Pulse8 router costs

Currently with Pulse8 FTTC and going to upgrade to FTTP. Trying to understand their supplied router costs

On the basic FTTP package they do 24 months @ £34 or 12 month £35. Obviously want you on a longer contract so charge a little less

They charge an extra £9.50 for the length of the 12 month contract to supply a router. So thats a total of £114

However on the 24 month contract they charge £6.50 for the length of the contract. So a total of £156

Its the same router on both contracts, so i dont get why you pay more on a longer contract. Unless im missing something?

Wow

So Pulse8 FTTP 80/20 + Router combined cost is £40.50 per month on a 24 month contract or £44.50 per month on a 12 month contract. Plus £79.50 activation.

Edit: Sorry I should have asked is the separate router monthly fee a rental of the router or do you own it at the end of the contract period?

Edited by PCJM40 (Wed 11-Feb-26 17:28:52)

The FAQ say you own it and Pulse8 still replace if it breaks.

I dont mind paying a premium for Pulse8, their support is top notch. The email they sent me said the activation fee only applies to 12 month contracts too (website not clear if so)

Edited by bobble_bob (Wed 11-Feb-26 17:28:53)

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

The FAQ say you own it and Pulse8 still replace if it breaks.

I dont mind paying a premium for Pulse8, their support is top notch. The email they sent me said the activation fee only applies to 12 month contracts too (website not clear if so)

The answer is that its leased for either 12 or 24 months and thats why the cost is different, you still need to carry on paying the fee after the first contract period for them to support and replace it should it break.

Doesnt really seem worth it then. Routers arent that expensive and come with a 12 month warranty anyway if you buy your own

Edited by bobble_bob (Wed 11-Feb-26 17:43:02)

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

Doesnt really seem worth it then. Routers arent that expensive and come with a 12 month warranty anyway if you buy your own

If you're happy configuring your own router then thats the way to go.

Its a bit like paying the extra insurance for a washing machine, by the time you need to claim on the insurance you have virtually paid for a new machine.

Yea, is there much configuring to do? I remember when i went from adsl to fttc on the same router, other than my username/password changing all settings were auto detect

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

Yea, is there much configuring to do? I remember when i went from adsl to fttc on the same router, other than my username/password changing all settings were auto detect

I've only used pfSense and ISP routers so can't really help.

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

Doesnt really seem worth it then. Routers arent that expensive and come with a 12 month warranty anyway if you buy your own

What router are you currently using with your FTTC connection?

If it has a Ethernet WAN port you could continue using it

Netgear D6400. Old i know but works well

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

Netgear D6400. Old i know but works well

Documentation: https://support.netgear.com/support/product/d6400

It has an ethernet WAN port, and it will work fine. Setup instructions on page 71 of the user manual.

(The only problem you might have if you use an ISP that doesn't do PPPoE, like Sky, which needs custom DHCP options set. But I'm fairly sure Pulse8 is PPPoE).

Edited by candlerb (Thu 12-Feb-26 08:38:07)

Thanks. Yea im on FTTC with Pulse8 and use PPPoE

All of Sky's FTTP network and over 90% of their FTTC network doesn't need any special DHCP options. As soon as your router requests an IPv6 prefix it will light up the IPv4 service and allocate an address. There's no need to extract credentials, apply custom DHCP options etc.

Edited by jpm (Thu 12-Feb-26 11:38:00)

OK, it's changed then - thanks.

I submitted my upgrade request today. Not activation cost and using my own router. Openreach coming Sat 28th (didn't know they worked Sat for installations.

I got my new username and log in details and the username ends in @b2bdsl. Anyone know who they are?

Gamma

Thanks, cant say ive heard of them. What underling network do they use?

You answered your own question already ….

Openreach coming Sat 28th (didn't know they worked Sat for installations

…. yep, for many years now.

Pretty sure Gamma use BT Wholesale

Thanks. Would make sense as we only have BT or Virgin CBT on our pole

So Gamma resell BT wholesale, and Pulse8 resell Gamma. Seems a conplicated way of doing it

Edited by bobble_bob (Sat 14-Mar-26 12:38:40)