March 2020 USO

Hi, I understand the updated USO comes in to force in March 2020 but I wanted some clarification regarding the minimum speeds.

My sync speed is normally around:-
- 25Mpbs down
- 1Mbps up (currently just below this at about 980Kbps)

In order for the USO to be met, do both up and down speeds need to be above the minimum limit? Or, if my upload is below 1Mbps but my download is higher, could I potentially get help towards a faster connection?

Currently trying to get information from Openreach regarding the fibre cabling that runs past my property and what the potential is for connecting to the joint on my pole in the near future - I'm happy get a quote for FTTPoD but don't really want to pay out £250 for a survey to find a whole new set of cables need to be run and the price is too high (the ducts should definitely be clear however!). Unfortunately Openreach just give standard generic replies that offer no help whatsoever...!

Sorry, cannot help in anyway with your question however just wanted to say that the upload you get is terrible.

My 1970's 1.1km line going in to a ECI cabinet (that's nearly maxed out with users) was only getting 19-20mb, however the upload was always between 5.5-6mb.

Are you on ADSL or FTTC?

The USO is 10Mb/s down and 1Mb/s up. The 980Kb/s could well be just low enough to kick you in to the USO.

Openreach aren't generally going to answer individual queries as they could get millions of people asking questions and never be able to respond to them all - the time taken to answer the questions would probably be fairly chunky as they would need to check each individual situation which could mean reviewing a number of sources of information.

Also USO is with BT rather than Openreach, so its up to BT to decide

Ofcom says 1 Mbps upload sync speed, which is either 1000 Kbps or 1024 Kbps, so in theory USO help available, but that help just be here is a 4G router at £x/month

My understanding is that a FTTPoD desktop survey costs nothing however such surveys often tend to be higher than the subsequent £250 survey.

Yes, our line is probably around 1.5km from the cabinet! I'm quite surprised we managed to get the download speeds we do - generally happy with around 25Mbps but the upload is terrible (but in line with DSLChecker stats).

slimj

Use the checker at https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/ and look at the observed speeds results.

If there are any figures there and the upload is under 1Mb my take is you will be eligible for the USO, but what you are offered may not be what you would like (eg 4g Router).

If you are already on FTTC your upload looks odd as I would expect it to be higher with a 25Mb download. You may improve things by checking wiring etc.

In reply to a post by ian72:

Are you on ADSL or FTTC?

The USO is 10Mb/s down and 1Mb/s up. The 980Kb/s could well be just low enough to kick you in to the USO.

Openreach aren't generally going to answer individual queries as they could get millions of people asking questions and never be able to respond to them all - the time taken to answer the questions would probably be fairly chunky as they would need to check each individual situation which could mean reviewing a number of sources of information.

Thanks. We're on FTTC but a long line. ADSL we were 3Mbps down.

Understand your point about the enquiry, it's just unfortunate that engineers will say send Openreach an email then you can't get the info you perhaps need.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Also USO is with BT rather than Openreach, so its up to BT to decide

Ofcom says 1 Mbps upload sync speed, which is either 1000 Kbps or 1024 Kbps, so in theory USO help available, but that help just be here is a 4G router at £x/month

Thanks, will perhaps take a further look come March. 4G does tend to be pretty terrible in our area also (outside on O2).

In reply to a post by kitcat:

slimj

Use the checker at https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/ and look at the observed speeds results.

If there are any figures there and the upload is under 1Mb my take is you will be eligible for the USO, but what you are offered may not be what you would like (eg 4g Router).

If you are already on FTTC your upload looks odd as I would expect it to be higher with a 25Mb download. You may improve things by checking wiring etc.

Our stats show this currently, it's in line with expectations (download was 25Mbps before resync the other night): https://www.cloudhq.net/c/b92b95e43c2299

Wiring all ok, just wired to master socket, with no extensions. Router plugged straight in to this (I even changed the master socket some time ago to a new version when having some other issues).

EE, 3 and Vodafone could all be possibilities - depending on how USO works BT could well offer EE by default as it is their mobile service. If you know someone with EE it would be interesting to see what coverage they get just outside your house as you could use an exterior aerial if needed.

That is evidence that it is a USO case.

Suspect a good engineer could put it above the 1Mb with a couple of remade joints.

In reply to a post by slimj:

Thanks, will perhaps take a further look come March. 4G does tend to be pretty terrible in our area also (outside on O2).

In my experience, O2 speeds are always terrible. Try EE.

In reply to a post by hoopla:

In my experience, O2 speeds are always terrible. Try EE.

O2 are heavily upgrading, depends where you are. They have less spectrum (ie, paid less!) than Vodafone or EE, but they have a LOT of users.