topic Re: Part Fibre Option in Broadband

Part Fibre Option

Richchad — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 15:02:57 GMT

I am currently on a FTC including telephone line, which ends August 25, and have been offered a Part Fibre option with no telephone line for £21.99 but will increase end of March so would only get two and a half months with the initial deal.

I assume this deal will change by 31st March to £24.99 maybe..?

I do not need my telephone line as I have a VOIP phone as well as mobiles.

I am sure my existing FTCaccount used to say up to 60Mb but the new offer states 49-55Mb

What will actually change by taking away the telephone part of the line to house as I assume the Fibre part is already being used?

Re: Part Fibre Option

jab1 — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 15:10:36 GMT

@Richchad Moving to SoGEA - which is what is being offered in that deal - should make no difference to your actual speeds.

What do you get on a speedtest now?

Re: Part Fibre Option

Richchad — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:08:07 GMT

@jab1 using the BT Wholesale speedtest it varies a bit but just now 55Mb download and 14Mb upload.

Does anyone know if there is any downtime to do the switch, is it all done at the cabinet & exchange?

I already bought a Hub 2 Router on last update, wonder if I can get a small discount 🙄

Re: Part Fibre Option

outcast — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:24:43 GMT

@Richchad wrote:

Does anyone know if there is any downtime to do the switch, is it all done at the cabinet & exchange?

You should have no down time, as the telephone disabling typically happens overnight electronically at the exchange (no wires moved), but your VDSL broadband signals comes from a roadside cabinet and should be undisturbed by this.

It is possible that Plusnet might (belt and braces) restart your VDSL connection because you've had a change on your account - so all you might see is your router re-synchronise (down time maybe 20 seconds) in the early hours of the morning.

Re: Part Fibre Option

Richchad — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:29:32 GMT

@outcast Thanks for the info, would you know how quick this would be done once I give the go ahead, my contract renewal date is 19th so in 5 days time, wonder if I should wait until after 19th or just get on with it.

Re: Part Fibre Option

jab1 — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:33:02 GMT

As @outcast says, there is no 'downtime' involved, and there should be no restart on your VDSL connection either - this is not affected by the removal of the voice connection.

As you have a Hub2, can you post your Technical Log - obscuring your username? Navigate from the Home Screen to Advanced Settings > Technical Log > Information

Re: Part Fibre Option

jab1 — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:36:15 GMT

@Richchad wrote:

@outcast Thanks for the info, would you know how quick this would be done once I give the go ahead, my contract renewal date is 19th so in 5 days time, wonder if I should wait until after 19th or just get on with it.

I would do it now - Hopefully, it should coincide with your renewal, and avoid possible complications.

Re: Part Fibre Option

outcast — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:40:25 GMT

@Richchad wrote:

What will actually change by taking away the telephone

Nothing physically changes, just that your phone number becomes disabled at the exchange.

It is likely that your copper wires will still have 'telephone' voltages on the line back to the exchange, as it is not worth the effort for Openreach to remove customer's unused wires one order at a time. Instead sometime between 2027 and 2030 the old telephone exchanges will start to be decommissioned, and everyone's old wires will get disconnected in one bulk removal.

Re: Part Fibre Option

Richchad — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:42:52 GMT

@jab1 not sure why you wanted to see Technical Log but here it is..

Re: Part Fibre Option

jab1 — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:55:16 GMT

@Richchad The only reason I asked for you Technical log was because of your speed report and your comment about the reduced MGS. From what I can see in it though, you don't have any major issues, although, given the reported connection stats, I'm surprised they have lowered your estimated speeds. Given those stats, I would have expected slightly higher download speeds though. Are you testing wired or wireless, and are you aware of any disconnections - you have only had 12 days of DSL connection?

Re: Part Fibre Option

Richchad — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:02:31 GMT

@jab1 Thanks for taking a look at it, my PC connection is wired.

Not sure why only 12 days connection as haven't had any power cuts recently.

Are you saying they look at the stats before making the offer or is it just a rough standard for all Part Fibre connection speeds?

I have gone ahead with the switch and been given a date of the 17th which should be good for accounting purposes.

Re: Part Fibre Option

outcast — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:14:42 GMT

@Richchad

With your telephone number becoming disabled, that change alone is unlikely to improve your broadband speeds.

However it may give you an opportunity to tidy up the wiring to your Openreach Master Socket ? - which could improve your broadband speeds.

For example -

Is there any internal telephone extension wires that could be disconnected from the Master Socket ?
If you have an existing telephone handset plugged in, then obviously remove that.
Ensure your Plusnet router is plugged in to the Master Socket faceplate with the shortest possible DSL cable.
Now your line has no phone capability, consider swapping the filtered faceplate for a standard single BT phone socket faceplate and change the router's RJ11 modem lead to a DSL cable with a BT plug, as filtering is no longer required.

Re: Part Fibre Option

jab1 — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:14:49 GMT

@Richchad wrote:

@jab1 Thanks for taking a look at it, my PC connection is wired.

Not sure why only 12 days connection as haven't had any power cuts recently.

Are you saying they look at the stats before making the offer or is it just a rough standard for all Part Fibre connection speeds?

I have gone ahead with the switch and been given a date of the 17th which should be good for accounting purposes.

Power cuts are not what I was thinking about when I mentioned you shortish DSL uptime - rather xDSL disconnections, which are more common, and more likely to affect your speed/reliability.

They, apparently, now base your estimated speeds on what the BTW report has seen recently. If you want further help on this, is it possible to do a test using https://www.speedtest.net/ , and post the result, as well as the full report from BT Broadband - Address , and the full exported error log from your Hub?

Re: Part Fibre Option

outcast — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:21:33 GMT

@Richchad wrote:

I am sure my existing FTTC account used to say up to 60Mb but the new offer states 49-55Mb

I wouldn't worry about it, as your modem is clearly connecting at 60.689 Mbps

Re: Part Fibre Option

Richchad — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:21:38 GMT

@outcast Thanks for the tips, I hadn't thought about the line connections, I have an extension from the BT master socket but can't avoid that but will remove filters and any extensions connected which are all over the house.

Re: Part Fibre Option

jab1 — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:24:54 GMT

What cable grade are you using for the extension - presumably between the Master Socket and your Hub?

Re: Part Fibre Option

Richchad — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:25:22 GMT

@jab1 @outcast Thanks to you both for your help, I have taken the speedtest and BT Broadband Address readings which I will keep for reference should I need them if any problems after the switch.

Re: Part Fibre Option

outcast — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:25:50 GMT

@Richchad so are you saying that your Plusnet router isn't directly connected to the Master Socket ? - as that will make the biggest difference to your broadband speed.

Re: Part Fibre Option

jab1 — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:27:59 GMT

Would you care to share those results with us, @Richchad

Good point, @outcast - which is why I asked about the 'extension cable'.

Re: Part Fibre Option

Richchad — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:46:14 GMT

@outcast I have an extension wire from the master socket which I think is BT phone cable, it is under the wood flooring we had laid so cannot change it without ripping up the flooring, I will check what cable it is by looking at the ends at some point.

The cable runs from master socket to another BT socket at the PC location and from there via a filter which I will remove.

@jab1 Here are the readings etc...

Not sure about posting full error log as unsure what information I shouldn't disclose.