps for the broadband Internet services, is this figure inclusive of, or in addition to, data streaming needed for TV and radio through HomeChoice?
Q2 I couldn't find an upstream data rate figure on your site. I assume you are not offering a symmetrical service with 1 or 2 MBps upstream - please provide the upstream figure.
Q3 What is the contention ratio: 1:20? 1:50? ...?
Q4 I assume you provide a dynamic IP lease, and NAT capabilities via your set-top box. Please confirm. Please also confirm this is a routable IP address, instead of subnetting a private address range such as 10.* or 192.168.* (VPN technologies may require routable addresses).
Q5 Is your system, including the set-top box and the NAT engine, capable of handling IPSEC (required for VPN access to corporate networks)?
Q6 Does your set-top box include a firewall? Are any details available (is it configurable? does it support port mapping? custom protocols? ...?)
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Comments
Sorry - no cross-post intended.
B
to be honest i'd avoid homechoice, i was on BT Office Broadband 0.5MB broadband and upgraded to the 2MB homechoice, the download speeds are ok but that's about it... The rest of it i'm afraid is v.poor, ping speeds shoot all over the place v.unhappy with the switch as soon as I get the opportunity i'm switching to Zen.
Hope this helps.
J.
This excludes the TV service, so you get a full 2Mbps service. The TV service is, we think, and additional 4Mbps - making a total of 6Mbps.
The upstream figure is quoted as 288k (though I can't remember the exact source of this). The speed test at ADSL Guide says I get 306kbps. This is significantly better than cable.
The box provides a dynamic IP lease. The IP address is routable externally (mine is in the 81.1.*.* range).
There's no firewall in the box.
I have been very happy with the broadband service so far, no problems whatsoever.