Fibre Broadband Question

Hey guys,

I've got a quick question if I may; perhaps some of the current FTTC/H users can help me out here.

I'm currently with BE Broadband for my internet connection, and they offer me literally unlimited traffic down my line. I've downloaded thousands of gigabytes a month (as a gamer, Steam is a big pull on that), and I'm really glad there's no caps.

I was wondering, are there caps on the FTTC/H connections being offered? I've seen my exchange is enabled now, so I was considering going for one, but I wondered if I might regret it later with the amount of data I download.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

How much do you download?

Some providers have download caps (Zen).
Some providers use traffic shaping (BT).
Some providers are truly unlimited (Sky).

It varies month to month as games come out, but I'm a heavy PC gamer and love multiplayer gaming as well as watching things like youtube, iplayer and netflix in HD.

From what you've said, I think the only option I've really got is Sky.

Edited by deleted (Wed 18-Apr-12 17:09:09)

Sky currently only supplies a 40/2 product and although a lot of people said that they would offer the faster products on launch haven't done so.

Also Sky needs to go and upgrade their exchanges, as not all of the LLU exchanges have equipment that can currently take FTTC. On a Sky forum a figure of 17% of Sky LLU custoemrs can only get FTTC.

But no matter who you go with you WILL have to take their phone line so if you need to move later on it can be a pain.

Also BT only traffic manage p2p and they also offer an unlimited download package.

It seems that you don't use p2p all your applications are not traffic managed by BT so with a 80/20 package as well. You may want to consider BT as well.

We dont force people to have our line rental service with our FTTC broadband

Nor do most ISPs afaik... mine (IDNet) certainly doesn't.

Adsl24, do you have any unlimited packages? (ie. no caps, etc, and no shaping against gaming traffic and video streaming?)

TalkTalk offer an unlimited package (though some shaping of P2P at peak) and 80/20.

Our packages are a bit of both, so during peak times it has a monthly usage cap, but off-peak its completely unlimited.

Regardless of the peak/off-peak set up, we don't throttle, shape or block any services at all and never have done.

But, I would urge you to be realistic about the amount of usage you want to use, as it does appear to be a substantial amount and on FTTC this will be even more, so you need to be aware of your expectations for the price you want to pay for such a service

Thanks

The other thing to take into consideration, is the quality of customer support you want.

Stalk Stalk and BT have fairly notorius poor customer service departments, while smaller companies like ADSL24 have a more personal touch.

Some people are reporting no problems with BT, so mileage can vary.

BT have the option of a business line, (at extra ££) where customer support is uk based.

afaik none of the companies thottle usenet, just torrents etc.

A big reason why the 17% figure is so low is that FTTC is only available to 28% of homes across the UK.

Got a link to what these people are saying? As it may be someone has got the figures wrong.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Sky currently only supplies a 40/2 product and although a lot of people said that they would offer the faster products on launch haven't done so.

To be honest when you have been using a slow 3 Mbps ADSL connection (like I have), 40 Mbps would be ample well for me it would anyway !

I live a long way from my local exchange.