BT Infinity query

This is apparently going to be available on my exchange at the end of next month so I have a few queries:

1 - Will it definitely be a faster connection than the one I have at the moment?

2 - If/when they use traffic shaping, will it still be faster than what I have with Sky's normal broadband product at the moment?

In reply to a post by dm1983:

This is apparently going to be available on my exchange at the end of next month so I have a few queries:

1 - Will it definitely be a faster connection than the one I have at the moment?

2 - If/when they use traffic shaping, will it still be faster than what I have with Sky's normal broadband product at the moment?

1. Possibly - it depends on what connection you currently have!

2. Traffic shaping - depends on what you do. Normal browsing - it will not affect you, but with P2P you may find yourself shaped at certain times.

My current connection would be roughly 1.5 meg.

If I were to download a file, the fastest it would reach would be around 236 k/sec

In reply to a post by dm1983:

2 - If/when they use traffic shaping, will it still be faster than what I have with Sky's normal broadband product at the moment?

Don't confuse "BT Infinity" with FTTC. BT Infinity is one ISP's name selling an FTTC product, you could stay with Sky as an ISP and get "Sky Broadband Unlimited Fibre" which is the Sky FTTC product.

BT's marketing is deliberately confusing to drive customers to their product. There are lots of others, as there are in the ADSL world.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by dm1983:

2 - If/when they use traffic shaping, will it still be faster than what I have with Sky's normal broadband product at the moment?

Don't confuse "BT Infinity" with FTTC. BT Infinity is one ISP's name selling an FTTC product, you could stay with Sky as an ISP and get "Sky Broadband Unlimited Fibre" which is the Sky FTTC product.

BT's marketing is deliberately confusing to drive customers to their product. There are lots of others, as there are in the ADSL world.

Yeah, I know Sky have that product, however it requires a Sky phone line.

In reply to a post by dm1983:

Yeah, I know Sky have that product, however it requires a Sky phone line.

Ok, you must be a legacy customer (paying £5m more per month??) to not have a Sky line.

There are other ISPs using BT line:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AquiMM6...

In reply to a post by dm1983:

This is apparently going to be available on my exchange at the end of next month so I have a few queries:

1 - Will it definitely be a faster connection than the one I have at the moment?

2 - If/when they use traffic shaping, will it still be faster than what I have with Sky's normal broadband product at the moment?

What is your speed estimate on the BT site?

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProduc...

In reply to a post by smouty:

In reply to a post by dm1983:

This is apparently going to be available on my exchange at the end of next month so I have a few queries:

1 - Will it definitely be a faster connection than the one I have at the moment?

2 - If/when they use traffic shaping, will it still be faster than what I have with Sky's normal broadband product at the moment?

What is your speed estimate on the BT site?

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProduc...

BT website correctly estimates what I am getting from Sky for the speed they say BT Total Broadband could offer me at 1.5 meg.

It says when infinity is available for me at the end of September it should be:

66.3Mb download
20.0Mb upload

I take it that is not an "up to" claim like most other speeds then seeing as it doesn't say that?

Its an estimate.


In my experience I have found it a little conservative, but it is an estimate.

That's an estimate, often quite accurate but not guaranteed. The product is actually "up to" 80Megs but they tend to advertise 76Megs due to Ofcom rules.

I agree with the previous posters, it is an estimate that is often conservative. However, be warned that there are rare cases where people get much less than the estimate. Even where they have estimated nearly 80, BT only assure you 12.

Also, don't forget that there are many others who will offer the same FTTC service as well as BT retail's Infinity. They all use the same underlying BT Openreach FTTC infrastructure, with their own internet infrastructure.

BT advertising is rather misleading in a couple of ways. They imply without saying it that Infinity is a unique product. They say that their router is really wonderful at wireless connection, where it is really an up to date but low end product adequate for many but very far from many better products.

Sky, PlusNet (a BT owned company), John Lewis (who use PlusNet infrastructure) are the commonest at the consumer level. Many others (Zen, etc) offer higher levels of service (though probably the same FTTC raw speeds) at much higher prices. See https://spreadsheets0.google.com/pub?hl=en&hl=en&key.... That said, for me and for many who don't need fast p2p, BT Infinity ends up as the most cost effective choice.

CAP/BCAP/ASA rules, nothing at all to do with Ofcom

The BCAP Code is drawn up and published by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice Ltd (BCAP) and is generally interpreted and enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (Broadcast) Ltd (ASA).

This arrangement whereby duties allocated by Parliament to Ofcom are carried out by BCAP and ASA has been effected through a procedure of contracting out of Ofcoms statutory duties to regulate broadcast advertising.

However, not all aspects of advertising regulation have been contracted by Ofcom to BCAP and ASA.

In reply to a post by dm1983:

It says when infinity is available for me at the end of September it should be:

66.3Mb download
20.0Mb upload

I take it that is not an "up to" claim like most other speeds then seeing as it doesn't say that?

I think even when 'shaped' during peak times on P2P it would still be faster than your current connection.
If it is an issue use a VPN service to avoid shaping.