In reply to a post by Westyfield2:

As a follow up question then...

Lets say that at 400m is where G.fast and VDSL2 equalise. Beyond that you'll be slower on G.fast than you would on VDSL2.

But (picking at random) lets say you're 500m away. So on paper you'll be faster by choosing VDSL2 and get about 60Mbps. But you've got a load of crosstalk from neighbours and consequently you're not getting 60Mbps and are more like 40-50Mbps.
Could a vectored G.fast be better than your non-vectored VDSL2? And will you be allowed to order G.fast, or will it be "No you're too far away".

You won't be able to order it, as it will not be an option for you. BT retail are offering a minimum 100 meg download speed guarantee on G.Fast products, so they wouldn't sell you the product if the checker says you can't get at least that speed.

It's not any inside info.
Every cabinet that we've seen with Vectoring has been a BDUK cabinet.
Simples.
On top off that OpenReach have said they have no plans to deploy VDSL2 Vectoring.

Given that the Vectoring modules and line cards cost quite a bit and OpenReach see absolutely no commercial benefit from paying for these modules it's safe to assume OpenReach aren't randomly installing these out of the goodness of their heart.

A number of BDUK areas have confirmed they are selectively using Vectoring in targeted areas.

It's all about getting the best bang for their buck with BDUK. If adding a Vectoring module to a cabinet will get another 100 properties over 24Mb and that's the cheapest way to cover those 100 properties then they will use it.

As i mentioned before and as i'm sure we all know, these are Huawei cabs only

Absolutely.
All the BDUK cabinets are Huawei anyway.
The ECI cabinets can't do system level Vectoring.

Every cabinet that we've seen with Vectoring has been a BDUK cabinet.
Simples.
On top off that OpenReach have said they have no plans to deploy VDSL2 Vectoring.

Given that the Vectoring modules and line cards cost quite a bit and OpenReach see absolutely no commercial benefit from paying for these modules it's safe to assume OpenReach aren't randomly installing these out of the goodness of their heart.

A number of BDUK areas have confirmed they are selectively using Vectoring in targeted areas.

Pretty much sums it up.

For what it's worth, we are on a long VDSL2 link (about 3km) and get a link speed of around 4mbps.

The availability checker now says we should get 1mbps via VDSL2 but it used to say 3-4 when we migrated from ADSL which we had to do via PlusNet as BT would not accept the order. No idea why it changed but I suspect we are the only ones in our village who managed to move to VDSL.

I don't suppose there is much chance of vectoring being enabled but if it was and resulted in a doubling of our bandwidth then I doubt I would bother with Gigaclear who are due on the scene some time before the end of 2019.

@andyhurley
If you mean BT Infinity (as was), then it wasn't offered to anyone with an estimate under 15Mbps. Thought to be in order to help keep their "up to 76Mbps" and "up to 38Mbps" figures that 10% could achieve, by excluding all below 15Mbps.

They did have a technically identical product called "Faster Broadband with Fibre" that you could order if you knew about it. Which of course had no effect on the Infinity statistics.

Interestingly one has turned up on my cab (Brackley cab 15) even though we're not on any official roll-out list. The old cabinet was removed and a new one installed last year so I assume it's not just an extension for more telephone lines.

Must admit I hadn't paid much attention to G.FAST so I always thought the pods were on the side of the DSLAM not the PCP.

Edited by Andrue (Fri 02-Nov-18 15:08:03)

In reply to a post by Andrue:

Interestingly one has turned up on my cab (Brackley cab 15) even though we're not on any official roll-out list. The old cabinet was removed and a new one installed last year so I assume it's not just an extension for more telephone lines.

There are a few places I am aware of that have or are in the process of getting G.fast that have not been officially announced. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that Openreach is not announcing all places.

I can see that cabinet 17 has got G.fast. Are you sure it is a G.fast pod? They always have vents and copper extensions do not. Pods containing Huawei hardware have two vents located on the front door panel, one at the lower part and one on the upper. Nokia ones just have a vent at the lower part of the front door as far as I know.

In reply to a post by Andrue:

Must admit I hadn't paid much attention to G.FAST so I always thought the pods were on the side of the DSLAM not the PCP.

G.fast pods, in the current amendment, are always fixed to the side of the PCP. VDSL DSLAMs can sometimes have extensions on the side of them, though it is certainly unrelated to G.fast as it is a port upgrade to expand the capacity of the cabinet when there are no ports available for new subscribers.

I can see that cabinet 17 has got G.fast

Brackley #17? How interesting. Not sure where that is but it's the first I've heard of Brackley getting any upgrade.

Only cabinet 17 at present too

Are you within distance to benefit anyway, once it becomes enabled? I believe approx. 400m is where both technologies perform roughly the same - at least for downstream, some of the ranges on the BTW checker for upstream look abysmal compared to VDSL at the tail end. It won't be "available" to you anyway if you are expected to receive less than 100 Mbps (which some sources tell me is no further than around 370m).