BT Infinity & FTTx Discussion

ci_newman said:
Not true :p Well, partially.. Virgin also use copper for the last mile in the form of coax cable. There are very few ISPs offering true "Fibre to the Home".
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You're also "not true".. Yes they use Coax cable but it's hardly "the last mile" or anything close. It's from the street junction boxes typically a few hundred feet at most.
 
.Griff. said:
You're also "not true".. Yes they use Coax cable but it's hardly "the last mile" or anything close. It's from the street junction boxes typically a few hundred feet at most.
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Isn't that the case for FTTC anyway. Who lives a mile from their street cabinet? So wrong on both counts by ci_newman.
 
Engineer came round this morning.

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After having pings of over 300 ms regularly with Virgin, 5ms is out of this world!

However, the upload speed is capped by software (at the exchange I guess) to 2mbps, so by the time it gets here, I get 1.6 up. Going to call them and ask for the cap to be changed to 10 mbps as I was originally quoted 5.9 up and I could really do with the extra upload bandwidth. Apparently they artificially cap the speed to stop the upload being hammered (something Virgin should have done tbh as their infrastructure couldn't cope). I don't torrent or anything like that, but I do upload quite a few images so it will be useful for me. I was quoted 26 mbps down and it looks like that was quite accurate, but only been installed 20min. Not sure if VDSL is like ADSL in the fact that it needs time to stabilise?

Also, is there any way to pull the line stats from the modem? Ridiculous, but I can't seem to find the IP address to log into it and see. I'm guessing that's something that BT have disabled with custom firmware, as I doubt anyone would make a modem like that and not have a web interface nowadays. Annoying....
 
alex24 said:
Interesting, then the sales guy was maybe being misleading? Thanks for the info, have to debate whether it's worth the extra.
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The tend to do that, yeah. :( I went for the same package that you're currently on because I didn't think I'd need more than 40GB usage a month - turns out this wasn't the case. Having these speeds makes you download more if you're so inclined. The higher upload speeds certainly helped my gaming a bit, especially since me and my girlfriend are usually playing at the same time = more bandwidth needed for good pings.
 
I certainly know about the merits of having a good upload speed and low latency. I've had the worst and some of the best connections in the past. I even took at a look at a Gaming network card at one point, which does work if you have a decent connection, but then you don't need it so much anyway, but if you have a bad connection it's only solving drop in the ocean of your problems. Still, good bit of kit in certain scenarios, certainly had less dropouts with it when I had a poor connection. Some new mobos are including this chip in their designs too, though most people write it off as a waste of time, but then spend days overclocking their PCs for maybe 1-2 extra FPS... This is worth more than that, but the price is steep.

Anyway, that's OT, I guess I can always call and see what BT say about upload, but you're right about the package as I just checked it on the net. Free install and 3 months free for new customers too. Nothing for loyal customers of 15 years +. Damn cheek if you ask me.
 
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alex24 said:
I certainly know about the merits of having a good upload speed and low latency. I've had the worst and some of the best connections in the past. I even took at a look at a Gaming network card at one point, which does work if you have a decent connection, but then you don't need it so much anyway, but if you have a bad connection it's only solving drop in the ocean of your problems. Still, good bit of kit in certain scenarios, certainly had less dropouts with it when I had a poor connection. Some new mobos are including this chip in their designs too, though most people write it off as a waste of time, but then spend days overclocking their PCs for maybe 1-2 extra FPS... This is worth more than that, but the price is steep.

Anyway, that's OT, I guess I can always call and see what BT say about upload, but you're right about the package as I just checked it on the net. Free install and 3 months free for existing customers too. Nothing for loyal customers of 15 years +. Damn cheek if you ask me.
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It is quite, but better than nothing I guess. I'm paying £42 a month now for Option 2 + Phone, which might seem a lot but considering Virgin wanted ~£35 for the utterly scandalous ADSL connection I had with them for two months, it ain't all that bad. :) I'm done with ADSL, from now on I need fibre even if it's only part of the way.

I've had a look at the Killer NIC myself, but more specifically the wireless version which currently I believe only comes integrated in laptops. Read a review which gave it all the praise in the world as it pretty much murdered Intel's high-end model when given enough room to work (Linksys E4200).
 
Ok the folks down the road have only just got it in today and they only have a WiFi connection due to the homehub being in the hallway as they (I wasn't aware of this either) didn't want a cable being run half way round the house and upstairs to where the PC sits, BT engineer said the original cable / wire isn't up the job (newish house as well), is this normal for everyone else? Also can anybody recommend a good wifi dongle for using with this BT setup. Cheers

For the record via WiFi (on the HomeHub 2 not 3)they are getting 21mb down and 1.68mb up.

Oh another thing I forgot to ask... does BT post the Homehub to you along with the starter pack or does the BT engineer bring it? Cheers
 
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Agreed ^^

My FTTC hasn't disconnected in the time i've had it (over 3 months now) unless i did it myself, and my speed has been full whack all day everyday. Though i'm with ADSL24 not BT. ;)
 
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.Griff. said:
AFAIK the OR engineer brings it with him. I got my FTTC from a reseller so obviously supplied my own router.
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Cheers mate, the reason I asked was my folks got the welcome pack (cables and cd) through the post but no Homehub3 and the engineer didn't have one (he only had a Homehub2 which they are using). When they rang BT they were told they did receive it which they didn't !

Griff can I ask you mate did you have to run a new cable for it ?
 
My master socket is in the lounge near the TV/Satelite/Radio points (new build apartment) and I'd previously run Cat5e through into various rooms so when I had FTTC installed they was no need to run any additional cables.
 
See I'm with ADSL24 on a LLU package and toying with changing to fibre, whenever I had my broadband first installed I had problems (was with Orange at the time) and had a BT engineer out who removed the ring circuit and changed the faceplate in my computer room, he told me this would be the only socket i would be able to get broadband through, not even the hallway socket..... so I was wondering would this mean I would be able to have my modem / router beside the computer (upstairs) or does it still have to be connected downstairs at the first socket? Cheers
 
DirtyJester said:
Oh another thing I forgot to ask... does BT post the Homehub to you along with the starter pack or does the BT engineer bring it? Cheers
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BT post the HomeHub and the network cables to you directly. You can track the order online - you would normally get it 2 working days before install. The engineer brings the Openreach modem.
 
shine said:
BT post the HomeHub and the network cables to you directly. You can track the order online - you would normally get it 2 working days before install. The engineer brings the Openreach modem.
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Have they changed their process then? I had FTTC installed over a year ago now and the OR engineer brought a Homehub with him and said it was standard practice.

(I didn't need the Homehub as I'd got FTTC through a reseller but that's why I assumed the OR engineers still bring the Homehub with them)
 
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