*** Official Hyperoptic Discussion Thread ***

[V-Spec]

Anyone using Hyperoptic and newsgroups? would love to see the speeds.

It's basically 1Gig Ethernet, that's all there is to it - I can get about 95MBps off news groups and steam, depends on a number of variables - but it certainly does go to the full 1Gig, I've had 118MBps off steam at one point, the problem is hard disk speed and space...

 

[sony007]

It's basically 1Gig Ethernet, that's all there is to it - I can get about 95MBps off news groups and steam, depends on a number of variables - but it certainly does go to the full 1Gig, I've had 118MBps off steam at one point, the problem is hard disk speed and space...

118MBps thats sick

If you live in an apartment block do you have any idea roughly how long it took hyperoptic to be installed and did you get the opportunity to test the service before signing a contract in your case ?

95MBps - 118Mps.... c'mon on Hyperoptic where are your engineers already, building management said today was the start date for installation and I cannot see a single HO engineer vehicle.

Just spoke to building management........3 WEEKS TIME!

 

[Omar]

Just to clarify a few bits of incorrect information in this thread:

1. The cost of the 1Gbps service is £50 per month when taken with a VOIP phone line at a cost of £12.50 per month. This includes evening and weekend landline calls and is cheaper than the BT equivalent that you would need to take to get Infinity. It's only £60 if you take the broadband-only service. So for the extra £2.50 to get the phone service it's a no-brainer to take the telephone service rather than paying £15+ per month to BT or whoever else on top for a phone line.

2. There is no free trial that I'm aware of. When I mentioned the offers (differs by building), these are on signing up to a 12 month contract to begin with, i.e if it's 3 or 6 months free, then you will get zero rated bills for those number of months then pay full price for the remaining months of your contract. It's not a free trial period, i.e you can't just cancel within the 'free' months of service.

3. Hyperoptic allows you to upgrade the speed of your service at any time (i.e start on the 100Mbps service and upgrade to the 1Gbps service), but this will reset the 12 month minimum term from the date of the upgrade. You cannot downgrade the service level within the contract term as far as I am aware.

I hope the above helps clarify a few things.

As for how long it took to install, I'm afraid I don't know as the building I'm renting in had Hyperoptic already installed in all the flats, i.e the faceplate was already there. I just picked up a router from the concierge desk, went upstairs, plugged in the router and called Hyperoptic to enable the service. I was up and running within 20 minutes of collecting the router.

P.S - I don't work for Hyperoptic, I'm just very happy with the service so far (since August). I have seen download speeds as high as 85MB/s (680Mbps) on larger Steam downloads (Saints Row IV weighed in at around 23GB).

 

[sony007]

Just to clarify a few bits of incorrect information in this thread:

1. The cost of the 1Gbps service is £50 per month when taken with a VOIP phone line at a cost of £12.50 per month. This includes evening and weekend landline calls and is cheaper than the BT equivalent that you would need to take to get Infinity. It's only £60 if you take the broadband-only service. So for the extra £2.50 to get the phone service it's a no-brainer to take the telephone service rather than paying £15+ per month to BT or whoever else on top for a phone line.

Yeah but c'mon on at the end of the day to the some maybe not all it's £60+ to the end user, I don't know anyone who uses landlines at home anymore only at work. i've had a landline for some time and its not been touched its just part of the sky package to provide what is meant to be a good deal. I do not need a landline nor want one so if HyperOptic said the installation was £50 without a landline then I would agree with you, are if I really needed a landline lets say it was 20 or so years ago then yes £50 for the 1gig and £12.50 might seen grand, but we are now in 2014 and when I keep hearing phone line rental being thrown into bundles to appear to give a great deal i just shake my head.

But as i said for some people the phone line rental might be a great requirement, but I don't know any thats all so the cost for me would be £60+ for the 1gig.

Does the hyperOptic broadband even use the phone line for its service like sky or Bt ?

 

[Caged]

If you're trying to make a point that £60 for a gigabit service is expensive then you're not going to have any sympathisers. The £/Mbit is lower than anything else that I can think of that's available in this country, and I can't see gigabit connections being mainstream for a decade or more, at which point the services like Hyperoptic will probably treat it like they treat 100Mbps now. Yes, line rental is disproportionately expensive and costs more than a lot of cheaper ADSL products, but that's how it is.

 

[Omar]

It doesn't use the phone line for the service.

However the reason I clarified is because with pretty much any alternative broadband provider (apart from perhaps Virgin Media cable) you are required to have a phone line (and pay line rental) to get the service, whether you use the phone line for calls or not. So it's a little unfair to compare the £62.50 Hyperoptic 1Gbps (with phone line) service cost to a £26 per month cost for Infinity (76 Mbps down / 19Mbps up) where you have to also pay £15.99 for line rental, so overall cost of £41.99 per month.

Plus some of the new customer offers (again, differs by building) are up to 6 months free, which (if your particular building gets that offer) can make the effective cost over a 12 month contract £31.25 per month.

I got 3 months free in my building, they are now offering 6 months free in the building for new customers, although I'm not too bitter as it's luck of the draw sometimes as to when you sign up so can't really complain.

 

[sony007]

If you're trying to make a point that £60 for a gigabit service is expensive then you're not going to have any sympathisers. The £/Mbit is lower than anything else that I can think of that's available in this country, and I can't see gigabit connections being mainstream for a decade or more, at which point the services like Hyperoptic will probably treat it like they treat 100Mbps now. Yes, line rental is disproportionately expensive and costs more than a lot of cheaper ADSL products, but that's how it is.

I wasn't trying to make a point unless by me giving MY personal opinion on something means to you I am trying to make a point and I'm seeking sympathisers..what a strange thing to say.

 

[Omar]

If you don't think you need/want the 1Gbps service, then the 100Mbps service is fantastic value at £25 per month (+£12.50 line rental or £35 per month with no line rental), especially as again you might get an offer of some number of free months service.

I was previously paying Be Unlimited around £23 per month for a 17Mbps down / 2Mbps up ADSL2+ connection plus £15 per month to BT for the phone line.

 

[sony007]

It doesn't use the phone line for the service.

However the reason I clarified is because with pretty much any alternative broadband provider (apart from perhaps Virgin Media cable) you are required to have a phone line (and pay line rental) to get the service, whether you use the phone line for calls or not. So it's a little unfair to compare the £62.50 Hyperoptic 1Gbps (with phone line) service cost to a £26 per month cost for Infinity (76 Mbps down / 19Mbps up) where you have to also pay £15.99 for line rental, so overall cost of £41.99 per month.

Plus some of the new customer offers (again, differs by building) are up to 6 months free, which (if your particular building gets that offer) can make the effective cost over a 12 month contract £31.25 per month.

I got 3 months free in my building, they are now offering 6 months free in the building for new customers, although I'm not too bitter as it's luck of the draw sometimes as to when you sign up so can't really complain.

I'm not having it, it's £60+, but I do understand maybe where you yourself are coming from.

Fingers crossed when/if they finally installed HO here I get an offer to try if for free for a few months just to suppress the cost of that unused phone line

 

[sony007]

If you don't think you need/want the 1Gbps service, then the 100Mbps service is fantastic value at £25 per month (+£12.50 line rental or £35 per month with no line rental), especially as again you might get an offer of some number of free months service.

I was previously paying Be Unlimited around £23 per month for a 17Mbps down / 2Mbps up ADSL2+ connection plus £15 per month to BT for the phone line.

Yeah I understand what your saying but deep down I know what I'm like and I know I'm going to snap up the 1gig, I'm a sucker I know but those speed quoted before I need to have some of that but I'm sure most people would be more practical and go for the 100meg.

 

[Omar]

haha, fair enough. I know that this thread might have got a little heated at times, but no real dramas here, I wish you the best of luck.

At the end of the day, a 1Gbps broadband service in the UK is very much cutting edge and people who want those sorts of speeds (whether they will actually need that is a different matter) will decide whether they want to pay the going rate, you just need to look at what Virgin Media or BT charge for their top-tier broadband services vs their entry level ones.

The mid-level service offering from Hyperoptic is very competitive price-wise vs any other current provider (only BT, Sky Fibre offering under 100Mbps and Virgin Media offering 120Mbps in limited areas)

 

[Omar]

Yeah I understand what your saying but deep down I know what I'm like and I know I'm going to snap up the 1gig, I'm a sucker I know but those speed quoted before I need to have some of that but I'm sure most people would be more practical and go for the 100meg.

I initially signed up to the 100Mbps Hyperoptic service when I moved in, it was massively faster than anything I had ever previously experienced. Then decided 3 days later that I might as well go all the way and get the 1Gbps, you only live once and all that!

 

[sony007]

I initially signed up to the 100Mbps Hyperoptic service when I moved in, it was massively faster than anything I had ever previously experienced. Then decided 3 days later that I might as well go all the way and get the 1Gbps, you only live once and all that!

Thats exactly it isn't it, you only live once and I would take a guess and say you enjoy having the best that there is to offer even if you don't necessarily use if to its full capability and the 100meg would suffice, but to know what you have now puts a smile on your face especially knowing you are one of the select few in this country who are able to get this sort of speed.

 

[sony007]

When/if I finally get it installed....oh boy for the first 2 days !

 

[V-Spec]

118MBps thats sick

rofl yeah, it is pretty cool - I work for ISPs so I'm not stranger to bandwidth, but to have fibre hanging out of my broom cupboard is pretty funny..

If you live in an apartment block do you have any idea roughly how long it took hyperoptic to be installed and did you get the opportunity to test the service before signing a contract in your case ?

95MBps - 118Mps.... c'mon on Hyperoptic where are your engineers already, building management said today was the start date for installation and I cannot see a single HO engineer vehicle.

Just spoke to building management........3 WEEKS TIME!

I live in Strata at Elephant & Castle, which was originally supposed to go on some government fibre thing that Southwark were doing - the whole building was already cabled but Southwark's scheme got canned... Hyperoptic arrived in around May (leaflets and stuff) I pre-ordered it and it was installed around July, so didn't take that long.

But yeah, my ping to multiplay.co.uk is around 450 microseconds on a good day, joining BF3 servers with a ping of 1 is quite funny.. you'll enjoy it when you get it!

 

[Caged]

What sort of router / CPE are they using? A gigabit is far and beyond what most consumer products are targeted at, so I'd be interested to know how they've balanced up it needing to not cost £600 but also work.

Or do they just hand you an ethernet port and let you sort it out?

 

[KIA]

Q: Do you provide a router?
A: Yes we do. Our HyperHub allows for up to 5 devices to be connected via ethernet cable (1 at 1 Gig, 4 at 100 Meg), and uses wireless n technology with intelligent channel switching to avoid interference. The HyperHub has the maximum throughput of all modems that we have tested but will likely not get over 829 Meg. For 1 Gig speeds, customers should connect directly to the ethernet port on their wall.

 

[V-Spec]

The router I have is an Inteno DG 201, I've got a Cisco 1921 lying around but I've never felt the need to use it, the one they provide works fine.

It's very basic - has totally standard features but nothing fancy, when they install it you also get a fibre to copper media converter, as the router doesn't have an interface capable of terminating fibre, but it's only a tiny thing.

If you like to do tonnes of things on your router (firewalls, VPNs etc etc) and have them operate at anything more than a few hundred mbps, then you'll need a more serious solution.. but for just general downloading - it works fine.

 

[Caged]

It's amazing that what you lose due to the limitations of the router is still five times quicker than an average connection.

 

[TheVoice]

Err yes I do and £60+ is still excessive in my personal opinion in this day and age, people are no longer struggling to find alternative suppliers as they use to 10 or so years ago, but in this case offering 1gig is great but really how many people will even need that sort speed to be tied in for 12 months at that price.

I'm a bit confused; you think the price is excessive (it really isn't) and not competitive, but then suggest most people don't need those speeds anyway. If that's the case, they'll be more than happy with the competitively-prices 100Mbps package while the 'power users' will be happy to justify the extra for the faster speeds.

Obviously as higher speeds are rolled out by more ISPs the costs will come down, but as they're evidently at the front of offering such a service I don't see how you can be complaining about what's evidently quite a fair price.