These days, the words “up to” are the worst words you can imagine when you are in the process of getting broadband. They are the words that broadband providers always say when quoting you a speed. They always say that the speed of your internet depends on the capabilities of your line and how far you are from your exchange.

Well, I’ve found a nifty little site that will help you to determine an approximate distance that you are from your exchange. It’s called Sam Knows Broadband Checker. You can just use your landline phone number or (if you don’t have a landline) your house number, together with your postcode, to work out how far your house is from the exchange.

Bare in mind it only works out straight line distance, so if you’re in a large town or city this may not be entirely accurate, but it still does give you a good idea of how far you are.

If you are a long distance from your exchange (more than 1 mile or 1.6 kilometers – apologies for that previous measurement error) you shouldn’t consider high speed broadband as you simply be able to get high speeds. An 8MB claimed speed will be plenty as you probably won’t get much more than 2MB in real time.

If you are a short distance (within a mile) you might want to consider 16MB broadband or above as you will probably be able to get a decent speed. It’s still a good idea to check with the company that you are buying from whether you would be able to get high speeds depending on your line speed and exchange distance.

Don’t forget if you are thinking of joining a company that provides fibre optic broadband, this may not apply to you. It only applies if you are joining copper cable broadband.

Anyway, if you need to find out this distance of your exchange from your house, here’s the place to go.