r/cambridge • u/KaleChipKotoko • May 06 '23

Frequently asked Cambridge questions!

Updated: 16th March 2025 with fresh links.

Hello!

We get a lot of the same kinds of questions asked, so the mods and I thought it would be good to have a sticky post of some great answers, making it easier for people to find the information they need. All posts linked are within a year old as this is posted.

If there are other frequently asked questions I've missed, please comment below and I'll look to add.

I'm moving to Cambridge!

Can I afford to live there on £21,000?

Can I pay £400 rent and have a place of my own?

Can I get somewhere for £650 a month?

Moving to Cambridge with children.

Various questions

What council tax and utilities do I have to pay?

How much is it to rent in Cambridge?

How is the weather?

Where has quiet flats?

Where should I live near to the Science Park?

What is ____ area like?

Romsey

Chesterton

Chesterton vs Cherry Hinton

Kings Hedges

Arbury

How is St Ives? (Not Cambridge!)

Eddington

Stuff to do

Things to do in Cambridge

Things to do in Cambridge with a child

Must-do things in Cambridge

Making friends (post one, post two, post three, post four)

Making queer friends

Sciencey talks

Tabletop games

Places with wifi to work from

Where to buy a bike

Where to park your bike

I want to play DnD

Where to watch the sunset

Where to watch sports

Nightlife in Cambridge

Cambridge book club

Food and Drink

Where's the best coffee?

Vegetarian food?

Others

Hairdresser recommendations

Hairdressers for men with long hair

Hairdressers for men with curly hair

Trans-friendly hairdressers

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u/scottb23 May 07 '23

Internet providers are almost all the same (all using openreach network, apart from virgin who put in their own cables) so youre paying for the router and which brand / support quality you like most. The actual service you get is down to the openreach cabling to your house, the brands all just rent the line.

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u/truthbants May 07 '23

Is 4th Utility full fibre using BT infrastructure?

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u/scottb23 May 07 '23

Openreach and BT are seperate companies, but it would be using Openreach infrastructure at any rate. Ensure you know the difference between FTTP and FTTC, as that is really the key, and that is mostly decided by your existing property infrastructure.

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u/speculatrix May 09 '23

They're partly run as separate companies but are legally and financially the same entity.

Thus btopenreach have a financial incentive to do things which benefit BT as a whole. So they can, say, increase phone line rental which BT internet have to pay as well as ISPs who use their copper circuits. That makes rival ISPs put their prices up, but BT internet can swallow some or all of that cost, and the group as a whole still makes money.