BT upgrade to fibre options

[wickham]

Today I got a phone call from BT saying that my standard copper broadband contract is ending and I should upgrade to fibre.
I said I was happy to continue with what I've got but was told that only two options were available - Superfast Fibre Essential 30Mb or superfast fibre 50Mb.

I said I would think about it and check online. My account seems to give three options including the current standard broadband. The fibre essential option seems to be the same price as the standard broadband.

The upgrade to fibre has a £50 activation fee and £9.99 p&p for the new router which weren't mentioned in the phone call.

Something else that wasn't mentioned and isn't mentioned in the online package is what alterations are required to the cable entry. Do they have to drill a hole and fix a new fibre cable through my wall?

If I just do nothing, will they just cut me off because I haven't upgraded to fibre? It's obvious that they want everyone to get off standard copper line connections.

[Alaric]

Something else that wasn't mentioned and isn't mentioned in the online package is what alterations are required to the cable entry. Do they have to drill a hole and fix a new fibre cable through my wall?

As I understand it, they have to send out Openreach to install a new connection. I think it needs a new socket on the inside to plug the modem into.

If you don't want to change to Fibre, why not just tell BT that if they won't renew your existing contract, you'll just switch to one of their competitors? Perhaps the caller was being economical with the truth about your options. Is it normal for BT to have conditions where they can withdraw your existing service in this way?

[supremetwo]

The options you have been given appear to be FTTC fibre to the cabinet rather than FTTP fibre to the premises.

I have recently switched to NOW FTTC and no problems at all.

£25 per month for Fab Fibre average 36 Mbps download speed, unlimited downloads and including line rental anytime phone calls (and to mobiles) with no set up costs at all.

And cashback available via Quidco (£90) or Topcashback (£85).

There is also a faster 63 Mb option for £30 pm if you are close enough to a fibre cabinet.

If FTTC no changes are required.

If FTTP, your master socket will have to be changed.

[chas49]

Today I got a phone call from BT saying that my standard copper broadband contract is ending and I should upgrade to fibre.
I said I was happy to continue with what I've got but was told that only two options were available - Superfast Fibre Essential 30Mb or superfast fibre 50Mb.

I said I would think about it and check online. My account seems to give three options including the current standard broadband. The fibre essential option seems to be the same price as the standard broadband.

The upgrade to fibre has a £50 activation fee and £9.99 p&p for the new router which weren't mentioned in the phone call.

Something else that wasn't mentioned and isn't mentioned in the online package is what alterations are required to the cable entry. Do they have to drill a hole and fix a new fibre cable through my wall?

If I just do nothing, will they just cut me off because I haven't upgraded to fibre? It's obvious that they want everyone to get off standard copper line connections.

At those speeds and prices, you are being offered an FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) service. This is the service the BT/Openreach aim to make available to 90 something percent of the country. If you sign up for this, they will make some changes at the exchange and the nearest FTTC cabinet to your house. The copper connection from the cabinet to your house will stay the same except that they will install a new socket in place of the existing one (unless you already have an up-to-date BT socket) and a modem/router to provide the new service.

In some areas BT (and others) can offer a FTTP/FTTH - Fibre to the Premises/Home service where the "last mile" copper connection is replaced with fibre right to your "front door". This would be faster and more expensive.

If you don't currently have Fibre your existing service will be ADSL2 (presumably) with a theoretical maximum download speed of 24Mbps. Chances are you're getting somewhere between 2 and 15Mbps.

You can check on various speedcheck sites (including http://www.speedtest.btwholesale.com/) if you like.

If you#'re happy with the speed you currently get, and it's cheaper than the £28.99 a month that Superfast Fibre Essential 30Mb currently costs, then stick with it.

If you want a faster service, shop around first.

They won't "cut you off". The copper is still used for your landline.

[Watis]

I was upgraded to FTTC earlier this year.

My ISP, Zen Internet, announced this by advising me that I would be getting a 'free fibre upgrade' as a thank you for being a Zen customer.

I guess that, when a cabinet is upgraded to FTTC, all households connected to that cabinet will experience a faster connection. In those circumstances why should ISPs seek to force subscribers to pay for a different tariff when they had no choice in the matter?

Watis

[Infrasonic]

There's a third option being trialled by BT which is their G.fast service, basically FTTC but with an extra fibre cabinet nearer to the premises so that the copper last leg is as short as possible (which improves the speed).
https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.c ... bre-g.fast

It's worth upgrading if you can get a decent deal on fibre, MSE has the latest deals available and definitely haggle, don't take the first price offered from BT, play them off against the other suppliers.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phone ... broadband/

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phone ... providers/

[wickham]

At those speeds and prices, you are being offered an FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) service. This is the service the BT/Openreach aim to make available to 90 something percent of the country. If you sign up for this, they will make some changes at the exchange and the nearest FTTC cabinet to your house. The copper connection from the cabinet to your house will stay the same except that they will install a new socket in place of the existing one (unless you already have an up-to-date BT socket) and a modem/router to provide the new service.

In some areas BT (and others) can offer a FTTP/FTTH - Fibre to the Premises/Home service where the "last mile" copper connection is replaced with fibre right to your "front door". This would be faster and more expensive.

They won't "cut you off". The copper is still used for your landline.

There aren't any green cabinets in our village as we have a telephone exchange. This is about a mile away from me so I presume I will still use the copper cable from there, so what's the point of fibre if I have a long bit of copper at the end?

There is a new fibre overhead distribution cable along the road outside my house (and an underground fibre supply cable to the exchange) and I assumed they would take a connection off that.

My current speed is about 16Mb/s down and that's good enough for me although the caller said I was getting 20Mb/s.

[ReformedCharacter]

There is a new fibre overhead distribution cable along the road outside my house (and an underground fibre supply cable to the exchange) and I assumed they would take a connection off that.

My current speed is about 16Mb/s down and that's good enough for me although the caller said I was getting 20Mb/s.

Sounds like fibre to the premises, if that is the case and if you want it, it will require another hole into your house, a new 'modem' and probably another battery backup unit.

RC

[didds]

Are you sure you it was actually BT that called? and no some didgy geezer on some reseller contact thingy? (CFR energy company swirtches with cold callers?)

didds

[Maroochydore]

My current speed is about 16Mb/s down and that's good enough for me although the caller said I was getting 20Mb/s.

I had this situation with Plusnet. I was getting 24Mbps and they said I was getting 38Mbps. I queried and was asked whether I connected via Wif-Fi rather than Ethernet. I was told to change channel but decided firstly to turn off the router for 30 minutes. Switched back on and the speed was back up at 38 Mpbs.

[supremetwo]

There aren't any green cabinets in our village as we have a telephone exchange. This is about a mile away from me so I presume I will still use the copper cable from there, so what's the point of fibre if I have a long bit of copper at the end?
There is a new fibre overhead distribution cable along the road outside my house (and an underground fibre supply cable to the exchange) and I assumed they would take a connection off that.

It has to come from a local fibre cabinet and BT will not tee off an existing cable just for you, unless you pay ££££ for it.

We have a fibre cable close by but that serves business premises - no local fibre cabinet is planned as yet.

All the domestic properties in our area are FTTC around 0.75 mile away. This distance is border-line for the fastest FTTC.

Your 1 mile should get you the up to 35Mbps (BT's Superfast Fibre Essential).

[ReformedCharacter]

It has to come from a local fibre cabinet and BT will not tee off an existing cable just for you, unless you pay ££££ for it.

We have a fibre cable close by but that serves business premises - no local fibre cabinet is planned as yet.

All the domestic properties in our area are FTTC around 0.75 mile away. This distance is border-line for the fastest FTTC.

Your 1 mile should get you the up to 35Mbps (BT's Superfast Fibre Essential).

Not necessarily. My area has FTTP, the nearest fibre cabinet is > 2 miles away with fibre carried along telephone poles with a few underground ducts and chambers in between.

RC

[supremetwo]

It has to come from a local fibre cabinet and BT will not tee off an existing cable just for you, unless you pay ££££ for it.

We have a fibre cable close by but that serves business premises - no local fibre cabinet is planned as yet.

All the domestic properties in our area are FTTC around 0.75 mile away. This distance is border-line for the fastest FTTC.

Your 1 mile should get you the up to 35Mbps (BT's Superfast Fibre Essential).

Not necessarily. My area has FTTP, the nearest fibre cabinet is > 2 miles away with fibre carried along telephone poles with a few underground ducts and chambers in between.

RC

There is a FTTP checker here:-
https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.co.uk/fibre-first

[BobGe]

Today I got a phone call from BT saying that my standard copper broadband contract is ending and I should upgrade to fibre.
I said I was happy to continue with what I've got but was told that only two options were available - Superfast Fibre Essential 30Mb or superfast fibre 50Mb. // The upgrade to fibre has a £50 activation fee and £9.99 p&p for the new router which weren't mentioned in the phone call.

Check first: If the call was genuinely BT and your BT contract is actually due for renewal. If so, then what you are being offered is likely an up-sell for existing customers (new customers tend to be offered different deals). If you are happy to stay with BT and you are happy with what you are presently paying, just look on-line at what the competitors are offering (for new customers), then phone the BT department that deals with customers who want to leave BT, tell them you aren't happy with what you've been told/offered and will go elsewhere, complaining you have been a loyal customer for x years and feel you are being ripped off and they will likely be happy to offer you a reasonably attractive deal. (Don't accept the first offer, keep complaining, there's usually a second stage proposal in the wings.) That may well be a faster service with more bandwidth than you have now (assuming your are presently bandwidth limited) because they are moving forward and dropping older products, but you should be able to get it for similar to your present cost. You may have to upgrade hardware (router/hub) but make sure any cost for that, hardware and delivery, is set-off against what you pay monthly over an 18m / 2yr contract. Don't expect them to beat some of the other cheap operators - they compete only as they know their services are better and all the others are generally using their infrastucture anyway (for the most part).

[Itsallaguess]

Today I got a phone call from BT saying that my standard copper broadband contract is ending and I should upgrade to fibre.

I said I was happy to continue with what I've got but was told that only two options were available - Superfast Fibre Essential 30Mb or superfast fibre 50Mb.

I said I would think about it and check on-line.

Do you pay BT line rental too?

I only ask because if you do then this might be an opportune moment to investigate cheaper 'whole-package' alternatives, and I also agree that the first thing you should do is to make sure you know who you're currently talking to before you commit to anything at all...

I used to pay separately for 'normal' (non-fibre-speed) broadband with TalkTalk, and then BT for their line-rental, and found that upgrading to a Plusnet package that included both line-rental and a 36Mb fibre-speed broadband service worked out both faster and cheaper than my previous situation.

I see that PlusNet are currently offering a 12-month contract for the above package for £23.99 a month with no activation fee, so it might well be worth you comparing similar offers from other providers to see if you can get your line-rental costs down at the same time perhaps?

https://www.plus.net/home-broadband/fibre/

As someone earlier has already mentioned, shopping around for different combined packages and taking some of the cash-back site offers into account too might well be worth the time....

For the record, I used to have fairly regular drop-outs with my old TalkTalk 'slow-speed' broadband, which a couple of engineers were not able to fix, and since upgrading to my PlusNet fibre-speed and line-rental package, I've not had any issues whatsoever, so I'm very pleased with the PlusNet switch, and my cost-savings were fairly considerable when compared to my split broadband/line-rental terms.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[wickham]

I'll probably do nothing and see what happens.

[Gan020]

I live in an area where my broadband is really poor. Speed would hold in the day at 10 meg but in the evening it would drop to less than 0.5 on occasions and the the connection would drop out.

I took FTTC about 6 weeks ago for about an extra tenner a month and £20 one off. New hub. Result 13 meg but no degradation in the evenings. Way below the advertised 57 meg but from my point of view at least it worked 24 hours a day.

Then BT offered me 3 weeks later FTTP for one off £20 and no extra monthly line rental. Result 160 meg. Small hole drilled through the floor anywhere you want it within reason and a white box on the inside to plug the hub into. I'm really impressed.

(Mind you BT admin don't know what they are doing. Another new hub required which BT "forgot" to send me and took some time to get them to agree I needed, even with the BT engineer talking to their BT staff. Was however sent overnight delivery)

[richfool]

We recently had a line fault and an Engineer came to check the connections etc. Whilst he was here I asked him about Fibre, as Plusnet had been suggesting switching to fibre a while ago, but we live in a flat in a building which was wired up about 15 years ago. (So I thought how can we have fibre without major work within our building).

He said the fibre comes to the "Outreach" box on the corner of the road. If we switched to fibre we would still get much faster broadband, but that the fibre itself would only be as far as that junction box on the corner of the road, it wouldn't come to or into our building. The existing line would run from the junction box.

[UncleEbenezer]

I'll probably do nothing and see what happens.

An excellent strategy for anyone whose current deal is satisfactory. If it ain't broke, ...