topic Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre in Broadband

Is it worth moving to Full fibre

sol_sun_ftm — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:53:34 GMT

I have plus net fibre and constantly get 70Mbs.
Looking at full fibre with 145Mbs the guaranteed speed is only 80 Mbps.

Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre

jab1 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:58:21 GMT

@sol_sun_ftm Full Fibre usually runs at the 'contracted' speed - or very slightly higher - is more reliable and less prone to faults, so personally, I would say it is worth going for if you can get it.

Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre

markhawkin — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:15:22 GMT

Depending on when your contract runs out and thus the April cost increase you get, once April has arrived, compare the cost of 150Mb/s fibre against what you are then paying.

I've never seen a Plusnet (wired) speed test below the package speed (busy sport evenings etc.) so while the the guaranteed speed is only 80 Mb/s I very much doubt what you get (wired) would ever drop to anything like that.

Wireless is a different matter and depends on many factors.

Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre

bmc — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:18:09 GMT

@sol_sun_ftm

As already stated you should get near the advertised speed of the product you sign up for. I'm on FF74 and always get above 70 on speed tests.

If you still have a landline you're going to need to make a change soon. If you're on a Fibre Priority Exchange you'll have no choice but to go to FF if it's available.

Use this Checker to see - https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Below the results window will be a note of the Exchange status.

Brian

Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre

MisterW — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:29:07 GMT

TBH its a bit opaque as to where the Min guaranteed speed estimate comes from for FTTP

However

As FTTP is a shared service - other properties in your neighbourhood will be sharing the same fibre cables and equipment etc. Openreach specify a minimum speed for traffic through their network. This is the minimum speed you can expect to achieve during the busiest 3 hours in the day (typically the evenings).

AIUI Openreach prioritorise a percentage of each connections bandwidth and (I think?) this is where the MGALS comes from.

As has been said above

"In reality services typically operate closer to the purchased speed for the majority of the day."

Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre

sol_sun_ftm — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 13:17:18 GMT

I have 12 months left on my current contract so that comes into the equation as well. I know if I upgrade with plus.net I'll start another 2 year contract but not have to pay to get out of this one.

Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre

bmc — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 15:37:23 GMT

@sol_sun_ftm

It may not be a 2 year contract - it'll depend on what's on offer at the time.

If you still have a phone then you'll need to take a decision before the end of your contract. PSTN switches off by the end of January 2027 at the every latest. I suspect it'll be even sooner as PN clear the decks of their phone lines.

You probably have the choice between SOGEA (internet without a phone) or Full Fibre - unless your Exchange is a Fibre Priority in which case it'll be FTTP only.

Brian

Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre

markhawkin — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 17:40:42 GMT

Back to the original question, "worth it" is a question of cost and the "hassle" of dealing with a fibre install.

You won't have a landline but that may or may not be significant to you.

The speed increase may or may not have value (although I found an upload speed increase useful in the world of "cloud" services).

You will get the service promised (which is more than can be said for VDSL where you might) but whether it's "worth it" is an individual matter.

Re: Is it worth moving to Full fibre

Baldrick1 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 22:18:50 GMT

It’s a bit like whether it’s worth getting a new car when the old banger is perfectly reliable and does everything that you need. The difference being that in this case, the new vehicle is free.
The advantage of the new model only comes to the fore when the old banger starts to break down, spares are only available second hand and there are far fewer mechanics around with the skills to patch it up.

Like it or not, sooner or later the copper based system will be withdrawn. It could also cause you issues if you want to move ISP.
I have a neighbour who has stayed with FTTC. He has just sold the property. Unfortunately, we have just moved to FTTC stop sell, FTTP installation is KCI2 hard dig. I am assuming that the new owner does not yet realise that after signing up with a ISP, there will probably be many weeks delay before a data connection will be made available by Openreach. This could have been done earlier in parallel with him retaining FTTC.