This weekend: B4RN Demo Day, Sunday 18th

Join B4YS THIS SUNDAY (18th January) 2pm – 4pm, at Borwick & Priest Hutton Memorial Hall:

With our neighbours enjoying 1,000Mbps broadband just down the road, we thought it was time to experience it first-hand.
We’ll have a range of devices for you to see & try. You should bring your own laptop, tablet or smartphone and connect it to the B4RN network too!

What to expect

We’ll start the afternoon with a short talk by the local B4RN supporters about life with hyperfast broadband, and how it will reach your home. We’ll then get ‘hands on’ with B4RN hyperfast:

  • Smart TV demonstrations
  • Connectivity demonstrations
  • VOIP telephones to try
  • Homeplug networking explained
  • Superfast Apple computers kindly displayed by Ubertechs
  • B4RN & B4YS representatives to answer your questions
  • PLUS the important ‘Bring your own device’ hands-on demonstrations

A word on connection speed

Only the most modern and fastest devices can make the most of B4RN’s speed – Ubertechs shiny new iMac’s will be the speediest – whilst other devices may find their limits on the day.

Generally speaking laptops can reach up to 600Mbs depending on specification; iPads will see 40-80Mbps whilst most smart phones are only capable of 20-40Mbps. Remember wired connections are usually much faster than Wi-Fi too. We will have some faster devices there to try.

What to bring

If it’s portable, bring it along! Smartphones, tablets, laptops, VOIP phones….anything, we’ll have both wireless and wired connections available.
Don’t forget to bring your charger and internet cables! Re-familiarise yourself with connecting to a wireless network before you set off too, so you know where the settings can be found.
If you have some big files to upload – photos or video to send – bring them along on a memory stick and do it on the day.
Sunday will also be a ‘bring your own refreshments’ day, so do bring something to drink.

Before you come

Run a Speedtest at home ideally using the devices you will bring on the day:

  1. Log on to speedtest.net (or install the app for iOS, Amazon, Android or Windows Phone).
  2. Run tests at home or in the office, making note of both the UPLOAD and DOWNLOAD speeds.
  3. Maybe try BBC iPlayer, YouTube and uploading photos & files too. See how your internet speed affects the experience. Can you watch in HD without buffering?
  4. Run these tests again at Borwick to see the B4RN difference!

B4RN is one of the fastest connections in the UK, so when using Speedtest.net the server you select does make a difference. Some of them can’t cope with 1,000Mbps! There’ll be a bit of experimentation on the day, but we’re told servers in Manchester and Amsterdam can demonstrate the fastest speeds.

And what’s this?

We’ve begun! This week B4RN fibre ducts began going into the ground, heading towards the Yealands. The B4YS network is being built!

See you there on Sunday!