501

Have just renewed my BT Business contract and this time I could move up from the 300 Mbps. The two alternatives were 910 Mbos and 501 Mbps.

Why 501? A very strange number to chose.


And having gone up from 300 to 500, the price is actually 25% less than before and even when teh forecast 13.9% increase hits in April, I will still be paying less.

I would guess based on the Ofcom rules around advertising speeds being based in the reality of what a percentage of customers actually receive. Also, there might be some psychology there as they can say "over 500Mbps"...

This is FTTP so uless there is congestion every customer should get what they are contracted for...

My only thought is similar to your "over 500" - it may be in a differnt listing so somone looking for over 500 will se it, whereas if it was just 500 they may not.

Or maybe the advertising copywriter wears Levi jeans!

It isn't the line connection speed that is advertised, it is the actual average throughput rating from the customer to some measurement place (not sure exactly where). So, congestion does get measured by this; the idea is to make sure that ISPs are transparent as to their internal network and transit connections rather than just a measure of the raw speed of the connection to the exchange.

EDIT
The Ofcom speed code of practice states:

You should get the estimated speed you are likely to experience at busy times of the day, when average speeds are often lower. These times are 8-10pm for home services, and 12-2pm for business services.

Edited by ian72 (Wed 25-Jan-23 16:17:42)

In reply to a post by MHC:

Why 501? A very strange number to chose.

Perhaps someone with a sense of humour?

“Not implemented.”

In reply to a post by MHC:

Have just renewed my BT Business contract and this time I could move up from the 300 Mbps. The two alternatives were 910 Mbos and 501 Mbps.

Why 501? A very strange number to chose.

The underlying Openreach product is 550/75.

Taking 9% off 1G gives 910M exactly. Taking 9% off 550M gives 500.5M. They made it 501M in order to be a round number

In reply to a post by MHC:

This is FTTP so unless there is congestion every customer should get what they are contracted for...

Most definitely not. The whole thing is a contended service at every single stage.

The PON is contended. The GEA Cablelink is contended. The backhaul is contended.

There's no varying sync speed but that's a long way from meaning you should get the headline rate at all times.
The minimum guaranteed speed will be quite a bit below that 501Mb/s average.

The advertising rules are based on what a providers actual throughput averages across their customer base at peak times.

Why 501? If they advertise 501 then that's what customers are averaging. On a product provisioned at 550Mb/s that's not bad at all.

Edited by j0hn83 (Thu 26-Jan-23 12:22:56)

I was quoted 500 on BT Retail

It sounds like you've made a great decision in upgrading your BT Business contract! 501 Mbps is a strange number to choose, but it's likely that BT chose that number because it is a good balance between speed and cost. Higher speeds come at a higher cost, so it makes sense that BT would offer a speed that is fast enough to meet your needs, but not so fast that it would be too expensive.

It's also great that the price of your upgraded contract is lower than before, and even with the forecast 13.9% increase in April, you will still be paying less. This is a great way to get more bang for your buck and get the most out of your BT Business contract.

Congratulations on your upgrade!

Why 9%?

Protocol overheads.

Thought so.

It doesn't answer why 9%
The protocol overheads on Openreach FTTP aren't 9%. They are quite a bit less than that, even with PPP.

The 9% was plucked from thin air because it roughly matched their quoted averages.
The advertising rules are based on real world throughput at peak times and it's nothing to do with 9% anything.

In reply to a post by hunnymonster:

Protocol overheads.

No. This is BT Business deciding how to label their tier offerings, rather than anything to do with protocol overheads more generally.

Openreach FTTP tiers are net of all protocol overheads (associated with GEM / Ethernet framing, FEC, QinQ, etc, etc.). Its the nominal peak *(net) data rate effective form the RJ45 port on the ONT.

The only "ISP" related protocol overhead - for BT and BT Business - is PPPoE which as said is far less than 9% and in reality is closer to ~1-2%.