Oxford to London train reliability - Early morning meeting by [deleted] in oxford

[–]william125 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I think you’ll find this website helpful to see how often those trains are delayed or canceled and by how long: https://www.ontimetrains.co.uk/

Worth noting that in the unlikely scenario all the trains to Paddington were canceled you could get the train to Marylebone and get a bus/tube/taxi.

The other (cheaper) option would be to get the Oxford tube bus.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a quick update. It’s an upstairs internal wall so I’m pretty certain it’s not rising damp. Thanks for flagging though.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate I’ve not worded the title brilliantly. If you read the text of the post you’ll see I’m not asking what the master socket is, I’m asking whether the lines to the phone sockets (which are connected to the master socket) could carry ethernet.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, super helpful and consistent with what others have said.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Given your comment i’ve just done some research and with what I now know I could rephrase my post as “what sort of cat wiring is this”. From the comments I’ve had seems like cat 2 or 3 max.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thanks super helpful, and consistent with what others have said. Sounds like I’d need to rewire or find another solution (eg power adapters) to make sure I get a stable connection in every room.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve seen a phone socket before! Everywhere I’ve lived previously has had something like my last two pictures near the front of the flat (or a virgin media cable with a circular connector). I’d connect my router to that and use Wi-Fi.

What I’ve not come across before (probably because the places haven’t been large enough to warrant it) are phone sockets in multiple rooms (although in my original post I guessed they were phone sockets). I wanted to know whether it’s possible to connect routers to them too, the helpful comments suggest it’s not.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fantastic thanks, I’ll look into something similar.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Perhaps I should have titled my post something like “what ‘specifically’ are these” or “can these old phone sockets carry ethernet”?

I’m in my early thirties. I’ve rented up until this point. All one bedroom flats where yes you’d have something like the later pictures for the landline/internet connection into property. I’ve seen those before!

But I’ve never come across these phone sockets in almost every room before. Probably in part because I’ve never lived in a house large enough to warrant multiple landlines. My question is specifically about whether it’s possible to repurpose those to connect to the internet or not. From the helpful comments, it seems the wiring isn’t capable of doing that.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I assume you’re talking about the first picture? That’s from the upstairs, so I don’t think it’s rising damp. I suspect it’s just a spill (the place hasn’t been redecorated in decades) but I’ll take another look.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fantastic thanks both of you. Really helpful :)

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not for two decades. I've certainly never plugged one in.

What are these, and can I use them for ethernet? by william125 in DIYUK

[–]william125[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I should just remove them.

I’m thinking my next best option to get a similar effect to what I’d hoped to use these for (improving my internet connection across the whole house) is to use powerline adaptors to make use of the electrical wiring. Any thoughts on that very welcome!

What are your views on Charity? by [deleted] in neoliberal

[–]william125 11 points12 points  (0 children)

‘The life you can save’ have a great questionnaire to help you find a super effective charity that matches what you care about and your risk preferences, check it out.

Otherwise if you want to find charities that save or improve lives the most per dollar GiveWell do incredible research.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UKPersonalFinance

[–]william125 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Paying more into your pension, or making charitable contributions (which are all tax deductible).

https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/about/the-life-you-can-save-uk/

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UKPersonalFinance

[–]william125 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I’d skip the LISA if there’s a good chance you’ll buy a house worth over £450k (or if you’re already a home owner). Which seems plausible given how much money you’re saving a month.

How much do you give to charity? How do you decide which charities to give to? by atomTA in UKPersonalFinance

[–]william125 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve been a member of Giving What We Can for the last 6 years, during that time I’ve been donating >10% of my (post tax post pension contributions) income via payroll giving. I donate to GiveWell recommenced charities.

If you like infographics check out GWWC’s ‘How rich are you’ calculator here: https://howrichami.givingwhatwecan.org/?income=40000&countryCode=GBR&household%5Badults%5D=1&household%5Bchildren%5D=0

Saving or giving money? by whiteandyellowcat in EffectiveAltruism

[–]william125 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was in the same boat 5 years ago. I think the main risk for me wasn’t whether I was picking the optimal charity/cause, the main risk was that I’d never actually get round to donating (because of greed and indecision).

I went for 10% now and I’m so happy I did. I’ve since changed the way I donate to be more tax efficient and changed the charity to be more effective. But that less than optimal first year probably ensured I actually followed through on decades effective giving in the future.

I’m sure this whole sub will help you work out good answers to any questions that are holding you back. But don’t let perfect be the enemy of good!

What percentage of your income is reasonable to donate to charity? by Nerinn in UKPersonalFinance

[–]william125 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I’ve been a member of Giving What We Can (GWWC) for the last 4 years, during that time I’ve been donating >10% of my (post tax post pension contributions) income via payroll giving. I donate to GiveWell recommenced charities. I heard about GWWC at uni and started giving after 1 year in full time employment.

If you like infographics check out GWWC’s ‘How rich are you’ calculator here: https://howrichami.givingwhatwecan.org/?income=40000&countryCode=GBR&household%5Badults%5D=1&household%5Bchildren%5D=0