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Thinking of switching to fibre.

DunMcH22
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Registered: ‎12-07-2016

Thinking of switching to fibre.

Hi,

I'm currently on the standard adsl broadband (No Contract, Static IP, £12.49) and I'm thinking of switching to fibre to take advantage of 4K streaming with the new Apple TV 4K. I have a few questions that I would like answered if possible?

1)Has anyone managed to upgrade to fibre on a no contract basis? I don't fancy an 18 month contract.

2) The router I use at the moment is a Netgear D7000 Nighthawk. I'm not certain but I believe this is already compatible with a VDSL connection. Could anyone care to comment?

3) I've had one or two problems with my connection/speed over the last few months. Is it likely that a fibre connection might put more stress on the line and i don't achieve any meaningful speed increase or greater stability?

 

Thanks

Duncan.

14 REPLIES 14
bmc
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

What does the DSL checker say for your line?

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome

 

Brian

DunMcH22
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I've attached a pdf of my test at the website suggested. I should mention that I don't get any where the adsl2+ speed quoted.

Thanks.

bmc
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

The "A" range is for a good line and the "B" is for a poor line. Looks like you should get a reasonable speed. I believe the Downstream Handback is the minimum speed OpenReach expect you to receive and if below this PlusNet can cancel the order.

 

If you run the PlusNet upgrade tool it should give an estimate for your line - note that this is an estimate, not a guarantee.

 

On your other questions PlusNet do a 12 month contract.

 

If the following link is for your Netgear unit then it appears it is VDSL compatible. PlusNet are happy for consumers to use their own gear.

http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/D7000/D7000_QSG_23Nov2015.pdf

 

Brian

Alex
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

I believe it is a 12 month contract, and if your modem is VDSL compatible and you're happy with it then use that.
I would pay the £6.99 delivery anyway and get a PlusNet router as a backup.

Switched my parents to fibre, as they must have had a very long (and dodgy) line to the exchange. Landline went down twice in two years, and I know where the place is as I used to go college there.

I would check how far you are from the exchange, it would have told you when you checked. It could be you're far and the connection is rubbish.

Anyway not meaning to sound smug, but it worked for me and hopefully be the same for you.

DaveyH
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.


@DunMcH22 wrote:

 

1)Has anyone managed to upgrade to fibre on a no contract basis? I don't fancy an 18 month contract.

They still offer 12 month contracts (at least to new customers), I'd say you're highly unlikely to get an upgrade from PN without contract.

There are a couple of other providers that offer no contract fibre now though

 

2) The router I use at the moment is a Netgear D7000 Nighthawk. I'm not certain but I believe this is already compatible with a VDSL connection. Could anyone care to comment?

It is VDSL compatible 

http://www.netgear.co.uk/home/products/networking/dsl-modems-routers/D7000.aspx

DunMcH22
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Registered: ‎12-07-2016

Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

Thanks to everyone for the replies. The thing is, when I follow the upgrade path in the members centre, all I'm offered is an 18 month contract. Maybe I'll phone them up and see what they will offer. My street is already Virgin Cable ready, so maybe I'll try that instead. I know that Virgin offer a  30 day rolling contract option. Decisions, decisions.

 

Thanks again,

Duncan.

DaveyH
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

Openreach are dropping the minimum term for FTTC Connections to 1 month from mid October

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2017/07/openreach-cuts-uk-fttc-fibre-broadband-contract-terms-...

  

You'd hope PN and other ISPs will pass that on to the customer, but I guess we'll have to wait and see...

 

DunMcH22
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

That's very interesting. Maybe I'll wait and see what happens. I wonder if anyone from Plusnet would care to speculate if 30 day rolling contracts will be offered to customers?

 

Thanks,

Duncan

Alex
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

Yes, VM recently announced they're increasing their prices by £2.99 a month. So I am not happy as that is a fair increase.
Depends whether you want a hole drilled in the wall of where you live to the router, which you will.

They pull the old business model of charging a lot for one thing (just broadband), but slightly more for everything. As they want that to annoy you and you decide to have everything with them. I think I am paying over £40 a month now which is a lot for just Broadband.

Personally if you're happy with the speeds you should get on Fibre and PlusNet I would stick with them.

bmc
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

Although the online system may only be offering an 18 month contract you should be able to run it far enough to get a speed estimate. This would give you something to compare with Virgin.

 

Brian

DunMcH22
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

Hi,

I've just upgraded to Unlimited Fibre Extra. Let's hope that everything goes smoothly. The email I received gives 28th Sept. as the changeover date, but I will wait and see what happens. Is there anything I should know about the Netgear D7000, when configuring it to access a VDSL connection?

 

Thanks,

Duncan

bmc
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

The following PlusNet Support page has the settings required.

https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/broadband-connection-settings/

 

Brian

Mustrum
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

I have a D7000, very easy to set up, just change the transfer mode to VDSL and the other settings should follow.Username and password should remain the same.

DunMcH22
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Re: Thinking of switching to fibre.

Hi,

Thanks for the link. At least I now know someone else has the same router.  I did read somewhere that the MTU setting might need changing to 1492. Is this still true?

 

Thanks

Duncan