FTTC or stick with ADSL?

FTTC is now available in my area so I'm thinking of trying BT Infinity. However, as I don't really stream or download that much but play games online, is FTTC my best option or should I look for another ADSL service that offers me up to 16MB and allows me to use a gaming profile?

Is FTTC more reliable in general?

What do you mean by a gaming profile?

Biggest question is what speeds do you get form ADSL2+ now, and what is the estimate for FTTC?

Next generation consoles are moving to more content in the cloud or via downloads, so faster connections will make gaming easier. Or put another way as texture packs get more detailed they are bigger downloads.

In terms of reliability, the removal of a couple of kilometre of copper tends to help reliability, but there are no guarantees of course.

Well I'm with Be currently because they can put me on fastpath to reduce my pings (normally 30-35, but on gaming mode it's 20). My speed is 14mb down and 1 up. I#d be happy enough to continue with that, but obviously Be and their LLU network option will be gone in a few months time, so I don't have that option.

The estimate I get for FTTC is 60Mb but I'd probably just get the the up to 38Mb option (I presume I'd maybe get 30Mb at best in that case).

I'm ruling out Sky because I don't want to change my landline away from BT, and apart from the option of getting BT Sport, no other packages interest me.

FTTC pings tend to be lower anyway. Mine on standard connection with BT Infinity is averaging about 8ms - no special settings.

In reply to a post by mac_d:

The estimate I get for FTTC is 60Mb but I'd probably just get the the up to 38Mb option (I presume I'd maybe get 30Mb at best in that case).

If you went for a 38Mb capped option on a line capable of 60Mb then you should get 38Mb (or thereabouts).

The BTW checker estimates can be and are often wrong so take with a pimch of salt

For my understanding with FFTC the ISP has the choice of 3 options at the time of order, that can play a part in latency indirectly, As once activated FFTC usually will start off on fast path and syncing at the highest it can ,

And stays like that unless DLM takes action,

But as to how low your base latency is, can be down to how the connections from exchanges to the ISP's handover points are routed, level of utilisation ect, as well as where in the uk you are geographically ,
And latency to remote severs will be depenant on your ISP and it's routing ,& peering used on top of what your base latency is

I know that the lowest i probably can get is 12-13ms base latency (fast path ) But i have known that to be higher with BE retail was 20ms wholesale 27-28ms to 1st visible hop after router

Edited by tommy45 (Tue 29-Oct-13 16:09:02)

Ok cheers I was under the impression that pings weren't necessarily any better, and at times worse, on FTTC. Good also to know that if my line is capable of 60Mb (even if the checker isn't totally accurate) I should get fairly close to the max available on a 38Mb option.

With various ISPs on different ADSL packages (fixed 2Mb, ADSL up to 8Mb and LLU ADSL+ up to 16Mb) my ping has always been 30-45. It's only ever been with Be that I've been able to tick the gaming mode to tweak the settings to give me a ping of 20-25 and I've enjoyed the difference it makes.

I suppose the price of FTTC with BT isn't much different from what I pay Be at the moment, so switching to FTTC should really be a bit of a no-brainer?

Go for it!

Another possible advantage of going for the capped 40 Mb product with your higher estimate should be the reduced likely hood that you will have interleaving applied at some point.

I think this has been the main cause of grumbles about high latency on FTTC.

ASDL issues such as drop outs high error rates can be down to the E'side rather than the normally shorter D'side ,FTTC bypasses the E'side for data as its Fibre from exchange to the dslam in the Street cab, So some who have chosen FTTC over ADSL have seen a more reliable service as a result, But as said no guarantees

Ok thanks to you all for your thoughts. Phoned up for my mac code today and will take the plunge with FTTC. Despite having not enjoyed my ADSL experience with BT, I'll give them another go....

Just bit of info for you.

I never could get greater than 7mbs on ADSL2/2+ on my line, then it went wonky and couldn't even hold a ADSL2/2+ connection. After lots of tests/engineers etc. the best solution was to go back to bog standard adsl. This did create a stable connection, but around 5/6 mbs depending on the time of day.

Last week I upgraded to fftc (40/2). I now get 36mbs down/1.8 mbs up - and so far, stable.

I am about 80 yards to the little GPO box and that is about 50 yards to the fibre box. I am about 1.75 miles to the exchange following the main roads.

Nick

if you have a high estimate eg. 60mbit, and if for some reason the line isnt stable on fast path, then downgrading to 40/10 would probably keep you on fast path due to the high snrm it would give you.

I lost almost 10ms going from ADSL/ADSL2+ to FTTC