Skint person moving from Fiber to Copper

Abbey1991 · 5 July 2018 at 7:35PM

I'm helping a skint person on benefits move from Plusnet fibre to BT Basic which I think is copper.

Are there any hidden pitfalls in this move and do normal rules apply about giving notice to the new provider rather than old provider?

I've heard that there are early cessation charges from Plusnet for this kind of thing when they stop a fibre connection.

PasturesNew · 5 July 2018 at 7:38PM

What are the cost differences?

I'm on BT Standard, which they promoted at "up to 10MB" and it's about the same price as fibre.... but I only get 1.3MB in reality! And their official line is "count yourself lucky really...." as their official paperwork says I could go even lower and still be deemed as "acceptable for the service"

So what are you trying to save her?

Abbey1991 · 5 July 2018 at 7:52PM

Thanks, so 1.3MB is the speed? And fiber is 50MB, is that right?

That's a massive difference

but she doesn't seem to use it for much more than checking emails, so maybe it's OK?

I think it would be dropping down from £39 per month to £10 per month.

iniltous · 5 July 2018 at 8:05PM

PasturesNew wrote: »

What are the cost differences?

I'm on BT Standard, which they promoted at "up to 10MB" and it's about the same price as fibre.... but I only get 1.3MB in reality! And their official line is "count yourself lucky really...." as their official paperwork says I could go even lower and still be deemed as "acceptable for the service"

So what are you trying to save her?

It looks like the OP is talking about BT Basic, which is a social tarrif for those on certain benefits , where as what you are on is, presumably a standard ADSL2+ broadband, and it's the line length dictates the speed you get, which would be similar regardless of provider ( assuming the underlying technology is the same )
As far as the OP questions are concerned, I would think moving to BT Basic doesn't exempt the customer from their contractual obligations with Plusnet, and with BT Basic with broadband, there is a 12Gb/month limit , for the £10/month cost,(which includes line rental)
If the phone is used a lot, the customer needs to be aware that only a small amount of call minutes are included in the £10

PasturesNew · 5 July 2018 at 8:13PM

iniltous wrote: »

It looks like the OP is talking about BT Basic, which is a social tarrif for those on certain benefits , what you are on , presumably is a standard ADSL broadband, and line length dictates the speed you get, which would be similar regardless of provider ( assuming the underlying technology is the same )

Oh, I'd not heard of such a scheme before.

My bad then... I assumed the OP was using a generic name for a basic BT package, rather than a specifically named thing "for some people".

Looked it up now

BT Basic + Broadband will cost £9.95 in total a month (which includes your BT Basic line rental).
https://btplc.com/inclusion/ProductsAndServices/BTBasic/BTBasicBroadband/index.htm

Yeah, that's a good deal!

Carrot007 · 5 July 2018 at 8:18PM

Abbey1991 wrote: »

Thanks, so 1.3MB is the speed? And fiber is 50MB, is that right?

As I recall ADSL is up to 24 and FTTC is up to 40/80 depending on your option.

Of course ADSL is dependend on distance to exhchange whereas FTTC is dependend on distance to the cabinet.

I get around 60 on FTTC. I would get 0.1 on ADSL.

Checkers are available.

Abbey1991 · 5 July 2018 at 8:21PM

Sorry that I was ambiguous about the product.

She doesn't make many outbound calls.

I guess a 12GB limit is quite low so she will have to watch out for that. In terms of copper though, I guess it is so slow that streaming wouldn't even be possible?!

iniltous · 5 July 2018 at 8:23PM

It is a good deal for those that qualify , but with the caveat that it indended as a way for those on a limited budget to stay in touch , rather than just a discount on ordinary BT Broadband.
BT apart , no other provider is forced by Ofcom to offer what is in effect below cost phone and broadband access, hence the limited calls and bandwidth.
Irrespective of speed , streaming lots of video probably isn't a good idea for those on BT Basic as 12Gb wouldn't take long to consume.
A while ago I only had a 3Mb ADSL connection and that was easily good enough for standard def streaming, and the sync speed on BT Basic and standard ADSL2 broadband is the same, so the chances are that streaming would be OK on BT Basic, but best avoided

Abbey1991 · 5 July 2018 at 8:24PM

Carrot007 wrote: »

As I recall ADSL is up to 24 and FTTC is up to 40/80 depending on your option.

Of course ADSL is dependend on distance to exhchange whereas FTTC is dependend on distance to the cabinet.

I get around 60 on FTTC. I would get 0.1 on ADSL.

Thank you. I didn't know about the distance to exchange / cabinet thing.

AndyPK · 5 July 2018 at 8:24PM

1.3Mb is ok for emails.

And a massive saving in £

But not suitable for a smart TV

[Deleted User] · 6 July 2018 at 8:58AM

Abbey1991 wrote: »

Thanks, so 1.3MB is the speed? And fiber is 50MB, is that right?

That's a massive difference but she doesn't seem to use it for much more than checking emails, so maybe it's OK?

I think it would be dropping down from £39 per month to £10 per month.

1.3Mbps is what @Pasturesnew would get on ADSL (copper pair), it doesn't bear any comparison to what your friend would get unless they live in the same house using the same cable.

Go to https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/adsl.htm?s_cid=ws_furls_adslchecker and click on the "address checker" link towards the bottom. Put in the postcode to check and hit "submit", select the address.

For copper pair have a look on the table for "ADSL Products" & "WBC ADSL 2+"

You need the "Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)" & "Downstream Range(Mbps)"

This will give you a fair indication of what you'll get (short of line problems of course).

BTW, ADSL is up to 19.5Mbps if you're very close to the exchange and fibre starts at up to 38Mbps with higher speeds available. The defining distance for fibre (generally speaking) is from your house to the nearest green cabinet in the street.

Skint person moving from Fiber to Copper

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