FTTC Waiting List - Options?

Hedgepigs

Hi,

I'm moving house and went to set up broadband no one was offering fibre (despite neighbours having it). Looking on BT wholesale checker there is a wait list for the cabinet. Normal broadband is pretty poor, with estimated speed I'd around 3-5mbps, 4g is also patchy in the area. Not ideal as I work from home.

What are my options? I don't want to get stuck into an 18 month contract for basic broadband - which are the same or more expensive than new fibre deals. Will any companies allow an upgrade when more slots become available? How do I know when fibre is available?

HaroldWren5

Hedgepigs said:

Hi,

I'm moving house and went to set up broadband no one was offering fibre (despite neighbours having it). Looking on BT wholesale checker there is a wait list for the cabinet. Normal broadband is pretty poor, with estimated speed I'd around 3-5mbps, 4g is also patchy in the area. Not ideal as I work from home.

What are my options? I don't want to get stuck into an 18 month contract for basic broadband - which are the same or more expensive than new fibre deals. Will any companies allow an upgrade when more slots become available? How do I know when fibre is available?

I think you can go to the Openreach checker. They are the main wholesaler. When you checked, did it say they are building Fibre in your area? FTTC (to the Cabinet) is not Full Fibre. When you say the neighbours have Fibre, do you mean they have Full Fibre? If so, then you may be able to upgrade to Full Fibre as well. 

I sympathise with you regarding the slow speed having had exactly the same issue on FTTC. I humbly would say there are three options. 

Your focus seems to be on shortest contract length and ability to upgrade to Full Fibre asap.

1. Vodafone, or BT - They claim they will upgrade you to FTTP 100Mbps as soon as it is ready. Customer service not so great, and contract length is 24 months though. 
2. Sky do 18 months for a lower price. This would simply be about shortening the length of contract.
3. Best option probably Cuckoo then. They do rolling (30 day) contracts, or a 12 month contract. That way you keep the contract length short for FTTC broadband. If you can get FTTP on Openreach already, you can still go with them with the same length contract. 

Do check if you can get Full Fibre though if your neighbours have it (as in Fibre all the way to the home). It will be far more reliable and like you said you can get a better value for money deal. 

Hedgepigs

Sorry - no I just meant 'normal' fibre. I don't think we'll have full fibre any time soon here!I currently have 36mbps with Vodafone, which is what I wanted at new address - but they won't supply my new address on a standard line. 

My only concern with contract length was if I sign up on a standard 24 month contract, I am then stuck with it even if fttc becomes available, or having to pay double to pay off the existing contract plus buying higher speed internet on top, which I really can't afford.

I looked into 4G more, as three are supposed to have a better signal here. But they won't offer a home internet deal to the new house, only mobile router, so I am guessing that is because 4G here isn't good enough for a stable broadband line?

HaroldWren5

Hedgepigs said:

Sorry - no I just meant 'normal' fibre. I don't think we'll have full fibre any time soon here!I currently have 36mbps with Vodafone, which is what I wanted at new address - but they won't supply my new address on a standard line. 

My only concern with contract length was if I sign up on a standard 24 month contract, I am then stuck with it even if fttc becomes available, or having to pay double to pay off the existing contract plus buying higher speed internet on top, which I really can't afford.

I looked into 4G more, as three are supposed to have a better signal here. But they won't offer a home internet deal to the new house, only mobile router, so I am guessing that is because 4G here isn't good enough for a stable broadband line?

Ah I understand. You never know as sometimes suddenly Full Fibre rolls up when you least expect it. I've heard of people who had been badly abandoned by Openreach etc for a decade with appalling 1Mbps broadband suddenly finding to their surprise that they are amongst the first to get Gigabit broadband available at their address in the country. 

I totally get your concern on contract lengths. For starters, they lock you in. Secondly they raise the price every March. And thirdly the wholesale price is coming down, so you don't want to miss out on a better deal. It's always better to have flexibility. 

Right, so two options then:

1. 4G internet can certainly work. You need to find which mobile network has a good 4G indoor signal in your area. If you find that there is a good signal, you should be able to get 4G speeds (which might vary between 20-80Mbps) using either a 4G router or Mobile Hotspot which you can pop in the 4G sim into. In that case, you would just look for an Unlimited Data 4G Sim with no limits, or restrictions. In Vodafone's case, it would be an "Unlimited Max" marketed SIM. You could check coverage with Three, O2, Vodafone etc. This would be on a contract length of either 30 days, 12 months or 24 months. You can either buy your own Hotspot from Amazon or use the locked one that the mobile network provides. 

This can work out cost effective until you get Full Fibre in your area. The only thing is that some networks are more reliable than others when it comes to any lag/dropouts. But the advantage is you can also take your broadband with you anywhere on the move. 

2. The alternative would be to seek an FTTC product with a shorter contract checking for broadband providers who use the same Openreach network. Zen for instance do 12 month contracts. Cuckoo Broadband also do 12 month, or 30 day rolling contracts. For the "up to 80Mbps product" it is £29.99 a month fixed for 12 months either way. This gives you the flexibility of being able to change, or upgrade to a new deal more easily. 

littleboo

Whichever provider you choose will most likely allow you to upgrade to FTTC when it becomes available, it will mean starting a new contract. Check with them before you sign up. The direction of travel for providers is away from ADSL to Fibre based products.