BT Infinity & FTTx Discussion

[VaderDSL]

From those, probably plusnet.

Well that didn't last long... I'm no longer the only customer on my GPON CBT grrrr . My neighbour had hers fitted today, while I was at work.

However... Openreach didn't fit an external CSP outside her place, just ran the black optical cable from the CBT, straight through her door frame into the property... That's surely a bit wrong isn't it?

Ours is like that, had it fitted years ago as a connectorised install, or whatever it’s called, fibre goes straight in through the wall with a connector mechanically fitted, not fused. No csp externally.

Not sure if openreach have both csp and connectorised install as options still, but maybe they do?

 

[xb8browney]

Same, straight through the wall no external.

 

[kona786]

Ah fair enough. Mine was installed 2 weeks prior to my neighbours and I got a CSP.

 

[jonnymc4]

That is surprising as they should be able to supply if the others can, possibly ask them about it and say talktalk etc can supply it.

Turns out Aquiss have had to submit my details to the Openreach Formwize, as the checker Aquiss use just gives a general indication of whether the exchange is fibre enabled, not my actual address. Hopefully once it's resolved (and I can get fibre), I can place an order with them. Their current deal is as cheap as any of the other onces I'd posted.

 

[ChrisD.]

Turns out Aquiss have had to submit my details to the Openreach Formwize, as the checker Aquiss use just gives a general indication of whether the exchange is fibre enabled, not my actual address. Hopefully once it's resolved (and I can get fibre), I can place an order with them. Their current deal is as cheap as any of the other onces I'd posted.

I've been with them almost a year and zero complains, couldn't be happier.

 

[meandu229]

Turns out Aquiss have had to submit my details to the Openreach Formwize, as the checker Aquiss use just gives a general indication of whether the exchange is fibre enabled, not my actual address. Hopefully once it's resolved (and I can get fibre), I can place an order with them. Their current deal is as cheap as any of the other onces I'd posted.

If you didnt know they dont supply a router so take that into account when pricing up, its a plus point (no ewaste when I dont use it) for me but if you dont have anything acceptable then its just more cost.

 

[jonnymc4]

If you didnt know they dont supply a router so take that into account when pricing up, its a plus point (no ewaste when I dont use it) for me but if you dont have anything acceptable then its just more cost.

Good shout. I do have a Deco mesh system that can be used in router mode that I'm currently using on my VM setup. It only has a single WAN and LAN, which is a bit annoying as I use the 4 ports on the VM router (I just have the wifi switched off), but I do have a 4 port switch as well as I'm using all available ones so I'd need to find an extra few ports or a new switch.

 

[djimty]

If you didnt know they dont supply a router so take that into account when pricing up, its a plus point (no ewaste when I dont use it) for me but if you dont have anything acceptable then its just more cost.

I'm a actually thinking of moving to them come June/July when my VM contract ends. What router did you end up getting? I see they recommend the Tplink routers but I have no idea how reliable they are?

 

[meandu229]

I'm a actually thinking of moving to them come June/July when my VM contract ends. What router did you end up getting? I see they recommend the Tplink routers but I have no idea how reliable they are?

I've had a edge router x and unifi access points for about 5 years so just reused them. Anything should work but once you get up to 1gb speeds it can be a bit trickier. Something like eero if you just want to plug and play would be fine

 

[no_1_dave]

It's more accurate to say that everything is different except for the last bit where your house is connected. Sky and Vodafone don't resell a BT internet service, they pay Openreach to provide an FTTC or FTTP connection from their network to your house. All the backhaul, peering links etc. are totally under the control of the respective ISPs.

You could have evening congestion for example (and Vodafone FTTC suffered from this a few years ago) that your neighbour on a different ISP but still using an Openreach service wouldn't be affected by.

So to clarify this... I'm with BT on their 1gb package and it's been excellent for the last 2 years.
Now that my contract is up for renewal I've been looking elsewhere (still limited to Openreach tho) and see that I can save money swapping to Aquiss for example.

You're saying if I switch to them, in theory my service could be far far worse than what I am currently getting, even though it's a like for like package using the same Openreach groundwork?

If that's true it's food for thought because I value a reliable service more than saving a few quid here and there

 

[benjii]

So to clarify this... I'm with BT on their 1gb package and it's been excellent for the last 2 years.
Now that my contract is up for renewal I've been looking elsewhere (still limited to Openreach tho) and see that I can save money swapping to Aquiss for example.

You're saying if I switch to them, in theory my service could be far far worse than what I am currently getting, even though it's a like for like package using the same Openreach groundwork?

If that's true it's food for thought because I value a reliable service more than saving a few quid here and there

Considering there's no real downtime for installation if you're on the same lines and that you have a 14 day window to withdraw from your contract, what have you got to lose? Worst case scenario is you go back to BT, but you get the new customer rates!

 

[b0rn2sk8]

So to clarify this... I'm with BT on their 1gb package and it's been excellent for the last 2 years.
Now that my contract is up for renewal I've been looking elsewhere (still limited to Openreach tho) and see that I can save money swapping to Aquiss for example.

You're saying if I switch to them, in theory my service could be far far worse than what I am currently getting, even though it's a like for like package using the same Openreach groundwork?

If that's true it's food for thought because I value a reliable service more than saving a few quid here and there

In thoery yes, in practice, for the most part, you’ll not tell the difference between BT, Ee, plusnet, sky, Vodafone, talk talk etc other than in your wallet if all you want is a fast internet connection and you are not worried about more niche features like static IPs etc.

They are all fine and all have terrible customer service so there is really nothing between them in the core product other than price. It’s only really the add-ins that change between them.

 

[ChrisD.]

Now that my contract is up for renewal I've been looking elsewhere (still limited to Openreach tho) and see that I can save money swapping to Aquiss for example.

You're saying if I switch to them, in theory my service could be far far worse than what I am currently getting, even though it's a like for like package using the same Openreach groundwork?

The actual usability of the service will be no different with Aquiss, however customer services will be miles better, also you get static IP address. Bear in mind you'd need your own router.

 

[no_1_dave]

if all you want is a fast internet connection and you are not worried about more niche features like static IPs etc.

I have a plex server so reliability is important.
This is also why it's annoying that 5 doors along my road can get CityFibre with nice fast upload but I'm stuck with Openreach. CityFibre appear to have left the area without completing the works so half the street I live on can't get it but the rest of the whole housing estate can

The actual usability of the service will be no different with Aquiss, however customer services will be miles better, also you get static IP address. Bear in mind you'd need your own router.

I have a ASUS RT-AC86U floating around. Got it about 18 months back but never ended up using it because I found BTs Smarthub 2 was actually not too bad

 

[no_1_dave]

Considering there's no real downtime for installation if you're on the same lines and that you have a 14 day window to withdraw from your contract, what have you got to lose? Worst case scenario is you go back to BT, but you get the new customer rates!

You make a good point. I think I'll go down this route

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I have a plex server so reliability is important.

It’s a consumer grade internet connection, the SLAs are pretty slack across the board. That said a Plex server isn’t exactly mission critical is it?

 

[Caged]

Regarding the 14 day thing, providers will often not book the install closer than 14 days out so that they aren't paying install costs for a service that you then cancel. The only ISP of the big providers I know that gives you 14 days after the service goes live is VM.

 

[Armageus]

It’s a consumer grade internet connection, the SLAs are pretty slack across the board. That said a Plex server isn’t exactly mission critical is it?

Depends if you're selling access to accounts on it, with content from the high seas I imagine

 

[kona786]

Depends if you're selling access to accounts on it, with content from the high seas I imagine

The names number 1 Dave... What else will it be for...

 

[no_1_dave]

It’s a consumer grade internet connection, the SLAs are pretty slack across the board. That said a Plex server isn’t exactly mission critical is it?

Not mission critical but it would be rather annoying

Depends if you're selling access to accounts on it, with content from the high seas I imagine

If I was doing that I wouldn't use my own plex server. You can rent a 20TB server on a 1gb-10gb connection for less than £30/month