Superfast fibre to the box, then copper to the house?

Lilly77

Hello all, I'm hoping someone out there may have experience of this. I'm currently trying to change provider for broadband and phone. Our current internet speed is 0.3 and our chances of increasing this are limited. Whilst we live in a super fast broadband area, we are reliant on copper cabling running from the box to the house. When trying to switch, providers argue that because there is superfast broadband available our area, we aren't eligible for the standard tariff and would need to pay for fibre. We would therefore be paying for a service and speed which can't be delivered. I'd be grateful if anyone with experience could help me navigate this issue.

Many Thanks

Lilly

AndyPK

you misunderstand.


Standard will give you 0.3
Fibre will give you around 30


Suppliers don't want you to sign up to standard as you will be an unhappy customer on 0.3


It makes sense to pay for fibre.

Browntoa

And long term plans will remove old ADSL products anyway

Lilly77

Thanks so much Andy. That's really helpful. So even on copper, paying for fibre could increase our speed?

heatherw_01

Lilly77 wrote: »

Thanks so much Andy. That's really helpful. So even on copper, paying for fibre could increase our speed?

yes
I am on FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) which is copper cabling to the house

mije1983

Most properties in a fibre enabled area in the UK are FTTC (as said above) rather than full fibre all the way. FTTP (fibre all the way) is fairly rare, and often only in new build estates.

Cornucopia

Lilly77 wrote: »

So even on copper, paying for fibre could increase our speed?

Yes - it will definitely increase your speed. You should be able to get a speed estimate and/or guarantee from your prospective supplier.

Depending on your provider, the difference in cost between ADSL and Fibre may not be vast, either. e.g. Plusnet 18 Month contract, the difference is currently £4pm.

I'm not sure of the figures, but I expect that many/most Fibre customers have copper wires between the cabinet and their home.

Lilly77

Brilliant! Many thanks to all of your for your helpful replies!

Mister_G

If you put your phone number into this

https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

it will tell you your estimated VDSL speed (FTTC) - Downstream line speed.

You will also see the estimate of your current ADSL speed.

*j*

I live about 6km from the exchange and used to get about 1Mb/s on ADSL, but when fibre arrived it went up to 30 Mb/s.


The speed is meant to be about 38Mb/s at the cabinet, so the 700 metres of copper from the cabinet to home is what reduces the speed to 30Mb/s.


Your speed on fibre will be determined almost exclusively by your distance from the cabinet. How far is that?

DoaM

*j* wrote: »

Your speed on fibre will be determined almost exclusively by your distance from the cabinet. How far is that?

This is the crucial question.

In my case the FTTC box is approx. 450m (assuming the cable follows the road), and that would align with the approx. 36Meg synch speed I get.