The UK's largest independent broadband news and information site
Introduction
thinkbroadband has been tracking broadband coverage across the UK since 2012 and to help the public when searching for broadband in our package search we have been developed our own API to filter the packages offered to people based on their postcode.
Other data services are described on our UK Broadband Data page.
The broadband availability API is available on a commercial basis to sites that offer broadband availability and related searches and is part of our desire to ensure that the public get accurate and up-to-date information (e.g. are not offered FTTC services when in reality FTTP is available) as available. The API does not control what retail broadband packages are shown to consumers, but provides the information those offering package recommendations can use to determine these. Please contact us for pricing - [email protected].
The RESTful API returns a JSON object describing wholesale services available along with speed estimates where relevant, so that for example, you can decided to only show 40/10 FTTC services, where the user would not benefit from a faster but more expensive 80/20 FTTC package which may technically still be available, because their line is too long to get speeds above 40Mbps.
Key API features
- Restful API / JSON data output
- Designed for server-to-server communication
- Available on a commercial basis; prices on application but dependent on query volume
- One single call provides information about multiple services e.g. Openreach, Virgin Media, Hyperoptic, OFNL, KCom, Gigaclear, etc.
- Highlight availability of G.fast with minimum 100 Mbps speeds
- "Full fibre" (FTTH) provider availability
- Version control such that new fields/providers and methods to call are provided in a structured way
- Intended for single look-ups; for those wanting to visualise UK broadband infrastructure, contact us for details on our joint work with Point-Topic under the ThinkPoint brand for data which can be ingested into mapping/BI systems.
Calling the API
It is only possible to use the API when you have been issued with an authentication token (guid) and your IP addresses have been added to our systems. Once these are in place, you can access it via a simple HTTP GET request.
Example on how to access the API using PHP and curl function:
$html = curl_get_contents('https://api.thinkbroadband.com/inquiry.php?postcode='.$postcode.'&version=2.20&guid=[site_unique_guid]');
$data = json_decode($html);
Typical Response
The full response from a typical call is reproduced here:
{
"api_version":2.2,
"postcode":"L1 9DW",
"latlng":"53.401277000000000,-2.974188000000000",
"lat":"53.401277000000000",
"lng":"-2.974188000000000",
"exchange_code":"LVROY",
"exchange_name":"ROYAL",
"exchange_distance":219,
"exchange_code_near_1":"LVCEN",
"exchange_name_near_1":"LANCASTER HOUSE",
"exchange_distance_near_1":1810,
"exchange_code_near_2":"LVNOR",
"exchange_name_near_2":"NORTH",
"exchange_distance_near_2":1919,
"exchange_code_near_3":"LVANF",
"exchange_name_near_3":"ANFIELD",
"exchange_distance_near_3":2609,
"exchange_code_near_4":"LVSEF",
"exchange_name_near_4":"SEFTON PARK",
"exchange_distance_near_4":2806,
"avail_retail_virginmedia":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_virginmedia_cable":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_openreach_fttc":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_openreach_fttp":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_openreach_gfast":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_retail_bt_consumer":"AVAILABLE",
"avail_retail_ee":"AVAILABLE",
"avail_retail_plusnet":"AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_btwholesale_ipstream_max":"AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_btwholesale_adsl2plus_wbc":"AVAILABLE",
"avail_retail_sky":"AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_sky_llu_adsl2plus":"AVAILABLE",
"avail_retail_talktalk":"AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_talktalk_llu_adsl2plus":"AVAILABLE",
"exchange_market":"B",
"avail_infra_kc_adsl2plus":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_kc_fttp":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_hyperoptic_fttp":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_gigaclear_fttp":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_ifnl_fttp":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_b4rn_fttp":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_airband_wireless":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_vodafone_gigafast":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_community_fibre":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_truespeed":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"avail_infra_trooli":"NOT_AVAILABLE",
"best_download_sub_24":"YES",
"best_download_sub_10":"NO",
"best_download_sub_2":"NO",
"est_adsl2plus_download_postcode":"15 to 24 Mbps",
"est_fttcp_download_postcode":"over 40 Mbps",
"est_adsl2plus_download_within500m":"15 to 24 Mbps",
"est_fttcp_download_within500m":"over 40 Mbps",
"est_adsl2plus_download_within1000m":"10 to 20 Mbps",
"est_fttcp_download_within1000m":"20 to 40 Mbps",
"est_gfast_download_postcode":"UNKNOWN",
"est_fttp_download_postcode":"UNKNOWN",
"openreach_postcode_split":"SINGLE",
"openreach_postcode_split_technology":"SAME",
"est_raw_adsl2plus_download_postcode":24,
"est_raw_fttcp_download_postcode":80,
"est_raw_gfast_download_postcode":-1,
"fastest":"15 to 24 Mbps",
"tech":"ADSL2+",
"openreach_waiter":"UNKNOWN"
}
This tells us that ADSL2+ is available, but no faster services appear to be available. The speed ranges are provided for FTTC services, even though it is not available at this time. This is to help you understand the likely speeds when cabinets serving the location are upgraded to FTTC. You should therefore filter such speed ranges by observing the "avail_infra_openreach_fttc" field.
Important: The order of fields while usually repeatable is not guaranteed, therefore when coding access to the API do not assume that for example exchange_code is always the fifth array eleement.
Understanding and interpreting results
Broadband availability and ensuring you present the most appropriate products to users is more complicated than an an API lookup on postcode. Our aim is to provide you with as much information as possible, so that you can make the best decision for your user base. As such, you may see a DSL-based broadband service deliver a sub-2Mbps service, and wish to recommen satellite services as an option, even if we do not have information on that.
Some key considerations in building your logic are highlighted below.
Split Postcodes
The fields openreach_postcode_split and openreach_postcode_split_technology (available since v 2.1) are designed to help boost confidence in the result or allow a site to add a caution that a postcode-level search may not provide the full picture on availability to a particular premises. The majority of postcodes are served by a single Openreach cabinet (covering around 22 million premises), but some are split across multiple cabinets. We call these 'split postcodes' where some premises will get different ranges of services from others.
'Waiter List'
The openreach_waiter field (from v 2.3) indicates a postcode where we think FTTC based services are subject to capacity limirations (i.e. there is a waiting list). This field is not real-time as availability can change frequently as lines are provisioned and cancelled, so the purpose if to add a cautionary note which you may display, or use when selecting the recommended product based on other options available to the user.
The 'waiting' problem also impacts those looking to migrate between providers, which may seem illogical given an active VDSL2 line is already connected to a port, but it is thought that the equivalence of input rules have led to this scenario to avoid large wholesalers gaining an advantage over switching between two LLU operators.
Example postcodes
These few examples you may wish to consider using for testing and are correct at the time of writing. These are not a full set of permutations but should allow you to test the most common cases and how they should be interpreted.
- SM2 6BX — A location with G.fast, Virgin Media, FTTC and ADSL2+ available
- SM1 4FR — A newish postcode where only Openreach FTTP is available, so no ADSL/ADSL2+ options
- BT23 4NW — An emerging trend with the Fibre First roll-out, Openreach FTTP and FTTC are both available at good speeds, and Virgin Media cable broadband is also available.
- NE36 0QS — FTTC is available but due to the distance from the cabinet our speed estimate is 17 Mbps versus a range of 12.5 to 23 Mbps.
- CB10 2DF — The postcode is split across two different cabinets, the majority of premises can get FTTC, but we do flag the cabinet as split across multiple postcodes and that not all of them have a FTTC based service.
- CB10 1DY — No FTTC available and is actually an exchange only line, but they do have Virgin Media cable available.
- MK10 7LB — OFNL (previously IFNL) and their full fibre service is available, usually these locations have no services from other operators.
- SW18 1HA — Hyperoptic Fibre to the Building service is available, alongside ADSL2+ services.
- BL4 9PG — Postcode where CityFibre has FTTP available using TalkTalk Future Fibre products
The ability to advise users that not all premises will be served by the same Openreach technology is useful as while there are around 22 million premises served by a single cabinet, warning others that when they check on a providers' sites for the full address may result in a different result means expectations have been managed.
The speed estimates for Openreach local loop technologies are based on own model of their network and the single figure estimate is usually towards to the lower end of the range that a full address lookup would provide. This is deliberate to allow for the fact that the estimate is based on the centroid of the postcode.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is the data?
The dataset is dynamic and broadband roll-outs are on-going, so the data changes all the time. Over the years we have refined the accuracy and across the UK we believe the tolerance is +/- 0.1%; back in early 2016 this range was as wide as +/- 1%.
It is importasnt to note that even if a particular technology is available for a postcode, individual providers may have a temporary hold on new orders in an area, or there may be wholesale capacity issues but with waiting lists available to operators, although this may not always be communicated to customers.
We welcome feedback from users where they see issues ordering services that we show as being available and update the database daily based on reports we receive. We investigate any feedback from users, and also flagged by our systems both on the specific postcode, but also wider groups of postcoes which may be subject to similar constraints, so we believe that we are the most 'live' UK broadband availability data set available. In some cases, we feed back into wholesale operators where their data is incorrect as well.
Is the data availability as a 'flat data' file, so we do not have to use the API?
For the purposes of broadband availability searches to drive a comparison engine we do not recommend using a flat data set due to the dynamic nature of the broadband roll-outs which change daily or weekly. We do offer availability information in downloadable formats for appropriate uses through our ThinkPoint data set service. If you are looking to use data to for example target mailshots to customers who have registered with you, we can offer solutions for bulk queries for this purpose; please contact us for more details.
What can we do with the data?
This API is intended for websites which need to check availability for a user considering broadband options on a 'live' basis. We do log lookups for audit and quality control purposes but we do not store any personal data in relation to such lookups as these are proxied through your server at all times and we only communicate with your server. We do not use lookups for any marketing purposes ourselves.
Can a partial set of results be returned?
Since we know that not everyone will want all the fields the data is clustered into different groups and when subscribing to the API the initial setup involves defining which sets of data you want to receive.
The list of data groups and a synopsis of what it provides follows:
- District Information: Type of council the postcode falls within and average speeds seen within the council area. Version 1.2 added regional level speed test results for last quarter.
- Coordinates: Latitude and longitude for the postcode
- Demographics: Number of premises in the postcode (current) and population (2011 Census)
- Exchange Information: Detail of the Openreach exchange postcode is connected to and information on the four other closest exchanges.
- Coverage: Core broadband coverage fields on the technologies available to the postcode
- Estimated Speeds: Estimated speeds for ADSL/ADSL2+ and VDSL2/Gfast available as a preformated text field e.g. 45 to 76 Mbps or a single raw figure to allow for your own formatting. Estimates for the postcode itself and surrounding area are provided. We also include two fields to indicate if a postcode is served by a single or multiple Openreach cabinets, which can be used as a confidence indicator.
- Speed Tests: Analysis from our speed test data on speeds seen in the last 3 months in the postcode and nearby postcodes
- Fastest: To help with the logic on what services to show we can say which technology we think offers the fastest fixed line speeds in a postcode e.g. ADSL, FTTC, cable or FTTP.
The descriptions relate to versions 2.20 of the API, as new data fields are introduced these are only supplied to those who request the appropriate data version i.e. if version 2.30 introduced a new broadband provider those requesting a 2.30 version or higher would see this information.
Version Information
Version 2.30 released 25th February 2020
Three new fields added to the coverage information, avail_infra_virginmedia_gig1, avail_infra_gnetwork, avail_infra_zzoomm. The three fields are only included if a call with version 2.3 or higher is set and return the standard available, not available text depending on whether the Virgin Media Gig1, g.network or zzoomm full fibre services are available.
Version 2.31 released 26th August 2020
For those accessing the API with the show retail options flag enabled, there are four new additional fields.
avail_retail_bt_consumer_gea_fttp
avail_retail_sky_gea_fttp
avail_retail_talktalk_gea_fttp
avail_retail_vodafone_gea_fttp
These are used to indicated if Openreach GEA FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) services are available in this postcode. There are more retailers who sell, but the majority are exact mirrors of the avail_infra_openreach_fttp field.
For the avail_retail_bt_consumer_gea_fttp field this is an exact mirror of the avail_infra_openreach_fttp field. The avail_retail_sky_gea_fttp and avail_retail_talktalk_gea_fttp fields as of 26th August 2020 will always return NOT_AVAILABLE, once a full launch occurs we will update our systems to reflect the whole or subset of the Openreach FTTP footprint they offer service in.
For the avail_retail_vodafone_gea_fttp field while they are still as of August 2020 only taking orders over the phone, for the exchanges where we have determined they sell FTTP we will return AVAILABLE if the avail_infra_openreach_fttp field is set to AVAILABLE. As of 26th August 2020 our database is setting this field on 16 exchanges. An example postcode for those wanting to test their system is L22 4RB.
Version 2.32 released 26th August 2020
The avail_retail_sky_gea_fttp field is now populated with AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE. It is a mirror of the avail_infra_openreach_fttp field. Once a better idea of any limits Sky impose on availability are known we will adjust the availability accordingly.
Update 25th September 2020
EE has launched its FTTP option, and this is available everywhere that Openreach have FTTP so if filtering packages using the API observe the avail_infra_openreach_fttp field.
Version 2.33 released 18th February 2021
Added four fields that cover current CityFibre FTTP deployments
avail_infra_cityfibre_talktalk
avail_infra_cityfibre_vodafone
avail_infra_cityfibre_zen
avail_infra_cityfibre_brawband
The avail_infra_cityfibre_vodafone is identical to the avail_infra_vodafone_gigafast field but has added to maintain constitency of naming in the new fields. Later versions may additional retailers as and when CityFibre is sold by more providers.
The TalkTalk option is set to available in areas of York, Dewsbury, Bolton, Milton Keynes, Aberdeen and Peterborough where CityFibre has its FTTP network available. This means in Milton Keynes, Aberdeen and Peterborough you will also have the avail_infra_cityfibre_vodafone field set.
Version 2.34 released 23rd February 2021
Addition of another two provider fields
avail_infra_fwnetworks_heybroadband
avail_infra_youfibre
fwnetworks is building FTTP in the Horsham, Godalming, High Wycombe and other areas.
youfibre is a FTTP provider in the North East around the Peterlee area.
Version 2.35 released 26th February 2021
Added field for CityFibre coverage in Portsmouth retailed by Giganet
avail_infra_cityfibre_giganet
Is the API available in other formats?
Other formats such as XML can be requested and served in response to the request, but core data set will remain the same. Unusual or custom formats may carry additional development costs on top of ongoing API access charges.
Field Definitions
Grouped based on their grouping flag, the full list of fields is as follows:
| Group | Field | Example and Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Always Present | api_version | 2.3 floating point value confirming the version of the API call you made |
| Always Present | postcode | Postcode e.g. L1 9DW |
| District Info | country | England, Scotland, Wales or Nothern Ireland |
| District Info | region | East Midlands, East of England, London, North East England, North West England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South East England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands or Yorkshire and Humber |
| District Info | district | Text name for the district council or local authority. One council name from a list of 208 possible ones. |
| District Info | is_london_borough | YES or NO |
| District Info | is_unitary_authority | YES or NO |
| District Info | is_metro_district | YES or NO |
| District Info | district_code | E08000012 i.e. the ONS code that corresponds to the council named in the 'district' field |
| District Info | mean_council_download_quarter | 39.8 (in Mega bits per second to 1 decimal place - quarter is previous full quarter) |
| District Info | mean_council_upload_quarter | e.g. 6.8 |
| District Info | median_council_download_quarter | e.g. 26.4 |
| District Info | median_council_upload_quarter | e.g. 5.1 |
| District Info | region_quarter | Name of UK region the quarter speed test results refer to. |
| District Info | mean_region_download_quarter | 33.3 |
| District Info | mean_region_upload_quarter | 6.5 |
| District Info | median_region_download_quarter | 24.1 |
| District Info | median_region_upload_quarter | 4.8 |
| District Info | mean_region_latency_quarter | 49 (an integer in milliseconds) |
| District Info | median_region_quality_quarter | 0.6 (floating point value used for comparing speed tests) |
| Coord | latlng | e.g. 53.401277000000000,-2.974188000000000 |
| Coord | lat | e.g. 53.401277000000000 |
| Coord | lng | e.g. -2.974188000000000 |
| Demographics | households | 20 (NOTE Field makes no distinction between residential and business premises - this is expected to change in a future version) |
| Demographics | population | 0 (taken from Census 2011 data) |
| Exchange Info | exchange_code | LVROY (standard code name for Openreach exchange telephone line connects to) |
| Exchange Info | exchange_name | ROYAL |
| Exchange Info | exchange_distance | e.g. 219 (integer distance in metres from center of postcode to the exchange building) |
| Exchange Info |
exchange_code_near_1, exchange_code_near_2, exchange_code_near_3, exchange_code_near_4 |
Code for the next nearest four exchanges |
| Exchange Info | exchange_name_near_1, exchange_name_near_2, exchange_name_near_3, exchange_name_near_4 | Name of next nearest four exchanges |
| Exchange Info | exchange_latlng | e.g. 53.401074548615924,-2.9767674932372756 |
| Exchange Info | exchange_lat | e.g. 53.401074548615924 |
| Exchange Info | exchange_lng | e.g. -2.9767674932372756 |
| Exchange Info | exchange_lat_near_1, exchange_lat_near_2, exchange_lat_near_3, exchange_lat_near_4 | Latitude of next nearest four exchanges, useful for populating any locality map shown to visitors |
| Exchange Info | exchange_lng_near_1, exchange_lng_near_2, exchange_lng_near_3, exchange_lng_near_4 | Longitude |
| Exchange Info | exchange_market | A or B, based on market grouping assigned to exchange by Ofcom |
| Coverage | avail_infra_virginmedia_cable | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_virginmedia_gig1 | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.3 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_openreach_fttc | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_openreach_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_openreach_gfast |
Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE NOTE: Postcodes too far from a live pod will return NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_btwholesale_ipstream_max |
Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Some exchanges still don't have the basic ADSL service available |
| Coverage | avail_infra_btwholesale_adsl2plus_wbc | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_sky_llu_adsl2plus | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_talktalk_llu_adsl2plus | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_kc_adsl2plus | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_kc_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_hyperoptic_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_gigaclear_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_gnetwork | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.3 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_ifnl_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_b4rn_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_airband_wireless | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_vodafone_gigafast | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_community_fibre | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_truespeed | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_trooli | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage | avail_infra_virginmedia_gig1 | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.3 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_zzoomm | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.3 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_cityfibre_talktalk | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.33 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_cityfibre_zen | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.33 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_cityfibre_brawband | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.33 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_cityfibre_vodafone | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.33 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_fwnetworks_heybroadband | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.34 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_youfibre | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.34 and higher only |
| Coverage | avail_infra_cityfibre_giganet | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.35 and higher only |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_virginmedia | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_bt_consumer | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_ee | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_plusnet | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_sky | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_talktalk | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_talktalk | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_bt_consumer_gea_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.31 and higher only |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_sky_gea_fttp |
Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Active as of version 2.32 |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_talktalk_gea_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.31 and higher only |
| Coverage with Show Retail | avail_retail_vodafone_gea_fttp | Either AVAILABLE or NOT_AVAILABLE Version 2.31 and higher only |
| Coverage | best_download_sub_24 | YES or NO, if the postcode is believed to only have a sub 24 Mbps service available will return YES. This is possible even when VDSL2 is available due to the line distance drop off. |
| Coverage | best_download_sub_10 | YES or NO, is based on our assessment of the best download speed available. With some voucher schemes available suggesting those or referring to broadband USO pages is worthwhile when a YES is returned. |
| Coverage | best_download_sub_2 | YES or NO, generally those postcodes a long way from the exchange and also their cabinet. Redirecting visitors to an alternative such as 4G or satellite might be worthwhile. |
| Coverage | openreach_waiter | UNKNOWN, OK or WAITING, reflecting if our tracking of cabinet capacity has the VDSL2 cabinet flagged as at a capacity limit. Do not use this field to hide VDSL2 based services, since capacity is very dynamic but by flagged a cautionary note to visitors you can avoid disappointment when the retailer does its live check as part of the order process. |
| Fastest | fastest | e.g. 1000 Mbps for those postcodes with Gigabit FTTP available, cable services return 200 Mbps and Openreach FTTP 300 Mbps. On ADSL close to the exchange sample is '6 to 8 Mbps' |
| Fastest | tech | Unknown, ADSL, ADSL2+, FTTC, FTTP or Cable. Field tells you which is expected to be the fastest fixed line speed, it is possible that ADSL2+ may be faster than FTTC in some limited number of scenarios. |
| Estimated Speeds | est_adsl2plus_download_postcode | UNKNOWN or formatted string e.g. '18 to 24 Mbps'. Strings may change so dont use the field for less than or more than decisions, for those decisions use the integer values of the est_raw_* fields |
| Estimated Speeds | est_fttcp_download_postcode | UNKNOWN or formatted string e.g. '45 to 76 Mbps' |
| Estimated Speeds | est_adsl2plus_download_within500m | As per _postcode field but covers postcodes with 500 metres. Included to give an idea of area performance rather than performance for a specific visitor |
| Estimated Speeds | est_fttcp_download_within500m | As per _postcode field but covers postcodes with 500 metres. Included to give an idea of area performance rather than performance for a specific visitor |
| Estimated Speeds | est_adsl2plus_download_within1000m | As per _postcode field but covers postcodes with 500 metres. Included to give an idea of area performance rather than performance for a specific visitor |
| Estimated Speeds | est_fttcp_download_within1000m | As per _postcode field but covers postcodes with 500 metres. Included to give an idea of area performance rather than performance for a specific visitor |
| Estimated Speeds | openreach_postcode_split | UNKNOWN, SINGLE or MULTIPLE, reflects whether postcode is served by multiple Openreach cabinets |
| Estimated Speeds | openreach_postcode_split_technology | UNKNOWN, SAME or DIFFERENT, useful when split field returns MULTIPLE. SAME means that all premises are just ASDL or just FTTC/FTTP based. DIFFERENT means a mixture of ADSL and FTTC/FTTP is present, the answers in all the coverage fields refer to the majority available. So if we say FTTC is not available, but you see a DIFFERENT entry this means a small number of premises may have access to FTTC or FTTP and the opposite if we say FTTC or FTTP is available. |
| Raw Speed Estimate | est_raw_adsl2plus_download_postcode | An integer estimate of the expected ADSL2+ download speed for the postcode area |
| Raw Speed Estimate | est_raw_fttcp_download_postcode | An integer estimate of the expected VDSL2 or FTTP download speed for the postcode area. VDSL2 figure is shown even if service is not available, so for presentation to a visitor you need to filter on the coverage fields |
| Raw Speed Estimate | est_raw_gfast_download_postcode | UNKNOWN or integer estimate for Gfast if service is available |
Do you have any example code for using the API?
So that people can get up and running and using the API quickly we have a simple PHP and HTML file available that includes some basic logic to show information about the broadband packages available.
A snippet from the file is attached, but the full file can be downloaded from https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/sample.zip but to make use the file you will require your unique GUID to access the lookup system
function curl_get_contents($url)
{
$ch = curl_init($url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 0);
$data = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
return $data;
}
function accessAPI($postcode)
{
$postcode=urlencode($postcode);
$html = curl_get_contents('https://api.thinkbroadband.com/inquiry.php?postcode='.$postcode.'&version=2.3&guid=[your unique guid]');
$data = json_decode($html);
return $data;
}
function buildOutputRows($data)
{
//Build an array of output rows
$rows = array();
//As FTTP generally offers the fastest service look for those first
if ($data->avail_infra_b4rn_fttp == 'AVAILABLE')
{
$row = 'BARN Gigabit FTTP is available and will be the fastest service available in this postcode.';
$rows[] = $row;
}
//This mini code snippet is missing additional processing that shows filtering for FTTC speeds and more
return $rows;
}
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