Fibre to the Premises (FTTP)

MYstIC G

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Anyone know much about FTTP?

They've just cabled up our street and I'm itching to get away from our VDSL Fibre because it's frankly abysmal.

Curious if it's a case of being stuck with whoever put in the fibre or is it open market?

Is there an equivalent of Samknows for FTTP so I can find out who it is?
 

Cadelin

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I was one of the first to get FTTP when I moved into a new build home right next to a science park 5 years ago. I have only ever had one choice of supplier BT. There might be some choice now in other areas, but it certainly isn't "open market". When I first sorted my FTTP there were no sites at all. If I try USwitch, it does at least show that FTTP is available at my address now.

Also, when you say cabled up your street have they run the fibre into your property? In my house, in the cupboard under the stairs where the fibre lands there are three different boxes attached to the wall just for the fibre. On one of the boxes, there are four lights showing different channels. Channel one is current green to show that is in use, but the idea is that at some point in the future when there is competition a second supplier could setup a fibre connection on one of the channels not used and then you could switch to your new supplier almost seemlessly when they were ready.

Not sure if this is much help.
 

Raven

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We have just had it laid by Cityfibre, not live yet. When the reps came to the parish council meeting prior to it being installed they said that it would be exclusive to Vodaphone but since then it seems others have got in on it and it will be a year long exclusivity to Vodaphone.

Edit, Citfibre being the wholesaler, much like Openreach are these days
 
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Embattle

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Like Cadelin when we moved here last year it had Openreach FTTP in this new build, the equipment inside the house is:

thumbs_fttp_ont_and_bbu_open_lid_openreach.jpg


and with its cover on all you see is something like this:

FTTP_ONT.jpg


The Openreach FTTP providers for home can be found on this page:


We are with BT but recently TalkTalk joined the list and another one I have heard of is Zen who win awards for their service, there is more noise from other providers coming onboard as the roll out continues.
 

MYstIC G

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Thanks @Cadelin it's helpful.

They've put the connectors and incoming cables into a box on the external facade of the building.
 

MYstIC G

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Like Cadelin when we moved here last year it had Openreach FTTP in this new build, the equipment inside the house is:

thumbs_fttp_ont_and_bbu_open_lid_openreach.jpg


and with its cover on all you see is something like this:

FTTP_ONT.jpg


The Openreach FTTP providers for home can be found on this page:


We are with BT but recently TalkTalk joined the list and another one I have heard of is Zen who win awards for their service, there is more noise from other providers coming onboard as the roll out continues.
Thanks @Embattle

It's actually TalkTalk I'm trying to get away from. I could live with it when I wasn't working at home but now it's just unbearable.
 

Deebs

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So fucking jealous of you bastards.
 

Embattle

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Well you've got a couple choices then @MYstIC G, the first is BT which offer fairly good deals but if service is important then Zen is better but naturally more expensive.
 

DaGaffer

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Anyone know much about FTTP?

They've just cabled up our street and I'm itching to get away from our VDSL Fibre because it's frankly abysmal.

Curious if it's a case of being stuck with whoever put in the fibre or is it open market?

Is there an equivalent of Samknows for FTTP so I can find out who it is?

Reading the latest Ofcom position papers; the answer on competition is "it depends". In "high density" areas BT Openreach (and eventually Liberty Fibre if it happens) are supposed to wholesale out FTTP installations already, but they don't have to for rural rollout; what I can't find is the definition of those terms (I'm sure it will be on the Ofcom site somewhere). Also, just because Openreach set a wholesale price doesn't mean other companies will automatically pick it up; they usually wait until there's a large enough installed base/passed homes to make it worth their while, so you might have a bit of hanging around for a while.

I had FTH when I first moved to Ireland and it was fab (1GB to the house, and you got 1GB, ethernet ports in every room) but Magnet, the company who provided had exclusive rights to sell (they'd put it in various new build estates around Ireland), and worse, were allowed to block other providers from running cable or fibre into those estates, which I can't believe was legal under EU law.

I now have VM and its flaky as fuck. :(

 

Moriath

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Well you've got a couple choices then @MYstIC G, the first is BT which offer fairly good deals but if service is important then Zen is better but naturally more expensive.
With both on the same wires so to speak its only customer service that makes a difference i guess
 

Moriath

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Reading the latest Ofcom position papers; the answer on competition is "it depends". In "high density" areas BT Openreach (and eventually Liberty Fibre if it happens) are supposed to wholesale out FTTP installations already, but they don't have to for rural rollout; what I can't find is the definition of those terms (I'm sure it will be on the Ofcom site somewhere). Also, just because Openreach set a wholesale price doesn't mean other companies will automatically pick it up; they usually wait until there's a large enough installed base/passed homes to make it worth their while, so you might have a bit of hanging around for a while.

I had FTH when I first moved to Ireland and it was fab (1GB to the house, and you got 1GB, ethernet ports in every room) but Magnet, the company who provided had exclusive rights to sell (they'd put it in various new build estates around Ireland), and worse, were allowed to block other providers from running cable or fibre into those estates, which I can't believe was legal under EU law.

I now have VM and its flaky as fuck. :(

VM in my part of the uk is rock solid and great speed. Feel for you
 

MYstIC G

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Well you've got a couple choices then @MYstIC G, the first is BT which offer fairly good deals but if service is important then Zen is better but naturally more expensive.
Might have a look at Zen then. I'm not against BT but they tend to hike prices over time.

Plus I suppose if Zen can't do it then BT will be the default anyway by the sounds of it.
 

GReaper

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Currently using Zen Business Fibre 4 (330 down / 50 up) at work - and works great.

Part of me wants to upgrade it to the 1000/115 tier at some point... if we ever return to the office!

In my house, in the cupboard under the stairs where the fibre lands there are three different boxes attached to the wall just for the fibre. On one of the boxes, there are four lights showing different channels. Channel one is current green to show that is in use, but the idea is that at some point in the future when there is competition a second supplier could setup a fibre connection on one of the channels not used and then you could switch to your new supplier almost seemlessly when they were ready.

I believe Openreach are installing 1 port ONTs instead of 4 port for new installs by default.
 

Jupitus

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I believe Openreach are installing 1 port ONTs instead of 4 port for new installs by default.

Ello, you old dog :)

What are 'ONTs' please? Excuse my ignorance! 😊
 

MYstIC G

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Moriath

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Thanks @GReaper

Dumb question, in that kinda hook-up is the router required to be some ISP supplied piece of rubbish (say for authentication) or can you use anything you want?
Most cases you can repurpose isp routers to modem only mode and use your own for everything else.

from what i read here you just get a box in your house with ethernet ports to connect to. Wait for those who know more to confirm
 

GReaper

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Dumb question, in that kinda hook-up is the router required to be some ISP supplied piece of rubbish (say for authentication) or can you use anything you want?

Should be able to use anything you want. Just need to use a router which supports PPPoE.

ISP provided equipment for FTTP is usually better than the rubbish they've been sending out for years for ADSL/VDSL connections. Until recently the router they send out would have to cope with a 330/50 connection, and with higher tiers now available it needs to cope with gigabit download.

For years I've used various Netgear WNDR3700 devices with OpenWRT to get the QoS settings just right (using Cake to avoid bufferbloat). However for FTTP I ended up repurposing an unused small desktop and installing pfSense on it.

I'd always suggest using the ISP provided equipment on install day to verify it works, and keep it safely in a box for troubleshooting if you ever have connection issues.
 

MYstIC G

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Should be able to use anything you want. Just need to use a router which supports PPPoE.

ISP provided equipment for FTTP is usually better than the rubbish they've been sending out for years for ADSL/VDSL connections. Until recently the router they send out would have to cope with a 330/50 connection, and with higher tiers now available it needs to cope with gigabit download.

For years I've used various Netgear WNDR3700 devices with OpenWRT to get the QoS settings just right (using Cake to avoid bufferbloat). However for FTTP I ended up repurposing an unused small desktop and installing pfSense on it.

I'd always suggest using the ISP provided equipment on install day to verify it works, and keep it safely in a box for troubleshooting if you ever have connection issues.
I was hoping you'd mention OpenWRT!

I picked up one of these https://www.friendlyarm.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=282

as a cheap proving ground with a view to just putting all future ISP routers into modem mode as I got sick of my current dodgy TalkTalk router just screwing up and affecting the LAN as a whole
 

Jupitus

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MYstIC G

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FFS Meg - you are able to delete your duplicate posts yerself!! Why should I have to mod it??? :p ;) (y)
1595502969948.png

Better? 😜 (perfect example of current shittyness of connection)
From NanoPI R2S is a great OpenWrt device - SQM enabled ingress up to 465 Mbps, egress up to 750 Mbps

Not bad for the size and specs, and official OpenWRT support will probably come at some point.
Yeah, that's what I thought. They're basically cheap enough to take a punt on and if they're no good I can put them to use for other stuff as they're smaller than an RPi and come in a case with a heatsink.

Also funnily enough you should mention official OpenWRT, it just got into OpenWRT staging yesterday. I'm just firing up a VM to see if I can get a build to output.

It does work just fine with FriendlyWRT that they provide but I'm just a bit weary of that drifting away from OpenWRT too much and if it will receive any attention in the future.
 

MYstIC G

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Might have a look at Zen then. I'm not against BT but they tend to hike prices over time.

Plus I suppose if Zen can't do it then BT will be the default anyway by the sounds of it.
So, just put the order in with BT. Engineer appointment in a month!!! :eek:

I was going to pick Zen but BT is cheaper (even with their price rises) and has a better upload speed. I think I would have picked Zen if they had a comparable product but they jump from 100/18 to 500/70 with no middle tier.

Also BT includes the telephone service (VoIP by the sound of it) and if you tick the telephone service box on Zen it is just lulzspensive :( (looks to be a standard landline)

Last straw with TalkTalk was they sent out an "up go the TV prices" e-mail with a link to "here's how you say, nope, shove the TV then" online which when submitted say just gives you a website error.

Funnily enough though, after placing the order with BT the "sorry you're leaving" e-mail from TalkTalk with £15 worth of early termination charges turned up perfectly in under 30 minutes.
 

BloodOmen

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Tbh! BT has been fine for me, they get a bad wrap but my net has only been down maybe 3 times in 7 years or so + the times it was down it was fixed within 24 hours. Just need better connection around here now


10260352219.png


Not so much bothered about the Download, it's more Upload I want so I can stream to Twitch at better quality.
 

MYstIC G

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Tbh! BT has been fine for me, they get a bad wrap but my net has only been down maybe 3 times in 7 years or so + the times it was down it was fixed within 24 hours. Just need better connection around here now


10260352219.png


Not so much bothered about the Download, it's more Upload I want so I can stream to Twitch at better quality.
I think with BT it's less about the actual service but the rubbish you know is coming at some point, i.e. bad call centre experience or massive price hike at end of contract.

In fact the price hikes have always been the biggest nonsense part for me. I'd still probably be with Plusnet if they'd never played the "we're charging you an extra £x a month for no extra service" game.

If Zen were the same price as BT then I wouldn't have given BT a look in, just because Zen state that if you roll over the contract period you just keep paying the same amount.
 

Embattle

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BT will be fine for the majority of users, the majority of the providers aren't normally that easy to contact or deal with when it comes to resolving an issue.

I certainly know BT do their best to hide useful features such as contract time, easy cancellation of other products.

I've probably had two minor issues where the internet played up over the last year and 4 months, my biggest annoyance is probably the shitty BT Youview box. It requires a hardwired connection, which I overcame with the Orbi, but it also uses IGMP multicast IPTV system that is hit and miss via Netgear routers. I prefer to just use the app via the PS4, which also improves the SD signal on Youview box to a HD stream.

Below are my current figures:

Screenshot_20201016-173922.png

I would like some more providers to get into the fttp arena.
 

Bodhi

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We're still on FTTC on 80/20 with Sky, and tbh I'm not in any particular hurry to upgrade. Don't online game any more and this is perfect for 4k streaming - in my experience Sky has been solid as a rock as well. Been with them for 8 years now, think it's gone down once for about 30 minutes. Still haven't had to call their customer services either.

Just done a Speedtest and got 61/18, connecting to the router via Homeplugs, so not too shabby overall. Only negative with Sky is the wireless is gash, but a Netgear Nighthawk has sorted that out.
 

Overdriven

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PING 4
DOWNLOAD 68.64
UPLOAD 18.76

With Sky. FTTC. I mean, I'd love gigabit but I'm in no rush to upgrade either. Hopefully our next house will have something faster.
 

smurkin

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I'm thinking of FTTC when it arrives, mainly out of frustration with rural wireless broadband which drops out quite a bit Currently getting about 30mbps/30mbps. I'm thinking Fibre 100 on BT which is 150/30 for 39.99. Only problem is I will probably need to rewire my house to get the cable to the router :(.
 

MYstIC G

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I'm thinking of FTTC when it arrives, mainly out of frustration with rural wireless broadband which drops out quite a bit Currently getting about 30mbps/30mbps. I'm thinking Fibre 100 on BT which is 150/30 for 39.99. Only problem is I will probably need to rewire my house to get the cable to the router :(.
BT sent two flyers to my place, the first with the pricing you had, the second with lower costs. So try checking this link to see if you can lower that down: www.bt.com/fullfibrenow
 

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