Fibre upload speed

[#1]

BT Openreach has been hard at work all around my area today installing new green cabinets and fibre  8).  The RFS date on Sam knows is currently shoing as tomorrow, but BT's website simply says by 30 September, so we'll have to see - at least it shouldn't be long.
In the meantime, I've been weighing up my options for fibre and have noticed that PlusNet is currently listing only 2Mb upload speeds, whereas BT and most other fibre providers are saying up to 10Mb.  Can anyone clarify why this is?  When is PlusNet likely to switch to 10Mb, and is this likely to be at additional cost?
I've got a difficult decision to make over this, because I've been with PlusNet for over 6 years now, and am very happy with the service, but it looks like BT Infinity might be a better deal for fibre at the moment, if PlusNet isn't likely to be raising the upload speeds soon.

[#2]

BT Openreach offer ISPs fibre at 40/2 and 40/10. They charge the ISPs more for 40/10.
Currently Plusnet only offer 40/2. They plan to offer 40/10 soon, and yes, it will be an extra charge. Which looks likely to be modest, but we will have to wait for Plusnet to launch the product before we know for certain.

[#3]

Thanks AxeMurderer.
Is there any indication of when 10Mb upload will be avaialble?  Much as I like PlusNet and really want to stay having been here for 6+ years, I have to say that the current package doesn't compare very favourably with BT Infinity, especially now that PlusNet is part of the BT group.  Infinity is £25.60, including a home hub, 10Mb upload, free wi-fi minutes and unlimited usage.  PlusNet's is going to cost £11.49 (PlusNet Extra) + £5.00 (PlusNet pro) + £10.00 fibre = £26.49 -- not a great price difference, admittedly, but it's for a much slower upload speed, no wi-fi access and with a separate modem/router (though in fairness, I'd rather that than a home hub).

[#4]

I've only seen a post that said, literally, 'soon'.
As for comparing packages, it all depends on what is important to you. I personally don't feel that the upload speed restricts me in what I do in any way - just as it didn't when I was on ADSL. However it has the potential to be a game changer especially as things move to the cloud, so I'll be keeping an eye on it. Free wi-fi is only any use away from home; 90% of the time when I am away I have better options. As for unlimited... well, I don't currently come close to my 120Gb/month limit, and at least with plusnet any usage between midnight and 8am doesn't count towards it.
You could consider whether Value fibre and/or ditching Pro would meet your needs. If they would, plusnet could be cheaper. If you really need to max everything it does look as though BT is cheaper.
With BT you'll still get a separate modem. As well as the supposedly rather good homehub3.

[#5]

BT Infinity comes in 2Mb upload on the less expensive option along with 40GB usage, (up to) 10Mb up is only on the more expensive 'unlimited' version.
The 'unlimited' does appear good value for what's included.
I have not been able to find anything explicit regarding traffic shaping on Infinity other than some negative feedback on their forums.
BT customer service do seem rather 'unfocussed' compared with PlusNet, probably a direct result of comparative size.
I'm sticking with PlusNet for fibre (once BT wholesale / Openreach sort themselves out).

[#6]

Quote from: AxeMurderer

As for comparing packages, it all depends on what is important to you. I personally don't feel that the upload speed restricts me in what I do in any way - just as it didn't when I was on ADSL. However it has the potential to be a game changer especially as things move to the cloud, so I'll be keeping an eye on it. Free wi-fi is only any use away from home; 90% of the time when I am away I have better options. As for unlimited... well, I don't currently come close to my 120Gb/month limit, and at least with plusnet any usage between midnight and 8am doesn't count towards it.

Yes, I agree with this, and to be honest, the only thing that really matters to me is the upload speed.  If PlusNet were offering 10Mb (which other ISPs seem to be doing as standard at the £25ish price point) then I wouldn't be questionning anything.  But one of the main reasons I want fibre is for faster uploads.

[#7]

garywood84,
Just out of curiosity do you mind if I ask why upload speeds above 2mb matter so much?

[#8]

Quote from: _Adam_Walker_

garywood84, Just out of curiosity do you mind if I ask why upload speeds above 2mb matter so much?

Not at all - because I frequently need to upload files, so for me, the increased upload speed is the main benefit of switching to fibre.  I currently have 1Mb upload on my ADSL2+ service, so I'm not sure moving up to only 2Mb is worth the extra cost.  This is especially the case when other ISPs are offering 10Mb for the same price as your package. 
The bottom line is that I really don't want to move from PlusNet; I'm happy with the service you've provided over the last six plus years, but I -- along with many other people in these forums, looking through other threads -- think you've made the wrong decision not to include 10Mb uploads on the PlusNet extra package, or at the very least, make it a part of the £5 Pro add-on.

[#9]

Oh dear, I hadn't realised Plusnet 'only' offer a 40/2 fibre pacakge.    I may have to check out other providers before signing on the dotted line. (My upgrade has been blocked because of some problem in the systems).
I've been with PlusNet for nearly 10 years now, and generally happy, although other providers do tend to offer better service for the money (I -very- nearly switched to Be when they launched their 24Mbps service) - the only thing which really kept me so far is the 6 public IPv4's I've got here which you can't get for love nor money (well, extortionate amounts I'm sure) elsewhere.
Upload speed is important for a lot of users, especially those of us running home servers which contain data we want to be able to access from wherever. 
Any idea of what the "modest" extra charge will be to upgrade to 10Mbps upstream?  £5 like the Pro?  That'd make the 120GB fibre package £31.. (pro + decent upstream) - not very competitive at all!
Thanks,
- Micha.

[#10]

Quote from: mwerle

Any idea of what the "modest" extra charge will be to upgrade to 10Mbps upstream?  £5 like the Pro?  That'd make the 120GB fibre package £31.. (pro + decent upstream) - not very competitive at all!

I think they should just make 10Mb upload a part of the Pro add on, so it would then be £26.49 for PlusNet Extra + Fibre + Pro add-on, which is competitive with the other fibre providers.

[#11]

Thanks for the feedback guys, as mentioned 10mb upload on FTTC will be available in the future for a nominal fee, we expect this to be in the region of £2/3 per month.
The good reason we didn't make this part of the pro add-on is that it's not just for fibre customers so we're presenting this as a separate service. It will be done as a manual process at first and will eventually be available as an add-on.
A system issue is the only thing standing in the way of us doing this right now and work is being done to fix that. It's not the type of issue we could give you an ETA for though but don't lose hope it's on its way!

[#12]

Quote from: _Adam_Walker_

Thanks for the feedback guys, as mentioned 10mb upload on FTTC will be available in the future for a nominal fee, we expect this to be in the region of £2/3 per month.

Thanks for this, Adam.  The trouble is that although £2-3 per month doesn't sound like much on its own, by the time you add it on to Extra + Fibre + Pro, it makes the package too expensive compared with your competitors. I do take your point that it can't really be a part of Pro, because Pro is applicable to ADSL users as well, but could you look at making this service a standard part of the £10 fibre add on for Extra customers - i.e. PlusNet Value + Fibre = 40/2, PlusNext Extra + Fibre = 40/10?  That would be a good way to encourage more people to upgrade to extra, I think, and would also ensure that your prices are competitive with other Fibre providers.

[#13]

Hi again,
Sorry at this stage at least it would need to be on top of the £10 fee. This may be reviewed in the future but don't bank on anything soon.
Adam

[#14]

Thanks for this.  Similar to Micha, one thing that's making me want to stay with PlusNet is that I need a static IP address, but I'll certainly be looking around to see if I can get that elsewhere.  In the meantime, whilst I realise you can't be specific at this stage, can you tell us whether we're talking weeks or months on the 10Mb upload option?

[#15]

Sorry, not really I would have already if I were able to.