Openreach SoGfast become very expensive from 1st July

Those who want to order standalone SoGfast will facing very expensive indeed from 1st July. Not good news for those who want to order G.fast.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2023/06/openre...

No, what is to very expensive, is where the punter has additional installation requirements.

It's an additional option on top of the methods already available. The article also states:

The reason for the big price difference is that this product has been designed to address the more complex requirements of business and public sector customers, which tend to go beyond what a typical user may need (although some non-standard homes might benefit from this too).

So, the options already available are still available but this is just a more advanced option where more complicated installs are required.

I wouldn't have been opposed to G.Fast. I'm way too far from the cabinet for that, though.

It's cheap compared to what it would cost to have a data cabling contractor or electrician do the work.

Can you explain what this means?

Advanced Installation Capabilities:

· Up to 100m wiring from where Openreach network is presented to the premise.

· More complex cabling

Through multiple walls
On existing cable trays running horizontally or vertically using cable ties (may include through multiple floors)
Through ceiling or floor tiles that are removable and accessible

· Connect to existing in-building structured cabling e.g. in comms rooms

· X-Marks the spot to indicate preference for NTE install location

· What3Words to indicate preference for NTE location, and

· Unattended install – Speed test results in KCI 3 to confirm install.

Sound like SoGfast become the same way as FTTP as data cabling into the property?

Or was I mis-understood it?

I'm not sure I can explain it much better than that summary. Say you are a warehouse and the BT cable enters in the front corner of your unit and terminates on a DP, but your office units are 80m cable distance away along two walls that already have cable tray, up until now you'd have needed to arrange your own contractor to do that internal run. Now you have the option to pay Openreach to do it.

This could be good news for anyone who are far away from the G.fast pod to the property to get shorter cabling route by the engineer with option to pay.

That's not what it's for

In reply to a post by adslmax:

This could be good news for anyone who are far away from the G.fast pod to the property to get shorter cabling route by the engineer with option to pay.

Only if the reason that they are far away is because the Openreach cable takes a roundabout route on the customer's own property.

For example, if for some perverse historical reason the phone cable was an aerial one which arrived at the front of the house, then was wired (on Openreach's side of the socket) to a shed at the bottom of the 50m back garden and then back again before terminating in a master socket in the dining room then BT would as part of the service rearrange that wiring for you. Of course the reality is that in many domestic situations the customer might (in breach of their contract) rearrange BT's wiring to avoid the unnecessary loop to the shed rather than pay BT to do so.

This service is more likely to be purchased by people who want the GFAST router positioned a long way from where the cable currently enters the property - i.e. they want it on the third floor of an office block but all of BT's cables are terminated at a DP in the basement. For a price BT will run that cable to exactly where in the building you want it.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

This could be good news for anyone who are far away from the G.fast pod to the property to get shorter cabling route by the engineer with option to pay.

That's not what that is at all, it's extra wiring IN your property from the NTE

Not from the NTE …. internal fit to the NTE

In reply to a post by adslmax:

Those who want to order standalone SoGfast will facing very expensive indeed from 1st July. Not good news for those who want to order G.fast.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2023/06/openre...

This is just an optional install for people with complex install requirements.

It's for anyone who wants the NTE (master socket) installed a long distance (or through multiple walls) from where the cable enters the property.

It won't affect the average home user.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

It's for anyone who wants the NTE (master socket) installed a long distance (or through multiple walls) from where the cable enters the property.

It won't affect the average home user.

100M extra length cable inside property mean there will be huge loss to G.fast data speed. Bad idea!

In reply to a post by adslmax:

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

It's for anyone who wants the NTE (master socket) installed a long distance (or through multiple walls) from where the cable enters the property.

It won't affect the average home user.

100M extra length cable inside property mean there will be huge loss to G.fast data speed. Bad idea!

It's not just for SOGFast but also for SOGEA. 100m makes much less of a difference on VDSL2.

It's "upto" 100m. How many properties do you know that could accommodate 100m of internal wiring? I would be a few houses up the street with 100m.

Most installs using this will be much shorter than that. It's the whole going through multiple walls, unattended installs, etc they makes this appealing to those that need it.

Also, if you're only 50m from the cabinet then even 100m of internal wiring could still see full sync speed on G.Fast.
Even 200m from the cabinet + 30-40m internal wiring wouldn't be the end of the world

I would say it's primarily for offices and data centres, where the wiring often has to be routed through internal risers and suspended cable trays, to where you want the NTE.

A SOGEA line delivered to your comms rack makes a nice out-of-band management connection.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

A SOGEA line delivered to your comms rack makes a nice out-of-band management connection.

We had a few in the ADSL days, Openreach would deliver the NTE to our ground floor patch room close to their cable entry point. We would then use the building structured cabling (Cat5e I think) to run the connection close to where it was needed, usually in a floor patch room. Usually to support some crazy customer remote access tool that didn't function through our corporate internet presence, and the customer would deliver an entire PC for our support teams to use. All long long ago... but better than ISDN...

In reply to a post by candlerb:

I would say it's primarily for offices and data centres, where the wiring often has to be routed through internal risers and suspended cable trays, to where you want the NTE.

A SOGEA line delivered to your comms rack makes a nice out-of-band management connection.

Heh - · Connect to existing in-building structured cabling e.g. in comms rooms

How will they know?! & I wonder what they will say to me next time I order... All my analogue services come in via main cables from exchanges and present onto an MDF : ) besides a couple of very specific installs the engineer only leaves a faceplate hanging off the frame for 'testing' then never expects to see it again (unless there is a problem and we have a box of faceplate's handy)