Hello,
first, a brief summary of our current situation:
In our future place of residence (village), according to Telekom, only a "slow" DSL connection would be possible. Fortunately, last year Deutsche Glasfaser launched a so-called demand aggregation for the community, which was successful. Therefore, in the next few weeks/months, the village will be supplied with fiber optic cables.
I have already placed an order with Deutsche Glasfaser for our plot for internet ("DG Classic, 400Mbit/s") and TV (IPTV, which I understand means television over the internet cable) and thus save the connection fee of 750 EUR.
Now my question
first, a brief summary of our current situation:
- currently still renting
- currently a customer of Telekom (internet + phone)
- already owner of an undeveloped plot of land (not yet connected to utilities)
- construction contract signed with general contractor, planned start of construction mid-March, guaranteed construction period ~ 6 months, so move-in expected around September, more likely October
- all electrical work included in the construction contract, no owner-provided work specified
- number of sockets, network outlets, etc., according to the construction contract very few, so we will need to add quite a few
- no basement
In our future place of residence (village), according to Telekom, only a "slow" DSL connection would be possible. Fortunately, last year Deutsche Glasfaser launched a so-called demand aggregation for the community, which was successful. Therefore, in the next few weeks/months, the village will be supplied with fiber optic cables.
I have already placed an order with Deutsche Glasfaser for our plot for internet ("DG Classic, 400Mbit/s") and TV (IPTV, which I understand means television over the internet cable) and thus save the connection fee of 750 EUR.
Now my question
- Upon inquiry, Deutsche Glasfaser told me that construction work in the community is planned to start in the coming weeks but will last a few months, so our connection will probably only be activated by the end of 2019 / beginning of 2020. If they are not ready by the time our other utilities (gas, water...) are connected to the house, they advise us to pre-install an empty conduit from the property boundary to the utility room as a preparatory measure. What would be the best solution in the meantime? We will move in in September/October. Assuming DG’s construction takes longer than planned, we would be in our nice new house without TV/television/phone.
Should we first continue ordering internet/TV connections from Telekom during our construction? Our contract there is still valid anyway. Although the connection would cost about 800 EUR, I would get the later DG TV connection free of charge.
Internet:
I would approach it similarly to you. If your current contract expires and the attic is not finished yet, I would try to get a contract with a monthly cancellation option. I’m not sure to what extent your existing contract continues if it is transferred to the new building. But if I read that the provider will grant you a €300 (about $300) builder’s credit, I assume a new 24-month contract term will begin again. Maybe consider giving up the €300 credit and getting a contract with monthly cancellation instead.
TV:
Satellite TV is basically free. Only private channels in HD require an additional fee.
Network wiring:
Don’t let your general contractor or electrician convince you that “today everything is done only via Wi-Fi!”
Wi-Fi belongs in the house for mobile devices. Ideally, with access points centrally located on each floor.
All stationary devices, in my opinion, should be connected via LAN. As mentioned before, at least one double socket (fed with two cables) per room. For offices and TV areas, possibly two double sockets.
LAN wiring for devices and access points is becoming increasingly important as internet transmission speeds continue to rise, and temporary solutions like PowerLAN (also called DLAN) and repeaters slow down transmission speeds. Not to mention network stability.
I would approach it similarly to you. If your current contract expires and the attic is not finished yet, I would try to get a contract with a monthly cancellation option. I’m not sure to what extent your existing contract continues if it is transferred to the new building. But if I read that the provider will grant you a €300 (about $300) builder’s credit, I assume a new 24-month contract term will begin again. Maybe consider giving up the €300 credit and getting a contract with monthly cancellation instead.
TV:
Satellite TV is basically free. Only private channels in HD require an additional fee.
Network wiring:
Don’t let your general contractor or electrician convince you that “today everything is done only via Wi-Fi!”
Wi-Fi belongs in the house for mobile devices. Ideally, with access points centrally located on each floor.
All stationary devices, in my opinion, should be connected via LAN. As mentioned before, at least one double socket (fed with two cables) per room. For offices and TV areas, possibly two double sockets.
LAN wiring for devices and access points is becoming increasingly important as internet transmission speeds continue to rise, and temporary solutions like PowerLAN (also called DLAN) and repeaters slow down transmission speeds. Not to mention network stability.
S
SenorRaul715 Feb 2019 12:03I completely agree about the LAN wiring. It will, of course, be a bit more expensive, especially since we can’t do it ourselves, but I’m happy to invest in that. Especially since we want to watch TV over the internet (attic), it should be possible to have at least that in all living areas.
I don’t know anything about Access Points. So far, I only know the router itself as the starting point. If my kids’ bedroom was too far from it back then, I just had bad luck. So Access Points are basically small mini-routers you place in each room!? I’ll need to read up on that some more.
Regarding TV:
DVB-T2 seems to be different from satellite and doesn’t require a dish on the roof. So if my TV supports DVB-T2, it can receive the signal directly without any “extra hardware.” If I understand this correctly, that would be the best solution for my transition period, without a big contract, and with low effort and cost!?
I don’t know anything about Access Points. So far, I only know the router itself as the starting point. If my kids’ bedroom was too far from it back then, I just had bad luck. So Access Points are basically small mini-routers you place in each room!? I’ll need to read up on that some more.
Regarding TV:
DVB-T2 seems to be different from satellite and doesn’t require a dish on the roof. So if my TV supports DVB-T2, it can receive the signal directly without any “extra hardware.” If I understand this correctly, that would be the best solution for my transition period, without a big contract, and with low effort and cost!?
R
readytorumble15 Feb 2019 12:22If I remember correctly, the DG reimburses you for up to 12 months of contract fees with the previous provider. This reduces the risk even with a 2-year contract.
I also use IPTV, but I wouldn’t want to rely on it solely. Unfortunately, IPTV is more susceptible to issues compared to, for example, satellite (SAT).
It’s hard to imagine what my wife would do if the TV went out just before the Bachelor finale. Since I still have a satellite dish, I could simply switch over.
I would be pretty annoyed if the TV went out during a World Cup final as well.
I also use IPTV, but I wouldn’t want to rely on it solely. Unfortunately, IPTV is more susceptible to issues compared to, for example, satellite (SAT).
It’s hard to imagine what my wife would do if the TV went out just before the Bachelor finale. Since I still have a satellite dish, I could simply switch over.
I would be pretty annoyed if the TV went out during a World Cup final as well.
S
SenorRaul715 Feb 2019 12:29Mycraft schrieb:
DVB-T2 is basically antenna TV. Depending on the region, the channel selection is very limited, but yes, it’s an alternative. I checked on the dvb-t2hd.de website with the following result (see image). So, for the private channels, I would need to install something on the outside of the house?
readytorumble schrieb:
If I remember correctly, the DG reimburses you for up to 12 months of contract costs with the previous provider. So the risk is reduced even with a 2-year contract.
I also use IPTV. But I wouldn’t rely on it alone. IPTV is unfortunately more prone to interruptions than, for example, satellite.
I can’t imagine what my wife would do to me if the TV went out just before the Bachelor finale. Since I still have a satellite dish, I can simply switch over.
Likewise, I’d be quite annoyed if the TV stopped working during a World Cup final. That’s correct about the reimbursement. Of course, it reduces the possible double costs, but ideally, I’d prefer an option where no double costs occur at all...
Good to know. Intuitively, I would have thought IPTV was the most stable. But clearly, internet outages can happen depending on the provider, and in that case, everything goes down at once. Definitely not an easy decision...
SAT TV is contract-free; you can also receive channels like RTL and others, but not in HD. Channels such as Arte, 1, 2, 3, three Sat, etc. are available in HD.
Again, the GigaCube VFone, Flexx version. You only pay in the month you use it; here, it was 39.95. If LTE is available, it’s really fast, comparable to DSL 16000. A good workaround.
Access points: No problem. We run EVERYTHING on Wi-Fi and don’t miss anything. Even smart TVs work great wirelessly.
Again, the GigaCube VFone, Flexx version. You only pay in the month you use it; here, it was 39.95. If LTE is available, it’s really fast, comparable to DSL 16000. A good workaround.
Access points: No problem. We run EVERYTHING on Wi-Fi and don’t miss anything. Even smart TVs work great wirelessly.
Similar topics