Well, we’ve done it! We’ve been recognised on a national level for our services!

The ISPA awards are the Oscars of the internet world and each year they recognise the top performers for providing great services. We’ve been nominated for “Best Consumer Fixed Broadband” at the 15^th ISPA awards and have beaten some of the big players already to get the nod. Next up is trying to actually win the damn thing!

Here’s the official announcement:

Doncaster based ISP Origin Broadband have been nominated for Best Consumer Fixed Broadband in the 15^th ISPA Awards in London this July.  They’ll be vying for the gong against large, established names such as Plusnet and Sky and feel confident they can cause a major upset.

Managing Director Oliver Bryssau said:

“It’s brilliant to see that our hard work is being recognised, especially when other smaller ISPs are being taken over and swallowed up by bigger players. In a market where consumer choice is actually shrinking it’s recognition that a small, passionate team can deliver better service than multinational corporations.

“Here at Origin we’re incredibly proud to be nominated, for a local ISP to be in such a prestigious category is a real boost to us and South Yorkshire!”

ISPA Secretary General Nick Lansman said:

“To be nominated is a big achievement, with rigorous technical testing and written entry forms analysed by expert judges or votes from customers.”

The awards ceremony is to be held at the Park Lane Sheraton Hotel, London on the 11^th of July.

http://www.ispa.org.uk/15th-ispa-awards-shortlist-unveiled/

Hi there Origin fans,

Here in the tech/computer/fibre optic broadband world we’re always using acronyms. It’s slightly annoying, even for us, but that’s the SQ (Status Quo) and we have to deal with it. Just for ships and giggles though here’s a list of common ones in our industry.  It might help you fight through the call centres of companies like Virgin and Sky in future, lord help you.

Broadband:

ADSL: This stands for Asymmetric digital subscriber line. Dig deeper if you like, but this is just the term for regular broadband, the slow kind.

VDSL: This means Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line. Again, there’s wiki out there if you need more, but this is fibre optic or cable broadband. It’s the type of broadband we specialise in across Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster.

DSL: People will argue but this stands for digital subscriber line and is used as a catch all term for broadband services. Specifically for us it’s a phrase we might use to troubleshoot problems. For example if you have no broadband access, we’ll often ask if the DSL light is on which tells us if the broadband signal is making it to the router or not.

FTTC: Fibre to the cabinet. This is the type of broadband we specialise in, and the type you can also buy from BT and the many companies they resell the service to. Ours runs on a completely different, South Yorkshire only network, but the principle remains the same. Fibre is laid from the exchange building to a green street cabinet where the signal then hops over to your phone line to make it to your home.

FTTP: This is what we would all have if we were very rich. Fibre to the premises is where the fibre runs from the exchange all the way into a property. As fibre loses no signal strength over distances this would be the best way to get great speeds. Can’t see a nationwide rollout for about a billion years though as the cost is considerable! We offer this service now in something called a Leased Line. Simply put, we find the nearest fibre to a particular site and dig new fibre to connect the site to the existing network. With this we can deliver any speed you like. Fancy a 10gb up and down connection? A leased Line is what you need.

Phone:

PSTN: Public switched telephone network, this is your phone line at home.

LLU: Local Loop Unbundling. This is where a phone provider (Usually Sky and Talk Talk) takes over or provides a phoneline but swaps out some equipment in the exchange so that it is taken away from BT’s network which is the one most companies use. Day to day you won’t notice a difference, but there is one massive disadvantage that (in our opinion) LLU providers should be forced to explain to their customers. If you are on an LLU line you can’t move to another provider without having a new line installed. We can offer free install on new lines, so it’s not a major hassle but some companies will pass on the standard £110 charge. Our advice? Tell Sky or Talk Talk you want a BT owned line, or just come to us for your phone services and leave the big guys alone.

VoIP: This stands for Voice over internet protocol. This is a way of sending voice calls over the internet, much like Skype. It does rely on an internet connection to work, but call charges are usually much cheaper and it’s good way to get multiple numbers over one line rather than having to have multiple lines. We do this, so just ask if you like the sound of it.

Other:

VPN: Now we’re getting a little bit fancy. Virtual Private Network is a way of creating a shared mini internet between specific computers or places. It’s usually a private affair and often used to link business premises that are not physically close to each other. That’s pretty simplistic, but you get the point

IP: Internet Protocol . This is basically the prism through which traffic is passed to make sense of it all, it’s the set of rules that decide how the internet behaves. Each broadband connection will have an IP address which is a specific number that details who you’re with as an ISP, where you are and what you’re doing.

Hopefully that gives you some basics, but there’s a whole world out there to explore should you have a few hours/days/years to waste.

Right, we’re off to watch Doctor Who and listen to some chiptune,

Origin

We’ve got something particularly good to tell you about this week. We’ve decided to offer free tickets to some of the best days and nights across Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster.

To have a chance of winning, just email freebies@origin-broadband.co.uk telling us why you deserve the tickets.

Don’t forget to and include a contact number and your address so we can tell you if you’ve won and post the tickets to you.

It’s that simple!

First up this month are some highly prized tickets to Jamie Mcdonnell’s world title fight at the Keepmoat Stadium on Saturday the 11^th of May.  This is a Dennis Hobson fight and it’s the first time a world title belt has been contested in Doncaster! There’ll be thousands of people there all cheering local lad Jamie on and it’s set to be an massive night.

How would you like to go? FOR FREE!?!?!

You know what to do then don’t you?

Email freebies@origin-broadband.co.uk with the reason you should win (try and make us laugh) and your contact number and address .

Here’s an interview with Jamie to whet your appetite!

It’s been a little while since our last blog post, so here’s another shot in the arm for broadband fans across South Yorkshire.

Every now and again we notice that ideas that aren’t quite spot on are shared by a number of people, and it’s one specific myth we’d like to spoil today.

Only BT & Virgin have fibre optic in South Yorkshire.

Not true!

Here are the facts. There are three different types of fibre in South Yorkshire.

Digital Region/Origin Broadband

This covers 80% of Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley & Doncaster (full area list at the foot of this post) and is the largest fibre optic network in the country. If you can’t get fibre with Origin, then you’re really quite unlucky! Plus we have no contention, traffic management or fair usage policies and we don’t block anything.

We’re the best, even if we do say so ourselves.

BT Infinity

This is the second largest fibre optic network, but it only covers less than half of Digital Region. It’s also resold by a number of other companies including Sky, Plusnet, Talk Talk and other smaller companies. Because of this, traffic management rears its ugly head as each of the different ISP’s share the same infrastructure without telling their customers. More areas will come online as the years roll by, but the “Estimated dates” have a tendency to keep being put back. We had one customer in Barnsley, for example, kept being put on and finally lost patience 13 months later when Infinity was still not live in his area. If only he’d have found out about us earlier!

Virgin

Virgin is a decent service but it has two killer limitations. The first is that their fibre service is only available in a very small area of South Yorkshire, and the second is their ludicrous download limitations which punish people that use their connections regularly. We like you Mr Branson, but you’ve got this one all wrong.

Oh, and sometimes we hear.

But BT say there’s no fibre in my area.

Well they would say that wouldn’t they? A sad part of dealing with large companies is that when you speak to them you tend go through to a variety of huge call centres and the standard of advice you can get varies greatly.

Digital Region is available for hundreds of thousands people across our fair land and we have thousands of happy customers who’ll all tell you to switch to us!

Right, it’s Friday so we’re off to have a KFC.

Sithee!

Live areas

S1, Sheffield City Centre (Sheffield)

S2, Arbourthorne,  Heeley, Highfield, Manor, Norfolk Park, Wybourn, Park Hill (Sheffield)

S3, Broomhall, Burngreave, Neepsend, Netherthorpe (Sheffield)

S4, Grimesthorpe, Pitsmoor (Sheffield)

S5, Firth Park, Shirecliffe, Shiregreen, Southey Green, Parson Cross, Longley, Fir Vale (Sheffield)

S6, Bradfield, Hillsborough, Malin Bridge, Stannington, Upperthorpe, Walkley, Fox Hill, Wadsley Bridge, Wisewood, Wadsley, Loxley, Middlewood (Sheffield)

S7, Abbeydale, Nether Edge, Millhouses, Carter Knowle (Sheffield)

S8, Batemoor, Beauchief, Greenhill, Jordanthorpe, Lowedges, Meersbrook, Norton, Norton Lees, Woodseats (Sheffield)

S9, Attercliffe, Brightside, Darnall, Meadowhall, Tinsley, Wincobank (Sheffield)

S10, Broomhill, Broomhall, Crookes, Crookesmoor, Fulwood, Ranmoor, Crosspool (Sheffield)

S11, Ecclesall, Endcliffe Park, Ecclesall Road, Greystones, Hunter's Bar, Millhouses, Sharrow Vale, Nether Edge, Whirlow (Sheffield)

S12, Birley, Gleadless, Gleadless Townend, Frecheville, Hackenthorpe, Intake, Ridgeway (Sheffield)

S13, Handsworth, Richmond, Woodhouse (Sheffield)

S14, Gleadless Valley (Sheffield)

S20, Westfield, Waterthorpe, Sothall, Donetsk Way, Owlthorpe, Beighton, Crystal Peaks, Halfway, Mosborough (Sheffield, Rotherham)

S21, Eckington, Killamarsh, Renishaw, Spinkhill   (Sheffield, Rotherham)

S25, Anston, Dinnington, Laughton-en-le-Morthen  (Rotherham)

S26, Aston, Aughton, Harthill, Kiveton Park, Swallownest, Todwick, Wales (Rotherham)

S35, Chapeltown, Ecclesfield, Grenoside, High Green, Oughtibridge, Thurgoland, Wharncliffe Side, Wortley (Sheffield)

S36, Penistone, Thurlstone, Millhouse Green, Oxspring (Sheffield)

S60, Brinsworth, Catcliffe, Central Rotherham, Masbrough, Moorgate, Treeton, Whiston (Rotherham)

S61, Greasbrough, Kimberworth, Rockingham, Thorpe Hesley (Rotherham)

S62, Rawmarsh, Wentworth (Rotherham)

S63, Bolton-on-Dearne, Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe, Wath-on-Dearne, West Melton (Rotherham & Barnsley)

S64, Kilnhurst, Mexborough, Swinton (Rotherham)

S65, Herringthorpe, Ravenfield, Thrybergh, East Dene   

S66, Bramley Hellaby, Maltby, Thurcroft, Wickersley, Braithwell (Rotherham)

S70, Central Barnsley, Birdwell, Stairfoot, Worsborough (Barnsley)

S71, Ardsley, Athersley, Monk Bretton, Royston (Barnsley)

S72, Brierley, Cudworth, Grimethorpe, Shafton, South Hiendley (Barnsley)

S73, Brampton, Darfield, Wombwell, Hemingfield  (Barnsley)

S74, Elsecar, Hoyland, Jump (Barnsley)

S75, Barugh Green, Cawthorne, Darton, Dodworth, Gawber, Mapplewell, Pogmoor, Staincross, Wilthorpe, Tankersley (Barnsley)

DN1,  Doncaster town centre (Doncaster)

DN2, Intake, Wheatley, Wheatley Hills (Doncaster)

DN3, Armthorpe, Barnby Dun, Branton, Edenthorpe, Kirk Sandall (Doncaster)

DN4, Balby, Belle Vue, Bessacarr, Cantley, Hexthorpe, Hyde Park, Warmsworth (Doncaster)

DN5, Arksey, Barnburgh, Bentley, Cusworth, Harlington, Scawsby, Scawthorpe, Sprotborough, Toll Bar (Barnsley, Doncaster)

DN6, Adwick-le-Street, Askern, Campsall, Moss, Norton, Sutton, Walden Stubbs, Woodlands     (Doncaster)

DN7, Dunsville, Hatfield, Lindholme, Stainforth (Doncaster)

DN8, Thorne (Doncaster)

DN9, Epworth, Finningley, Haxey, Owston Ferry, Doncaster (Doncaster)

DN12, Conisbrough, Denaby Main, New Edlington, Old Denaby, Old Edlington (Doncaster, Rotherham)

SAGE Greenfingers is a Sheffield charity that offers therapeutic gardening and arts activities to adults with mental health needs. Research by national mental health charity Mind shows that one in four of us will experience mental health problems at some stage in our lives. This being the case, a project that welcomes all people and promotes positive mental health is vital.

Why Orgin Broadband?

“As a charity, our time is precious so we need a broadband provider that can respond quickly, takes care of us and doesn’t leave us in long queues to call centres.  Having a broadband service that is reliable, quick and can handle all of our staff working at the same time is essential to us.

We’re a small, local organisation and we like to support other local businesses. It’s great to have our phone and broadband provided by a company based in South Yorkshire like us. We really like Origin’s personalised service - it’s great to be able to speak to the same people if we ring their office".

How's the service been?

"Origin offered us a better deal than the big national companies. The support to get us live has been terrific and the speeds are amazing. We’d recommend them to any other business or home that needs great speeds and likes good service!”

Packages Breakdown

Colocation		Virtual Machines
	Full Racks - 8 amp power		Windows VM ware and Linux
	1/2 Racks - 4 amp power		Intel Atom processors dual/quad and dual CPU
	1/4 Racks - 2 amp power		Many upgradable options with HD/RAM/resilient PSU.
	1u / 2u / 4u and Tower server hosting		More information coming soon.
Additional Services		Origin DC
	Extra IP Allocation		Onsite 24/7 Monitored Security, secure fencing and automated entry.
	24/7 Onsite Availability		24/7 callout engineer within 2 hours and telephone support based in yorkshire.
	1 Month Contract		Cisco 6500 and 7200 routing platform.

If your business needs a high performance, dedicated fibre service, you may need a Leased Line.

What are the benefits of a leased line?

For a lot of South Yorkshire businesses fibre optic broadband delivers much improved speeds and stability. Some businesses, however, need more. Some businesses need a connection that is dedicated to them, that doesn’t touch a phone line and delivers incredible speeds and resiliency.
For those businesses, a Leased Line does the trick.

Am I in an area covered by Leased Lines?

Yes, is the short answer. We specialise in offering services to South Yorkshire, but can also provide dedicated fibre services anywhere in the UK. The nature of a Leased Line means that fibre is dug into your site from the nearest available point, so it's a service available to any business that requires it.

What kind of business would need a Leased Line?

It can vary but a typical leased line customer could have some or all of the following requirements:
A need to cater for a large amount of staff
A business critical need for resiliency
A need for absolute security
A need to run large scale events
A need to offer high speed connections to a number of units
We offer leased lines to Stadia, Racecourses, Convention Centres, International Venues, Business Parks, Call Centres, Remote Sites, Large Offices and more.

Pricing:

Leased lines are available at 10/10, 100/100, 1gb/1gb and 10gb/10gb. Prices vary, but on average we are 30% cheaper than companies such as Bull, Virgin and BT.

You can see how pleased South Yorkshire conference centre and racecourse Doncaster Racecourse are with their service here:
Doncaster Racecourse Testimonial

Here at Origin, we believe everyone has the right to get the fastest speed possible. No caps, no limits; just the fastest speed your line can support. Maybe you’ll get 50mb, 70mb or even higher! As long as you live in a Digital Region area, you could get incredible speeds!
Does this make us the best broadband provider in South Yorkshire? As Homer Simpson nearly said;  “Nobody messes with Origin Max, Marge. You strap yourself in and feel the Gs.”

Package Breakdown

Broadband Speeds		Equipment - All in one unit
	The MAX Download your line can support		Zyxel P-2812HNU(L)-FX
	The MAX Upload your line can support		WPA/ WAP2, 802.11b/802.11g/802.11n 300Mbit/s
	Totally Unlimited Downloads and Uploads		4 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet Ports
Cost Breakdown			2 x USB Ports / 3G Backup
	£35.00* per month		2 x FXS for VOIP
	£25 installation		Multiple VPN / service ports for both VOIP and IPTV
	18 Month Contract		ADSL/VDSL2 Compatible

Real Customer Examples of Origin Max

 As each line is different, we can’t say for definite what you’ll get until we look into it, but take a look at some speedtests supplied by our existing customers to get a feel for it. 

*Requires phone line rental from BT or Origin