Just HOW bad is 1Mbps BB? And 4G options.

Bendy_House

prowla said:

Did they say it was going to be FFTP and is currently FTTC?

I'd be pretty sure that the existing connection is not FTTC, or it'd be more than 1Mbps; it's more likely to be POTS.

POTS = Plain Old Telephone System (wires from the Exchange).

FTTC = Fibre To The Cabinet (and a wire from there to the house).

FTTP = Fibre To The Premises (the connection to your house is fibre).

Sorry, I don't know.

Fibre is certainly available in the surrounding area postcode, it's just that this collection of 30 retirement bungalows is still fed by whatever was installed in 2008. They are building more homes on the site, tho', and as part of that the whole caboodle will be upgraded.

shiraz99

Have you tried using the BT Wholesale BB checker to see exactly what speed she should be getting there. It'll also give an idea of whether some tweaks to her master socket arrangement might squeeze out a higher connection speed.

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

littleboo

3 things:
Have you confirmed who will be doing this full fibre upgrade, is it Openreach or another provider?
Dates when full fibre becomes available for order can be variable at best, I wouldn't get too attached to the 4 month time frame
Plusnet don't offer FTTP yet, so wouldn't be able to upgrade from ADSL until a) Openreach FTTP was order-able and b) Plusnet had launched the offering

Bendy_House

Thanks Shiraz - I'll check that out.

Littleboo, good point. I understand there will be two installers, Jurassic Fibre (seems to be a West Country outfit) and I presume OpenReach.

littleboo

So you will only be able to get Jurassic Fibre from them, they are not a wholesaler. That means that you couldn't buy an ADSL from an Openreach provider such as Plusnet, TT etc and then "upgrade" to Jurassic, it would be a cease of the ADSL, which would involve penalty fees if in the minimum term, and then start a new service with Jurassic

Bendy_House

Thanks - all stuff to investigate.
I suspect PlusNet and others will be available via Openreach as usual. 

Worth checking Jurassic too; they must be reasonable if they thinking it's worth laying the service?

400ixl

Plusnet do not yet offer a full fibre FTTP service, even if Openreach can put in the connection. The latest is it will launch the summer, but they said that last year as well. It is likely sometime this year, but not guaranteed.

So if the only option is to go from the existing straight to FTTP then you would not be able to do that with Plusnet until they offer it, whereas with another provider that does you could go to it as soon as Openreach can connect it.

shiraz99

So what did the BT wholesale link reveal?

Fidden

prowla said:

HaroldWren5 said:

Bendy_House said:

Many thanks everyone.

Just found out that the 'village' will be upgraded to fibre in around 4 months time, so she can start with ADSL and then upgrade as needed.

We were able to reassure her, tho', that there were other options out there should this have not been the case - she cannae dae w'oot BBO...

I concur with Cisco. Do not renew your existing FTTC contract. You want MAXIMUM negotiating power to upgrade or change provider to get FTTP (Full Fibre) when it's delivered in 4 months time. 

Go with 4G Mobile broadband on a rolling 30 day contract with a mobile provider until then. Or just stay out of contract on the existing line. When Fibre is delivered in 4 months time to the area, then price compare providers at that point. 

Did they say it was going to be FFTP and is currently FTTC?

I'd be pretty sure that the existing connection is not FTTC, or it'd be more than 1Mbps; it's more likely to be POTS.

POTS = Plain Old Telephone System (wires from the Exchange).

FTTC = Fibre To The Cabinet (and a wire from there to the house).

FTTP = Fibre To The Premises (the connection to your house is fibre).

FTTC can still be as bad as POTS, if you are far enough away from the exchange

Bendy_House

shiraz99 said:

So what did the BT wholesale link reveal?

ADSL2+ up to 1Mbps.