In reply to a post by walkers:

Why would u want 50Mbit upload for? Any reason for this?

I do a lot of uploading, I am a software / hardware developer and some data/content files I create are in the GB and I would like them to get uploaded as fast as possible.

Also I plane to do live streaming and 4K Streaming would be nice too.

Plus when I am testing a dev version of a Large Multiplayer game I also need as large of an upload as possible.

Also if the price is the same for 30Mbits up that it is for 50Mbits it makes sense to get the 50Mbits up.

You could say the same for 40Mbit down and 80Mbit down, suppose you can get 80Mbits but you only need 40Mbits, normally you would just go for 40Mbps, but say your ISP then say we will lower the price for 80Mbps to the same price as the 40Mbps, you would jump at it.

Paul

In reply to a post by PaulKirby:

Also if the price is the same for 30Mbits up that it is for 50Mbits it makes sense to get the 50Mbits up.

I'm seeing £59.99 pm for BT Ultrafast 2 (330/50) which appears to be the same price as their old Infinity 4 product (330/30):

https://s10.postimg.org/rucx9bqh5/image.jpg

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

In reply to a post by PaulKirby:

Also if the price is the same for 30Mbits up that it is for 50Mbits it makes sense to get the 50Mbits up.

I'm seeing £59.99 pm for BT Ultrafast 2 (330/50) which appears to be the same price as their old Infinity 4 product (330/30):

https://s10.postimg.org/rucx9bqh5/image.jpg

Thanks, yeah I thought it might be the same price due to the ISP's are charged the same price for the two.

Paul

I see that the ONT comes with a telephone socket that has a switch FVA & COPPER.

Question (somehow related)

1) is this socket connected to the �old� socket below? So when you switch to copper, does it connect to the socket below?
2) With zen FTTP you can also get line rental, which is a copper line. Does that means you will need to use the new socket or one can leave everything in the old socket?

Hopefully someone knows! (Because in our situation, the FTTP ONT will be far away from the �original� master socket, so if the phone line needs to be connected to the new ONT/phone socket, that will be a pain).

Thanks

We already had two PSTN lines + ADSL (now both cancelled), so both sockets were already in place (ignore the lower one in my pictures, for the purposes of this it's just another phone line & isn't connected at all to the upper box).

As part of the installation a new faceplate is installed which has the switch on it, that selects between either the existing copper pair (which was already in place) and the new copper pair (FVA fed from the ONT). In your situation where the ONT wont be close to the existing master socket (the link cable they use is pre-terminated at each end so I don't imagine there's much room for flexibility) I'd imagine they'll leave your existing master socket alone & install a new one next to the ONT which is FVA only (probably the same as mine, just the PSTN option on the switch wont do anything).

I didn't bother with he Zen line rental (we've not used a land line in years), however only BT provide FVA as I understand it so I'd imagine your existing PSTN line will be used by Zen & things stay as they are (but I could be wrong!)

The chap who performed our installation was flexible about how it was done - our house has the grey BT box by the front door, when the house was built the builder ran cabling inside the walls to an understairs cupboard for the master socket, which the installation engineer obviously couldn't use, he was fine about running the fibre around the side of the house to the external wall for the same cupboard.

I see that the ONT comes with a telephone socket that has a switch FVA & COPPER.

Question (somehow related)

1) is this socket connected to the �old� socket below? So when you switch to copper, does it connect to the socket below?

Hi FTTP2, I have had three very painless FTTP installs with Zen, two overhead and one underground - different premises. To answer this question based upon my installation is very easy:

If arriving underground they will simply run a new fibre cable to wherever you seek to have the ONT placed - they will leave the existing copper circuit alone.

If arriving overhead they will seek to install a hybrid cable which also has one copper pair (in an aim to avoid two overhead cables running to the property). However, if you desire, or have more than one pair in use, they will simply run the hybrid cable again to anywhere you wish to place the ONT and if desired will leave the existing copper circuit alone.

2) With zen FTTP you can also get line rental, which is a copper line. Does that means you will need to use the new socket or one can leave everything in the old socket?

This I think is causing the confusion. In all of my installations, whilst there are telephone ports on the ONT, the ONT is not used for telephone lines, that is the telephone circuits do not arrive over fibre, only the Internet from the ONT. The benefit of combining the telephone with the fibre is purely for a bundle price (cheaper FTTP rental through kickback of also having the telephone line with Zen), the two products still arrive separately, Internet over the fibre to the new ONT only, and telephone as it was before over the existing copper circuit, and if nearby, the copper pair from the hybrid cable and if only one circuit, connected to the Master socket.

To be fair, I was also confused by this when talking to Zen sales department the first time around, as having experience of Fibre installs in Jersey, where the two are combined at the ONT (Internet and telephone over fibre), I had envisaged the same. I suspect perhaps OR do not do this because of exactly the possible problems and concerns you are highlighting. All three times the OR Engineers have been very helpful and very flexible with their approach and a credit to OR.

Hope this helps and if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you both! No more questions (for now!).

Dear @Mendip perhaps another question about migration.

We currently have (of course) a PSTN + ADSL. When you moved to Zen with FTTP + line rental. Assuming you moved from another provider, was there

A) Any need to �cancel� teh pstn/adsl lines, or does this happens automatically with the migration?

B) cost? Is there any more cost for migration vs activation cost that Zen already charges? Or is there also �charges� for activating/migrating the PSTN line (to Zen)?

Thanks

Hi FTTP2,

A) Any need to �cancel� teh pstn/adsl lines, or does this happens automatically with the migration?

Interesting question, and something to be very, very careful about. In theory Zen as the gaining party can handle everything. However, and if I were you, I would approach it as follows:

a) switch the telephone line to Zen now, assuming your broadband and line are not currently bundled, then;
b) order (including bundling your new Zen telephone line) and have the install of FTTP take place, then;
c) terminate the ADSL.

This will give you the bundled FTTP price, and maintain the ADSL service until FTTP service is online.

If you are currently bundled with another provider, the best advice I can give you is to explain everything to Zen, and ask their advice, unless you can run the risk of a period without ADSL service (you cannot have an ADSL/VDSL service without a live/active telephone line). What I would not do is cancel anything with your current provider(s) until you are absolutely sure of your options.

In my cases it was and is, easy. All my telephones are, and have been with, Zen for nearly 10 years, after leaving BT, so it was and continues to be, an easy process.

B) cost? Is there any more cost for migration vs activation cost that Zen already charges? Or is there also �charges� for activating/migrating the PSTN line (to Zen)?

I normally deal with business, but as far as I can see and would expect for Home:

Telephone migration - no charge from Zen as the gaining provider 'Free to Switch' - this only is chargeable when there is no telephone line installed.

FTTP - £55 to activate a new FTTP connection - but as you have probably noted -' £48 activation charge for new ADSL broadband connections where customers are not switching an existing service from another provider.' - I read this as not applicable and believe that what it is saying is, if there is already a live connection for ADSL, then there would not be a charge for migrating your ADSL connection - logical.

However I would expect a £55 activation charge for FTTP, as I am assuming you do not have a fibre run and ONT already in place at your property. Also consider that the fee also covers the supply of a 'free' router from Zen.

I do not believe you would be charged a migration fee, as you are not migrating technically, and certainly not a migration and an activation fee - I certainly have never experienced this; it is either one fee or nothing.

Thus I would expect from the gaining provider (Zen) for a home product a total of £55, plus the first month line rental and FTTP rental at the time of placing the order and nothing else.

As far as I am aware (and there are a lot more knowledgeable people in the industry on this forum than me), with activation you are charged as above, with migration sometimes no fee, but the gaining provider can notify the losing provider and it should all happen seamlessly - but from experience it can get out of sink. If you can, I would avoid 'simultaneous provide' - for me it has never really worked, with another 'rather large third party company' involved in all of this. If you have the option to break the steps down and remain in control, my advice would be to do so.

Thus my suggestion of trying to keep the ADSL overlapping the FTTP install so that you are not without a service.

Really it comes down to two things:

a) Are you still in contract with your current provider(s) for ADSL and telephone, and;
b) Are they bundled together already with one provider?

If it is 'no' to both above, then it should be a very simple process.

Hope this helps and if you need more help please do not hesitate to ask.

All the best,

Mendip.

In reply to a post by Mendip:

Hi FTTP2,

A) Any need to �cancel� teh pstn/adsl lines, or does this happens automatically with the migration?

Interesting question, and something to be very, very careful about. In theory Zen as the gaining party can handle everything. However, and if I were you, I would approach it as follows:

a) switch the telephone line to Zen now, assuming your broadband and line are not currently bundled, then;
b) order (including bundling your new Zen telephone line) and have the install of FTTP take place, then;
c) terminate the ADSL.

This will give you the bundled FTTP price, and maintain the ADSL service until FTTP service is online.

If you are currently bundled with another provider, the best advice I can give you is to explain everything to Zen, and ask their advice, unless you can run the risk of a period without ADSL service (you cannot have an ADSL/VDSL service without a live/active telephone line). What I would not do is cancel anything with your current provider(s) until you are absolutely sure of your options.

In my cases it was and is, easy. All my telephones are, and have been with, Zen for nearly 10 years, after leaving BT, so it was and continues to be, an easy process.

B) cost? Is there any more cost for migration vs activation cost that Zen already charges? Or is there also �charges� for activating/migrating the PSTN line (to Zen)?

I normally deal with business, but as far as I can see and would expect for Home:

Telephone migration - no charge from Zen as the gaining provider 'Free to Switch' - this only is chargeable when there is no telephone line installed.

FTTP - £55 to activate a new FTTP connection - but as you have probably noted -' £48 activation charge for new ADSL broadband connections where customers are not switching an existing service from another provider.' - I read this as not applicable and believe that what it is saying is, if there is already a live connection for ADSL, then there would not be a charge for migrating your ADSL connection - logical.

However I would expect a £55 activation charge for FTTP, as I am assuming you do not have a fibre run and ONT already in place at your property. Also consider that the fee also covers the supply of a 'free' router from Zen.

I do not believe you would be charged a migration fee, as you are not migrating technically, and certainly not a migration and an activation fee - I certainly have never experienced this; it is either one fee or nothing.

Thus I would expect from the gaining provider (Zen) for a home product a total of £55, plus the first month line rental and FTTP rental at the time of placing the order and nothing else.

As far as I am aware (and there are a lot more knowledgeable people in the industry on this forum than me), with activation you are charged as above, with migration sometimes no fee, but the gaining provider can notify the losing provider and it should all happen seamlessly - but from experience it can get out of sink. If you can, I would avoid 'simultaneous provide' - for me it has never really worked, with another 'rather large third party company' involved in all of this. If you have the option to break the steps down and remain in control, my advice would be to do so.

Thus my suggestion of trying to keep the ADSL overlapping the FTTP install so that you are not without a service.

Really it comes down to two things:

a) Are you still in contract with your current provider(s) for ADSL and telephone, and;
b) Are they bundled together already with one provider?

If it is 'no' to both above, then it should be a very simple process.

Hope this helps and if you need more help please do not hesitate to ask.

All the best,

Mendip.

@Mendip, thanks again for the reply! I was browsing through this again and saw I didn�t mention anything. The info was super useful, and I could share this with my �new� neighbourhood that is getting FTTP �soon�...