TalkTalk has greatly relaxed its traffic management compared to previous years, the competition for customers being the reason.

So in terms of speed, the FTTC side of things should be identical no matter who the retail provider is. The difference might be at peak times, but we don't see widespread complaints about that from either BT or TT customers.

The phone number should be ported, just make sure that TalkTalk know you want to retain the telephone number. The switch should mean the same physical line from the cabinet. It is just the hardware back at the main telephone exchange where the changes will happen.

MAC is nothing to do with the telephone number at all.

In reply to a post by Speedchaser:

I am considering moving from BT to TT (though would stay with BT if the offered a reasonable deal). My question though and may also interest the OP is if I change all services including line rental to TT will my current phone number remain the same?

Yes, unless as in any transfer of anything, anything goes wrong. That is vary rare.

It has been posted that transferring to the same service by a different provider will should result in same/very similar speeds? Does TT throttle at all on FTTC?

The connection speed should be no different, other than as you say, a normal change in either direction due to the disconnection and reconnection.

I live a long long way from the cabinet so much BT engineer was surprised I got any usable speed at all. If I transferred could the switch mean I use a different physical line from the cabinet which could result in poor or no speed?

There is no physical change change except at the exchange, where two things will happen. The fibre link there and the phone link there, (they aren't the same cable), will both be connected to TT kit instead of BT Wholesale kit.

As for real world throughput speeds, I'd be very surprised if TT was as good as BT or Sky 24/7, but that is gut feel rather than evidence-based.

In reply to a post by Speedchaser:

I'm guessing that the MAC code is required to keep the old number? I have no idea if this is correct though?

No, it isn't. MACs are nothing to do with the phone line at all.

Specifically, the reason a MAC is not required for a transfer of line and broadband is that the line transfer automatically ceases the broadband, which is then re-provisioned on the new IP's kit. No cease charge is levied so long as the gaining ISP, (TT in this case), uses the correct Openreach procedures when placing the order(s).

As the OP has been advised, get a MAC from BT anyway if you go ahead.

Thanks everyone. Three'ish more questions then. If I did switch would, I be likely to see a break in the service? If so what would be the average length? Or would something have to go wrong? Secondly

As for real world throughput speeds, I'd be very surprised if TT was as good as BT or Sky 24/7, but that is gut feel rather than evidence-based.

I'd like to know more about RobertoS's 'gut' feeling. Do you generally see a drop with TT vs BT? I could cope with a small drop but say 11 to 7 would be a bit much.

MrSaffron has detailed data, so I would go for his opinion rather than mine. At the time I started my post his wasn't there.

You can also ask in the TalkTalk forum on this site of course.

BT Speeds
http://blog.thinkbroadband.com/2013/05/so-how-fast-a...

TalkTalk Speeds
http://blog.thinkbroadband.com/2013/05/talktalk-broa...

Biggest difference is the upload as Fibre Medium is the 2 Mbps upload only service, to get faster upload means the 80/20 large service.

Problem with those stats is we don't know whether the spread of users was geographically similar. With some more months data it might be possible to get a better idea and compare postcodes with FTTC from BT users and TalkTalk, Sky.

In reply to a post by Speedchaser:

Also here is a link to my Stats
Results

Those are not your Line Stats, as normally understood; just your Speedtests. Line Stats are got from the router and are invaluable in checking and estimating your potential speed.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Wed 23-Oct-13 23:21:25)

This thread would indicate that "Speedchaser" is a BT FTTC customer and happy with it.

I am currently with BT FTTC (infinity 1) with a 40 gig cap. The slow speeds I get for FTTC is due to my distance from the cabinet. TT cost of unlimited FTTC is £5 cheaper than my current BT 40 gig capped service! Some months I have to limit usage to stay under the cap to prevent a £5 penalty even if I only go over a gig. I'm very happy with my BT service it's just I can't justify the cost to go unlimited FTTC with them. My concern about going to TT is speed loss.

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Oct-13 23:15:40)