additional services by Broadband First

We do our best to work with our partners and provide the control over their end users and services that they require. Some additional services may be available only on one platform as they are network dependent. Others are general add ons.

Dial Up

The Broadband First Internet Dial Up Service offers reliable UK internet access giving unlimited access to the Internet without any contract. There is no set-up cost or ongoing monthly subscription, customers pay for dial up usage only.

  • Dial Number: 0844 055 7014
  • Username: broadband
  • Password: first
  • Outgoing Mail Server: ccp1.sendservice.net
  • Incoming Mail Server: no change

Capping Options

Please note that there are now a number of options when capped orders reach their cap.

  1. No Action
  2. Restrict to dial-up speeds
  3. Block Usage completely

Should an end user wish to release their order from the cap, additional Gb's can be purchased. A Walled Garden page can be added with the partners choice of message for orders that have the Block option applied. Please contact Support if you would like further details of these options.

Reverse DNS

  • Allows an end user to have a record attached to their Broadband First static IP address, which will give the IP address an identity.
  • For example the IP address 213.213.213.213 can be assigned to "mail.broadbandfirst.co.uk" by creating a rDNS record.
  • Therefore, where a customer may have their own outgoing mail server any e-mail's sent out will be sent from "mail.broadbandfirst.co.uk" rather than just from the IP address. This may help to resolve certain SPAM issues where ISP's are blocking mail's from unknown IP addresses.
  • rDNS Records are created by Broadband First free of charge.

SMTP Roaming

  • This service can be added for an annual charge of £15 + VAT.

Simultaneous Provides

  • A simultaneous provide allows an ADSL order to go live at the same time as a new PSTN line is installed. For this to happen though, we must have all of the required information at least ten full working days (Monday to Friday) before the installation date.
  • The end user must first arrange the line install. It must be specified at the time of ordering the line that a simultaneous ADSL provision will be attached to the line. The line provider will then generate a reference number in relation to this.
  • If the line is ordered through us we can manage the process for you.
  • Please ensure that all information supplied is correct, as there may be a charge for amendments or cancellations.

Expedite Orders

  • When a broadband connection is required urgently it is possible to place an Expedite Order.
  • Once an order has been given a commit date, an Expedite Order should go live within 48 hours.
  • There is no guarantee that the order will go live within this time scale, but if for any reason the order does not go live faster than for a normal provide then there will be no charge for the Expedite.

Fax To Email

  • How frustrating can it be when your faxes get lost in the pile by the office fax machine? Or when the ink cartridge has run out? Or when you can't find a fax that you thought had been filed away? Paper faxes can easily be lost in an office or picked up by the wrong person, and filing and archiving faxes can be a waste of valuable resource time.
  • Fax To Email is a simple, effective means of retrieving fax messages, whilst removing the hassle of using a fax machine. Faxes are received as a PDF attachment on an email, and can be sent to any designated email address.
  • With this service, you can electronically store and archive fax messages, enabling easy retrieval and onward distribution.
  • The service is easy to use: there's no training required, no additional software required, and no changes to your customer's computer or email set-up is necessary.

Load Balancing

A load balancer can be configured in two ways, either by automatically failing over to a secondary line in the event of a fault, or by sharing and segmenting the bandwidth between the two lines.

Load balancers utilise multiple broadband channels, each of which act as single connections.

Standard Load Balancing

If for example 2 ADSL Max connections are used through a load balancer, whereby each line is getting a speed of around 6Mb/s download, then this means that 2 channels of 6Mb/s are available for internet bandwidth.

Should one connection fail then the other connection will handle all traffic seamlessly, until the faulty line is fixed.

Advanced Load Balancing

Again, using the same example of 2 ADSL Max connections, each getting speeds of around 6Mb/s, a load balancer could be setup, so that one connection can be used for VoIP traffic, whilst the other connection handles all e-mail and internet browsing traffic.

However, should a fault occur on one of the lines the traffic flowing down the faulty connection would stop, and manual intervention would be required to get all traffic flowing over the live connection.

Bonding / Bonded Solutions

For customers who require upload and download speeds faster than standard DSL, bonded ADSL and SDSL services are available.

With either 2, 3, 4 or more ports bonded you can obtain a faster speed whilst adding in resiliency to your broadband solution. These solutions can also be ideal for customers who are too far from the exchange to achieve a high speed from a single broadband connection.

Using the same example as for the load balanced solution, 2 ADSL Max connections, each getting around 6Mb/s could be bonded to create an aggregate speed of approximately 12Mb/s download. A little of the combined bandwidth is actually lost to create the bond.

RIPE

Broadband First is a registered member of RIPE.

The RIPE NCC is one of five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) providing Internet resource allocations, registration services and co-ordination activities that support the operation of the Internet globally.

The RIPE NCC is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet through technical co-ordination in its service region.

The most prominent activity of the RIPE NCC is to act as the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) providing global Internet resources and related services (IPv4, IPv6 and AS Number resources) to members in the RIPE NCC service region.

The membership consists mainly of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunication organisations and large corporations located in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia.