How is fibre delivered to my house and many ethernet ports does the router have?

[#1]

I currently have plusnet broadband delivered by copper.  The fibre broadband is the same monthly price so looks like a no brainer but how is it delivered - still on copper to my house?.  

The website says that I will need a new router.  My current router has 4 ethernet ports that connect up various devices around the house to avoid overloading the wifi.  How many ehternet ports does the fibre router have and at what network speed?

I tried calling the support line but it says it can't take calls at the moment and to post my question here.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

it will be fibre to the street cabinet and then copper to your house, whereas now it's copper all the way to the exchange.

the PN provided router has 4 ethernet ports with gigabit speed, you are welcome to provide your own router though.

[#3]

The fibre connection from the exchange equipment is made to the local cabinet that the copper also goes to, and they are married up there. So the copper is still needed to your house. 

The router you currently have is probably an ADSL type which is dedicated to "copper all the way" lines, but the fibre connection is of the VDSL2 type (vey high speed digital subscriber line type 2) which uses a different protocol, hence the need for a different router. I believe the Plusnet router has four ethernet ports which are usually 1Gb capacity, but the network speed will of course depend on the quality of your copper/fibre connection. 

This link will tell you what speeds to expect and which cabinet you are connected to, and it will confirm that a fibre connection is actually available to your house. https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

I invested in a different router by the way and my sync speed went from about 40Mbps to 58Mbps. There has to be a reason for that! 😁

[#4]

@dvorak 

Haha you beat me to it while I was typing! 😁

[#5]

Further on this subject: does it require a faceplate change or can this be set up and running without needing access to the property, due to coronavirus we have daughter and her hubby living with us at present, this was only supposed to be two weeks, but now who knows.

Son in law works for the local council and is working from home/here and struggling for speed, only get around 3.5 Meg which can't seem to cope with his conference calls and large amounts of data being processed.

[#6]

it shouldn't need access to your property.

[#7]

I would be interested which router you chose.