Switching FTTC providers

Hi, I am currently with TalkTalk the fibre large package and I am considering leaving them and possibly joining PlusNet.

Does anyone have any experience of switching FTTC providers?

Is it a simple process as it used to be with adsl?

When I use the PlusNet website to check what�s available on my landline number it says that I get estimates for 80mb down 20up it also says, You don't have a compatible phone service. To use our broadband you'll need to take one of our Home Phone packages - we'll give you free activation worth £25.
Your existing service should carry on working until you've switched over. Switching your phone takes 2-3 weeks and your broadband usually activates on the same day.
We need to give you a new phone number. We'll provide further details once we've processed your order.

Any help would be appreciated

That sounds like a coverall automated message from Plusnet's system .

Does the telephone number matter to you? Was it a new number issued by TalkTalk, or did you have it on a "BT" line before joining them?

What speeds do you get on TalkTalk Fibre?

Hi RobertoS,

No the telephone number is of no great importance to me and yes it was issued by TalkTalk when I first moved to this address and took out services from them.

I get full speed 76mb down and 20mb up, I only live about 50-60 metres from my cab.

I know TalkTalk have their own network and fully take over the line so was worried that might be causing this message and it won�t be as straight forward as I�d hoped for.

The number question explains why Plusnet need to issue you with a new one. As it doesn't matter to you it isn't a problem.

There was a difficulty migrating LLU FTTC to Plusnet. (I migrated non-LLU FTTC to them painlessly). I believe it was an Openreach issue. I'm not sure if that has been fixed, but they did need to start you on ADSL2+ then upgrade you.

Apart from that worry, there is a slight risk you could lose the broadband for a couple of weeks if anything goes wrong, but that applies to an LLU to non-LLU FTTC migration. The thing to do, immediately after signing up to Plusnet, (if you do!), is register on the Community Forums and ask for one of the reps to ensure it goes smoothly. They should be able to make sure the FTTC is switched at the same time as the (copper) line connection.

Would there be any way to find out if they have fixed the migration issue?

I would preferably like to switch directly to PlusNet FTTC rather than ADSL first then 2-3 weeks later upgrade to FTTC.

If I do go ahead I will take your advice and register on the forums. Hopefully there wouldn�t be any issues but I�ll keep my fingers crossed!

Any update on the migration issue?

Happy new year!

Happy New Year to you to.

I've just posted on the Community forums asking for a rep to look over here.

Thanks for flagging this RobertoS.

Hi mike166,

When I use the PlusNet website to check what�s available on my landline number it says that I get estimates for 80mb down 20up it also says, You don't have a compatible phone service. To use our broadband you'll need to take one of our Home Phone packages - we'll give you free activation worth £25.
Your existing service should carry on working until you've switched over. Switching your phone takes 2-3 weeks and your broadband usually activates on the same day.
We need to give you a new phone number. We'll provide further details once we've processed your order.

That does sound like a very broad message. I'll feed that back to someone internally. Particularly as we have ways that we could retain numbers in circumstances such as yours.

We should be able to retain your number when migrating over from LLU providers such as TalkTalk (though I understand that you're not too fussed), and the speeds should be the same.

The issue that RobertoS flagged up was an issue quite a while ago where FTTC to FTTC migrations from LLU networks were failing, and this was impacting a number of BT networked ISP's. We went for a while waiting for it to be fixed, but in the end we started to migrate to ADSL and then regrade later on.

This has been fixed. So if you sign up with us, there are no foreseeable issues. Feel free to sign up and then pop me a message. I'll gladly oversee the provision for you.

Good to see another rep on here, Have you requested an ISP tag, Matty?

Thank you RobertoS and Matty for your time and help.

You have cleared up any concerns I had and I am now confident about switching over to PlusNet.

I am going to buy a router with integrated an VDSL modem and once that arrives I will switch over using the website. I will send Matty a message with the order ref.

I�ll also update this thread on how everything goes so if anyone else decides to do something like I have then it could help as a reference.

Really looking forward to the switch now, don�t think I can do another call to talktalk support!

Yep, the ISP tag should appear next time he posts

In reply to a post by mike166:

I am going to buy a router with integrated an VDSL modem and once that arrives I will switch over using the website. I will send Matty a message with the order ref.

You have to be rather careful about buying a VDSL router, despite the many we read about on these forums. Have a browse through the Openreach requirements for ISP-supplied ones in SIN 498. Section 2.4 applies and includes:-

The CP provided modem and filtering devices must meet the requirements of this specification in order to provide reliable operation and to avoid harm to other VDSL2 lines sharing the same cable binder. Openreach reserves the right to withhold or limit service where potential violation of the Access Network Frequency Plan (ANFP) or impact to another customers� service is detected.

Then detailed requirements in Section 3 and tests that it must pass for Openreach conformity in Annex A.

I expect everything on the market satisfies most for the moment, because OR are covering possible developments in FTTC. Such as vectoring, where we can see several firms like Billion and Fritz are having to upgrade their kit, or at least the firmware.

What do you have with TalkTalk? An integrated modem/router or an Openreach modem with TT router?