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Anyone got FTTP broadband from BT?

Discussion in 'ISP' started by ian, Apr 1, 2015.

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  1. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    With so few locations rolled out with FTTP broadband (fibre all the way to your door), I'm struggling to find any physical reviews by consumers. Anyone here using it? What are your thoughts.

    I live in a remote(ish) area and have suffered from 4Mbps for many years. I knew fibre was coming, but was just expecting FTTC (76Mbps), but they are offering FTTP too, with free install, result. That will give a crazy 330Mbps.

    Annoying thing I've found through research is that BT still require you to have a land line, even though FTTP uses fibre, not copper :rolleyes:
     
  2. Domain Forum

    Acorn Domains Elite Member

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  3. monaghan United Kingdom

    monaghan Well-Known Member

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    Sounds good, I originally heard that FTTP was just for newbuilds, guess they may have sufficient trained engineers to run and terminate fibre now so offering it wider. We have 2 FTTC lines but no option for FTTP yet :-(

    Please do post a review when you get on-line. What are they charging and are there any of those silly usage caps they put in the small print?
     
  4. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    Our development is around 10 years old and wasn't setup for anything. We've struggled by on 1-4Mbps for a long time, and because of some strong 'influence', the council are helping to fund the fibre roll-out. Just didn't expect it to include FTTP.

    The price I believe is £50/mth for FTTP and £16.99/mth line rental (on a redundant line I won't use - daft).

    Not aware of any caps, but this is BT we are talking about, so most websites are probably blocked and they will have hidden limits. I don't currently use them, which makes having to switch a little harder to stomach!
     
  5. anthony United Kingdom

    anthony Well-Known Member

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    As someone who has been in the fibre industry for 32 years, it is mildly annoying to see the marketing ploy played so often, the belief that 'fibre optic broadband' really means a fibre goes into your home (FTTH), when in fact it stops at the node or DP at best. It has skewed customer expectation a hell of a lot.

    Unless you live in one of the areas specifically targeted for FTTH (see City Fibre's Gpon plans for York new build mixes and other cities as an example), then you'll always get the final drop over copper/coax. There just isn't the influx of cash to pay for the civils to give everyone fibre, nor the take-up in reality. On top of that, rolling out a GPON network is very expensive anyway, some of the Juniper cards i have been developing linkup cables for recently cost $100k+ a go, you can go through a shed load of cash for quite small network runs.

    The reality is, if you're in an area like a Virginmedia install, with the final drops run in coax, you get 100Meg, that more than satisfies a house with four adults in it. BT will probably hit you with a £1200-£3000 bill for a direct fibre on a domestic run (if the local network allows), but you'll still be limited, not by the fibre itself, but the hardware feeding your property.

    Believe me, if FTTH was really FTTH as the ads suggest, i'd be typing this post from a condo in the caribbean, not a dining room at the back of the house!
     
  6. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    Understand that anthony, so maybe you can confirm what I believe to be correct, which is that we are being offered 330Mbps via FTTP, which is not only installed as far as the cabinet, but to the terminal box on the front of the house. From there, I don't know if the final link inside (maybe the internal wiring) is copper, or whether they continue the fibre run, but surely this is still true FTTP?

    If you are doubting the services being offered are Infinity 1, 2, 3 and 4, maybe I can provide you with a postcode to check yourself and confirm? From what I've seen of those that had access early, they are achieving those speeds; and this is in rural England.
     
  7. monaghan United Kingdom

    monaghan Well-Known Member

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    I remember trying to ask CableTel how they were going to terminate the fibre network at my house back in 1994 when they first destroyed the street running cable ducting. Fortunately they didn't call my bluff and offer to install fibre as there'd have been no way I could have afforded suitable kit back in those days :)

    Back on topic, the original FTTP install was suggested to be to a splice chamber on the outside of the property, I can't remember whether there was to be a short tail to run into the house or whether the fibre termination was to be in the outside box.

    It might be worth asking the council to define what they are funding as it may not be the same as a generic non-funded BT rollout.

    As for line rental, then I'd guess they will have a hybrid cable to provide both a fibre and a few copper pairs, but either way you are renting the cable running to your property and then paying for whatever services you choose to run over it, that's the business model. If you had cable then you'd still be paying a line rent.
     
  8. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    You should probably ask on thinkbroadband.com's forums. There are people on there with it. If you're being offered Infinity 3 and 4 then it's FTTP/H. Infinity 1 and 2 are FTTC. "Infinity" is BT Retails branded product. It's possible to get FTTC (and maybe FTTP/H) from other providers as well. FTTP/H unlike FTTC doesn't vary in speed depending on how far you are away from your cabinet because there isn't a cabinet. There probably isn't very much to "review". It's an Internet connection with stated speeds. Infinity 4 will possibly give you 330/30 (latter figure being upload). I've forgotten what Infinity 3 is without looking but maybe 220/20 or 150/20 at a guess?

    https://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/super-fastfibreaccess/superfastfibre.do - info on FTTP, FTTC and FTTP on Demand.
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2015
  9. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    Well, it transpired in the end that only a certain part of the development were being offered FTTP free of charge as they were linked to a fibre connection covering a neighbouring village that is too far from the exchange to have anything but FTTP.

    A friend of mine living in said area is now enjoying 305Mbps of the advertised 330Mbps FTTP service; just a shame most of his wifi devices are b/g so cannot reach such speeds!

    I in the end had to settle for FTTC, but at 76Mbps, of which I'm achieving bang on this with no line issues, is perfectly fine for me, and a huge difference from 4Mbps I've had for 8 years here!
     
  10. monaghan United Kingdom

    monaghan Well-Known Member

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    I went from 2Mb cable to 5Mb ADSL and then 40Mb FTTC and upgraded to 80 as soon as the exchange was updated.

    We now have 2 80Mb lines, 1 for work and 1 cheapo unlimited usage which works fine for the kids, no more nagging from me when they watch youtube all day in the holidays and I can flip the proxy settings so my non-time sensitive downloads use the cheapo service.

    Did they give a reason for 305Mb on a 330Mb circuit, is this lost in the fibre to copper conversion at the premises?
     
  11. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    No, I suspect it may just have been the line settling, or possibly the network cables used, I've not checked since but based on what others have said, they are achieving the full 330! I'm going to continue pursuing the relevant parties here to roll it out to us all, as I WANT it ;)
     
  12. monaghan United Kingdom

    monaghan Well-Known Member

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    When you get it rolled out to the sticks, put in a word for us lot in the towns who are stuck on FTTC and will get left behind :)
     
  13. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    Will make a nice change!
     
  14. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    You could always pay for the last leg of fibre to be run from your FTTC cabinet to your home. That product is FTTP On Demand and the price varies depending on your distance from the cabinet. It's available in some locations. Assume somewhere in the low £Thousands. You may qualify for funding https://www.connectionvouchers.co.uk depending on your location.

    https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html to check whether you can get FTTP On Demand.


    (from iPhone)
     
  15. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    He may be able to achieve it at some point. None of these products are dedicated bandwidth for your use alone. You're sharing with multiple users on a ratio. Other factors could be the throughput capabilities of the router, the Ethernet port on his device and any other devices in the mix. What you won't get is a constant full speed maxed out connection unless you're very lucky. :)


    (from iPhone)
     
  16. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    Anthony is correct with his comments about cable providers advertising fibre. Their product is Fibre to the node and then copper beyond. It's not even fibre to your local cable cabinet. I believe my Virgin Media connection is copper RG11 from the road to the outside of the house and then copper RG6 or equivalent WF100 or similar beyond. They can get away with calling it fibre because it's much more fibre than ADSL which is completely copper based. FTTC is VDSL2 I believe.


    (from iPhone)
     
  17. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    This is true, but FTTP is fibre all the way, with the exception of an Ethernet cable for the final run between modem and router, but that is beyond the point they count, so is 100% fibre. FTTC of course isn't, just to the cabinet.
     
  18. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    Yes. It's traditional cable broadband that is fibre to a node but can still be advertised as fibre. Full fibre is the FTTH/P and FTTP on Demand products from OpenReach. Google "FTTP on demand prices" for OpenReach wholesale prices related to connection and distance from cabinet.


    (from iPhone)
     
  19. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    Oh I know, it is eye watering, but considered additional value to a property, might be a worth while investment, but it is muted that FTTC is due a speed increase soon, so might wait a while. In a 12 month contract now, but it is peanuts relatively speaking and always handy to have a backup Internet connection ;)
     
  20. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    It is actually possible to bond multiple FTTC lines. I'm aware of an ADSL24 customer who has done it using a RouterBoard router. The FTTP on Demand prices are eye watering and I've just read that new orders for the product have been suspended. It was something I'd looked at given I would qualify for the connection voucher but I believe there is a multi year commitment to having it as well.


    (from iPhone)
     
  21. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    It's 18 months for those that have ordered around here, and that was in the last few days, but I'd imagine exceptions were being made if indeed suspended due to requirement. I've considered bonding FTTC lines but in reality, at the moment, 76Mbps is more than enough for surfing and fast downloads/uploads.
     
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