Blimey, Would love to have those sorts of speeds 
I lived in a flat with only DSL for 6 years before I moved, I used to get an average of 6Mbps down, and about 900k up.
So even “unreliable” fast internet was better than that! Hyperoptic also do a 1000Mbps up/down package… But I figured that would be getting into the realms of overkill.
I might yet upgrade though… Just because!
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Had tried the fist two but not the third THANKS - this is clearly the way to go!
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I need to upgrade my home broadband for two people working from home on video conferences with a couple of kids using tablets for home learning and other entertainment. I think our choices are basically BT Fibre, Zen, or a 4G/5G wireless router. Would welcome people’s recommendations and any info on resilience of 4G/5G routers in these high bandwidth times. I live on Devonshire Rd just west of the tracks.
I currently get 17mbit download and normally 1mbit upload, though right now I have 0.07mbir upload!
I’ve tried sharing my phone’s 4G, but my work VPN doesn’t get along that well with it - it didn’t seem to be that fast.
If you have fibre, I’d also welcome info on whether fttp requires our drive to be dug up, and how long it took for yours to get installed - obviously I appreciate it is likely to take longer now.
FTTP doesn’t require the path to be dug up. Well mine didn’t!
Basically the fiber is underground but it is terminated at the base of a telephone pole. The cable is fed up the pole and either tied on to your existing cable or to a wire to keep it taught. That cable is fed down to your house and a hole is drill through your wall with a bit of termination kit inside. A cable comes out of that to your router.
It was a mare to get installed - I posted my struggles with BT on an old thread on here. It was mainly because they got the order mixed up for FTTC not FTTP.
Despite initial difficulties it has been great - zero downtime to speak off and a free speed update from my original bundle. The upload speed is great as well meaning any synchs with cloud based stuff from your PC are quick.
Ill go take some pics to make it clearer…
4 or 5G routers are not my cup of tea for a permanent solution but good for temp provision. If you use a shed load of data it may not be suitable but I am sure there are decent packages available…
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Thanks - our telephone cable doesn’t come of a telegraph pole, I think it’s under the drive…
Pics would be great. Which package are you on? Why did you choose BT over Zen?
I agree re the 4/5G stuff - and they have 18 month contracts!!
So the fiber arrives under ground and is terminated under the pole
It is then chased up the pole and mounted on a catenary wire
That is tied on to the house
The cable is then rooted round the building and terminated (grey box)
On the inside is the fiber breakout switch which eventually gets connected to your standard router.
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As an FYI the box on the left of the modem is a battery backup. It will eventually die (I’ve had FTTP for about 8 years) and kill the router’s power. You can use without it.
Also BT tried to install an internal fibre externally and that type break constantly (not weather protected). White is internal, black external - check they use the correct one
After about 5 years my battery box now has a red light on it, but everything still works - so long as there is mains power. Given the connections between the two units, I’m pretty sure at least OpenReach must know that LED is red, but no-one has ever contacted me.
I believe the battery is needed because there is a RJ11 telephone socket on the big white box (ONT) which could be used to provide a telephone that would still work in emergencies if mains power was lost. However, my ISP still insists I have a copper phone line and pay line rental, so is isn’t needed.
This sounds similar to my situation. The install took about 4 or 5 different visits by teams that each did one specific job, and only the last one needed me to be in as that’s when they did the inside install. It was done in 1 week once work started.
The first installation attempt was to reuse the conduit that carried the existing copper phone line and run the fibre up that. That conduit was however blocked.
The next team put a new duct in the soft run-away at the edge of my drive, only about 40cm down and a straight 10m to the road where there was already a telecoms pit. The fibre went through that.
I got my FTTP early on as part of a trial, and I think they’ve worked out how to do it quicker and with less cost now. Notably a neighbor who has a solid concrete drive looks to have their fibre routed along the wall at the side of their driveway - no digging required.
The OpenReach fibre is usually in a black sleeve with a straight green/yellow line down it’s entire length. Perhaps you can see it in places going to your neighbours properties? Or you could ask your neighbours if they have fibre and how it got to their house.
Also note that my FTTP is via the PlusNet brand, which may be an option with slightly different packages to BT.
Foresthull you could be me (a few years ago) Plusnet early trial as well. When you phone them up so they deny you have fttp? I’ve also had the problem everyone else denies we have fttp here (initially found out because I met the guy in a hole outside my house laying it for forest Hill so knew it existed)
Bt dont know the red battery light and don’t monitor for any other connections either (you have to tell them when it breaks - even when it said I was using terabytes an hour)
The rj11 theoretically can be used for a phone replacement, but it isn’t activated. The copper line is kept there as a form of revenue - technically you don’t need it at all
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I’ve had that sort of experience - yes, I’m definitely an outlier in their customer base and I think it falls off the usual support flow chart and even the home router says “Technicolor TG582n FTTC” but has a PPPoE setup which looks to have been done manually by someone at PlusNet.
I’ve not had any real problems though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will stay working, though actually I know the Technicolor TG582n has some well known security issues and I should probably replace it rather than relying on just secondary firewalls.
Yep - BT are moving towards VoIP, and OpenReach are stopping any new Fibre Voice Access at the end of this month so that port on the ONT will soon be completely redundant: https://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/super-fastfibreaccess/fibrevoiceaccess/fibrevoiceaccess.do
Thanks everyone - @Foresthillnick I suspect our lack of telegraph poles means a more creative solution to get the cable to the house will be required. @ForestHull thanks that’s really helpful.
I suspect we may need to go down the 4G/5G router route for now, not least because crews to install the cable are likely to be in short supply.
Nick, what was your objection to the 4G/5G option?
Cheers,
J
I know you are asking @Foresthillnick, but I work in wireless telecoms and I agree - I love a good wire or fibre where it’s a choice. Wireless is just so complex to make it run efficiently and one bad device can muck it up for everyone else, as well as other effects from RF propagation.
That said, when looking at the whole package, wireless has some very attractive upsides like mobility and ease of install. Weren’t 3UK previously offering a next day delivery option?
If you signup for a new wireless thing, make sure you test this within the cooling off period in case there is something inherently poor in the VPN product which means it doesn’t like wireless. Or check with colleagues / IT department.
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Thanks - that’s helpful
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Like @ForestHull I work in IT (having fun today - work at a huge school!)
Interference, speed and data charges are my main issues. If you get a good consistent signal then fine but I use a shed load of data. However I note that now you can get unlimited packages which are not too costly - £22 for 1000GB which should be enough for just about anyone. Speed can be variable too…
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I also live on Devonshire Road, and also am stuck with plain DSL. I can’t get FTTC or FTTP.
I contacted OpenReach about this, because to my mind it’s absurd I live 600m from a fibre enabled exchange but can only get 15mbps down over plain ADSL and they’ve informed me that because I live in a flat the freeholder\management company need to give Openreach permission\a wayleave to do the necessary works.
The Devonshire Road has the infrastructure in place, but individual properties will have individual challenges.
I would contact Openreach directly (not your ISP) and they’ll be able to advise
There is notthing stopping Openreach to upgrade the cabinet on the street so you can get FTTC , but they just don’t wantt to. I am also on Devonshire Rd in a flat and in the same situation.
I get in touch with Openreach some years ago about FTTH / FTTP , they did a survey and went quited.
I reached out to HyperOptic, but it looks like they are draggingg their feet. They also did a survey and promised to connect us soon, but then started asking for money for the installation etc etc.
We are still stuck on ADSL with a rediculus upload speed of 1MBit.
Thanks everyone
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