G.fast from BT Broadband with modem supplied not router?

Is there any way to order G.fast from BT Broadband and ensure you get the Openreach supplied MT992 modem? I don't want the BT smart hub modem/router that they want to send.

I had a long and frustrating call with BT sales last night. As usual it was painfully clear the agent had no idea about the product or even basic background knowledge like the difference between a modem and a router. Essentially I'd said I would upgrade from my current superfast 2 (80/20 vdsl) to ultrafast 1 if they would guarantee that I would get a MT992 (or similar) modem. That way I can just replace the existing HG612 vdsl modem and leave the rest of my internal network untouched. Obviously I don't use the original home hub I was supplied with - never even opened it - and I've no intention of using the smart hub they want to send now as it cannot (as far as I am aware) be set in bridge mode to use it as a modem only. I'm not a fan of combined modem/routers. Prefer to keep the line up with a modem so I can reboot the router as often as I desire without fear of line speed being capped.

After 2 periods on hold to the agent whilst she talked to a supervisor I was told that:
1) There was no option to not be sent the smart hub router
2) They couldn't supply different equipment or ensure Openreach provided it
3) They wouldn't guarantee the MT992 was even compatible with their service so if I happened to get hold of one somehow I'd be on my own

So does anyone know of how I can get hold of a g.fast modem (ideally the MT992) for a reasonable cost (< £40)?

I'm in contract with BT for another 12 months and have also recently switched our mobile phones to BT, so going to another provider isn't a cost effective option.

No.
Absolutely no way to ensure you get an MT992 with a BT G.Fast service.
Technically it isn't provided at all when choosing BT and the ONLY way to get 1 is if the OpenReach engineer is kind enough to give you one.

There has been 1 for sale on eBay, ever, and that was £400 odd about a year ago.

If you need the MT992 then pick a different provider.

The MT992 is NOT the only standalone g.fast modem out there. I've heard of people using the Zisa G100/G1000 on UK g.fast lines without any issues. Buying one off Ali Baba is your best bet.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/G-fast-Soluti...

https://www.zisacom.com/admin/ewebeditor/uploadfile/...

The ASUS DSL-AC88U seems to support g.fast along with the Zyxel XMG5101-S10A which apparently already have been mentioned on the forums. the zyxel seems to be a modem only

Thanks for the replies. Pretty much as I expected. I wasn't set on the MT992, just knew it should theoretically be obtainable, where the Zyxel isn't easily bought and I'd not heard of the Zisa.

Given I'm not entirely convinced that G.fast is a good solution anyway I'll probably stick with the current connection for now. Cost to change vs. potential benefits and drawbacks aren't painting a favourable picture at present.

I was actually surprised G.fast was even available for me. Having been in the £39K FTTPoD desktop quote club and knowing my cabinet is a good 300m or so away I figured I was on the long wait for native FTTP to happen. Then I happened to see OR working on the cabinet before Christmas and sure enough BT say I can now order Ultrafast.

The BT broadband sales webpage for me only gives a range of 151-152Mb for expected download speed and that gives me concerns about the upload speed. I get a consistent 70/19 at present and the connection has been rock solid. The potential for slower upload or less stable connection isn't worth the extra download speed. It is actually the upload speed that I'm more interested in increasing. Although when I asked on the phone I was eventually told upload of 'up to 29Mb'. She also initially told me 290Mb down though

My reading of the below snippet from DSL checker suggests the 151Mb download estimate would likely put me at around 12-15Mb upload. Also suggests my line is seen as impacted for G.Fast, but it is clean for VDSL. Or the estimates are just nonsense!


High Low High Low
VDSL Range A (Clean) 80 66.1 20 19 60 Available -- --
VDSL Range B (Impacted) 80 63.5 20 19 56.9 Available -- --
G.fast Range A (Clean) 232 203.6 33.4 14.5 169.6 Available -- --
G.fast Range B (Impacted) 178.9 124.7 22.2 10.9 111.2 Available -- --
Featured Products

Observed Speeds

G.Fast

VDSL

Max Observed Downstream Speed (Mbps) -- 74.58
Max Upstream Observed Speed (Mbps) -- 19.99
Observed Date -- 2018-12-11
Other Offerings

Premise environment

Status

Bridge Tap N
VRI N
NTEFaceplate N
Last Test Date 27-12-2018

Going by your dsl checker estimates and what BT estimates your download speeds to be, it looks like they plucked the up to 29Mb upload figure out of thin air.

That's at the higher end of the upload estimates but the download they quote is much nearer the bottom.

They don't usually give an upload estimate/guarantee so it makes it much more difficult to complain about that aspect of the service anyway.