This topic

G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

Forumcloud — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 16:43:57 GMT

I have FTTC (overhead drop cable from pole, cabinet about 200m away as the crow flies) giving around 67mbps. I have the latest NTE5 master socket. The speed at the Smart Hub has been steadily increasing for a few months but over the last few days it has dropped off. I can't get FTTP yet. Under the 'My Offers' on My BT is an offer to upgrade to G.Fast (147up/25 down) for only £1/month extra. I am tempted. Given that FTTP is coming (I assume) and that, save for the dip in speed my existing FTTC service works fine, is it worth upgrading? I suppose what I am asking is whether or not those with actual experience of G.Fast can say whether or not it works well and provides a stable connection at better speeds than FTTC. Thanks for any help.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

-Richie- — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 17:49:17 GMT

G.Fast is still FTTC, it's available to them who live closest to the cabinet, over distance the speed degrades which is why not too many can have it, best advice is go for the upgrade, if you're not happy to you can revert back within your 14 day cooling off period.

Personally for £1 more I'd go for it, I'll take all the bandwidth I can but that's my opinion and everyones circumstances are different 🙂

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

Starman — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 17:50:53 GMT

Might be worthwhile using the wholechecker below to see what the range of connection types and speed levels are available for your line. Just remember to remove and personal info -

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

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

licquorice — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 18:17:02 GMT

The downside is if you wish to use a third party modem/router rather than the supplied hub, your choice of devices will be extremely limited.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

Forumcloud — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 20:06:30 GMT

Thanks. No need for that - I'd use the BT Smart Hub 2 which is part of the deal.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

JonMace — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 20:48:02 GMT

Everyone has different experiences, Gfast for me was a nightmare. Had it twice (at the same location on same line) 1st time with Talk Talk, over a period of 6 months the speed got slower and slower until it was sown to about 40 mb with about 20 drop outs a day. So went back to fttc. A year later my company took over my account and went to BT so we trues Gfast again, with exactly the same results, luckily I then got fttp.

But your experience could be totally different. All I would say is that the OR engineers I spoke to (it was a lot) all said the Gfast is the least fault resistant of all the services.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

Forumcloud — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 20:48:22 GMT

Cabinet checker output attached as suggested. It looks like the download speed will be good but upload may suffer.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

Forumcloud — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 20:49:37 GMT

Very helpful. thanks. Sounds like it might be best to steer clear.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

JonMace — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 21:01:13 GMT

As I say your experience could be completely different

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

Leasty — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 00:05:58 GMT

I've had G.Fast for over a year now and, other than a local cabinet power problem, it's been rock solid at 145/30Mbps. That's using either an Openreach modem (MT992?) with an Asus router or the BT Smarthub2. Mine is on an underground cable about 500m from the cabinet.

I've been offered a "free" upgrade to FTTP but thats only guaranteed to be 100Mbps so haven't bothered. Would have to re-contract for 24 months as well.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

Forumcloud — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 07:49:12 GMT

Very impressive to have such a fast & stable G.Fast connection at 500m. That’s encouraging for me.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

bulldog147 — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 01:25:38 GMT

I used to have G.fast before as the checker much similar to mine but was surprised my line get 210/29 by engineer test kit. Later it went to 240/40. You don't know until your line went LIVE and find out.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

bulldog147 — Sun, 13 Nov 2022 22:44:09 GMT

Your checker say 192/27 as mine checker was 189/26 (live at 210/29 in summer but 240/40 in winter)

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC - UPDATE

Forumcloud — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 10:12:48 GMT

Activated today. On the Fibre 100 product and am getting 157/27, which is rather better than expected. The engineer was not able to confirm exactly how long the actual connection is from the PCP cabinet to my house but he agreed that my estimate of about 250 was there or thereabouts.

I didn't need a new master socket (I have a 5C/Mk4). The engineer did need access to my property but all he did was restart the hub and confirm that all was working.

Had a useful conversation about FTTP installation (can't get it here yet) which I will write up when I have a moment in a new thread.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC - UPDATE

bulldog147 — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 10:21:52 GMT

I getting the same as you 157/27 because it locked to 160/30. Later I upgraded to 330/50 as it went to 240/40. Did the engineer show u what the max line rate is from his tool kit?

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC - UPDATE

Forumcloud — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 11:02:18 GMT

No - and unfortunately I didn’t know to ask. I guess at 250m or so I might not be able to get the faster speed. Although the GFast seems fine now I will go for FTTP once it is available here and it should be soon, he thinks. So much of our conversation was about where the ONT will go etc.

Re: G.Fast upgrade from FTTC - UPDATE

bulldog147 — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 11:03:57 GMT

Fair enough. Enjoy your G.fast 160/30.