BT Infinity & FTTx Discussion

Rroff · 16 May 2017 at 11:52

Doubt you'll get a proper answer to that without going to someone higher up at BT.

GhostWKD · 17 May 2017 at 14:13

Rroff said:
Doubt you'll get a proper answer to that without going to someone higher up at BT.

BT Executive complaints are very good with this sort of stuff. They sorted out the mess that was my original Infinity connection (into a newbuild)

darknite · 17 May 2017 at 14:24

I had this problem when I moved 3 years ago. Just before we moved it said fibre was available. Then soon as we were in only 2mb adsl was available. I kept checking and it changed twice a week. I placed my order when it said fibre was available and the order went through. The engineer that came out said its because they were still adding kit to the local cabinet which quickly became cabinets! First one smaller new green unit beside the old style, now I have seen at least 3 small new green boxes and they are now installing the larger green version very close by too. When the first larger green box went in the dsl checker now says FTTP On Demand is available.

I would say just keep checking BT's site like I did. Soon as it says Fibre available go ahead and order. No one on the phone could give me straight answer either.

tlrBeta · 17 May 2017 at 16:29

Hi All,

Looks like renewing will just make my life a lot easier.

Please could anyone confirm if the Smart Hub is a lot better vs the Home Hub 5? Currently on the HH5, the Wi-Fi will drop and cause us to have to manually reconnect when using our phones (primarily my other half). I have been offered the Smart Hub if I take a 24 month contract - but is it the same quite poor Wi-Fi?

Alternatively, I could for a 12 month contract and potentially by my own modem/router - ASUS DSL-AC68U seems to be popular.

Thanks in advance.

On Holiday · 17 May 2017 at 16:46

@tlrBeta I personally have had issues with Wi-Fi, my devices would have Wi-Fi connectivity but no WAN. Wi-Fi coverage is great though, much better than the HomeHub I've found.

Hey guys.

Anybody able to interpret this to me? Don't really know what I'm looking at / what these stats represent.
I've just swapped my Smart Hub to an N66U + HG612 combo due to WiFi issues.

Is attainable rate actually going to be attainable at one point?

I've been having issues with my Smart Hub dropping connection a lot so presumably my profile has been lowered to maintain stability and I've just got to wait it out for the speeds to increase again? Been a while so not sure if DLM applies to BT Infinity still or works like that.

I've had like 18Mbps/2Mbps out of this connection when it was initially set up, before the connection drops.

TJM · 17 May 2017 at 18:17

The attainable rate and line rate will always be different as the first doesn't account for the loss of packets to error correction and overhead.

Unfortunately your speeds may never increase as the banding usually sticks unless Openreach can be convinced to reset it. You might have some luck with this if your current speed is lower than the 'guaranteed' minimum. Even if this happens, I wouldn't count on getting back to 18/2 - crosstalk increases as more lines on your cabinet take up VDSL and the speeds will inevitably fall.

Just so you know for the future, it is better to power down your modem if it is struggling to maintain a connection. If the cabinet hardware detects a connection attempt more than once in 30 minutes, it begins adjusting the line speed and SNR to stabilise it.

Battery! · 17 May 2017 at 18:27

balky12 said:
Anyone here who works for BT/ Openreach?

Having trouble actually figuring out what the hell is going on (if anything). Moved into a new build 9 months ago, with fibre broadband supposedly being available. Turns out it wasn't. Some houses on the estate have fibre, others do not. However was assured this would be remedied.

After months of checking/ chasing I keep getting differing statements. One is that fibre is not on it's way and we are not part of any roll out plans. The other is that we are part of the FTTP PON Project roll out that is due for completion in mid 2018.

Seems no one knows what is going on at BT/ Openreach. Superfast Essex will not help us out as we are a new estate and should have fibre already...

Sigh.

Has your kit been installed in the house yet?

I'm in a new build and I was badgering the open reach new build team, fill out the form here:

https://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/contactus/newhomes/newhomes.do

I did Google the CEO for OR and copied them in on emails throughout.

My kit was installed a few days after getting the CEO office involved and the fibre was connected about 2 months later, few days later I was able to order a service on it.

Edit: I have FTTP, I'm assuming you will too otherwise you will need to wait for phone lines to be connected before ordering FTTC, or even checking.

Daaaavvveee · 17 May 2017 at 18:31

I couldn't get any real discount on BT Infinity 4, so i cancelled my service.

Then on the day it stopped rang up and registered a new account in the GF's name.

They are offering a £200 MasterCard currently and around £90 Quidco.

Battery! · 17 May 2017 at 18:35

Daaaavvveee said:
I couldn't get any real discount on BT Infinity 4, so i cancelled my service.

Then on the day it stopped rang up and registered a new account in the GF's name.

They are offering a £200 MasterCard currently and around £90 Quidco.

Did you check the BT website for a discount?

I got 40% off a few weeks ago on my infinity 4.

On Holiday · 17 May 2017 at 18:36

TJM said:
The attainable rate and line rate will always be different as the first doesn't account for the loss of packets to error correction and overhead.

Unfortunately your speeds may never increase as the banding usually sticks unless Openreach can be convinced to reset it. You might have some luck with this if your current speed is lower than the 'guaranteed' minimum. Even if this happens, I wouldn't count on getting back to 18/2 - crosstalk increases as more lines on your cabinet take up VDSL and the speeds will inevitably fall.

Just so you know for the future, it is better to power down your modem if it is struggling to maintain a connection. If the cabinet hardware detects a connection attempt more than once in 30 minutes, it begins adjusting the line speed and SNR to stabilise it.

Useful information, appreciated.

I do actually have an Openreach engineer coming next week due to the issues too so I'll see what he can do regards resetting it. I've had 5 disconnects since 15th May (and many more before that but wasn't logging times) but I've only just swapped to the HG612 + N66U today.

TheVoice · 17 May 2017 at 18:57

tlrBeta said:
Hi All,

Looks like renewing will just make my life a lot easier.

Please could anyone confirm if the Smart Hub is a lot better vs the Home Hub 5? Currently on the HH5, the Wi-Fi will drop and cause us to have to manually reconnect when using our phones (primarily my other half). I have been offered the Smart Hub if I take a 24 month contract - but is it the same quite poor Wi-Fi?
.

HH5A or HH5B? My folks had a 5A and the wi-fi was awful on it, whereas my 5B has been absolutely fine. They've got a SmartHub now and it's been much better for them.

maj · 17 May 2017 at 21:27

Where are people seeing the Infinity 4 deals? Even without putting any details in their website stops after Infinity 2. Just seen that I can upgrade from Infinity 1 to 2 for £37 a month (paying £34 for 1 at the moment). Seems a no brainer surely unless I speak to them and see if they can do an even better deal.

Scythe · 17 May 2017 at 21:30

tlrBeta said:
Hi All,

Looks like renewing will just make my life a lot easier.

Please could anyone confirm if the Smart Hub is a lot better vs the Home Hub 5? Currently on the HH5, the Wi-Fi will drop and cause us to have to manually reconnect when using our phones (primarily my other half). I have been offered the Smart Hub if I take a 24 month contract - but is it the same quite poor Wi-Fi?

Alternatively, I could for a 12 month contract and potentially by my own modem/router - ASUS DSL-AC68U seems to be popular.

Thanks in advance.

I had a HH5 and had similar issues, with the internet connection cutting out too. Jumped to a TP-LINK Archer C9 and haven't looked back, not had a single problem since.

I'd definitely go for third party router. If you use BT TV, the TP-Link works with it too so I can recommend.

TheVoice · 17 May 2017 at 22:38

maj said:
Where are people seeing the Infinity 4 deals? Even without putting any details in their website stops after Infinity 2. Just seen that I can upgrade from Infinity 1 to 2 for £37 a month (paying £34 for 1 at the moment). Seems a no brainer surely unless I speak to them and see if they can do an even better deal.

AFAIK if you can't get it, you won't see it.

Battery! · 18 May 2017 at 01:47

TheVoice said:
AFAIK if you can't get it, you won't see it.

Correct. You will only see 3 and 4 if you have FTTP.

ChrisD. · 18 May 2017 at 08:41

tlrBeta said:
Hi All,

Looks like renewing will just make my life a lot easier.

Please could anyone confirm if the Smart Hub is a lot better vs the Home Hub 5? Currently on the HH5, the Wi-Fi will drop and cause us to have to manually reconnect when using our phones (primarily my other half). I have been offered the Smart Hub if I take a 24 month contract - but is it the same quite poor Wi-Fi?

Alternatively, I could for a 12 month contract and potentially by my own modem/router - ASUS DSL-AC68U seems to be popular.

Thanks in advance.

Get your own modem and router, this avoids an unnecessary 24 month contract.

V_R · 18 May 2017 at 09:24

Plenty O'Toole said:
Hey guys.

Anybody able to interpret this to me? Don't really know what I'm looking at / what these stats represent.
I've just swapped my Smart Hub to an N66U + HG612 combo due to WiFi issues.

Is attainable rate actually going to be attainable at one point?

I've been having issues with my Smart Hub dropping connection a lot so presumably my profile has been lowered to maintain stability and I've just got to wait it out for the speeds to increase again? Been a while so not sure if DLM applies to BT Infinity still or works like that.

I've had like 18Mbps/2Mbps out of this connection when it was initially set up, before the connection drops.

Your SNR is high, if the connection stays stable it should start to drop unless you've been banded.

As you've unlocked the HG612 I would run something like DSL Stats - http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,19406.0.html - so you can monitor the line etc. I've had it running for a while now as I had some issues back in December, its really handy and gives you a wealth of info.

You can also then use it to log your connection to https://www.mydslwebstats.co.uk/ - this gives you some history.

Oh and I run the same combo as you (N66U and HG612) and have done for years, its been rock solid.

ChrisD. · 18 May 2017 at 09:24

Gutted I'm on an ECI cabinet.

Daaaavvveee · 18 May 2017 at 10:24

Battery! said:
Did you check the BT website for a discount?

I got 40% off a few weeks ago on my infinity 4.

For registering a new account and their online site not allowing me to order they gave me Infinity 4, latest homehub (Free, and no delivery cost) for £42.99 a month including line rental. 12 month contract.

The1nonly1 · 18 May 2017 at 16:51

HI all. I'm looking to get a replacement router for my HH5, main reason for this is I want to be able to set my own set my own DNS at router level so that I can use Pi-hole across all devices. Looking at £100 budget for the router and it would need to be wireless also.