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How bad would BeFibre be?

RomfordNavy
RomfordNavy Posts: 728 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
edited 1 February 2024 pm29 9:08PM in Broadband & internet access
BeFibre are offering their Be150 fibre connection in my area for £19/mth which is about the same as I am paying for my current ADSL.  Some reviews for BeFibre are nightmarish but others ok so question is how bad might BeFibre turn out to be?
Wil also need a VoIP phone service which they don't provide but presume I could buy that from elsewhere and connect it over their fibre connection couldn't I?
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  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 15,238 Forumite
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    edited 1 February 2024 pm29 8:08PM
    Wil also need a VoIP phone service which they don't provide but presume I could buy that from elsewhere and connect it over their fibre connection couldn't I?
    Yes.
    Also, for a generic SIP VoIP service you're not limited to a single handset. I've connected my mobile phone to mine. When the home VoIP phone rings, so does my mobile.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Shell (now TT) BB / Lebara mobi. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 33MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
  • I switched in the last couple of weeks to their 900mbps package as Full Fibre Ltd are the only provider of fibre in my part of the neighbourhood with the prospect of Openreach not coming here for years at best and no chance of Virgin Media coming here. And the Plusnet contract I have is due to run out imminently. Showing my age but I was with the old BE broadband (not related) years ago.

    It's too early to make a judgement on how reliable they are but I've had no outages or slowdown of download speed so far - I appear to be getting the advertised speed when downloading Linux updates.

    Their main issue could be growing too fast and not upgrading their infrastructure to match. I was with Fast4 (now I am REALLY showing my age) when they first started, it was reliable, affordable and worked how I wanted - similar to how I see BeFibre now. Then they grew and didn't keep up until the point where they collapsed (I left before they went under). Hopefully they learnt the history of their predecessors during the ADSL boom and won't repeat it with the fibre optic boom.
  • Might be worth checking Quidco as well  https://www.topcashback.co.uk/befibre/
  • RomfordNavy
    RomfordNavy Posts: 728 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 11 February 2024 pm29 3:27PM
    At the moment Befibre don't do VoIP but I am told that they will start next month.
    If I go with VoIP how does that connect to the router: can I use existing telephone cabling or do I need to run Cat-5 to each telephone location.  Can I keep the existing number?  Can I have two phone lines running from the same router?
    Thanks,
  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 15,238 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Third Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    If I go with VoIP how does that connect to the router: can I use existing telephone cabling or do I need to run Cat-5 to each telephone location.
    Sometimes, the router has a BT socket on the back. This replaces your current BT master socket for telephone purposes. Unplug your phone socket from the BT master socket and plug it into the router. Everything should now work.
    If the router doesn't have a phone socket, it might be a bit more complicated. You might need an analogue telephone adapter (ATA) - here's a random example. The ATA connects to your router and your phone plugs into the ATA.
     Can I keep the existing number?
    You should be able to, yes.
    Can I have two phone lines running from the same router?
    Two separate BT phone numbers? Yes, if they're both moved to VoIP. Depending on the router / ATA, you might (if you want) be able to get both numbers to ring on the same analogue phone handsets, but with a different ring sequence (ring-ring vs. riiiing, for example) for each so you can tell who's calling.
    Do you currently have two separate BT lines?
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Shell (now TT) BB / Lebara mobi. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 33MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
  • RomfordNavy
    RomfordNavy Posts: 728 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 21 February 2024 pm29 2:23PM
    Well have signed-up to BeFibre 150Mbps.  By default it runs over CGNat but have confirmed with them that after install I can request this be turned off and get a basic dynamic IP instead.
    Now to wait and see how the install goes.
  • RomfordNavy
    RomfordNavy Posts: 728 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 27 February 2024 pm29 1:24PM
    BeFibre installed this morning, no internet connection yet as still awaiting connection to the pole.
    However, bit of an issue, the Linksys router does not appear to have any Web based configuration interface.  Just redirects to a page instructing to download an app.  Is this likely to be all Linksys AX4200 routers or just the "ISP product, not for resale" version?
  • iniltous
    iniltous Posts: 3,497 Forumite
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    edited 27 February 2024 pm29 2:30PM
    Why are you waiting in a connection at the pole , you would think the same tech installing the ONT etc would do all the work including at the pole top  , if for some reason the pole ( presuming it’s an Openreach pole ) is ‘D’ ( defective ) and cannot be accessed from a ladder , didn’t Be fibre know about this in advance and organise a cherry picker / hoist  to be available ?

  • However, bit of an issue, the Linksys router does not appear to have any Web based configuration interface.  Just redirects to a page instructing to download an app.  Is this likely to be all Linksys AX4200 routers or just the "ISP product, not for resale" version?
    Have you seen this

    https://be-fibre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/BF_Linksys_Setupguide_228.6x184.15mm.pdf

    Is that your router? Does suggest that a web interface is available. 
  • iniltous said:
    Why are you waiting in a connection at the pole , you would think the same tech installing the ONT etc would do all the work including at the pole top  , if for some reason the pole ( presuming it’s an Openreach pole ) is ‘D’ ( defective ) and cannot be accessed from a ladder , didn’t Be fibre know about this in advance and organise a cherry picker / hoist  to be available ?
    Apparently the pole this side needs to be connected to the pole accross the road and didn't have a hoist available today.

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