Hyperoptic Broadband
The development is now wired up to Hyperoptic, giving you another option for broadband & phone connectivity. For more details, or to order go to https://hyperoptic.com/
Unlike the existing fibre-to-the-cabinet broadband, which uses the phone lines to provide speeds "up to" 76 Mbps for downloading, and about 12 Mbps for uploading, Hyperoptic's system supports speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps in both directions. More importantly, the latency (delay) on the link is much lower, making internet connections "feel" much faster.
This means that JIRA residents now have multiple options for broadband:
- Existing ADSL broadband (BT, Sky, TalkTalk, etc) over the phone lines (~6-8 Mbps)
- Fibre-to-the-cabinet (BT Infinity, etc) over the phone lines (38 or 76 Mbps down, 5-10 Mbps up)
- Virgin Media over the TV cables (up to 152 Mbps down / 12 Mbps up)
- Hyperoptic over a new fibre/Ethernet cable (20, 100 or 1000 Mbps both ways).
Installation
The downside to Hyperoptic is that their engineers will need to come and route a new ethernet cable into your apartment.
Most of the apartments now have a Hyperoptic cable concealed in the ceiling, just outside your front door. During installation, the Hyperoptic engineers will come and install a cable which then routed to a new socket inside your flat.
Some residents have had concerns over the extent and neatness of wiring inside their flats - if you have experience of this (good or bad) please let me know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
High speed Fibre Broadband now available
The street cabinet in Bermondsey Wall West has recently been upgraded to support high speed fibre broadband (e.g. BT Infinity), which should now be available to all residents of Jacob's Island.
We have a "fibre-to-the-cabinet" (FTTC) service - this means that the broadband connection uses very high speed fibre optic links from the BT exchange to the green cabinet in the street. The existing phone lines only have to carry the broadband signal from your flat as far as the green cabinet - since this is much closer than the Bermondsey telephone exchange (where the broadband signal terminates for existing ADSL/broadband services), much higher data rates are available.
The main providers offering fibre services are BT Infinity, Sky, Plusnet Fibre Optic, and EE.
A full list of service providers offering fibre broadband is at http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/buy-it-now/
A new Router/BT Home Hub is needed, to support the high speed (VDSL) link to the street cabinet; this should be provided by your broadband supplier.
It's still not clear whether Virgin Media fibre broadband is available - Virgin (formerly NTL) use their own cable TV network to deliver the services (rather than the phone lines), and there is not enough bandwidth/capacity in the in-building cables to support broadband.
First impressions is that the service appears to be much more reliable, and certainly significantly faster. If you are a heavy data user, or regularly use "catch-up TV" services like BBC iPlayer, you should definitely see an improvement.
Archaeology
This great article from Modern Archaeology magazine, published in the March 2012 issue to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth, charts the excavations carried out by the Museum of London on the Jacob's Island site in 1996, prior to construction of Providence Square.
It's a fascinating history of our corner of London, illustrated with plenty of colourful images and references, and gives an excellent perspectives on the rise, fall, and subsequent rise of the Jacob's Island area.
The full article shows artifacts recovered from the site of Folly Ditch, and pictures showing the foundations of one of the former mills on the site.
Courtesy to the editors of the magazine, a full PDF copy of the article, including the images and more details of the finds, is available to JIRA members after logging in to the website.
History
The area that now makes up Jacob's island has changed greatly over the last 200 years. From marshy, boggy wasteland, to a Den for thieves, to an area of industry and now residential area.
JIRA FAQs
What is JIRA?
JIRA is the Jacob's Island Resident's Association.
Who runs JIRA?
There is a committee comprising officers, project champions and Block representatives.
What does JIRA do?
We aim to act in the best interest of residents (both owners and tenants) at Providence Square, Providence Tower and Springalls Wharf. In particular, we liaise and negotiate with the management company, Peverel OM, in order to press for site improvements (e.g. gardening, security, cleaning etc.) and to reduce management charges.
Information leaflet
Download a copy of the welcome leaflet for new residents, also available from the concierge office
Facilities
Residents of Providence Square, Providence Tower and Springalls Wharf enjoy the following facilities:
- 24 hour on-site concierge and security service
- Secure, gated access, with contactless entry cards / proximity fobs and entry phone system
- CCTV throughout the public spaces of the development, recently upgraded
- Award-winning communal water gardens
- Private Gym and sauna facilities, accessible from the basement car park or concierge area
How to use the website
The JIRA website has three main sections:
- Public website content, accessible to anyone without logging in
- Additional website content restricted to residents and/or JIRA members
- An interactive forum, restricted to residents and/or JIRA members
Join JIRA
Dear Owner/Resident,
JIRA membership fees go towards representing your interests as a resident or property owner at the development, as well as funding drinks at the AGM.
Paid up members:
- are kept informed about issues affecting their property. (This information is not posted on the website)
- are consulted about decisions that may affect the development
- automatically receive Committee meeting minutes (~5 p.a.)
- new members are brought up-to-date with current issues when they join.
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