It was a slightly whimsical post, Andrew, really. I am not charged 'per GB' the contract is 'unlimited' (I know) so in theory bandwidth should not increase. should it? Any idea what the increase is for an FTTC line?

I am on a loser in that regard straight off. I live on a small farm and the fibre will pass at least 400 meters away from my house. Better however than the 2.5Km I am from the exchange.

At the wholesale level they are charged £8 to £10 plus VAT depending on the speed you order.

With unlimited an ISP needs to consider your contribution to the 95th percentile billing for backhaul still.

Keep in mind that unless you are on an EO (straight to Exchange Only) line, that you may be fed from a PCP Cabinet which may be nearer; and that the Fibre may lead you to.

Also being on a farm, your phone cable may be overhead on poles; and may lead you towards that PCP Cabinet.


At present, if yours is an EO line, you are unlikely to get Fibre of any sort (for some years).

So hopefully, you are on a PCP line; and the PCP Cabinet to farm distance is significantly shorter.



In the meantime, you should ensure that the present arrangements are giving you the best-achievable service, by doing the Quiet Line Test etc.

Plug a phone directly in to the NTE (Network Terminating Equipment) Box, normally where the phone line enters the house. Preferably an older, simpler phone)

Dial 17070

Select Option 2 (Option 4 if SKY)

Listen carefully for any untoward noises, apart from possibly a very low hum.

If you hear "snap, crackle and pop", tones etc, report this to YOUR PHONE PROVIDER, without mentioning Broadband - you must concentrate on it interfering with the VOICE use of the line.

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If the line is quiet, then reconnect internally and re-do the test from an internal extension etc.

If you now hear untoward noises, disconnect your phones, faxes, modems etc progressively, to find out if any of those are the source/s.


There can be other noise sources such as microwaves, plasma TVs etc.

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Also if you use electric fencing.

In reply to a post by mikejp:

delivering what I am 'contracted' to get?

You already get what you are contracted for. 4 < 16 !

In reply to a post by Andrue:

In reply to a post by Andrew_W:

I have standard ADSL, sync speed a constant 7616 and download speeds usually around 6.3 - 6.5meg. I do not stream video, watch TV, Netflix, iPlayer etc. Online activity is mainly browsing and emails.

Fibre is being installed past my home and I have been advised that for normal internet use such as detailed above, I will see no improvement with fibre. Is this advice correct?

FTTC doesn't just offer speed (which I agree it sounds like you don't need) but it also offers reliability. It's not a guarantee but with shorter copper lengths between you and the DSLAM there is far less scope for things to go wrong.

However, repairing a DSLAM in an exchange is easier and quicker than one out on te road.

Rare to repair, usually just a case of slot out old and slot in new component - unless its a car that demolished the cabinet