should I upgrade to fibre optic with EE

pennyh47

I have a contract for phone and broadband which ends at the end of the year which I took out with Orange. EE have rung me and offered to upgrade me to fibre optic promising faster speeds, vitually no buffering, quicker loading and a better modem than my netgear one.
Currently I am forever losing the internet connection - can be several times in one session and it is slow. I was going to change provider when my contract runs out.
I pay £30 plus every month although I do not make many calls. I do not have a home phone so do not use the landline.
EE say my monthly fee will increase from £17.50 to £29.50 but will only be £21.50 for the first 6 months. The connection charge is free and an engineer will come to the house to install the new modem. However I have to have an 18 month contract.
Would appreciate any thoughts on this as it is tempting to have a better internet connection but am worried my bill will eventually be nearer £50. Would I be better off putting up with it for now and then be free to shop around at the end of my current contract?

penguineater

They are wanting to put you on a fresh 18 month contract before your current one is up?

I don't understand why your internet is so bad, have you tried phoning and getting an engineer out to take a look at it since you're obviously far from satisfied. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to throw money at the problem, unless you actually require/want much higher speed internet and don't mind paying the extra.

If there was only a few months left of your contract i'd have suggested waiting it out and trying to find a new provider but I guess that's not really much of an option..

pennyh47

I did complain and they sent me a new netgear box but it is just as bad and you are on the phone so long that I can't be bothered to go through it all again.
Think I may just stick it out and shop around when my contract ends
Thanks

Buzby

Er, no? You won't get fibre - they are misselling FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) as if you are getting a fibre connection, but you'll still be on copper.

Incidentally your contract will not 'end' unless you tell them and see out any minimum term and/or notice period required.

Timalay

Buzby wrote: »

Er, no? You won't get fibre - they are misselling FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) as if you are getting a fibre connection, but you'll still be on copper.

It's still a darn sight better than just copper (and a step in the right direction), also Virgin Media isn't just full fibre.

Robisere

FTTC is OK as far as it goes, if your line from the cabinet to your home is not too far away. Have a look at your street, how far is the cabinet from your home? And how far is the line?

Basil1234

pennyyh47 in one word no, i would hand notice at the right time usually a month before end of contract.
also as everyone else has said they are reselling FTTC which is fibre to cabinet then from the cabinet is your usual copper cable.
The fault you have by the sound of it sounds like a cabling fault but it maybe not the copper cable coming to your house it could be an internal wiring fault which if it is they will charge you for the work. If the wiring is all correct it could just be you are too far from the exchange on your current llu but without you giving us more information its hard to tell.
i would suggest check your landline on this https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html
it will list exchange the cabinet number your are on and an availability date and speeds to be expected most importantly.
check your exchange to see who is available as resellers as well give you some real options
https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search
also the info on the first checker is the most bang upto date as i have just found out i can get fttc now but samknows said been rolled back to the 6 month but samknows shows resellers.

also heres guide with suppliers and prices of good use at the bottom
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/guide/fibre-broadband.html
i personally like the look of plusnet they have unlimited and give me full line speed also they have got which awards for service basically another company run by bt but all english based, i can get for £20 a month.
where as with sky is limited to 40mb unless i get pro which is £30. unfortunately for me there are now talk risks of redundancies where i work so i'm going have to hold off for the minute what a pain.
anyway hope this has been use to you.
basil

Curr946

i have the FTTC with talktalk. my ASDL connection used to drop all the time and could only get 1.5MBPS on a good day. Now i get 35MBPS with no drop outs.

PS, EE, talktalk etc just resale BT's FTTC and use LLU from the main exchange. This means you should get best of both worlds.

pennyh47

Thanks for everyone's help. I think I'll wait till I can give notice and then decide what to do

Buzby

Timalay wrote: »

It's still a darn sight better than just copper (and a step in the right direction), also Virgin Media isn't just full fibre.

My point is nobody (with a few exceptions) HAS fibre - and it REMAINS copper. As for Virgin, I never said the were full fibre - they are however using co-ax delivery (not twisted pair) and DOCSIS rather than xDSL and able to offer up to 120Mb, which DSL providers can only dream of. Add to this the lower contention rates for cable on a straight choice, cable wins.

When we REALLY get fibre - from whoever - the transmission method will be the same, but until then saying you've 'got fibre' just means you've been missold the service - and don't know it!

Ever wondered what we're going to call it when customers DO get it? 'ultra Fibre'? The mind boggles!

Sparx

I would go with Sky for their LLU Fibre package personally. Much more reliable, truly unlimited, good price, etc.