Downgrading from 'Super'/'Fast' Fibre to standard Fibre

iniltous

There could be a case , if small improvements in upload speed was worth paying for , because the upload limit is 10Mb on the 40 and 55Mb download, but 20Mb on the 80Mb , someone could ask for 80Mb service, knowing that they will get much less than 80Mb if it may mean they get 11 or 12 , or something better than 10Mb upload ( TBH if the download on a 80Mb service is  low in the 60’s it’s not likely the upload will exceed 10Mb ) .

Individual providers will have their own policies on who gets offered what,  , if an ISP wanted to charge a single price for broadband, and then place the customer on the profile that the line estimate suggested is appropriate, that’s up to them , the customer made the choice to use that ISP, even if arguably someone getting much lower speed is paying the same as those getting 80Mb.

Most ISPs  offer or show two prices and call them different products,  Superfast 1 , Superfast 2 that type of thing , if someone who wouldn’t benefit from being on  Superfast 2 because of their line length , asked for it anyway , incorrectly thinking that the line would miraculously be faster on the higher speed package, the ISP may advise them that it’s the wrong package for them , or they may simply take the money for SF2 , if the customer is aware of the predicted speed and orders the faster package anyway, they have no complaint, if they were told the line is predicted at 35Mb , and that’s what it delivers, they shouldn’t have ordered SF2.

In my opinion, the advertising authorities messed up , when ISP advertised as ‘upto 80’ , or upto 55Mb , or upto 40Mb , many complained that the majority wouldn’t get those speeds as they were the maximum the profile allowed, so providers had to change and use the  ‘average speed’ that  people on the package get, but if a company average for those on 80Mb is 63Mb , how does that help anyone ?, if you are close to the cabinet you will get more that 63Mb and if far away , you will get less, but it can ‘fool’ some people into thinking that if I purchase the higher speed package , on average that’s the speed they will get , ignoring the predicted speed for their line.

Your individual line estimate is the one to take notice of , pick the package that most closely aligns to than , not some arbitrary country wide ‘average’ . 

If someone’s line is providing 35Mb , and that’s in line with what Openreach predicts it will deliver , then practically there is no point going for 80Mb ( marketed as 63Mb average ) as it’s simply not achievable, they should stick on the lower profiles , as it wouldn’t even max out the 40Mb profile 

sarah1972

littleboo said:

sarah1972 said:

nobler said:

Thanks for your reply. We manage fine with around 38Mb fibre currently so I'm not interested in paying more for a much faster service. The point of me swapping provider is to cut costs rather than upgrade, but it does seem silly to opt for 35ish if I can get 60ish for exactly the same price. Just trying to check there isn't a catch further along the line. 

Not sure how you manage on 38 to be honest, how much do you pay? As I said, I pay £28 for 100 x Can’t see any catches along the line for you though, you should be able to downgrade/upgrade 

Why do think everyone would need 100Mbps? What is your actual peak utilisation of your 100Mbps service - 90%, 60%, 50%?

I never said everyone did need it 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

I said “ The speeds you quote are low though? I pay £28 for 100mb full fibre. I can up or down my speed but why anyone would go slower is beyond me so I’m happy with 100 knowing I can increase it at any time. “ 

I meant, why would people downgrade for the same price or lower which is what the op is saying ….. 

OP “ I'm currently researching new providers and have noticed that several are offering their 60+Mb services at exactly the same monthly cost as the 35+Mb services, which seems odd.” 

my point to the original post is why would anyone pay the same for 60 as 35. 

Sorry, for confusing you and not being clear enough 

oh and to answer your other question, not sure what you mean by peak utilisation? My fibre was slow for us and since they have upped it to 100, it’s now fast enough for my needs. (only 2 of us but all lightbulbs, kettle, air con, printer, iPads, kindles, MacBooks, phones, Alexa devices, pond pump, dishwasher etc all slowed it down) 

littleboo

no, you didn't say that everyone needs 100Mbps, but you did say "Not sure how you manage on 38 to be honest" which suggests that you think that speed is too low for some reason.
Peak utilisation is how much of the 100Mbps you actually use. A household may have a 100Mbps service but never consume more than say 50Mbps instantaneously , in which case a lower service would be perfectly acceptable and they wouldn't know that it was "slower". 
Incidentally, nothing in you list suggests anything more than a modest bandwidth requirement, kindles, Alexa, printers, kettle, dishwasher etc are all inconsequential in terms of internet bandwidth demand.
But as you rightly say, if its the same price then you may as well take the higher speed.

nobler

sarah1972 said

I meant, why would people downgrade for the same price or lower which is what the op is saying ….. 

OP “ I'm currently researching new providers and have noticed that several are offering their 60+Mb services at exactly the same monthly cost as the 35+Mb services, which seems odd.” 

my point to the original post is why would anyone pay the same for 60 as 35. 

I think you have misunderstood me. I'm not saying I would ever downgrade speed while still paying same price as a faster speed. I'm trying to work out if I upgrade the speed  to 60+ now, while it is being offered at same price as my current speed of 38 (but at much cheaper cost from a new provider due to a newbies deal) whether I will be stuck on that faster speed in the future if the pricing structure changes and there is a cheaper (but slower) option available. 
I want to have the option to pick the cheapest speed if I need to, because a few years ago, when money was tight, I found I could not revert to a standard line after upgrading to fibre. Therefore I am wary of being caught in same situation again, even though 60+ at same price as 35+ seems a no-brainer.

iniltous

You do realise that if you switch to the higher speed profile , your actual speed won’t increase because of it  ( but apparently your price won’t increase either ) so if you are getting 35Mb on a 40Mb profile , you will get 35Mb on the 80Mb profile because that’s the maximum your line can deliver due to the distance to the fibre cabinet.
TBH , if the price is the same , and you ‘switch’ you will have no way of knowing if they actually have changed your profile or not

nobler

iniltous said:

You do realise that if you switch to the higher speed profile , your actual speed won’t increase because of it  ( but apparently your price won’t increase either ) so if you are getting 35Mb on a 40Mb profile , you will get 35Mb on the 80Mb profile because that’s the maximum your line can deliver due to the distance to the fibre cabinet.
TBH , if the price is the same , and you ‘switch’ you will have no way of knowing if they actually have changed your profile or not

I am getting really confused! How can I know/find out whether I can get a higher speed than 38Mb on my line if I never sign up for and pay for a higher speed? Is there somebody independant of the broadband providers who can confirm the maximum my line could deliver?

steveE2

@nobler
You can use the checker here https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL and enter your phone number or address
to show your available speeds and connection types then post the results removing anything personal phone number address etc

JSmithy45AD

nobler said:

iniltous said:

You do realise that if you switch to the higher speed profile , your actual speed won’t increase because of it  ( but apparently your price won’t increase either ) so if you are getting 35Mb on a 40Mb profile , you will get 35Mb on the 80Mb profile because that’s the maximum your line can deliver due to the distance to the fibre cabinet.
TBH , if the price is the same , and you ‘switch’ you will have no way of knowing if they actually have changed your profile or not

I am getting really confused! How can I know/find out whether I can get a higher speed than 38Mb on my line if I never sign up for and pay for a higher speed? Is there somebody independant of the broadband providers who can confirm the maximum my line could deliver?

Use the BT link given above for your maximum speed.

NowTV have sold Fab Fibre and Super Fibre (average speed: 36Mbps & 63Mbps) for the same price for years now, there must be a good reason for it but it makes no difference if you purchase the higher speed. Note that these are average speeds, not guaranteed.

I pay for Super Fibre and get around 43Mbps here, the only way I'd get higher is through Virgin due to distance from the exchange, copper to the cabinet and number of people using the service.

JSmithy45AD

In fact NowTV (and others) would probably refuse to sell you the higher speed if you couldn't exceed the lower limit. This would keep their average speeds up for Super Fast.

nobler

steveE2 said:

@nobler
You can use the checker here https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL and enter your phone number or address
to show your available speeds and connection types then post the results removing anything personal phone number address etc

Unfortunately when I type my number in it says "There is no data available for this number. This could be either because it is not a BT line or it is a new BT number that has just been provided. Most new numbers will appear on the checker 24 hours after BT has installed the line"
but thanks for the thought.

I am going to go ahead with switch to new provider and will post back if by some miracle the higher speed package does actually give me a higher speed! Duly noted that those who have expressed an opinion said it won't.