Who offers FTTP?

Hi everyone

parts of our exchange (EAMAD) have been released for FTTP, but there doesnt seem to be a huge range of ISP's to offer it. In fact we can only find 1. BT

are there any others at all, or is everyone 'trialing' it with a handful of existing customers at very few exchanges

Thanks

GunSmoke

Zen.

Zen say they are trialling too

Anyone offering something that isnt a trial?

Why not just go with BT and check again at the end of the contract.

http://aaisp.net.uk/broadband-FP.html

May tend to be pricey.

PlusNet are/were offering the trial too.

Why don't you want to be part of the trial? The major bonus is free install for all trialists and no long contracts.

Its not available to me at the moment, my PON isnt live.
I'm also with Plusnet & I'm sussing out their trial.

Some friends who are able to get FTTP have been asking as the customer service from BT does not appeal to them. They are not with BT & their ISP doesn't seem to be doing trials.

Signing up with an ISP just to go on a trial is going to be a hard sell to people who dont want to 'trial' they just want fast BB

Thanks for the suggestions & comments though

I'm on EAMAD too - do I know you?

Anything other than BT / Plusnet is going to cost some serious money. I have prices from my current ISP, I didn't ask if it was "trial" and they didn't say.

Decisions, decisions Do i stay put (expensive but excellent), move to PlusNet now and then get onto their trial (will their trial ever end??), or sign up to BT as soon as computer say "yes"?

Some friends who are able to get FTTP have been asking as the customer service from BT does not appeal to them.

There should be no need to contact them once it's installed. You'll get whichever speed you purchase, no probs, and that will be that.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Some friends who are able to get FTTP have been asking as the customer service from BT does not appeal to them.

There should be no need to contact them once it's installed. You'll get whichever speed you purchase, no probs, and that will be that.

This is a very good point. With ADSL support is paramount with the plethora of problems that can occur and the complicated nature of troubleshooting said problems when delivering modern internet speeds over a century old copper phone network.

FTTP isn't going to need support. Connected, works. End.

I have personally used BT's FTTC "Infinity 2" package and had cause only to call them once in the ten months I had it and they truthfully and accurately answered my question no problem. Never had any faults or cause to open a support ticket.

I fully expect FTTP to be the same and will have no compunction in using BT Retail again once Openreach make all the FTTP they've laid round here live

In reply to a post by bgriffiths:

.... move to PlusNet now and then get onto their trial (will their trial ever end??), or sign up to BT as soon as computer say "yes"?

Plus Net's trials seem more to do with getting their charging systems, advertising, support staff etc up to speed on a new product.

Theres nothing trial like with the FTTP service its self, it is after all using the same infrastructure as BT do, and as others have mentioned it should be so much more reliable than anything over copper.

Plusnet also came joint second in the PC Pro ISP customer satisfaction awards, Zen came first and joint second with BE, so people in general must be pretty happy with their service.

Edited by R0NSKI (Wed 24-Oct-12 07:24:23)

They have a commercial package available. You might need to call them.

bgriffiths - I normally go by the name of Richard & was involved with the Race to Infinity.

Are you on one of the released FTTP networks?

GunSnoke

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Are you on one of the released FTTP networks?

GunSnoke

No - I'm not. Not long now according to latest rumours. I understand the contactors have handed over everything to BT now. They have been working away at either end of our road this week; hopefully no more "last minute hitches"!...

Brian

I'm down the bottom end of Hardwick & have a feeling they will need to do some digging round by us. Apparently, our cables were just buried when the houses were built, rather than in ducts

GunSmoke

Ah - I assumed you were Caldecote like me. Didn't know they were fttp-ing the south end of Hardwick.

They have already released the top road in Hardwick, & Grafton Drive in Caldecote for FTTP. Dont know if anyone has had it installed yet.

Not heard when any of the other areas are going to go live though

GunSmoke

I know of one person on the Grafton Drive PON who is up & running, through A&A, all went smoothly; I think someone else's installation due today.

Yes St Neots Road area went live a week or two ago; our village "coordinator" has it informally from BT that the contractors have handed the remaining infrastructure over to BT (though I saw them still burrowing away this morning)

I have been with BT for about 11 months now on their 110mbit FTTP product, I cant recall it ever running slow and the service has been top notch too. I recall fitting a gigabit NIC on my server as the 100mbit one wasn't able to take the full speed of the connection. Thumbs up from me for BT

You should receive a boost to 160Mb/s, if you haven't already.

Yeah, running at 160 now, very nice easy upgrade from BT

ISP choice does seem to be a bit of a no-brainer now...

IP Profile for your line is - 319.25 Mbps

160Meg is the throttled speed for now, but yes 330 Meg is the Openreach product it is based on

Doesn't this make a total mockery of the justification for IP Profiles?

Have to be honest 15:40 on a Saturday afternoon and downloading at 141.3 Mbps, I'm not complaining

I am, I'm 100 meg behind you so jealous

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Doesn't this make a total mockery of the justification for IP Profiles?

Not really. The Openreach equipment is capable of transferring 330Mbps, and the IP Profile reflects that. It is just the ISP that is choosing to work at an artificially lower rate.

The problems happen when the ISP chooses a *higher* rate!

our PON went live over the weekend, so I've asked PlusNet about the FTTP trial already.

I hope they are goign to play ball

GunSmoke

Good luck, I'd be interested to know what speeds they are offering now; have they moved to match BT's 160/20 for example
Brian

Just had an email back from PN Customer Services:

Thanks for getting in touch, FTTP is a product that we are looking to invest in, in the future. So, at the moment we don't have any speed or prices for you, but watch this space!

So I guess I cross them off the (very) short list

Unfortunately many of the sales/support staff are unfamiliar with FTTP, you're be better off asking on their forums, I think prices for the 80/20 speeds would be identical to their FTTC pricing.

PN are trialling FTTP - which means it is not generally known to all their sales & support staff.

When PN trial something, they usually start with technical trials - where the technology itself is being tested - and then gradually move to admin trials, where there systems & procedures are being trialled (including the interaction with BT wholesale and/or Openreach).

FTTP is well past the technology trials now, and is sitting in a more administrative mode. It seems likely to stay with that label until PN put together a full consumer package.

FTTC went through the same thing. My original order went through in exactly this kind of state, just prior to commercial packages being opened.

For better details, look at: PN's Trials Page, and select the FTTP Trial. The packages being offered match the current FTTC packages in speed & usage allowance.

This thread on the PN forum is a recent chat on the same subject.

Note that it is a trial available to their customers, so you'd need to sign up first before upgrading. There's probably a way to confirm that they'd take you on the trial before signing up.

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

For better details, look at: PN's Trials Page, and select the FTTP Trial. The packages being offered match the current FTTC packages in speed & usage allowance.

Access to trial details is to PN customers only, but if prices match fttc packages then seems reasonable

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

This thread on the PN forum is a recent chat on the same subject.

Note that it is a trial available to their customers, so you'd need to sign up first before upgrading. There's probably a way to confirm that they'd take you on the trial before signing up.

I'm already following that thread with interest - the two main posters are on the same exchange as me; they are PN customers already and don't seem to be getting encouraging responses. (Again I can't post on the PN forum as not a customer)

I will pop a question on the TBB Plusnet forum & see if one of their reps can answer. My instinct at the moment tells me to go with my current ISP - 80/20 120GB at £50. I'm a bit nervous about the usage cap, but it is still 3x - 5x my current levels. BT's 160/20 "all you can eat" for £35 is obviously tempting, but I work from home (VPN into employer's servers) and have seen conflicting advice as to whether that is allowed under BT's Residential T&C.

Edited by bgriffiths (Mon 12-Nov-12 11:13:18)

In reply to a post by bgriffiths:

but I work from home (VPN into employer's servers) and have seen conflicting advice as to whether that is allowed under BT's Residential T&C.

I am not aware of any ISP who specifically prevent customers from using VPN access from their home customers (and it would be a difficult thing to do).

However on a domestic package you don't get the same level of assurance, repair service etc as you do on the business services. This is all fairly normal and your present ISP probably has a similar exclusion.

In reply to a post by bgriffiths:

, but I work from home (VPN into employer's servers) and have seen conflicting advice as to whether that is allowed under BT's Residential T&C.

I run a VPN server on my BT connection and have no issues connecting to it at all and have not received any feedback advising me not to