only USO technologies approved are 4G and FTTP

In reply to a post by Fastman3:

only USO technologies approved are 4G and FTTP

Well, that would explain the FTTP quote. Seems daft that FTTP is the only solution offered when the objective is a 'decent' 10Mbps.

Other operators are free to quote you for alternate technologies outside the USO of course.

In reply to a post by Fastman3:

only USO technologies approved are 4G and FTTP

Update: Seems that HM Gov have changed their minds about this, maybe BT don't know..

What technology will be used?
Any technology capable of delivering the minimum technical USO standards could be considered to deliver connections, including mobile broadband. In practice, most connections under the USO are likely to use full-fibre or fibre-to-the-cabinet technology.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefi...

On USO quotes you are talking with BT Consumer who then decide whether 4G is possible, if so they use that, if not they pursue a fibre on demand quote from Openreach. The fibre on demand side is a process that others such as Ceberus, Spectrum Internet and others can use.

The desktop quote you had may be wrong, and the way to fix that with the other FoD providers is to gamble on the £250 paid survey which sees someone come out and double check everything.

The word approved by the other poster is perhaps over stating it, but reality is BT Consumer only use 4G or FTTP at this time (there was going to be some FTTC but the shift in focus to FTTP in Openreach has changed that)

Rolling out ADSL extender or infill VDSL2 cabinets that would need replacing in a few years is not worthwhile and costs are still going to be more than you want to pay if it is just you that benefits.

Presume you have also ruled out alternate fixed wireless providers?

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

On USO quotes you are talking with BT Consumer who then decide whether 4G is possible, if so they use that, if not they pursue a fibre on demand quote from Openreach. The fibre on demand side is a process that others such as Ceberus, Spectrum Internet and others can use.

The desktop quote you had may be wrong, and the way to fix that with the other FoD providers is to gamble on the £250 paid survey which sees someone come out and double check everything.

I'm not paying £250 for something that IMHO BT should be doing anyway. The USO process starts with an estimate & then a quote which can take up to 60 days which is the usual OpenReach lead time for new circuits. In my case it took them less than 2 days, so I agree that it was a desktop quote. I might be a bit more satisfied if BT were compelled to release details of the work scope.

Have you tried SIM cards with every major provider? You can get pay as you go and test the data speeds. Keep to main carriers as others have slower speeds due to deprioritisation. 3, EE, O2 and Vodafone pay as you go sims and run a Speedtest. That will give you an idea, there has been a lot of changes recently over the last year or two on networks, things are often changing. Try and test is the only method forward.

I'm now at the point where it's become clear that BT's offerings for the USO are FTTP & 4G via EE.
In 2018 LR-VDSL which was for a while seen as the answer to cabinet based improvements to long copper lines was withdrawn after the PoC leaving the 2 options above.
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/04/openre...
It's not really worth getting into why LR-VDSL did not fly, it's simply not available any more, at least not for now. Maybe an alternative will appear at some point.

I'm going to see what happens when my MP's office reply to my complaint and will report back if anything useful happens.
In the mean time, many thanks to those that have replied to my post.

Have you checked your signal for all the major networks on their websites?

Band 20 whilst not great got launched on EE and will probably give you better speeds, average is around 5 to 20. Band 20 is low frequency and gets through problematic things much better eg my office on level 10 had nothing and now I have 2 or 3 bars on band 20. If one does seem a little promising, you can give a pay and go sim a whirl as a starter.

https://coverage.ee.co.uk/coverage/ee

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Network/Coverage

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/network/status-checker

https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker