You are right, most of us don't need more than 80Mbps. Even 35Mbps may be enough for streaming, browsing, gaming, etc. The problem is that not all people on FTTC get decent speeds like in the case of the OP.

Like for example I am getting 76Mbps router sync speeds instead of 80Mbps that I normally did last 2 years. I might not complain about that small drop, but everyone would want to sync at full speeds without worrying about crosstalk, congestion, line length, noise margins, DLM, etc.

FTTC and the lack of symmetrical speeds is a drawback. There are cheaper packages currently like Onestream that offer 80Mbps FTTC for £19.95, Now Broadband for £20 and Pop Telecom for £22.99. Sure that will save me money and I would switch if I knew FTTP wasn't coming!

But in my case since CommunityFibre will come to my area I'll probably switch to the 500Mbps for £27 a month. Even though I don't need 500Mbps at all, it is better value for the ratio of what I'll save on FTTC.

Broadband is relatively cheap. It is the energy cost that is the biggest problem right now. I can afford to pay a few quid extra a month for broadband, that's not a problem especially if I know it is FTTP.

Most of us use an FTTC service because we don't have a better option available yet! When the whole country gets upgraded to FTTP eventually I don't see any reason why any one of us would stick to FTTC other than price factor being the reason.

My only worry with Altnets is that they might price hike at the end of contract and then I might have to go back to FTTC temporarily. But if Openreach FTTP comes we won't have that problem as we will get to choose a new provider on the existing network. When that happens pretty much FTTC will be retired.

In reply to a post by BLaZiNgSPEED:

Most of us use an FTTC service because we don't have a better option available yet! When the whole country gets upgraded to FTTP eventually I don't see any reason why any one of us would stick to FTTC other than price factor being the reason.

By the time we get FTTP i have no doubt we will need it.

In reply to a post by Jack_Hackett:

In reply to a post by BLaZiNgSPEED:

Most of us use an FTTC service because we don't have a better option available yet! When the whole country gets upgraded to FTTP eventually I don't see any reason why any one of us would stick to FTTC other than price factor being the reason.

By the time we get FTTP i have no doubt we will need it.

Yeah ofcourse!
FTTP prices will also naturally drop and will be on par with FTTC. Even if theoretically we were all fine with FTTC after 10 years, most people will still switch to FTTP. Let's say in 8 years by 2030 at least 97% of the country should be upgraded with FTTP.

But in the case of the OPs friend receiving only 20Mbps a switch is definitely needed. He has not responded to this thread judging by his profile, only 2 posts (threads) in 15 years!

I'm curious to know whether his friend's broadband checker shows as 20Mbps being the max attainable speed. I am aware some people do get very low speeds on FTTC, but those are few.

In that case his friend must not switch to an 80Mbps FTTC package, but more on the lower tier as it's just going to be waste of money paying extra for only 20Mbps.