Thinking of FTTC

[Clive]

Our cabinet is within spitting distance and I'm now considering going for fibre.  My router is a Billion purchased from IDNet a couple of years ago.  If I order fibre through IDNet will it work seamlessly and how much more is it likely to cost for the 40Gb package?

[Simon]

Super Fast Basic seems to be £38.40 per month, Clive.  But I'm not sure if there's a data allowance limit:

https://www.idnet.com/data_products/super-fast-broadband.php

[Clive]

I'm paying £40 a month all in at present and that is for ADSL+2, phone line and phone package that includes international calls.  Have you any idea how much more I would have to pay each month for the 40Gbs?

[Simon]

From what I can make out, that would depend on which phone package you wanted.  I must admit, I've not delved into this yet, so I'm no expert on the pricing, but you may be able to work things out from this:

https://www.idnet.com/data_products/broadband_prices.php?VAT=1

[Clive]

Thanks Simon.  At the moment I'm paying £40.20 a month for ADSL2+ with line rental and full calls package including mobiles and international.  I think I'll go for it but you haven't answered my second question which is will it be a seamless transfer to FTTC? 

[nowster]

Thanks Simon.  At the moment I'm paying £40.20 a month for ADSL2+ with line rental and full calls package including mobiles and international.  I think I'll go for it but you haven't answered my second question which is will it be a seamless transfer to FTTC? 

It's not quite as simple as flipping a switch somewhere. There will be some exchange unjumpering and cabinet jumpering to be done.

[Simon]

I have no experience of the switchover Clive, as I am still on ADSL2+ myself.

[Clive]

It's not quite as simple as flipping a switch somewhere. There will be some exchange unjumpering and cabinet jumpering to be done.

But will I personally have to carry out any unjumpering?  Will my Billion router simply wave goodbye to the old and embrace the new?

[zappaDPJ]

But will I personally have to carry out any unjumpering?  Will my Billion router simply wave goodbye to the old and embrace the new?

I wouldn't like to say whether you should unjumper or remove any other article of clothing but I do believe you will need a new modem/router. A quick call to support will confirm or deny

[dudwell]

I made the change to FTTC 4½ years ago and my memory has become extremely vague about the details. I had a couple of ADSL routers but these were unsuitable for FTTC so I had to purchase a new one. I obtained a Billion 8800NL from IDNet already preconfigured. Following IDNet's instructions all went smoothly. I certainly didn't have to do any unjumpering (!) nor did I need the visit from a BT engineer which was generally supposed to be necessary at the time.

[Clive]

That's the same router I'm using for ADSL2+ so perhaps I should phone support to confirm it will work. 

[zappaDPJ]

It appears technology has moved on since I switched to FTTC. Trains no longer run on steam and according to this the BiPAC 8800NL caters for both ADSL2 and FTTC: http://support.billion.com/_Internet/qsg/BiPAC-8800NL-QSGEN.pdf

[robinc]

I switched from ADSL (Plusnet) to FTTC when I came over to Ident a couple of years back.

Plugged in 8800 Billion and just waited - and then it worked. No mess, no fuss, no 'engineer' visit.

Simples!

[Clive]

Fantastic!  That's very encouraging news.  Thanks very much for all your help. 

[nowster]

The jumpering is done by the engineer. You'll probably be offline for an hour or so whilst they fiddle with the wires.

[Clive]

Will the speed have to stabilise in the same way as it does with ADSL?  I plan to order it tomorrow. 

[robinc]

If it did it certainly didn't affect anything that I recall....

Do remember that just cos you've got a 40/10 line - or whatever you choose - doesn't guarantee that's what you get.

Mine gives me 40/5.5 40/6 but that's life. I've got a 50 year old copper pair running out to 80 metres of armoured aluminium, connecting to a hotch-potch of of connections, many of which are corroded. Over the years at least 2 connection boxes have been found to be upside down and filled with water.....

Secondly you will start to notice that some sites really are just sloooowww - it's not you, it's them!!!

Enjoy 

[Clive]

Well, I spoke to a nice guy at IDNet called Johnny and the deed is done.  They will let me know when BT can give me a date for the changeover.  And I've ordered Mrs Clive a new computer from PC Specialist so I've earned copious Brownie points this week.   

[Simon]

 

[Clive]

My changeover date is September 29th. 

[Simon]

[Clive]

I'm quite relaxed about it.   

[Simon]

What could possibly go wrong?   

[Clive]

Perhaps I should hide the rolling pin.   

[krysia]

I switched from ADSL2+ to SuperFast Basic FTTC on 15/9, and it was so much easier than I expected.  I had some trouble configuring IPv6, because TP-Link had sent me more complicated instructions than I needed - another IDNetter sorted it out for me some days later, and not having it didn't prevent my having a connection.  I immediately got download speeds of 36 and upload of 10 on my ethernet-connected desktop.  The only surprise was slow(er) wifi - the first time I did a speed test on my laptop, I got 35, but a short time after that it was only 5 and stayed like that for days.  My Amazon Firestick also dropped to 2, even though it got 5 or 6 on ADSL.  I phoned the computer place that takes care of us to see if an engineer could sort it out, but when he found out the switch had only taken place 3 days earlier, he told me it would be premature.  Apparently it can take 10-14 days for wifi to settle down, which really surprised me.  Yesterday, I checked my laptop and the download speeds were back up to 35-36, and my phone was just over 20.  The iPad is still slow and the Firestick hasn't improved (ironically, the main reason I wanted the higher speeds), but I'm hopeful they'll eventually improve too. Good luck!

A bit later:  laptop back down to 5!  So wifi still very variable.