FTTP Gbit package speed query

Hi all might get a bit long winded here so apologise in advance

So i know most ISPs advertise Gbit packages as 900ish due the the ASA rules on average speed, but most of the time people obviously get faster 940-60ish which is the rough limit of a Gbe nic after overhead,

does anyone know though usually what ISPs actually physically cap the speed at, for EG MS3 are rolling out in my area just waiting for availability checker to give the clear to order from one of the ISPs selling it as i want the extra upload speed vs my current VM gig package,

Now MS3 roll out 2 different Nokia ONTs depending on residential or business package, Residential has a 2.5G port and the business has a 10G port (can negotiate at 1/2.5/5/10)

currently my network is 2.5G (mixture of 2.5G/1G devices) and with VM this results in getting 1150 down and 100 up after overheads because im using the hub 5 with the 2.5G port so not limited by a 1G port and VM over provision.

So anyway with plugin the ONT into my current setup i wouldn't be limited the a 1gig port but at minimum a 2.5G port, would i then get true 1000+meg still or do isps tend to put an actual cap on of eg 1000 so in theory it would still max out at 940-60 or do they also slightly over provision like VM do but generally not noticed when using a standard Gbit nic setup

again sorry for the ramble im sure i could of cut it down a bit lol

Cheers Ash

I believe VM has increased their gigabit offering to over 1gbit so you actually get 1gigabit after overheads. As for OR, they will be doing a 1.2gbit product which should give you 1gbit after overheads, and a 1.8gbit product which from other forum posters it will be about 1.66gbits after overheads. If you order a 1gbit product, you are unlikely to get the 2.5gb nokia ont (for now).

Upload is 120mbits i believe on the two new products.

It depends what rate limit MS3 set, if you can't find anybody else on their service with a gigabit connection and a 2.5Gbit-capable LAN then its something you will have to ask them.

The few ISPs I checked all advertise 900Mbps.

In reply to a post by jpm:

It depends what rate limit MS3 set, if you can't find anybody else on their service with a gigabit connection and a 2.5Gbit-capable LAN then its something you will have to ask them.

The few ISPs I checked all advertise 900Mbps.

The whole thing with ms3 is weird, some are selling 900mbit packages others 1gbit, i now understand the confusion the OP may have

In reply to a post by Taras:

In reply to a post by jpm:

It depends what rate limit MS3 set, if you can't find anybody else on their service with a gigabit connection and a 2.5Gbit-capable LAN then its something you will have to ask them.

The few ISPs I checked all advertise 900Mbps.

The whole thing with ms3 is weird, some are selling 900mbit packages others 1gbit, i now understand the confusion the OP may have

yea this more than anything ive literally been a virgin customer from the Yorkshire cable days ive had the odd year on FTTC in between but but spent 90% of my internet life with telewest/virgin media,

don't get me wrong im not going to moan if in the end i get 9xx download because the move is mainly for upload, im not really going to miss the extra few hundred down lol, its just more of a wonder how it works question, i don't really know much about how FTTP providers provision their packages. EG like others have said VM do over provision so my gig1 packages is actually 1.2Gb /110Mb and i get 1150/98 out of it,

The ISP ive been looking at is squirrel.uk.net they are one that advertise as 900 so i wondered if generally FTTP ISPs configure it to be say bang on 1000 because most people only have ONTs with Gbit ports anyway of if like VM they had it set higher but again was limited by the port,

i guess in the long run ill just have to wait and see i don't know anyone else with a MS3 connection period let alone anyone using it on a 2.5Gb+ network setup, TBF id never even heard of them until i saw a planning permission notice pop up and googled them to find out what they were lol.

Cheers all Ash

In reply to a post by acpsd775:

like others have said VM do over provision so my gig1 packages is actually 1.2Gb /110Mb and i get 1150/98 out of it

Back in the 1999 days of the NTL cable modem trials the 500/128 service was overprovisioned to 600kbps. I assume it was so that customers saw "50 Kbps" downloads in the original internet browsers and it was 'faster' than BT ADSL.

My 250 Mbps service is overprovisioned at 287,500,061 bps... (287 Mbps) as you can see in the Hub screens.

I thought MS3 was OR based but obviously they aren't after looking at the packages and so they may over-provison. if you are looking for the upload then that maybe provisions differently than the downloads.

I remember having, satellite internet with the return path being dial up - was great for downloads but painful for everything else, and a couple of unrestricted moments i saw 60mbits download.

I always love when services get little restrictions but its always abused in the end

In reply to a post by Taras:

I thought MS3 was OR based but obviously they aren't after looking at the packages and so they may over-provison. if you are looking for the upload then that maybe provisions differently than the downloads.

they seem to use PIA to just use OR poles when i first saw the permission i thought it was OR till i googled them. TBF im not fussed who they are just glad finally getting option of decent upload speeds lol

I think it's likely the 900 packages are just the providers trying to comply with the ASA rules and are all 1Gbps services, i.e. approximately 940-960 Mbps application payload.

I wouldn't imagine they overprovision, otherwise all the providers would be advertising 1Gbps speeds.


My understanding of the currently partners/providers is some run their own networks (layer 2) and others white label a MS3 managed service (layer 3).
I'm not 100% sure how accurate this list is, I may have just failed at finding the providers autonomous system number.

Layer 2

- Zone Broadband AS35437
- Squirrel AS212109
- Octaplus AS205771
- Link Broadband AS204316

Layer 3

- Hull Fibre
- Infinics
- Open Fibre
- Fiber Zone
- Direct Save Telecom


I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with either type, but layer 2 providers will have more control over their peering & transit and provide their own IP ranges.
MS3 currently transit with Cogent, are in the process of peering at LINX LON1 (10Gbps, the link is up but no routes) and adding another transit provider.

The main things to look out for are use of CGNAT, the ability to provide a public IP and the reputation/history of their IPs.

For instance a few reviews on Trustpilot for Squirrel report issues with several services such as Disney, Ticketmaster and Sky. I do notice submitting their IP ranges into https://ipinfo.io/ show they are "type": "hosting" rather than "isp" so undoubtably other databases are also incorrect.

I do wish all the providers sites had more information about for instance if they use PPPoE or DHCP, is it CGNAT and is a static IP available.

I can't decide who to go with, I'll probably end up supporting one of the local providers but then if they are all layer 3 providers what difference does it make which you go with? so may as well go with the cheapest.