FTTC Speed Estimates

Thinking of upgrading to FTTC. I'm currently with talktalk LLU ADSL (business, wholesale) for broadband and phone line rental is Primus (Fuel Broadband). I'm about 2 miles from the exchange, and I think I'm connected through a cabinet about half way between. Current sync speed is in the range of 6 to 8Mb.

The Talktalk website availability checker (when logged into my account) gives me estimated speeds of 6.26/1.0Mb for ADSL, and 6.41/0.76Mb for fibre! Why would their fibre speed be lower than regular ADSL??

If I go on taltalk's public availability cehcker (i.e. without logging into my account), that gives a speed estimate of 6 to 16Mb down, 2Mb up.BT's availability checker, gives a speed estimate of 15 to 21 Mb. FTTC has been available for a couple of years here, and BT's speed estimate has always been around 15Mb.

Am I right in thinking that all the stuff between the my premises, the cabinet and the exchange is all BT/Openreach? I guess they have separate pipes to the exchange. But surely the limiting factor is going to be my FTTC line speed, which is way below the 38Mb max? Why are the speeds they estimate as so different?

I'd like to switch the phone to talktalk, and have the FTTC from them as a package, but not if the speed is going to still be 6Mb! If I take it out, and the speed does turn out to be no faster than ADSL!

Also, I've just bought a Draytek ADSL/VDSL router, so I don't need ISP supplied hardware, assuming it will work well enough with the FTTC supplier?

What is teh FULL BT DSL Checker output ... copy and paste whilst removing the phone number.

Do you know the actual route the cable take to the cabinet? And if so, how far is it, in metres.

I would take the BT checker results with a pinch of salt. Results for my line are as follows:

High Low High Low
FTTC Range A (Clean) 55.3 35.7 13.9 8.3

However, I am and have been since installation of fibre, been sync'd at around 67800Kbps down and 16845Kbps down.

What I'm saying is, you may very well see speeds above what you've been predicted. Similarly, you could also see speeds closer to the Impacted estimates too

In reply to a post by WelshWArrior:

I would take the BT checker results with a pinch of salt.

Maybe but it's better to be pleasantly surprised when things turn out better than predicted than it is to be disappointed when things turn out worse

hahaha I like your reasoning

In reply to a post by MHC:

What is teh FULL BT DSL Checker output ... copy and paste whilst removing the phone number.

Do you know the actual route the cable take to the cabinet? And if so, how far is it, in metres.

Sorry, but that's all it's giving me:
You could get
15Mb - 21Mb Estimated download speed range*

Do you have a link to the 'full' BT checker please?

I don't even know which cabinet it is for sure. The nearest one that I think it could be is 1/2 a mile away as the crow flies, but I think the route the lines take is more like a mile away.

In reply to a post by mbdcs:

Do you have a link to the 'full' BT checker please?

As you're on LLU you might not be able to use it. You might have to go by the postcode checker which can definitely be dodgy.

Don't use the post code checker but instead use the address checker.

This one: http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address do it for your house number, post the results and then for the neighbours

And if you know an immediate neighbours phone number try using: http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/ to see how they compare.

With FTTC the distance is much more critical, and if the cabinet is actually around 1.8km to 2km away (1.2 to 1.3 miles) then those estimates would be about right.

ADSL2+ works better over longer lines due to using lower frequencies and some areas suffer a cross over where ADSL2+ can perform better than FTTC.

Estimates vary as there are four figures providers have to work from and they all use different ways of combining them.

In reply to a post by MHC:

This one: http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address do it for your house number, post the results and then for the neighbours

And if you know an immediate neighbours phone number try using: http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/ to see how they compare.

Thanks. That one shows exactly the same for me and my immediate neighbours:


High Low High Low
FTTC Range A (Clean) 21.4 14.7 2.1 0.8 -- Available
FTTC Range B (Impacted) 16.3 6.4 2 0.8 -- Available
ADSL Max Up to 5 -- 3.5 to 7.5 Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available

I'm pretty sure I know which cabinet it is, and I know the route that the line takes, measured with google maps it comes up as exactly 2km. Ironically, neighbours about 50 yards away get their lines on a much shorter route, but still from the same cabinet, and they get a Range A high of 36.4Mb.

Based on these figures, am I correct in thinking that there's no point in paying more for a 76Mb service over 38Mb one?

No point in an up to 76 Mbps service, and your speeds should lie in the range 6.4 to 21.4 Mbps.

We can argue a lot over what the speed will be but until the actual line is active its impossible to know for sure. So you might be happy or you might be annoyed at paying more for the same speeds as now.

TT seems to be taking the most pessimistic estimate ... less complaints that way.

Just go for an up to 38 Mb service.

BT also do a slighlty cheaper service for people wit low estimates - below 15Mbps, I believe, you could investigate that.

The line above that estimates table tells you the cabinet number of the phone cabinet. The FTTC one will be somewhere close. Normally under 50 metres away.

The FTTC cab doesn't have a number on it, only the phone one.

Cabinet pictures.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

The line above that estimates table tells you the cabinet number of the phone cabinet. The FTTC one will be somewhere close. Normally under 50 metres away.

The FTTC cab doesn't have a number on it, only the phone one.

Cabinet pictures.

The FTTC cabinet is right next to the old phone cabinet. Both are 2km away.

In reply to a post by mbdcs:

The FTTC cabinet is right next to the old phone cabinet. Both are 2km away.

Well there's your problem then

In reply to a post by mbdcs:

The FTTC cabinet is right next to the old phone cabinet. Both are 2km away.

Is it the one you thought? That's what we were trying to help you check .

In reply to a post by mbdcs:

I don't even know which cabinet it is for sure. The nearest one that I think it could be is 1/2 a mile away as the crow flies

2km is also 2.5 x half a mile.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by mbdcs:

The FTTC cabinet is right next to the old phone cabinet. Both are 2km away.

Is it the one you thought? That's what we were trying to help you check .

In reply to a post by mbdcs:

I don't even know which cabinet it is for sure. The nearest one that I think it could be is 1/2 a mile away as the crow flies

2km is also 2.5 x half a mile.

As far as I know, that's the nearest cabinet - there are no others that we could be fed from. According to google maps, its 800m (1/2 mile) away as the crow flies. But I've gone and traced the wires back and they follow the road, and that goes in a giant 'C' shape. The cable run must be about 2km.

What number does the phone cabinet have on it!?

What number did the estimator tell you? The clever guys here will pinpoint in on google maps! At the moment you still don't know whether that is the one or not!

Or has the stone run out of blood to be extracted.