Renewal Confusion

[#1]

My existing part fibre contract ends January 2027 and I have looked at the renewal option which is less than I pay now which is made with a special discount, has the need for a special discount been dropped and you now just show the actual end price?

If I accept the renewal offer now would it start immediately or when my existing contract ends and will my existing referrals still apply?

Also can I change to full fibre at any point during my contract?

[#2]

@Richchad i don't quite understand your first paragraph, so won't comment.

If you accept the new contract, IIRC, if you do it online it starts almost immediately, if you do it by phone, it starts on your next billing date. If I've got that wrong, hopefully someone will correct me. Your existing referrals will still apply.

You can change to FTTP at any point - although it will result in a new contract.

[#3]

It may well be that the "special discount" isn't identified in the offer price, although on my bill I see a list price for the fibre service and a "discount" which brings it down to the price I pay.

After the minimum term I would expect the discount to go away and I would be paying the service charge (no discount) unless I recontracted.

As far as I know referals still apply (so would reduce the contracted price) but I no longer have any so can't tell.

Generally Plusnet will allow a full fibre upgrade (with Plusnet) when available without any early termination charge for the old contract. You start a new contract at that point.

[#4]

@Richchad 

'Special Offers', 'Discounts' etc. are simply marketing rems to attract your attention. All that you should look at is the bottom line price and decide if it's acceptable. Have you given up your landline phone? If not the offer might be less the phone element. 

If Full Fibre is available, now is a good time to upgrade, rather than at the end of a contract.

[#5]

@Baldrick1 Yes I have given up my landline phone and use voip now.

The only thing stopping me going to full fibre is the existing BT cable entry is in my hall and a BT cable running under new solid flooring to the router in my study a few metres away, it has been suggested using TP-link via mains sockets, which I already use to connect to some remote cameras and have heard this may clash with a second set of mains adapters?

The other option is to use my existing Deco WiFi mesh and run everything from a mesh unit in the hall but not sure if this would be worse than and direct ethernet connection.

[#6]

@Richchad 

As time goes on FTTC is going to become more expensive due to higher maintenance cost and with obsolescence, become less reliable. Sooner or later you will need to bite this bullet.

Just because your current copper cable is terminated in the Hall doesn't mean that the fibre has to take the same path. The fibre can be routed to another room with an external wall, where the ONT can be installed near a power outlet. If this is inconvenient for your study and you wish to locate the Hub there, you can install a CAT5e or better Ethernet cable between the ONT and your study. 

[#7]

@Richchad Depending on the type and quality of your BT cable under the floor that could potentially be repurposed as Ethernet, especially if it's a fairly short run, it just needs terminating correctly. I have BT internal extension cabling running a significant distance by a tortuous route through my house to provide an Ethernet connection to a TV that is about as far from the router as it could be.

If it's "normal" 4-wire modern cable with "striped" cores (not the very old solid colour type) it will definitely work fine at 100mbps.

If it's got 8 cores (less likely) it will probably work at Gigabit speeds over a few metres.

100mbps may not be what you want/need in the long run but could be a useful temporary fix. See: HOW TO WIRE 4 WIRE ETHERNET - YouTube

And: CONVERTING HOME TELEPHONE WIRING TO ETHERNET

[#8]

@Richchad 

Is the cable under the floor "buried" in the solid floor or is it in a duct? What's between the Master Socket and your study?

Are you served by an overhead feed or an underground one?

As per your other thread what does the Checker say about the Full Fibre install?

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Brian

[#9]

@bmc the cable is located under recently laid wood flooring, so would have to be lifted which I am reluctant to do.

The cable under the floor between master socket and my study is BT 8 core telephone cable about 10m long.

The feed is underground, in a duct according to the checker and it is onestage and no problems noted in notes below.

[#10]

@Richchad 

Thanks for the information. Sorry, but a couple more questions.

Is there a power source in the hallway beside or near the Master Socket? Is you study at the front of the house or the back? If front, is it on the other side of the hallway to the MS?

With the current cable run to the study is the cable loose or is is awkward? I'm thinking it might be possible to use it to pull through an ethernet cable.

Brian

[#11]

@bmc  no worries about more questions, glad to have help.

Yes there is a power socket close to the master socket, my study is at the back of the house so on opposite side to where master socket is located at front of the house.

Unfortunately the existing telephone cable isn't loose, it was laid under flooring and crosses a couple of doorways without any thresholds so all one level, definitely couldn't pull another cable through.

As suggested what about converting the telephone cable to an ethernet cable as it has 8 cores and is only about a 10 metre run or is that not a great idea as I have read mixed views on it about limiting speeds?

[#12]

Is the study able to be reached by an easy outside fibre run (round the house) ?

I have a bit of an outside fibre run which enabled the fibre to enter the house just where I wanted it.

There were no questions about doing this as it was neat and easy.

[#13]

@markhawkin  unfortunately my study is on the back of the house and an external cable run would be about 50 metres, so not possible.

[#14]

50 meters for external cat 5e is doable.

https://ebay.io/m/sXDOX6

[#15]

A bit tricky then.

I take it you have a reasonable length of phone cable from the master socket to the Plusnet hub at present and your Deco connected to the hub.

If the Deco mesh gives reasonable coverage from a router in your study then you stand a reasonable chance that it will still be OK if you shift the mesh around so that the unit conected to the Plusnet router is moved to the location of the new fibre connection.

Any powerline or mesh connection may be limiting to a full fibre connection. You may not get full speed (even on a 145Mb/s connection).

Personally I like having a fibre connection and the ONT "out of the way" and if you have a utilities or meter cupboard that would be my first choice location for the fibre entry if it is on an outside wall and the rest of the arrangements can be made to work.

There are various solutions each with advantages and disadvantages